Anyone rent a minivan at home to drive to WDW?

[molly2004]

I see folks here snag really terrific rates at MCO. How are you able to get great rates when renting at home?

We are hoping to fly there if there are any good looking Dings. However, I just can't help but fear that there might not be any! We have a VW wagon and that long of a drive with a couple of almost 3 yo boys seems daunting (we did a 16 hour drive this past summer and proved that the wagon was too tight for long trips).

So I thought I'd reserve a minivan as a contingency in case Dings don't come through. Autotrain and buying a minivan are currently out of the budget. Any thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[QT Pooh]

Yes, I've done it. The only problem with driving down is adding the extra days to the vacation! We rented from the Manchester airport, where we found the cheapest rate and had a lot of fun on the way down (there were 7 of us - 4 kids and 3 adults). Since we had so many drivers, we didn't stop overnight - but we were headed to my parents' who live on the east coast of Florida - everyone crashed when we got there!

 

[minniebeth]

We know several people that have done it and really liked doing it that way. It does add extra time to your trip, but we know families that enjoy the road trip!

 

[disneysnob]

We've driven down thee times. The first two times we rented a minivan. We also had a wagon and it would've been too tight for the five of us. Last year we traded our car in for a minivan and this past June we drove it down to Disney. We debated on whether to fly or not, and we came to the conclusion that we've had to rent before, and now that we finally have our own, we might as well drive. When we did rent, we got some pretty good deals. I think the each time we rented for two weeks, and it was about $600-$700/unlimited miles. We rented from Logan Airport, Alamo the first time and Hertz the second. We took a couple of days driving down, then ten days in Disney, and two days back. At the time they were running weekly minivan specials, so you probably have to keep checking for it. Good Luck.

 

[JenLoy]

We always rent a car or minivan (depending on how many are going) and drive down. For us it's about a 20 hour drive. With all the restrictions on airlines, we find it far more convenient to drive. This way, we can purchase whatever we'd like without worrying about room in a suitcase, etc. Plus we know our luggage will always make our destination.

The last time we rented a minivan was from Alamo in May 2004. Our rate was 350 for 10 days with unlimited miles.

It does add an extra day on each end for traveling but I'd take the drive any day over dealing with the airlines

 

[Kimkimba]

We prefer driving, and also rent a minivan (we are near Philly airport).

I usually check rates when it gets closer to my dates, and I've rented off of Hotwire and Priceline.

Right now the best rate I found was on Southwestern for Dollar. For 2 weeks (Dec. 15 - 29th) it's a little under $500 including tax.