We did this once and found it cheapest to rent the car at MCO when we arrived, pay for parking at the port while on the cruise and return the car to MCO.
We rented the car from Budget for 2 days and will pick up at MCO and drop it off at Cocoa Beach for $91.00 all in
That's a great price for a car rental for 2 days and different drop off/pick up points!
The car rental places at Cocoa Beach are about a mile or less to the port and they have free shuttles.
Sure it's an option. IMO though, it kills too much time. You have to get a shuttle to the rental place, go through the paperwork, then get in the car and drive. Then, you have to allow time to stop for gas, return the car, then shuttle back to the pier. I'm guessing you'll lose close to an hour all told. If you don't want to use RCI transportation, I suggest arranging for a car service ahead time. They can be waiting for you when you get off the ship and you can be on your way immediately. Then when you return, they drop you back right at the ship. I'm guessing this will cost $150-200, but it might be worth it.I have a one day port stop at Port Canaveral coming up in January and am trying to find transport to/from HWS for the day. Do you think Cocoa Beach car rental is an option for me?
Sure it's an option. IMO though, it kills too much time. You have to get a shuttle to the rental place, go through the paperwork, then get in the car and drive. Then, you have to allow time to stop for gas, return the car, then shuttle back to the pier. I'm guessing you'll lose close to an hour all told. If you don't want to use RCI transportation, I suggest arranging for a car service ahead time. They can be waiting for you when you get off the ship and you can be on your way immediately. Then when you return, they drop you back right at the ship. I'm guessing this will cost $150-200, but it might be worth it.
We did this once and found it cheapest to rent the car at MCO when we arrived, pay for parking at the port while on the cruise and return the car to MCO.
It was cheaper to rent the car for a week and pay parking for a week? ...
I miss the free resort parking days. That's what we did - used the rental car at WDW for 5 days and then left it at the port for the cruise. Now that I think back, we also had a shorter cruise booked. One of the 2 or 3 night ones if I recall so it wasn't parking for a full week. It was the best holiday though. After walking miles and miles at WDW, we found a beach chair on deck and sipped cocktails while the kids were at kids club. This meant re-entering the real world relaxed and not exhausted from WDW.We did this too, although we were staying at WDW for 3 nights before the 4 night cruise. I'm going back 7 or 8 years though; I think car rentals were comparatively a little less expensive back then, and WDW wasn't charging for resort parking. Another nice advantage of renting a car and leaving it at the port is that you can leave some of your stuff, such as dirty clothes, souvenirs from WDW, etc. in the car instead of bringing them on the ship...or, if going to WDW afterwards, some clean clothes, etc.
I have a Star Wars loving family who say it will be worth it no matter how short or crowded the time is. We've done WDW at Christmas so are used to 10/10 crowds lol. We already have reservations for Oga's Cantina and are hoping to do one of the two GE rides, preferably ROTR. I'll try and get FP for other things when my 30 days starts and with a good attitude, we will have a smooth and enjoyable day.excellent advice. I would have said the same thing. HWS is going to be a madhouse with Star Wars there.
I would take a pass on this until you are there for a longer period of time. If your heart is set on it I wish the smoothest, and most enjoyable day.
NGTOD
Regarding the bolded... who's paying for the tickets though? My DS would love to go to HS and think "it's worth it even if we only get four hours", but he's not the one forking out $140+/person for tickets.I have a Star Wars loving family who say it will be worth it no matter how short or crowded the time is. We've done WDW at Christmas so are used to 10/10 crowds lol. We already have reservations for Oga's Cantina and are hoping to do one of the two GE rides, preferably ROTR. I'll try and get FP for other things when my 30 days starts and with a good attitude, we will have a smooth and enjoyable day.
I know, it will be a crazy expensive day. We decided to forgo paid excursions at our other ports just to afford this. I also drew the line at creating our own light sabers or droids. I figure we'll be in the $25-30 per hour per person range. It sounds cheaper to talk about $25/hr!Regarding the bolded... who's paying for the tickets though? My DS would love to go to HS and think "it's worth it even if we only get four hours", but he's not the one forking out $140+/person for tickets.