Budget Car Rental vs. Pick-up Service [Sanford Airport]

[mitzi]

We're flying into the Orlando Sanford airport and have made arrangements to be picked up by a service. I've just come across a deal to rent a car for the week for $139.00. With the taxes the total comes to $184.98. The service is charging $140.00 and then we have to tip (which I don't really know the correct tip amount). We're staying on-site. Should we rent the car or just keep the service? Also, how much of a hassle is the car rental at that airport? The car service is supposed to be waiting for us at the baggage claim. What should we do!? Thanks!

[apricotwalnut]

I think that partly needs to depend on the level of expierence that you are wanting. Do you want to hassel driving in a state (and roads you dont know) or let someone else do them for you? Once you get to WDW, how much driving around in the car do you plan on doing? HAve you looked into Disney's Magical Express? It is free, although its not the fastest way to get to the hotels.

[MaddieMouse]

We rented a car (a minivan actually) on our last trip and we're doing it again this time. Personally, we prefer the freedom of having our own transportation. We can come & go as we please on our schedule, which is important since we have small kids. We are able to leave resort property to go to WalMart or wherever to stock up on things like PB&J, cereal, milk, etc, to keep in the room.

This is how we did it: We mapquested. Every single place where we thought we might go, we mapquested at home. From the rental place, to POP, to all the area sights (other than Disney, of course), we mapquested, and then kept everything in a folder. We were picked up at the airport by the car rental shuttle (very easy to find, btw, we just asked airport personnel where to go and they directed us with no problem), we were shuttled right to the door, picked up our minivan, and were on our way. There was one instance where I forgot the maps, thought I'd remember my way to & from WalMart. Well, I got lost. It was getting dark, and so I called my husband, panicking, and he went to the front desk at POP, and got a CM on the phone, who very calmly and efficiently directed me right back to the resort.

When we were leaving, we pulled up and in, literally got out of the minivan and onto another shuttle where we were dropped off at MCO. Very easy to manage.

The main things to remember are that you have to pay tolls to and from the airport, and make sure to fill up the gas tank prior to drop-off somewhere a bit further away from the airport (prices were significantly higher the closer we got to MCO.

The convenience of having transportation far outweighed any minor issues.

[Drince88]

How hard/easy it is to deal with the rental will depend if it's in the terminal or offsite, though at some airports ALL rentals are outside the terminal in one central location. I just looked at the Sanford website and it says that Budget is offsite via shuttle, which can add to the hassle, but not sure how much.

Since the price is so close to a wash, I say get the car. But don't forget change for the toll roads. I'm not sure if there are any from Sanford, but it IS Central Florida, so I would expect there to be some!

(And apricotwalnut, DME does not operate from Sanford, just from MCO)

[slydini]

Wecrented a car last time, and we are going to do so again this year. With a Three year old and a One year old I can't thnk of another more convient thing to do. The one thing we are doing differently is taking along a small GPS.