Renting a car locally & driving to WDW

[Kim&Chris]

I'm wondering if anyone has ever done this.......

We're probably going to rent a car or mini-van locally (probably from Philly airport) and drive to Orlando.

If you've ever done this, can you tell me the pro's and con's? We also plan on joining AAA "just in case" some unexpected glitch occurs during the trip.

BTW, Avis is the only company that I found that will give unlimited mileage for this type of thing. The other companies want $.25 per mile over 1050 miles, which means we would end up owing a fortune upon our return!

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Make sure they will let you out of state with the vehicle, some have restrictions.

[JulesMom]

The only down side to doing this is that we couldn't find a rental agency that had unlimited mileage.:(

[mowsie dreamer]

We did this for our trip to Niagara Falls last month and had no problem. We rented a minivan from National using the Disney Club discount and coupon for a free day and got a great rate. I had to pay $29.99 to join the Disney Club but I saved $70 or better on the car rental alone. Unfortunately, National's rates have now gone up, but you might still do ok. They offer unlimited mileage. Also, I have been reading on the boards about the good deals at Dollar. They also offer unlimited mileage.

We really liked having the van, and it was no problem for them that we were taking it out of state as long as we were returning to the same location. Also, there was a number provided for roadside assistance in case of trouble on the road. You may not need to add the AAA membership. Also, we did not take any of the optional insurance, since our auto policy covered us.