Need Specific Car Rental Advice

[Ness2289]

We are staying onsite for seven nights and then taking advantage of a time share presentation opportunity which will add another three nights to our time at Disney.

We will take DME to the resort and use Disney trans for our onsite stay, but I will need to rent a vehicle for the three nights offsite. Where should I get a rental car? Can this rental be returned to MCO? Is it more expensive to do that? If so, how should I plan to get back to the airport after returning the car?

TIA for any advice. I really don't know where to start as this is a new situation for us.

[stitchlovestink]

Originally Posted by Ness2289

We are staying onsite for seven nights and then taking advantage of a time share presentation opportunity which will add another three nights to our time at Disney.

We will take DME to the resort and use Disney trans for our onsite stay, but I will need to rent a vehicle for the three nights offsite. Where should I get a rental car? Can this rental be returned to MCO? Is it more expensive to do that? If so, how should I plan to get back to the airport after returning the car?

TIA for any advice. I really don't know where to start as this is a new situation for us.

If you pick your rental up at one location anf return it anywhere else other than where you picked it up from it is pretty much considered a one way rental or so I have been told by the agents I have worked with. One way rentals are usually more expensive. That said, if you are going to need transportation back to the airport, If I were in your situation what I would probably do is have one of you take ME back to MCO to pick up a rental there. Then head back and pick up the others at Disney and transfer over to your timeshare.
You don't state how many of you there are, so you will have to keep in mind that you will not only have to fit everyone, but you will also have to fit all your luggage when you leave to go to the airport. So be sure to choose a vehicle size accordingly. Good Luck!


Posted from Disney Forums Reader for Android

[skelooch]

Many of the major rental companies have offices either at WDW on site resorts, or nearby resorts in the DTD area. Most will pick you up at your resort and bring you to their rental location.
The rate to pick up at their local location and then return to the airport might be a little higher (sometimes even lower), but certainly not enough of a difference IMO to justify making a trip to the airport to pick up a car there.
Check out the different companies to compare rates, they can very greatly. If the 3 days you are renting for are over the weekend, make sure you check out their weekend rates, most offer deeply discounted rates for weekend rentals.
I have used Dollar to rent at the airport and return to the Wyndham hotel at DTD and vise versa for as little as $30 incl taxes and fees for a single day rental.
Example I have a oneway, one day rental coming up next week from Dollar to pick up at the airport and return the next day to the Wyndham hotel at DTD. The rate is exactly the same if I returned the car to the airport.

[jmasgat]

Alamo/National has rental locations at the Car Care Center near MK (shuttle pickup from your Disney Hotel is available). Also at the Swan/Dolphin (walkable from DHS or Epcot). Avis, Dollar, Budget have locations at hotels in DTD.

As the PP said, it's not always a big difference in price to do a 1 way rental--one nice thing about FL tourist area! Check out all the major companies and use whatever discounts you can (MouseSavers is great for that)

[Donna M]

I'm picking up an Alamo car at the Car Care Center at WDW for a week and returning it to the airport for a much lower price then if I got it at the airport. I'll be saving $230. I'm using the Visa coupon and Alamo Insiders rate.

By renting with my Visa, I will be covered for Loss of Use too.

[Bullseye]

Originally Posted by stitchlovestink

If you pick your rental up at one location anf return it anywhere else other than where you picked it up from it is pretty much considered a one way rental or so I have been told by the agents I have worked with. One way rentals are usually more expensive. That said, if you are going to need transportation back to the airport, If I were in your situation what I would probably do is have one of you take ME back to MCO to pick up a rental there. Then head back and pick up the others at Disney and transfer over to your timeshare.
You don't state how many of you there are, so you will have to keep in mind that you will not only have to fit everyone, but you will also have to fit all your luggage when you leave to go to the airport. So be sure to choose a vehicle size accordingly. Good Luck!


Posted from Disney Forums Reader for Android

This is good advice if your set on using Disney transportation while on property. But, Op if you have it in the budget, consider just driving the whole time your there. Rent your car at MCO, drive the whole time your there (you wont be sorry), and then you wont have to spend half a day going back to MCO to rent a car. Like Stitch said returning to a different location usually costs extra. What we do is DW and kids take ME to resort so the luggage is taken care of and I rent a car at MCO and meet them there.

[Rpsemont]

We have rented from the Dollar near DTD and Alamo at the Dolphin or DTD and returned to MCO many times to save money.

I would check rates and see what works for you. It could be that renting 4 or 5 days, is less than three.

For our upcoming trip in a couple weeks, I got a rental rate for 8 days of $193. When I priced it for 6 days, thinking I could save a little money, it was $275!

[At World's End]

Definitely check the rates for both 10 nights round trip from MCO and a one way rental for 3 nights. I am guessing that the prices will be similar, in which case I would definitely do the longer rental. Gives you much more freedom during you onsite stay. And you don't have to pay for parking when you are staying onsite, so no real downside. If you choose to keep the car parked all week and use the busses, fine. But it gives you the freedom to go offsite for groceries, meals, shopping, etc.

[Ness2289]

Originally Posted by At World's End

Definitely check the rates for both 10 nights round trip from MCO and a one way rental for 3 nights. I am guessing that the prices will be similar, in which case I would definitely do the longer rental. Gives you much more freedom during you onsite stay. And you don't have to pay for parking when you are staying onsite, so no real downside. If you choose to keep the car parked all week and use the busses, fine. But it gives you the freedom to go offsite for groceries, meals, shopping, etc.

I will check into that. Right now, three nights is running me $150. If I could get that rate for ten nights, I'd take it in a heartbeat!!

[Ness2289]

Wow.... I may not know exactly what I'm doing (since I don't usually rent cars while at Disney), but the cost for the whole time is well over $350 WITH a code. I've tried a few different companies. I think I'll stick with my original plan. I like the idea of just having a vehicle the entire time, but my budget for this trip won't allow for more than the $150 I'm already scheduled to pay. If you know a way I can make it happen, I am all ears!