Disney World Planning - Car Hire or Disney Transport??

This is such a tough question.  As we are flying into Orlando International (MCO) and are staying at a Disney resort, we have the option of Disney's Magical Express to take us to and from the airport and Disney transportation to take us between the resort and parks.



 

 

 

The obvious pro of Disney transport is that it is included in the price.  The hire car would be an additional cost.

I haven't used Magical Express but I have used the Disney Buses and apart from being very crowded at park closing, I've not had any problems with them.  I know other people have had problems, but I can only go on my experience.

 

The con is that it limits us to staying inside Disney property, and while that isn't a bad thing, we are quite keen to have the ability to visit supermarkets or shopping malls.  We might even want to eat outside Disney sometimes.

 

 

The pro of the car is mainly the flexibility it offers.  I can imagine an early breakfast reservation at a hotel being really tricky on Disney transport in a morning, whereas with a car, we can go directly to the other hotel, saving time and stress and still park for free.

There is the option of Uber but last time I found the prices to be quite unpredictable and struggled to get one with a child car seat.

 

If we do get a car, we can also use the Disney transport from hotel to parks if we want - hello Food and Wine - it isn't opting out of the Disney transport system. 

 

As well as the cost, the other negative of the car is the responsibility for driving in a foreign country but luckily I have hubby who is perfectly happy to do this.

 

I've been researching prices for hiring an SUV for 2 weeks and found that Alamo is the cheapest at around £400 for 2 weeks.  We have previously been caught out at the airport having booked a car that was too small for us and the luggage so this time I am going straight to an SUV, which I know will fit everything.

 

I also looked into renting through a US comparison site incase there was an extra fee for Brits (controversial, I know) but I found that there were similar or slightly higher and often expected you to have your own insurance through your regular provider.  Going through a UK company at least means that you can lock in a price in £ and not be so reliant on a good exchange rate at the time.