Rent a car or Uber/Lyft while staying offsite

[Disney4life222]

My family and I (4 people total) have booked our stay at an offsite resort. We are flying into Orlando. We plan to just do one park each day and not hop. We are also planning on visiting some of the resorts for dinner one night. I have not used Uber or Lyft around Disney as we have stayed onsite more recently nor have I had to pay resort parking fees. I would love to hear opinions on whether it is more cost effective and convenient to Uber/Lyft everywhere or rent a car and park at the parks and resorts?

 

[Ginger03]

My family and I (4 people total) have booked our stay at an offsite resort. We are flying into Orlando. We plan to just do one park each day and not hop. We are also planning on visiting some of the resorts for dinner one night. I have not used Uber or Lyft around Disney as we have stayed onsite more recently nor have I had to pay resort parking fees. I would love to hear opinions on whether it is more cost effective and convenient to Uber/Lyft everywhere or rent a car and park at the parks and resorts?

Probably depends where you are staying. Both lyft and Uber allow you to check prices, which you can do today. As long as you aren’t going when there would be a surge premium, you should be able to estimate. You could take Disney transportation from the park to you dinner resort, and leave directly from the resort after dinner.

 

[Upatnoon]

My family and I (4 people total) have booked our stay at an offsite resort. We are flying into Orlando. We plan to just do one park each day and not hop. We are also planning on visiting some of the resorts for dinner one night. I have not used Uber or Lyft around Disney as we have stayed onsite more recently nor have I had to pay resort parking fees. I would love to hear opinions on whether it is more cost effective and convenient to Uber/Lyft everywhere or rent a car and park at the parks and resorts?[/QUOTE

How much is the car rental? Do you have an annual pass or will you have to pay to park at the parks? How far way from Disney is your resort?

 

[Disney4life222]

We do not have annual passed and would have to pay for parking at the parks. The place we are staying is called Magic Village which reviewers have stated is located about 5-10 minutes from Animal Kingdom. Has anyone had experience with Uber/Lyft in the area? Is it pretty easy to find a driver at all time of the day?

 

[Upatnoon]

If you are very disciplined and only use Uber to go back and forth to Animal Kingdom Lodge where you catch the Disney transportation it will likely be cheaper than a car rental.

It costs $20 for parking at the Parks, which would pay for one RT Uber ride.

What are you are really losing is the convenience and ability to go anywhere instantly in your own car. Plus, one of the advantages of staying offsite is going to various offsite restaurants, grocery stores, etc. and every time you Uber you will be erasing some of the savings.

 

[Disney4life222]

Thanks I have some things to think about.

 

[Magical2017]

Do you plan to go back to your room for a mid-day break? The parking fees at the parks is $22/day. If you plan to go back to your hotel and come back, that is going to be more costly with Uber/Lyft. The transportation board has a good discussion of using Uber/Lfyt, as well as car rental deals/discussions that you might find helpful.

We would prefer to just use Uber/Lyft, as we dislike driving in Orlando. However, we did rent a car for next week's trip so we can shop for groceries, get to our ADR at Disney springs, and go back and forth between the parks in the August heat. Plus, the shuttle to and from the airport was only slightly less than the car rental. So financially, it makes sense for us. If we really don't like renting car we will just use Uber/Lyft on a future trip.

 

[kathy884]

My family and I (4 people total) have booked our stay at an offsite resort. We are flying into Orlando. We plan to just do one park each day and not hop. We are also planning on visiting some of the resorts for dinner one night. I have not used Uber or Lyft around Disney as we have stayed onsite more recently nor have I had to pay resort parking fees. I would love to hear opinions on whether it is more cost effective and convenient to Uber/Lyft everywhere or rent a car and park at the parks and resorts?

I just did the math for my four night/three day offsite mini stay -- staying at the Residence Inn SeaWorld and going to SeaWorld one day, the Titanic, Disney Springs, and Point Orlando one day, and the MK one day. Also we have transportation to and from the airport. A rental car was cheaper even including gas and parking at theme parks by about $40 for the trip ($10 a day), but as I wasn't doing grocery runs, etc. and there were just two of us. I decided to this time do uber/lyft -- didn't feel like driving for once. And this time really the cost difference isn't that significant.

Where I really like having a car is when I am doing grocery runs (have a large group staying in a condo or house and sometimes we'll stop in at the grocery store three or more times in a week.) and/or doing some day trips to Kennedy Space Center or Clearwater Beach. That's when the convenience and savings are significant.

For four people and what you are doing, I think a car would save you money (by more per day than what it is for us) and maybe a little more comfortable with the driving (not cramming three people in the back). Uber and Lyft are game changers, though, in cost of getting rides everywhere, and you can get a car in almost no time flat. Unless you are on a really tight budget I'd maybe decide more based on whether or not you want to drive. ​