Tips for Disney Parks & Cruise Lines

I just finished reading Mike Scopa's feature about car rentals during a Disney World vacation. It is much-needed information, as I found out last year when planning my family's most recent trip. We spent six nights at Pop Century Resort and then took the three-night Disney Cruise. The cost of Disney transportation from our resort to Port Canaveral was extremely prohibitive and the thought of loading all of our luggage onto a Disney bus to get to the "moderate" hotels to rent an Alamo car was unappealing! The solution came from Enterprise Rent a Car. Their advertising slogan is "We'll pick you up!" and that they did. I made our reservation prior to arriving in FL and then called the morning of check-out and they came to pick up my husband to rent the car. It was very convenient and did not cost anything additional. Thank you for all the amazing information about everything Disney, you made our trip the, "trip of a lifetime!" and I would not have been able to do it without you! - Stephanie Lundgren Parker

In response to Mike Scopa's excellent article, I take one more step when renting a car. Knowing for sure that I am headed to the World for a vacation, I immediately make a car reservation for the best deal I can find. Check back often after that as prices will fluctuate like airline prices (though usually not as much) and better deals can sometimes be had. You can cancel a reservation easily with no penalties if you find a better deal later. - Mike Nowicki

In response to Mike Scopa's excellent article, I take one more step when renting a car. Knowing for sure that I am headed to the World for a vacation, I immediately make a car reservation for the best deal I can find. Check back often after that as prices will fluctuate like airline prices (though usually not as much) and better deals can sometimes be had. You can cancel a reservation easily with no penalties if you find a better deal later. - Mike Nowicki

If you will be renting a car while on your WDW vacation and flying, check flying into Tampa Airport. Twice we found that we saved so much money flying into Tampa vs. Orlando. We always rent a car when we go and the drive from Tampa to WDW was almost the same amount of time. Also, the airport seems much more low key. - Kim Brown

If you will be renting a car while on your WDW vacation and flying, check flying into Tampa Airport. Twice we found that we saved so much money flying into Tampa vs. Orlando. We always rent a car when we go and the drive from Tampa to WDW was almost the same amount of time. Also, the airport seems much more low key. - Kim Brown

Use the Disney bus from the airport to your hotel and as soon as you check-in call the car rental at Disney. They will send a shuttle over to pick you up, do the paper work and save approximately $100 over renting the same car at the airport. It is much more comfortable taking the bus from the airport than driving to the resorts (and no toll cost). Dropping your car off at the end of the vacation is easier and taking the bus back to the airport is much more convenient. When it is time to leave your resort you check out at 11 a.m., and the hotel will store your baggage. When you are approaching your departure time, you return the car and their shuttle will take you back to your resort and then you jump on the Disney bus. We have rented cars from the airport many times, but the last time we went we tried the above and it worked out very well. You also save the gas it takes to travel from and to the airport. Because we were able to keep the car well past check-out time, we went back into one of the parks, had a great lunch, went over to Disney Springs, shopped, filled the tank up with gas. Then we drove over to the Magic Kingdom parking lot and dropped off the car. They dropped us off at our resort and everything went as smooth as clockwork. And because we were so close to every place we wanted to go we only used $14 in gas for a 10-day stay (we had an SUV for four people). We found that we would normally lose close to two days of our vacation because of check-in/out, and getting the car back to the airport on time. - Dan Cotterell from Canada

Use the Disney bus from the airport to your hotel and as soon as you check-in call the car rental at Disney. They will send a shuttle over to pick you up, do the paper work and save approximately $100 over renting the same car at the airport. It is much more comfortable taking the bus from the airport than driving to the resorts (and no toll cost). Dropping your car off at the end of the vacation is easier and taking the bus back to the airport is much more convenient. When it is time to leave your resort you check out at 11 a.m., and the hotel will store your baggage. When you are approaching your departure time, you return the car and their shuttle will take you back to your resort and then you jump on the Disney bus. We have rented cars from the airport many times, but the last time we went we tried the above and it worked out very well. You also save the gas it takes to travel from and to the airport. Because we were able to keep the car well past check-out time, we went back into one of the parks, had a great lunch, went over to Disney Springs, shopped, filled the tank up with gas. Then we drove over to the Magic Kingdom parking lot and dropped off the car. They dropped us off at our resort and everything went as smooth as clockwork. And because we were so close to every place we wanted to go we only used $14 in gas for a 10-day stay (we had an SUV for four people). We found that we would normally lose close to two days of our vacation because of check-in/out, and getting the car back to the airport on time. - Dan Cotterell from Canada

