Do We Need A Rental Car?

Our next visit is scheduled for Columbus Day weekend. We will arrive late Thursday night and return on Monday so we have three full days.

We are staying at a Universal resort to take advantage of the “front of line access”. Friday is Magic Kingdom with the Universal parks on Saturday and Sunday.

My question is whether we need a rental car. We currently have one reserved with Alamo for $178. In lieu of a rental, should we consider cabs or a car service? We would need transportation from the airport to the hotel and back and also from the hotel to Magic Kingdom and back.

I heard that Universal charges guests to park at the resort so I’d be paying to just have a car sitting in the parking lot for most of the weekend since we can walk to the Universal parks.

Does Universal offer transportation from the airport to the resort? If yes, I guess I don’t see the need to rent a car just to get us to Magic Kingdom. Thoughts?

I'm not aware of Universal offering free transportation to the resort(s). Given the trip you've described, I'd go with the rental car. If you were just going to Universal and were going to stay there for the entire trip, I would probably just arrange the transportation to and from the airport and forgo the rental but, with the side trip to Disney, I would want to be able to come and go as I pleased.

Faline, thank you for the feedback.

Haven't been on here in awhile, but I figured I'd offer my two cents since we frequently plan the sort of trip you just described.

We usually go with the less expensive option - taking a cab for us - for the following reasons:

- There are only 2 of us, so we fit in a regular cab.
- Self parking at Universal resorts is $20 a night.
- You will pay $14 to park at Disney.
- It usually takes us a little under $50 from the airport to Universal and $50 back to the airport at the end of the trip.
- It cost us about $35 to go to Hollywood Studios last trip (each way).

With tips, we spent $190 on transportation last trip. It would have cost us a lot more for parking and rental because we were staying 5 nights last trip.

So, when you consider:
-$178 for the car
- $80 plus tax to park at the hotel
- $14 to park at Disney
- Cost of gas

For us, it's always a little bit cheaper to get the cabs if we're only going to more than one park. Plus, it's always a shorter walk due to where the cab stands are :)

Enjoy your trip!

Thanks Mfarquar, for the parking and cab costs. Based on this, it appears we'd save over $100 by not renting. That pays for one of the MK tickets and then some.

This is just me but I prefer my own car, or a rental if I don't drive down... That way I can go around as much as I want, where I want, without being tied down... I want to run to Walmart or dine off property, I can without the added costs of a cab.. and after the fiasco last year with using a cab to get to Universal and back, never again...