[tomwed]

Before I start googling I thought I would just ask the group this question.

My son invited me to Ft. Lauderdale for a long weekend. The cruise service transportation is not until october, so that's out.

What are my options? My car is too small for such a long trip.
rent a car locally
rent a car a from mco [orlando airport]
take a bus
take a train

Do you know what's the best deal?

[Carla B]

As for a local car rental, you could go on Hertz or Enterprise sites to plug in your dates and time and select car to see how much they would charge . Then you'd have to add toll charges, probably around $30, more or less roundtrip. On top of that they usually charge a fee of $2.95 approx. per day to turn on their toll transponder, whether you use it that day or not. If you already have a movable Sun Pass transponder you would avoid that fee. Finally you'd pay for gas.

Renting from MCO: You can check various websites for the best deal. You'll still have tolls from MCO to Ft. Lauderdale and the expense of getting to and from MCO (shuttle?). On top of that airport taxes and fees apply to cars rented at an airport but you can find that on the website. I like to check Budget's rates. They are owned by Avis but generally cheaper.

Finally, you can take Amtrak from Wildwood to Ft L. For schedule and rates, go to Amtrak.com. It takes longer than driving, about 6 hours vs. 4-1/2 driving. They have a dedicated bus from Wildwood to Lakeland where you board the train. It's comfortable if you're not in a hurry and don't mind possibly being late. On the website, select WWD to FTL. Depending on how far out you reserve, it costs around $100 round trip.

[Shimpy]

Originally Posted by tomwed

What are my options? My car is too small for such a long trip.

Not really that far, just about 4 hours with a pit stop along the way. I've done it many times on a motorcycle which is much smaller. The turnpike has plazas every approx. 40 miles apart and you could take advantage of stopping at all of them to make yourself more comfortable.

[jnieman]

Originally Posted by tomwed

Before I start googling I thought I would just ask the group this question.

My son invited me to Ft. Lauderdale for a long weekend. The cruise service transportation is not until october, so that's out.

What are my options? My car is too small for such a long trip.
rent a car locally
rent a car a from mco [orlando airport]
take a bus
take a train

Do you know what's the best deal?

Check into redcoachusa.com. They run out of Ocala for about $50.00 each way. Nice big first class bus. They go to Ft. Lauderdale and several other cities nearby.

[tomwed]

Originally Posted by Shimpy

Not really that far, just about 4 hours with a pit stop along the way. I've done it many times on a motorcycle which is much smaller. The turnpike has plazas every approx. 40 miles apart and you could take advantage of stopping at all of them to make yourself more comfortable.

Now I totally get it. If I get nervous, just take a break in plazza. That is great advice. What's the rush? I think that's what I'll do. Thank-you very much
Sorry I didn't understand at first.

[Jdmiata]

Not that far away. 4 hours straight down the turnpike. Basically just one road to travel on.