Taxi or rent a car in Orlando, Florida?

Since your not staying on property I would suggest you rent a car. Its going to be more economical and time saving to have your own car then wait around and pay for a taxi. True you will have to pay for the parking at the park each day but It will cost you can rent a car for less then cost of the taxi ride over. Dont rely on those advertised free shuttles from hotels. They go only at certain times and dont take you directly to the theme park. Instead they drop you off at Disney Ticket and Transportation center where you hop on disney tranport to take you to the park of your choosing. Its a very time labor expense. There is also a lot to do and see off Disney Property that you may want to see and do. If you have your own car you will enjoy your trip a lot more

If you are not staying on Disney Property, I would probably rent a car. Other than the fact that its dirt cheap in Orlando, it gives you a lot more flexibility to travel when and where you want to. Hotel transportation and/or private shuttles are not the most reliable. JMHO and YMMV

Firstly, I would say that if you choose to go by taxi, do not get it to drop you off at the theme parks as they charge taxis just to enter the car parks. The best way to get around cheaply is to take advantage of the Disney buses as they are free, and very frequent. So if you are staying off Disney property then take your taxi to somewhere like Downtown Disney (no charge here) then use the buses. Personally, I found driving a car around inconvenient as the car park is never near the entrance! Disney buses pull up right outside the gate, but again, if you're not staying on Disney property you may find it too much hassle and may just want to rent a car. Most hotels up and down International Drive will run their own bus service into the main parks, but they stop running into Disney after lunch time and the returns out are every hour until park closing. As far as the airport goes, you should find there will be a Mears transport desk that can get you a round trip ticket to and from your hotel.

Everything in Orlando is far from each other. Disney is 47 square miles big and occupies the same amount of space as San Fransisco. You can take shuttles and taxis, but between the amount of time you waste you have to ask yourself what is your time worth. Certainly not the $200/week for the rental car, gas, and parking).

let's see.... renting a car would be about $40 a day, parking is i think $10 BUT you would have access to come and go as your please. shuttles.... check with your hotel if they have shuttle service to the parks and how often they run. MOST have shuttle service. google maps will be your best option when knowing what's around your hotel. telling me 15 minutes doesn't give enough information. only 4 days and how many parks will also play into your concerns over a car.... there are 4 disney parks, 2 universal, seaworld..... so if you are doing all 4 disney parks you won't have time for much else ;) walking around disney/orlando is VERY safe!!