Advice for car rental - help please!

[sammyjo1871]

Hoping to get some good advice and input. Started planning our 3rd trip to WDW for June 2014. Trying something a little different this time with a split stay and 4 day break in the middle to visit family in Tampa. I think we'll fly in on a Saturday and spend 5 nights. Then we'll need to rent a car on Thursday to drive over to Tampa. We'll be there until at least Sunday, possibly Monday. I have no idea where to start with a car rental; we've only ever used ME and internal transportation buses. Help! Where are the rental places? Do we have to pick it up or will they bring to us if we reserve ahead of time? I think we'll be at CBR at the beginning of the trip. I'm not even sure what to expect for the cost. We'll only need a small to mid-size sedan. Any tips on getting good deals? I thought maybe we'd keep it for a week (Thursday-Thursday) if the cost isn't too much more than for 5 days. It might be nice to have when we get back because I'm hoping to try AOA Little Mermaid rooms, which sound pretty far from main building. Any suggestions or info on renting a vehicle is much appreciated!

 

[OKW Lover]

Check the sticky thread at the top of this forum for a list of the rental car locations at WDW. Then check each of them for the best price for your dates.

Most importantly, keep checking even after you have a reservation because sometimes prices go down as the car rental companies evaluate how heavily booked they are.

 

[DVC California]

You should check out Mary's MouseSavers web site regarding Rental cars and available discounts:
http://www.mousesavers.com/transportation-for-disney-vacations/rental-car-discounts/

A weekly rental will often be cheaper than 5-days but it is best to check both scenarios online to see. It can be a lot of work going to all the websites to check rates, so I sometimes start at a travel site like Orbitz or Travelocity to get an idea which firms are cheaper for my time frame, then go that specific rental site to enter discount codes and book directly.

If you decide just to rent for the weekend, keep in mind that weekend rates at some rental agencies don't start until after Thursday, 12pm. You may want to shift your pick-up time to get the best rate.

HTH, Steve