dodge grand caravan or toyota sienna or similar

[Trustmeimadoctor]

for 6 adults and 6 large suitcases in florida

cant decide what would be better to go for anyone able to shed any light on it ?

[Crafty_]

We had a Sienna for 5 adults and two young children. It was fine but a tad cosy to/from the airport.
I'd think you would be ok in that. Not had a dodge so can't say on that one.

[maturin23]

We hired a Chrysler Town and Country on a recent visit to New England - very similar (rebadge?) to a Dodge Grand Caravan.

We managed 2 adults, two kids and a baby, three 20kg suitcase, Bugaboo pushchair, plus three lots of hand luggage. There wasn't much space left.

The boot is quite tall but not very wide. Definitely not enough room for six adult's worth of luggage. You might just be able to squeeze three adults on the back seat, fold one of the two middle seats into the floor and get a couple of cases in the passenger compartment.

If you are all good friends and you're not traveling too far with the luggage then you might be OK!

Impressively spritely for a big old girl, though - 280hp V6.

[Trustmeimadoctor]

we are all family so we are close enough
only doing about 15 miles each way with luggage id have thought

might go grand caravan it looks a bit nice but maybe sienna is a bit more comfortable

[Matt Harper]

Depending on how far your accommodation is from the airport - I'd get the Grand Caravan/Town and Country and potentially make two trips to get your bags/people to your hotel/house (I refuse to use the word 'villa' - this is Orlando, not ancient Rome). The alternative is to rent a van conversion, but I can't think why anyone would want to spend their vacation bouncing around in one of those monstrosities.

[Nickyboy]

No and No trust me you will not fit in one.

We had a Grand Caravan with 6 of us a couple of years ago. We fitted, but there was no chance of fitting suitcases as well. They use seats in the boot space and as such there is no boot space at all.

Get a passenger van as they call em or mini bus as we do. They're quite often cheap for International arrivals.

Budget is around £50 for a days rental

Edited by Nickyboy on Friday 4th May 22:52

[Matt Harper]

No, no, no - those pass-vans are plain awful. Rent a minivan or a Suburban/Yukon/Escalade and make 2 trips from/to the airport. You'll thank me for this sage advice - unless you enjoy rattling around in a commercial vehicle when you should be enjoying yourself.

[Trustmeimadoctor]

so tahoe and 2 trips then? mind you rear set of seats split fold so im sure we could fold one down and get all the bags in somehow no ?

i must admit id rather like a tahoe 5.3 v8 yes please

[Nickyboy]

Matt Harper said:

No, no, no - those pass-vans are plain awful. Rent a minivan or a Suburban/Yukon/Escalade and make 2 trips from/to the airport. You'll thank me for this sage advice - unless you enjoy rattling around in a commercial vehicle when you should be enjoying yourself.

Agreed they're nothing special but they are cheap and huge for moving people and luggage around.
Iy depends if you want a 40odd min round trip twice and have someone willing to stay at the car lot waiting for you.

[TheHeretic]

Trustmeimadoctor said:

so tahoe and 2 trips then? mind you rear set of seats split fold so im sure we could fold one down and get all the bags in somehow no ?

i must admit id rather like a tahoe 5.3 v8 yes please

We use this one for airports, and the like. Loads of room, comfortable, and so on.

[Matt Harper]

Nickyboy said:

Agreed they're nothing special but they are cheap and huge for moving people and luggage around.
Iy depends if you want a 40odd min round trip twice and have someone willing to stay at the car lot waiting for you.

The sense of occasion is lost somewhat, when you roll up at Timpano or the Mall at Millenia, looking like a bunch of Mexican orange-pickers.
Any full size GM SUV with 3rd row seating - or a full-size mini-van will cart six adults around in comfort. The airport run is a pretty insignificant part of the vacation and it just seems daft to saddle yourself with a clunker for the duration, just so you can move your bags easily. I'd suggest it's but a small inconvenience with a big pay-back. If he's staying in Orlando vs Kissimmee, it's a 10-15 minute commute.

[thesyn]

I've had a V8 Tahoe last 2 times in the States with 4 adults and luggage. Great ride and V8 but not that much room to spare.

[Trustmeimadoctor]

well its booked got the tahoe who knows may end up with a suburban suppose it depends what they have when we get there

staying i drive down by convention center again. my parents said they would get a taxi with the luggage if it helps

[Matt Harper]

Smart move. You are no more than 15 mins from MCO. You could also load your bags on the hotel's shuttle bus and bung the driver a ten-spot to hand them off to the concierge at the other end. Either way, you dodged a bullet by not getting one of those stty vans. Hope you enjoy yourself here.

[Trustmeimadoctor]

Yeah that is what we thought looking forwarding to piloting the beast will be far larger than anything I've driven before. Wonder what trim level it will be ?

[Nickyboy]

Trim level on something like that will be high, better specced than you would expect over here,

[Trustmeimadoctor]

Last time I was there all I had was a poverty spec hyundai accent

[S7Paul]

I had the same problem in 2008. We were doing a road trip from SF to Tahoe, Yosemite, Death Valley, Vegas & Grand Canyon South Rim. Having had Caravans & Grand Caravans before, I knew they wouldn't be big enough. Having done some research, I opted for the Sienna. The floor space behind the 3rd row of seats is recessed, and we could get 4 medium size cases stood on their ends in the recessed area, with the remaining 2 laying on top of them (and still see out of the back window).

The Sienna hauled 6 adults plus 6 cases plus hand baggage for nearly 2000 miles in a fortnight. It rode smoothly, handled quite well, may or may not have hit 100mph easily (depending who's reading this), was extremely well-equipped and was big enough that no-one felt like they were wedged in. If Toyota made right-hand drive models I'd buy one!

So my advice would be to not take so much stuff, use mid-sized cases (15-20KG loaded), and get a Sienna.

ETA: I see you've already booked the car, but the above info may be of use to someone else.

Edited by S7Paul on Sunday 6th May 22:29

[TheHeretic]

My sis has the V6 with all the toys. Very nice family car indeed, but I can see how for 6 adults it could be cramped. She has the captain chair version.

[MaxMX5]

We had a Sienna for 2 weeks in the USA. We did just under 2000 miles and had 6 adults and 6 suitcases. All the suitcases can fit in the book (4 stood up with 2 on top). Way better then the Dodge Grand Caravan we have previously had in Florida.

Fantastic car!