Toll roads

[cdurham1]

Am I going to encounter a toll road between the car rental exit at MCO and the Polynesian? No get so confused about where/how I am supposed to pay on Florida toll roads.

 

[StageTek]

Yes, you will encounter a toll road between the car rental exit at MCO and the Polynesian.
It's been a while since I've driven but I think the route (528) has manned booths. There is a lane that tells you where to go and you will pull up to the booth and pay the toll.

But I suggest you have change with you - quarters are best. As you approach a tool booth you will see a sign telling you how much the toll is. You will pull up to the booth and toss in the change.

 

[cdurham1]

Yes, you will encounter a toll road between the car rental exit at MCO and the Polynesian.
It's been a while since I've driven but I think the route (528) has manned booths. There is a lane that tells you where to go and you will pull up to the booth and pay the toll.

But I suggest you have change with you - quarters are best. As you approach a tool booth you will see a sign telling you how much the toll is. You will pull up to the booth and toss in the change.

Thank you. Coming from a toll road free area of the country, this actually really confuses me, . I always feel like I am missing something. Even more confusing, I have been a couple of times when they suspended the tolls bc of hurricane evacuations. Which, by the way, seemed to be a great time to be at WDW.

 

[Keacc]

Check the discussion here on Florida Visitor Toll Pass:
Visitor Toll Pass is back at MCO | The DIS Disney Discussion Forums - DISboards.com

I have used this several times without a problem.

 

[MillauFr]

I just bought by own Sunpass at Publix.

 

[jmasgat]

Am I going to encounter a toll road between the car rental exit at MCO and the Polynesian? No get so confused about where/how I am supposed to pay on Florida toll roads.

Yes. Regardless of which highway route you take. The route you would take out of the airport to the south gets onto 417 (the Greeneway) There are booths at several spots along the way. If you take the exit to International Drive/World Center Drive, it would be $3.50 cash total ($1.75 each at 2 booths--both manned). If you go all the way to Osceola (to pick up World Drive) it would be an additional $0.75--but this last one is unmanned and you need exact change.

If you go out of the airport to the north and get on the Beachline (528), there are also tolls . For cash, looks like one stop $2.75 (I don't go this way, so I don't remember the toll plazas.)

You can use an EZ pass if you have one, or the Visitor pass. Here's a link to the Central Florida Expressway website.

https://www.cfxway.com/for-travelers/#

 

[EACarlson]

As a reminder, Visitor Toll Pass only works if you rent from one of the 10 on site rental companies, if you have to take a shuttle to get your car it won't work, and is currently only available on the A side. If you have checked bags and are arriving domestically on Delta, American, United, Spirit or Sun Country it is a more complicated issue. You will have to go get your bags, go back up to level 3, across the terminal to the A side and then down to level 1 to get your pass. If you are arriving domestically on Southwest, JetBlue, Alaska, Frontier or Hawaiian you simply grab your bags and go down to level 1.
I am going to use the VTP when I'm in MCO in three weeks since I'm flying in on SW this trip. I did not use it last trip in October because I was coming in on Delta. I also have an Illinois IPass that I used that trip instead. If you can't or don't want to use VTP you can purchase any EZPass compatible transponder (last I looked the UNI was available for $15 from Amazon) and bring it with you. Using any of these will save time and money over paying cash at the toll booths, all of them get the discounted rate. If you really want simplicity and are willing to pay for it, every rental agency offers to take care of the tolls for you, how much that costs varies by company. Some are reasonable, and some are downright robbery, at least one of them adds a $20 charge to each toll up to $80 for the rental.

 

[cdurham1]

As a reminder, Visitor Toll Pass only works if you rent from one of the 10 on site rental companies, if you have to take a shuttle to get your car it won't work, and is currently only available on the A side. If you have checked bags and are arriving domestically on Delta, American, United, Spirit or Sun Country it is a more complicated issue. You will have to go get your bags, go back up to level 3, across the terminal to the A side and then down to level 1 to get your pass. If you are arriving domestically on Southwest, JetBlue, Alaska, Frontier or Hawaiian you simply grab your bags and go down to level 1.
I am going to use the VTP when I'm in MCO in three weeks since I'm flying in on SW this trip. I did not use it last trip in October because I was coming in on Delta. I also have an Illinois IPass that I used that trip instead. If you can't or don't want to use VTP you can purchase any EZPass compatible transponder (last I looked the UNI was available for $15 from Amazon) and bring it with you. Using any of these will save time and money over paying cash at the toll booths, all of them get the discounted rate. If you really want simplicity and are willing to pay for it, every rental agency offers to take care of the tolls for you, how much that costs varies by company. Some are reasonable, and some are downright robbery, at least one of them adds a $20 charge to each toll up to $80 for the rental.

