Unlike so many other airports you won’t need to wait for a shuttle bus to pick up your hire car. Not only does Orlando International Airport (MCO) have check-in desks for all of the major car hire companies such as Alamo, Dollar, Thrifty and Hertz inside the terminal but all their vehicle stock is available on the ground floor of the parking garage just across the road from the main terminal building.
Make sure you get a car big enough to get your bags and passengers to and from the airport. If you’re in a villa you could pack fairly light if you’re prepared to do some laundry every couple of days. Less baggage means you may need a smaller vehicle but for a family of four, we would recommend looking at a Standard SUV or Full Size Sedan but no smaller.
TMTO Budget: A Standard SUV can cost anywhere between £700 and £1200 for 2 weeks depending on the season. Bigger cars will have a bigger price tag. Also remember to factor in around $30 each day to park at the theme parks.
Rental cars.com is a good comparison site for car hire all over the world and again Skyscanner.net and Kayak is worth a look but one of the best places to check for prices is Florida Discount Car Hire. They often have prices not available anywhere else and are really helpful and great to communicate with. We’ve used them for nearly all of our trips in the last few years. It’s also worth emailing them directly on info@discountfloridacarhire.co.uk with your vehicle size, airport location and dates as they may have even lower prices than their website.
Also, check all of the online travel sites such as on Expedia, Opodo etc to compare prices.
Just like searching for flights it’s always worth cross checking the lowest prices you find on the comparison sites directly with the individual car hire companies websites (Alamo, Sixt, Hertz, Thrifty etc) as we have sometimes found them cheaper.
TMTO TIP: If you’re going to be flying with either Virgin Atlantic or British Airways see about combining your car hire and flight as you might get a better deal than buying both separately (often the car hire is very cheap when added to your flight)
Timescale: You can reserve your car up to a year before your flight departs but it’s worth holding out to see if there’s any change in price for the dates you require. We’ve had some great deals with just a couple of weeks to go before our holiday starts.
Car Hire Options
There are various options you may want to consider when hiring a vehicle in the USA. Most of these will incur a daily charge so if you’re on a budget try and bring your own. The main option people look for is a sat-nav (GPS) which can come in handy especially getting to and from the airport although some premium vehicles will have a built in sat-nav. Baby seats and boosters can be selected if you’re not keen on taking your own on the aircraft. You can also select additional drivers so mum or dad can take the wheel.
Another handy option we always go for is the ‘return empty’ fuel option. This means at the end of the holiday you can return the car to the airport with no fuel in the tank. You ‘buy’ the tank of fuel on your final bill at a premium price (around $80) but it means you wont need to look for a petrol station near the airport on your last day.
TMTO TIP: All cars come with Bluetooth stereos so have your Spotify/iTunes/Amazon Music etc. playlist downloaded to your phone so you can still listen to your favourite Disney soundtracks or rock out to the latest playlist in the hire car without using your mobile roaming data.
Also most music streaming services have a Disney World playlist with music from the rides and around the park.
Toll Roads
Many companies may include a deal where you can use the express drive-through lanes at the toll booth (Toll Plaza they call them) like Sunpass, so there’s no need to stop and handover money – they will just add the cost each time you pass through a toll plaza to your final bill. We’ve had this from Alamo a few times and it will make things a lot easier especially if it’s your first time in Florida. Although, the cash tolls can be a good place to get rid of your loose change! And, if you’re just staying around the Disney and southern Orlando area you should only need to use one of the two toll roads to and from MCO airport – 528 Expressway or the 417 Greeneway and these will only cost a few dollars.
TMTO TIP: If you’re staying on property you might not need to hire a car at all. If you want to go outside the resort area to a mall or another theme park resort, you could get an a Lyft or Uber.
If you’re not renting a car then hotel guests at Universal Studios can jump on a shuttle bus or the water taxi service to the theme parks. Walt Disney World on property guests can make use of shuttle buses, water taxis, monorail trains and even a cable car to allow hotel guests to and from the hotels and theme parks.
If your car is sorted and you’ve got somewhere to stay then check out our TMTO page for the best places to get your park tickets!
Take Me To ORLANDO! 