Best car rental companies on Disney property?

[jengelbrecht]

We are flying in to MCO and using Magical Express to get to our hotel, also to return to the airport. My husband wants to rent a car the day after our arrival to go to Tampa and will keep the car a few days. I know you can rent a car from the Car Care Center, either the Swan or Dolphin and a few places at the Downtown Disney hotels. Just trying to figure out which one to go with...anyone have good (or bad) experiences with the on-property car rental companies? Is getting to the rental locations a pain? Any info is much appreciated!

 

[boBQuincy]

Afaik the only rental car company on the grounds is National/Alamo, at least at the car care center and Dolphin. I always rent from National and rarely have any problems.

The car care center may not be easy to get to, I don't know of any WDW transportation that stops there although something may. Dolphin is easy to get to by bus (from MK or AK) or boat (from Epcot or Studios). Car selection at Dolphin is a mixed bag and the hours are short, 8:00a to 4:00p as I recall.

Dropping a car off after hours is easy though, just hand the keys to the bellhop.


boB

 

[OKW Lover]

Afaik the only rental car company on the grounds is National/Alamo, at least at the car care center and Dolphin. I always rent from National and rarely have any problems.

Actually; Avis has a location at the Hilton in Hotel Plaza Blvd, and Dollar is at one of the other hotels along there as well.

 

[jengelbrecht]

Jeff,

Did you rent from Avis or Dollar @ the Downtown Disney hotels? Wondering how you liked them, or IF you liked them? Any preference?

Thanks,
Judy

 

[goofy4tink]

We reserved a car at the Dolphin, through alamo. The day of the rental we went to Epcot, walked over and completed the paperwork for the car. then returned to Epcot for the day. After Illuminations, we walked back to the Dolphin, handed the valet our key, and he drove the car around, we drove back to POP. It was very easy. We also drove to Tampa and then returned the car to the airport.

 

[OKW Lover]

Jeff,

Did you rent from Avis or Dollar @ the Downtown Disney hotels? Wondering how you liked them, or IF you liked them? Any preference?

Thanks,
Judy

I've both rented and returned a car at Avis. Our usual practice is to rent a car at the airport for a day or two so that we can do some off-property stuff, like grocery shopping and dining, and return the car at the Hilton. The rest of the stay, and for the return to the airport, we rely on Disney transportation. Avis has a courtesy van that will return you to your WDW hotel. I've been very happy with their service.

Its been a while since I've used Dollar so I can't comment on them from recent experience.