Tolls — the thing that catches everyone
Orlando's airport roads (the 417 and the 528) are cashless. There are no barriers and no booths: cameras read your plate and a bill goes to whoever owns the car. If you ignore it, the rental company pays it and charges you an administration fee per toll.
Three ways to handle it:
- The rental company's transponder (PlatePass, e-Toll and similar). Convenient, and often $10–$15 a day plus the tolls themselves — charged for every day of the rental whether you use a toll road or not. Fine for a long weekend, terrible value over two weeks.
- A SunPass Mini. About $5 from any Publix, CVS or Walgreens, load it with $10–$20 online, stick it on the windscreen. Register your hire car's plate for the duration. This is the cheapest option by a distance and takes ten minutes.
- Avoid tolls entirely. Google Maps' "avoid tolls" setting works fine and adds roughly 15 minutes from MCO to Disney. Genuinely viable if you're only doing the airport run twice.
The Visitor Toll Pass scheme at MCO is a middle option — a transponder you collect at the airport with no daily fee, tolls billed at cost. Worth checking whether it's still running when you land.
The drives
- MCO to Disney: 25–35 minutes via the 417, around $3 in tolls.
- Disney to Universal: about 20 minutes on I-4, no tolls — but I-4 at 5pm is its own attraction, and not a good one.
- Parking: roughly $30 a day at Disney theme parks (free if you're staying at a Disney resort), similar at Universal. Preferred parking costs more and saves you a ten-minute walk.
Booking the car
- Book early with free cancellation, then re-check monthly. Orlando rates fluctuate wildly and rebooking takes two minutes.
- Get a bigger car than you think. American "compact" is small, and you'll have suitcases plus a week's shopping. A mid-size SUV is the sweet spot for a family of four.
- Insurance is where the money hides. US rentals include only minimal liability cover. Either take the supplier's cover (expensive, simple) or buy standalone excess insurance from a UK provider before you fly (much cheaper, but you pay any damage up front and reclaim it). Whatever you choose, decide before you're at the desk being upsold at 11pm.
- You'll need a credit card in the main driver's name for the deposit. Debit cards are often refused.
- Under 25s pay a young-driver surcharge. Additional drivers are sometimes free, sometimes $13 a day — check.
Driving there
- It's an automatic; you won't be given a choice.
- Right turn on red is legal after stopping, unless a sign says otherwise.
- Undertaking on the freeway is normal and legal. Stay calm.
- School buses with flashing lights: everyone stops, both directions. This one carries a real fine.
- Petrol is cheap by UK standards and most pumps want a US ZIP code — go inside and pay the cashier instead.
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