Is This a Good Plan for MCO to Miami???

[teacherman]

We were scheduled for a family cruise on the March 31 Oasis cruise that was cancelled.  We have transferred to the Allure cruise on the same date.  Problem is that we have airline tickets into and out of Orlando.  So, our plan is to arrive in Orlando on Saturday night at 6:30, rent 2 cars and drive about 90 minutes to a reserved hotel somewhere on the way to Miami.  We will continue on Sunday morning and return the cars to Miami Airport, and take taxis or Ubers to the ship.  The real problem is when the ship returns on Sunday, April 7.  Arrival is scheduled for 6:45.  We plan to do walk off with our luggage, taxi or Uber back to MIA, rent cars, and then drive to MCO and return the cars.  Our flight leaves at 4:00 pm, so I think we should be IN the airport by 1:30.  We will take the turnpike.

 

We have never flown to MCO previously.  Nor have we done this drive or cruised from Miami, or on a ship as large as Allure.  I do know that IF we miss our return flight it will cost us a lot of money to get new ones.  Is this a reasonable plan?  Appreciate any information/advice from those who have done something similar.

[JohninDC]

Sounds reasonable to me.   Where will you stay that is 90 min south of Orlando and convenient to the toll road?   You might consider getting a hotel in Orlando, and then get up early on the Sunday and drive to MIA - the drive will take about 3.5-4 hours.  If you rent from National, Alamo, Thrifty or Enterprise they offer free shuttles between their MIA airport location and POM, saving you the taxi/Uber fare.

 

Post cruise if you are in your rental and on the road by 9:00 or so you should easily make MCO in time for your flight.  Look out for those high gas prices at some stations near MCO. 

 

Good luck and have a great cruise?

[BNBR]

1:30 at MCO is super conservative. And even that is going to be easy to make. You'll be fine. 

 

John is right about the hotel. If you decide in this you will probably want to head over to I95 from Orlando. The time difference is minimal in this case but that's where I'd be looking for a hotel. 

 

I personally wouldn't want a 4 hour drive the day of my cruise with vehicle drop off unless you are wanting to head out at 6am.

[BNBR]

Actually, 90 minutes... That would be around ft pierce and you can hop off the turnpike for lodging easily. 

[teacherman]

We have booked the Hampton Inn at Exit 152 in Fort Pierce.  I think the rental cars will have some "Fast Pass" kind of set up where the toll charges will be added to the rental.  

[BNBR]

Your plan sounds solid to me and should be very smooth. Have a great time! 

 

Since you are right next to 95 in Fort Pierce, I would skip the turnpike in the morning and just hop on 95.  No point in paying for the turnpike and dealing with the 2 lane road vs 95 which is 3 lanes.

Edited December 22, 2018 by BNBR

[Host CJSKIDS]

2 hours ago, BNBR said:

Your plan sounds solid to me and should be very smooth. Have a great time! 

 

Since you are right next to 95 in Fort Pierce, I would skip the turnpike in the morning and just hop on 95.  No point in paying for the turnpike and dealing with the 2 lane road vs 95 which is 3 lanes.

 

I just did the Orlando/Miami drive 2 weekends ago and went up the turnpike and back via 95 which I jumped on at Fort Pierce.  There is currently roadwork on 95 so it’s not 3 lanes in some areas but 2.  

[BNBR]

12 minutes ago, Host CJSKIDS said:

 

I just did the Orlando/Miami drive 2 weekends ago and went up the turnpike and back via 95 which I jumped on at Fort Pierce.  There is currently roadwork on 95 so it’s not 3 lanes in some areas but 2.  

 

I drove the entirety of 95 through Florida this week, twice. The road work is through a minimal portion.  98.5% 3 lanes... 

[thinfool]

All good plans....I would add

We travel 95 regularly to/from West Palm Beach...sometimes on to Ft Lauderdale.

 

The Mrs is my navigator and watches traffic on Google Maps.  It is amazing how often the road is completely blocked by a major wreck of some sort.  OTOH, usually you can fly down 95 with no problems.

 

My point is...use Google Maps or some sort of GPS that indicates traffic conditions ahead of you.  A major tieup could derail your plans and your cruise.

Edited December 25, 2018 by thinfool

[BNBR]

Good advice. Turnpike was completely blocked south bound in Palm Beach yesterday. Always a good idea to punch the route into Google and check traffic. 

[T-2]

If I may also pick your brains as we too have never driven from MCO to Miami- I am going to go ahead and get the Sunpass portable transponder as those toll charges on the rental car are adding up every trip.  Its $25 per day even on the days we are not even using the car in the Disney Springs and parks area.  Is there anyplace on the route between Disney (stopping at Lion country safari the day before Miami), then on to Miami, where the transponder would not be accepted, any type of road I need to avoid because it is on a different system and if there is does the station have an attendant.  I am comparing owning the transponder and using it on future trips as well, vs paying $125 add on fee to use it for the week and only driving 2 of the days, we are driving little hops in the Parks area, but those days are not on the toll roads, just local running around.  Its the drive from MCO and then the longer one to Miami by way of Royal Palm Beach and then Miami where we are dropping the car at the airport, UBER to port the next morning.  Super appreciate any heads up.

[thinfool]

While it is not hard to avoid tolls using I-95 in south Florida, your plan is sound.  The Sunpass is good in all of Florida regardless of the toll encountered.  

Once you have the Sunpass, follow the instructions to set up your online account to activate the transponder and fund the account.

Be sure your rental company has a way to defeat their onboard transponder.   When you enter or leave a toll road thru the toll station you will see a display that reads "Go Sunpass" to assure that it is working. (posted speed is 25 mph...most Floridians have set a higher speed).

Rereading your post I would add that toll stations with an attendant also have "Sunpass only" lanes although a Sunpass can pass thru any lane, attendant or not.

 

Edited December 26, 2018 by thinfool

[BNBR]

Rental car may be using toll by plate. Which wouldn't be activated if you have the transponder. 

 

Buying the transponder is a great idea. 

[T-2]

I cannot thank you both enough, this car rental does use toll by plate and previous trips where the rental company 'offered' the use of a transponder, we just didn't activate it and carried lots of quarters, traveling with our own is now going to be much less expensive- serious savings.  And I love that I now know to watch for that display that reads "Go Sunpass" , I'll be on the lookout, super appreciative- I had read that some of the roads around Miami were on a different toll system, so appreciate not having to worry we weren't covered- again, thank you so much for your kindness in explaining.  We love visiting Florida :0)  I'll love traveling with our own portable transponder from now on!