There is no doubt that a trip to Disney World is something we all desire to have at least once. However, planning a trip to Disney World is not as easy as one may consider it. It involves making some major decisions that heavily impact how you spend your vacations there. Another thing that your decisions also reflect on is your budget. Here, we will discuss what it is like renting a car at Disney World.
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Renting a car at Disney World
The dynamics of Disney World are constantly changing. If you closely follow, you would know how they constantly bring up new services and replace the older ones or update them.
One of such recent updates that might have caused a problem for many Disney World fans and visitors is that there would be no more Magical Express.
For those of you who are not aware, Magical Express stopped operating on January 1, 2022. Needless to say, this complimentary service was a huge benefit to many guests. It would take them to their Disney resorts from the airport.
Cut to the current scenario, now that Magical Express has stopped operating, many people wonder if they should just rent a car. But, like every other service, renting a car comes with its own set of pros and cons.
Hence, are you one of those giving renting a car a thought? In that case, you must have a read of the pros and cons before doing so.
What are the pros of renting a car at Disney World?
Let us begin with all the pros you are likely to come across when you book yourself a car at Disney World:
It can make an off-site stay easy
One of the things renting a car makes a lot easier is staying at an off-site lodge. We all know that all of the Disney World resorts cost a fortune.
Hence, in case you are on a budget or even if you are not, there are chances for you to want to stay at an off-site hotel or lodge.
But, here is the problem. Staying at an off-site hotel can be a task if you do not have a car to travel to Disney World.
Hence, renting a car does make staying at an off-site hotel easier. However, also note that many hotels provide transportation facilities to the guests. This means that transportation would take you to the park and back to the lodge from it. Thus, make it a point to enquire with the lodge before booking a mode of transport.While you’re planning your trip, also consider checking your car’s n54 fuel injector to ensure optimal performance during your travels.
You decide your own time
The next good thing about renting your car is that you get to choose the time. If you were not aware, to board one of the public transport at Disney World, like a skyscraper or a bus, you have to be there on or before time. Along with that, there would also be a lot of crowds and a huge queue that you would have to tolerate.
But, when you book your car, you have the complete liberty to avoid all of these. Instead, you get to choose your own pace. You can note the timings of your next ride and just head towards your car for a ride avoiding all the long queues and the crowds.
It is easy to hop off-site for all kinds of necessities
When you do not book yourself a car, your transportation becomes limited to inside the park only. If you want to have the trip outside the park, you must book a Lyft or an Uber. Now, that becomes a little too expensive for anyone who books it.
However, you can do this easily if you rent a car for yourself. Many people want to have a ride to the other parts of Orlando during their visit to Disney World.
Along with that, they also want to have food from restaurants outside Disney World. That too becomes easier when you have your rented car.
Driving makes reaching a place faster
Except when traveling to Magic Kingdom, having your rented car makes traveling to the places inside the park easier. This has many reasons attached to it. Now, we all know that the transportation available inside Disney World is extremely cooperative.
However, it also includes stopping at many places or stops before it reaches its destination. This includes picking people up and loading and unloading items. All these take up time and are not even truly relevant to you.
When you have your rented car, you can avoid all the time required for these and can directly drive to your destination. That saves a lot of your time.
However, this does not stand true when you are traveling to Magic Kingdom. You would have to park it at the ticket center when you have your car. You would have to take the park’s transportation to get to the park.
Many new rental options are now available
Another good thing to consider is that the Orlando airport offers many new services to the guests. One of such services is the new Turo service. To give a crisp definition of what it is, you can say that the Turo service is an Airbnb when it comes to cars.
The best part about this is you would not have to drop your sweat booking your car at the rental services anymore. Instead, you can hop to the Turo services to rent yourself a car.
What are the cons of renting a car at Disney World?
We have jotted down the list of all the reasons you should book yourself a car. Now, let us look at all the cons that you are likely to come across when you rent a car:
Disney World parking comes at a price
Whether you are staying at one of the resorts or staying at any of the off-site hotels, you would have to pay for the parking.
The amount you would have to pay for the parking changes depending on where you choose to stay. Thus, let us have a look at the parking prices.
Let us first look at the price you have to pay if you are a guest of any Disney World resorts. The amount you would have to pay would be somewhere between $15 to $25 per night.
But, there is also a good thing about it. When you are a guest of any of the Disney World resorts, you will not have to pay any price for parking your car at the theme parks of Disney World.
Now let us look at the parking price that you would have to pay at Disney World if you stay at an off-site hotel.
The parking price at an off-site hotel depends on the hotel you choose to stay at. However, you would not be a guest of any of the Disney World resorts; you would have to pay $25 to the theme parks for parking.
It takes a lot of time to book a car
Another con of renting your car is undoubtedly the time it takes to book a car. Some people have even reported waiting for around three hours or more at the airport before having the car. This process is extremely tiring and, to some extent, annoying. Hence, if you do not have a valid reason for renting a car, we suggest you give it a thought.
Rental cars are very expensive
There has always been a shortage of the number of cars that are there for people to rent. Hence, the time to find one for yourself is a real task.
Additionally, let us suppose that you find one. The price of renting these cars can burn a hole in your pockets. Hence, many people like to spare themselves from the hassle of getting themselves a car and then spending so much on it.
There is an option of Ride Share that you can opt for
We have discussed how renting a car could get expensive. Hence, if you think that you do not want to go out of the park, you might also choose the Ride Share options available.
Some of the Ride Share options available at Disney World are Lyft and Uber. You can book one of these for your trips around and outside Disney World.
The price of gas is extremely expensive
It is not hidden that gas price has tremendously taken a hike. Especially over a couple of months, the gas price has increased. We are sure that this price is nowhere near going down in the next few days.
Hence, are you thinking of getting yourself a rented car? Then, do not forget to add the extra cost to fill the gas. This is one thing that you would not have to worry about if you take public transportation. For the same reason, many people choose not to book themselves a rented car.
Final Thoughts
To think of it, whether or not you should book a rental car solely depends on:
- your budget
- how you want your trip to be
Hence, it is worth it to book a rented car, if:
- You want to see the rest of Orlando along with Disney World
- You want to stay at an off-site hotel, not at Disney World’s hotel.
Likewise, you may not want to book yourself a rented car, if:
- You plan on going out of Disney World park only one or two times
- You are okay with boarding public transportation
- It is okay for you to stay at one of the Disney World hotels or resorts
However, the last call of whether or not you should book yourself a rented car is completely yours to decide.