Explore the world of vacation homes and condos. Remember, a 15-minute drive can save you literally hundreds of dollars. When you get a place to stay, look for somewhere with laundry machines in the unit or available in the complex.You can carry much less luggage and not have to worry about paying baggage fees to the airline. It won't hurt anyone to do one load of laundry on a four- or five-day trip. If you are renting a vacation home or condo, you will probably have to do it anyway for towels. - Tom Galloway

Explore the world of vacation homes and condos. Remember, a 15-minute drive can save you literally hundreds of dollars. When you get a place to stay, look for somewhere with laundry machines in the unit or available in the complex.You can carry much less luggage and not have to worry about paying baggage fees to the airline. It won't hurt anyone to do one load of laundry on a four- or five-day trip. If you are renting a vacation home or condo, you will probably have to do it anyway for towels. - Tom Galloway

We had resigned ourselves to staying off-site due to a tight budget. But then we remembered Fort Wilderness campground -- all the perks of staying onsite at a fraction of the cost, since we will be sharing our campsite with friends. We are so looking forward to it! - Ky in Gulfport, MS

We had resigned ourselves to staying off-site due to a tight budget. But then we remembered Fort Wilderness campground -- all the perks of staying onsite at a fraction of the cost, since we will be sharing our campsite with friends. We are so looking forward to it! - Ky in Gulfport, MS

Our big money-saving tip is to stay at a Disney value resort the first night of our stay, since we get in late. Then the next morning we take a taxi to our Deluxe resort, stopping at the Hess gas station to pick up bottled water. - Sandie Albrecht

Our big money-saving tip is to stay at a Disney value resort the first night of our stay, since we get in late. Then the next morning we take a taxi to our Deluxe resort, stopping at the Hess gas station to pick up bottled water. - Sandie Albrecht

While vacationing in Walt Disney World last week, my wife and I opted to change our ride view experiences slightly; we switched seats. As a true "Prince Charming", I normally hold doors open for my wife to enter buildings or vehicles first, but on this trip she was "Princess Charming" and had me enter ride vehicles with only one entrance first (e.g., Spaceship Earth, Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan's Flight, etc.). We were amazed at the new views of the attractions we had! - Denny

If you are planning a summer trip to Walt Disney World, it is pretty safe to assume that you will experience both very hot temperatures and rain. My tip is to buy inexpensive water shoes for the whole family at your local discount or dollar store prior to your trip. The pavement around the pools and in the water parks gets very hot. Areas with sand can become so hot that you can barely walk on them. I would recommend water shoes instead of flip-flops, because you will not be allowed to wear flip-flops on water slides. Water shoes can be purchased at WDW, but you will easily pay double for them. My second tip is to also purchase rain ponchos at the discount/dollar store. Ponchos take up much less space in luggage than rain coats. Buy one for each member of your party, and if you will be taking a stroller on your trip, buy an additional large poncho. Why? To cover your stroller while you are in an attraction. Nothing is worse than exiting an attraction only to find that a sudden rain shower has soaked your stroller, and everything in it. At WDW, strollers are almost never allowed inside of buildings or attractions. Instead, you will have to put your stroller in the "stroller parking" area. This area will be outdoors, and will rarely be under cover. Because the summer weather in Orlando can be unpredictable, I put our ponchos in a large zip top plastic bag, and keep them in the pocket of our stroller at all times. - Shannon Barrett