Wow, this is a lot of stuff I didn't know. I am also flying on SW, arriving on the 19th, renting a car from Hertz. It looks like I should decide between the visitor pass and the transmitter.

 

[EACarlson]

Wow, this is a lot of stuff I didn't know. I am also flying on SW, arriving on the 19th, renting a car from Hertz. It looks like I should decide between the visitor pass and the transmitter.

If you aren't going to use it reasonably often I would to with the VTP. I'm going down in three weeks and using VTP even though I already have a compatible transponder.

 

[Donna M]

If you decide to pay cash and use 417, you need to make sure to stay in the right lane so you don´t fly through the toll by accident; the toll is almost like an exit ramp.

 

[Shellyred8]

While researching this for yourself, make sure to check to see how much the car rental agency charges you to use what they provide. They might charge an extra "convenience" fee to use it. If you will only use the toll roads a couple of times, it might be less expensive to just pay cash. We always bring a tube of quarters with for this purpose. Then we can go through the "exact coins" lane.

 

[Lewisc]

The trend is cashless tolls. Tolls are charged by transponder or by plate. Almost all central Florida toll roads still accept cash.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

While researching this for yourself, make sure to check to see how much the car rental agency charges you to use what they provide. They might charge an extra "convenience" fee to use it. If you will only use the toll roads a couple of times, it might be less expensive to just pay cash. We always bring a tube of quarters with for this purpose. Then we can go through the "exact coins" lane.

I agree 100% with this recommendation. You could end up paying the rental car company many dollars per day for using their transponder. It would be much easier to pay cash. And don't forget - you need to return to the airport, so make sure you have enough change for both directions!

 

[Judique]

Am I going to encounter a toll road between the car rental exit at MCO and the Polynesian? No get so confused about where/how I am supposed to pay on Florida toll roads.

There is another option I don't see mentioned. You can sign up for toll by plate through Sunpass. You don't get the minimal discounts and you don't need to buy a transponder. You can put a minimum of $10 on the account. There is a $2.50 admin charge if you use the account without funds in it, but, you don't have to keep track of anything, just that you have an account. Perfect for someone who rents a car and visits rarely. You would have to add the rental car plate to your account and then remember to remove it after your trip, but it's all online.

SunPass : Create SunPass Account

I have a Sunpass and also an EZ pass. My Son in law was using one of my vehicles and knowing I had EZ Pass he used a toll road with my permission without the pass in the vehicle. He kept asking me how much he owed and I said forget it, no prob.

Eventually I noticed toll by plate in Maryland charged it to my Sunpass account. There was money on the account and I guess that one must have matched first. Much better than a ticket. Here we have these variable tolls where time of day and traffic density will affect the cost of the toll. So his was 1.95. I paid as much as $20 on a trip through Northern Virginia. Florida is very reasonable so far.

 

[EACarlson]

There is another option I don't see mentioned. You can sign up for toll by plate through Sunpass. You don't get the minimal discounts and you don't need to buy a transponder. You can put a minimum of $10 on the account. There is a $2.50 admin charge if you use the account without funds in it, but, you don't have to keep track of anything, just that you have an account. Perfect for someone who rents a car and visits rarely. You would have to add the rental car plate to your account and then remember to remove it after your trip, but it's all online.

SunPass : Create SunPass Account

I have a Sunpass and also an EZ pass. My Son in law was using one of my vehicles and knowing I had EZ Pass he used a toll road with my permission without the pass in the vehicle. He kept asking me how much he owed and I said forget it, no prob.

