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Renting car at MCO


Valskate86
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Hi!

I'm traveling with a group of 5 and want to be sure this will work before I book a rental car. If we rent a car (enterprise) at MCO to drive to port canaveral, I think we are able to drop the car at the port canaveral/cocoa beach location and they will shuttle is to the port itself. Is that correct? Has anyone done this and had it work well?

 

Thanks in advance!

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Hi!

I'm traveling with a group of 5 and want to be sure this will work before I book a rental car. If we rent a car (enterprise) at MCO to drive to port canaveral, I think we are able to drop the car at the port canaveral/cocoa beach location and they will shuttle is to the port itself. Is that correct? Has anyone done this and had it work well?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

As a suggestion, you should drop off everyone, plus bags at the port first, then one person return the car (don't forget your ID to get into the terminal). It's much easier for a single person, sans bags to get on that shuttle back to the port, than try to find space for a whole party with their luggage.

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All as above. Another strong vote for dropping passengers and luggage at the terminal and then returning the car. That way, you only have to shuffle the luggage once (rental to porter) rather than twice (rental to shuttle to porter), and it is very easy for one person to get a spot on a shuttle. A family of 5 with luggage will probably have to wait for the next shuttle.

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I didn't even think of luggage on the shuttle! You are absolutely right! This is why I ask here.

 

Does anyone know if the enterprise location is actually port canaveral or cocoa beach?

 

This might help:

28ho5cp.jpg

not mine, someone else did the work.

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Unless it has changed VERY recently, there are no auto places at PORT Canaveral. They are either listed as Cape Canaveral (Budget and Hertz, for instance) or Cocoa Beach (Thrifty, Dollar, etc). It seems like a small difference, but if you try to look up a Cape Canaveral location as "Port," it won't show up.

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One more question. There are two locations listed for cape canaveral. Does anyone know if it's the Atlantic ave or mullet road location?

 

Not sure what company has 2 locations....but I've never heard of Mullet Road. Budget, Hertz, etc. are on something like Astronaut Blvd. that turns into Atlantic Ave. The road doesn't change, only the name does!

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This is on line research, no personal experience with Enterprise at the port.

 

 

They have two locations.

The Mullet road location is a lot closer, near Fishlips restaurant, but Google Maps says at this time of day, there's only 3 mins driving time between them.

I'm sure in port cruise turn around hours the traffic could be worse.

Both offer a shuttle service.

 

https://www.enterprise.com/en/car-rental/locations/gpbr.us-fl-enterprise-rent-a-car.07vc.html

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But here's what's most efficient, convenient, and cost-effective for us on our upcoming trip.

 

We've looked at shuttles, privated transportation, and car rentals.

 

About us: 4 adults and 2 children. Length of vacation: 9 days.

 

We are flying in four days early to take in some land Disney before the cruise and leaving the day after the cruise disembarks. We had to look at transportation from the airport to the first accomodation (a vacation rental home), then transport from Orlando to Cape Canaveral (with possible shuttle from rental to dock and the reverse on the return trip), transport back to our Orlando accomodation, then from Orlando to the airport.

 

We were able to rent a mini van for 9 days (additional driver, unlimited mileage included) @ $508.92 (included the $66 car seats for the wee ones) + $80 charge to park at the port. This was not only cheaper overall than our other options, but gave us the convenience of driving directly to and from the port - no waits for shuttles, etc.

 

Renting the mini van for the full time rather than two separate blocks (and being able to pick up and drop off at one location instead of two) saved us $275 ... and that's with the cost of parking at the port thrown in.

Edited by CanadianDee
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Prices vary GREATLY. On one trip, I got a minivan at a special price of $39 one way, but the same van was over $100 on the return trip because it was a "May only" special. All you can do is to shop for the best price. Sounds like you got a great deal for 9 days + parking!

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Prices vary GREATLY. On one trip' date=' I got a minivan at a special price of $39 one way, but the same van was over $100 on the return trip because it was a "May only" special. All you can do is to shop for the best price. Sounds like you got a great deal for 9 days + parking![/quote']

 

Yes, I feel like I did my Mennonite/Dutch roots justice in the little bit of bargain hunting. ;-)

 

I'll also monitor the prices as the sail date nears and jump ship (as it were) if a more cost effective rental option becomes available. Sometimes I've had great luck with that.

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  • 1 month later...

You all were so helpful with my initial question! I have a follow up. In disembarkation day, is it fairly easy to catch the shuttle back to the rental agency? Will they be there waiting or will we need to call when we get off? Thank you for your experience!

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You all were so helpful with my initial question! I have a follow up. In disembarkation day, is it fairly easy to catch the shuttle back to the rental agency? Will they be there waiting or will we need to call when we get off? Thank you for your experience!

 

You don't have to call them, but they may not necessarily be there waiting. They have queues for each of the rental companies, and the shuttle makes back and forth trips. When we rented from Avis in June, I'd say we waited maybe 10 minutes for our shuttle.

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You don't have to call them, but they may not necessarily be there waiting. They have queues for each of the rental companies, and the shuttle makes back and forth trips. When we rented from Avis in June, I'd say we waited maybe 10 minutes for our shuttle.

 

 

This is exactly what I needed to know. Thank you so much!

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Mullett Road location offers larger shuttles (accommodate more people on each bus) and more frequent shuttles than any of the Astronaut Blvd. locations. You'd be quite unwise not to choose the Mullett Road location.

Edited by RJake1
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  • 3 weeks later...

We just did the MCO then 3-night cruise then MCO. It was cheaper for us to rent the car for a week, pay for the parking and let it sit in the garage for the duration of the cruise than it was to rent two separate one-way rentals. Additionally, it was much more convenient...parking right in the garage we were just steps from the terminal and didn't have to wait for a shuttle. When we disembarked, we were able to be off the ship and make it to Rope Drop at the Magic Kingdom by 8:30.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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You don't have to call for the shuttle, but you do have to line up and wait. Another hint--there is almost always room for one person with no luggage. Leave the family and luggage at the terminal and hop on the shuttle. Get the car, then go back to pick up the family.

 

When you get to the car place, you can go right in and start the car paperwork while the others on the shuttle are dealing with their luggage.

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For those who are considering the logistics of whether to rent a car for two legs so as not to pay the parking fees, or just do one leg round trip, there's also a third option, renting a car dropping it off at port, and then hiring a private shuttle to take you back to the airport, which is what we did. By the time we factored in parking charges, plus the extra days of rental, it made more sense to just hire a shuttle back. It won't always work out in your favor depending on how many days, and what sort of deals you can find, but I've found it often comes fairly close.

 

Besides, I hate the extra time it takes to get the rental car and then get our luggage loaded in. Much easier to just have a car waiting for us at the cruise terminal.

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Absolutely correct. You can also do DCL transfers one way. We do this on the way home IF we are on a participating airline. The ease of not seeing our luggage till we arrive at our home airport is worth the cost of the DCL transfers.

 

If not on a participating airline, we lose that advantage which makes the DCL bus look a lot less enticing.

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Another vote for if the budget allows for it, and you're on a participating airline is to use DCL transfers. Not having to worry about finding your luggage in the port and just going to the bus is much less stressful.

 

 

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Do keep in mind, that if everything goes well (as I said in my original post), and your car is in the garage and you carry off your own luggage and you're going to the parks afterward...it is possible to make Rope Drop if MK is opening at 9:00.

 

 

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