Orlando car rental for families: what to check before you book

Orlando International Airport (MCO) lists ten rental companies with cars in its own garages, and more than 30 that run shuttles to lots outside it. Choosing on the daily rate alone misses what families pay later: the toll program, the hold on your card, child seats and parking at the parks. Here are those costs, with figures taken from the companies' own pages, the airport and Florida's motor-vehicle agency in November 2026.

Do you need a car at all?

It depends on where you sleep. Guests at Disney Resort hotels get standard theme-park parking included and free overnight parking at the hotel, according to Disney's parking page. Other visitors pay, apart from select Annual Passholders. Disney listed standard parking at $35 a day in November 2026, with preferred spaces at $50, $55 or $60, and one fee covers all four parks on the same day. Even on Disney property, the Swan, Dolphin and Swan Reserve charge their own guests $40 a day to self-park.

A family at a Disney Resort hotel doing only Disney parks gets the least out of a car. A family in a vacation home gets the most. So does anyone adding the Atlantic beaches or a cruise: Port Canaveral puts MCO about 45 minutes away on SR 528, a toll road. Our page on cruises from Florida compares Port Canaveral with Miami and Fort Lauderdale.

Picking up at MCO: garage level or shuttle

The ten on-airport brands are Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, National, Payless, Sixt and Thrifty. At Terminals A and B their cars wait in the terminal garages. Alamo, Enterprise and National use Level R1, Sixt uses P1 and the other six use R2. At Terminal C the cars are in the C1 or C2 parking areas.

Off-airport companies pick you up on Level 1, Ground Transportation, in spaces A11 to A13, B60 to B62 or C277 to C278. Choose one and you lose a money-saver: the free Visitor Toll Pass described below works only with the ten on-airport brands. A third route skips both the counter and the shuttle. Allycar, for one, says it brings the car to the airport with no delivery fee.

Tolls: the line most quotes leave out

The fast roads out of the airport are tolled, and Central Florida has two ways to pay: a transponder such as E-PASS or SunPass, or Pay By Plate, which costs double. At the Beachline Main Plaza on SR 528, a car pays $1.08 with a transponder and $2.16 by plate, according to the Central Florida Expressway Authority's rates as of July 1, 2026. A plate bill goes to the car's registered owner. In a rental, that's the rental company, and it adds its own fee.

Here's what that fee looked like on the companies' pages in November 2026:

• Enterprise and National (TollPass): $4.95 for each day you drive through a toll, capped at $34.65 a rental, plus the tolls at the highest undiscounted rate.
• Hertz (PlatePass): PlatePass, the service Hertz uses in Florida, lists $9.99 for each day with a toll plus the tolls at the highest undiscounted rate, or a flat $14.99 a day for unlimited tolls on cars picked up in Florida.
• Visitor Toll Pass: a free hangtag from the expressway authority for round-trip MCO renters with the ten on-airport brands. You reserve it in its app and pay a $10 deposit that goes toward your tolls, which are charged at the lowest rate with no service fee. An unreturned tag costs $10.

Take a week with tolls on five days. TollPass fees come to $24.75 and PlatePass fees to $49.95, before a single toll. The Visitor Toll Pass adds nothing, but only if you decline the rental company's toll program at the counter. Skip that step and you risk being billed twice. Allycar says tolls are included in its price.

The hold on your card

Expect the counter to block more than the rental price on your card. Hertz's rental terms set the extra at up to $200 on a credit card, rising to $400 for a Standard SUV and $750 for a Large SUV. That money isn't available to you until the hold drops. The full picture, including release times and what "no deposit" means, is in our guide to Orlando rental deposits.

License and permit

Florida asks visitors who drive to carry a valid license from their country of residence, says the state's Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV). The rental desk adds its own rules. Enterprise's MCO page wants the physical home-country license with a photo and doesn't accept digital licenses. For a license in another language written in Latin letters, Portuguese or Spanish for instance, an International Driving Permit is recommended but not required. For a license in a script such as Russian, Japanese or Arabic, the permit is required. It's a translation, so it never replaces the license itself.

Car seats

Florida law (section 316.613) requires a crash-tested, federally approved restraint for every child aged five or younger. Through age three that means a separate carrier or the car's built-in child seat. At four and five, a booster is allowed too. Anyone under 18 must wear a belt wherever they sit.

Seats also decide the car class. Two child seats plus passengers in a third row push a family toward a minivan or a large SUV, and the bigger car can mean a bigger hold: at Hertz, $750 for a Large SUV against up to $200 for a car.

One option in Orlando: Allycar

Allycar is an Orlando company that delivers cars instead of running a counter. Its website lists what's in the price: tolls, unlimited mileage, insurance with third-party liability, one additional driver, child seats and strollers, with no security deposit. Allycar says it delivers within 30 miles of Orlando, that you get the exact model you book instead of "or similar", and that its SUVs and minivans seat seven or eight. It offers support in Portuguese, English and Spanish, and 5% off a first booking for people who sign up.

Two lines in its FAQ matter when you compare. The daily rates shown are starting points, and Allycar confirms the final amount for your dates. The signed rental agreement sets the final terms, so ask what you'd owe if the car is damaged before you pay. Then put its quote beside a major company's total with the toll fee and seat charges added. Our cheap car rental guide shows how to run that comparison across search sites.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a SunPass for a rental car in Orlando?

No. In a rental you pay tolls through the rental company's program, the free Visitor Toll Pass (for the ten on-airport companies at MCO) or a company that includes tolls in the price. The road to watch is I-4 Express, which has no cash or toll-by-plate option and expects a working transponder.

How old do you have to be to rent a car in Orlando?

Enterprise's MCO branch rents to drivers from 21 and listed a $25 daily surcharge for ages 21 to 24 in November 2026. Other companies set their own minimum ages and fees, so look at the age line in the rate details before you pick a car.

Can I use a debit card for an Orlando rental?

At some desks. Enterprise at MCO takes a debit card only from renters with a ticketed return travel itinerary. Hertz holds up to $500 on a debit card on top of the estimated charges and, in most cases, runs a credit check first.

Does Allycar deliver to Orlando airport?

Allycar says it does. It lists MCO, its office at 1900 33rd St in Orlando and any address within 30 miles of Orlando as places to collect the car, with no delivery fee.

This guide is independent. FinalAirfare may earn a commission if you book through the Allycar link, at no extra cost to you. The information about Allycar comes from the company's website and affiliate program and can change.