Eventually I noticed toll by plate in Maryland charged it to my Sunpass account. There was money on the account and I guess that one must have matched first. Much better than a ticket. Here we have these variable tolls where time of day and traffic density will affect the cost of the toll. So his was 1.95. I paid as much as $20 on a trip through Northern Virginia. Florida is very reasonable so far.

I don't think that would work. There is no guarantee that toll by plate would attach to your Sunpass account rather than the rental car company's.

 

[Judique]

I don't think that would work. There is no guarantee that toll by plate would attach to your Sunpass account rather than the rental car company's.

Why not? If you've got an activated account and the rental car company does not have a currently active account, that's where the charge will land. The rental car company probably controls their accounts by activating them when they get a customer who wants to use their service. I doubt they keep an account active on a car that doesn't have a toll agreement signed.

The key is to add the tag number to your account. And on a rental, remove it after you turn the car in.

I've used EZ pass and Sunpass for many years - well over 20 for ez pass and 15 or so for Sunpass. I've only had a problem when my account was dry and then, add funds. I've called Sunpass on getting a charge that didn't go through for lack of funds and they had me add to my account and then collected the regular amount via the account. Very courteous and easy to work with.

Plus, if you opened the link you would see where it specifically refers to leases and rentals.

 

[EACarlson]

You're assuming that the rental company doesn't have a currently active account. Some companies, Budget jumps immediately to mind, has a transponder in the vehicle that you have to turn off, that means they have an account and would have the plate registered.
How do you think they charge you for tolls whether you sign up for the service or not? They have all of the plates registered to their account to try and save money.
There is also the issue of Prepaid toll by plate doesn't work on 417 or 528, the two toll roads you would use to get from MCO to WDW.

 

[Capt_BJ]

how the Florida systems process electronic tolls:

the system works in steps when you pass thru a 'gate'

first it looks for a transponder and if found the account is charged, if not found:::

the tag is electronically read and the system searches the SUNPASS (and other similar system) database for the tag .... if found, the account is charged ... this is why it is important to have the rental's tag registered to the account. (this is the backup in case there is a hiccup reading the transponder. Transponder at one time had batteries and this backup procedure was very helpful if your battery died ... which happened to my daughter .... she did not notice the old style unit had stopped 'beeping' ... it was dead .. but with tag registered to the account, the toll was processed properly) AND why it is important to DELETE the rental info when you return the car!! The SUNPASS APP has a special entry when you denote RENTAL, and will allow you to enter an expire date/time . . . if the TAG was not found associated with a private account::

The system will next check for 'fleet registered' tags ... most rental are registered to a group account ... the rental company does not want to get toll violations! For the most part they hire a third party company to manage their fleet tolls. This is why most rentals don't have a transponder ... they are 'fleet'. If the tag is part of a fleet account the toll is sent to fleet manager (this is where rental companies ADD fees)

If the tag is not associated with any account the system will send to 'toll by plate' where that system is in place. If toll by plate is NOT active at the location, tag info is used to process a VIOLATION.

 

[OKW Lover]

the tag is electronically read and the system searches the SUNPASS (and other similar system) database for the tag .

Translation for non-Floridians: "Tag" = license plate

 

[Judique]

You're assuming that the rental company doesn't have a currently active account. Some companies, Budget jumps immediately to mind, has a transponder in the vehicle that you have to turn off, that means they have an account and would have the plate registered.
How do you think they charge you for tolls whether you sign up for the service or not? They have all of the plates registered to their account to try and save money.
There is also the issue of Prepaid toll by plate doesn't work on 417 or 528, the two toll roads you would use to get from MCO to WDW.

I would think that they might charge you for tolls if they get a charge on their tag during the time you have the car rented. But, with toll by plate, the charge should not go to them.

So, where did you see info that says the Toll by plate doesn't work on 417 or 528? I haven't found that in what I've read so far. Sunpass itself definitely works on 528 and 417.

If someone goes through a toll without using a payment method, how do you think the toll gets charged? It's because they get your plate/tag, otherwise everyone would be running through.

I'm sure the rental company would have active accounts. The fact remains that Sunpass specifcally states that toll by plate can be used with leases or rentals, but I haven't seen an exclusion for 528 and 417. So, please, point me to that information. I do like to be informed when I am a customer of the service. Plus I haven't been in Florida in almost 2 years so things may have changed.