Budget related dilemma

[martiniglassesforme]

Where? On occasion I have found deals on rental cars for $125-$150 for 5 days, but the normal price is in the $350 range. To me that is a "huge saver". Maybe I just don't know where to look. I'm not trying to be snarky, I would just truly love to know where I can find cheap rentals at MCO.

OP, sorry for hijacking the thread!

No worries! I got an 8 day rental from Avis through Costco for $233. I am not sure about the daily rentals. I do know there are car rental desks at the AAA Car center on property but I don't know what their prices are like.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Where? On occasion I have found deals on rental cars for $125-$150 for 5 days, but the normal price is in the $350 range. To me that is a "huge saver". Maybe I just don't know where to look. I'm not trying to be snarky, I would just truly love to know where I can find cheap rentals at MCO.

OP, sorry for hijacking the thread!

You have to use a discount code and do the legwork on it, I.e. checking and comparing rental company prices and changing reservations if prices drop, etc. Sometimes it's easy, and sometimes it's not. I usually have the best luck months out.

At any rate, we like having a car. We like to go offsite and we enjoy visiting different resorts. (The one trip we didn't have a car I forgot the bag with my shoes in it! ) To each his own!

BTW, OP. Time and Money are inversely proportional at Disney. Keep that in mind as you make your decisions! PS You will love Pop!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I can tell you that I took my first trip to Disney when I was 13 and we stayed off site trying to be budget friendly. I've been to Disney 5 times since and all stays have been onsite. I wish I stayed onsite when I was younger to enjoy all Disney properties have to offer. In retrospect, I didn't have as much fun as I could have had and my parents didn't save that much money.

A friend of mine was telling me recently her first and only trip to WDW was when she was a young girl. They stayed offsite. Her biggest memory of her trip, she said, was her and her Mom waiting around their hotel pool for half the day while her father attended a time share presentation in order to get free park tickets. (Money was not an issue in this family, either.) She is thinking about a trip with her own kids now and wants to do it differently.

 

[crisi]

You have to use a discount code and do the legwork on it, I.e. checking and comparing rental company prices and changing reservations if prices drop, etc. Sometimes it's easy, and sometimes it's not. I usually have the best luck months out.

At any rate, we like having a car. We like to go offsite and we enjoy visiting different resorts. (The one trip we didn't have a car I forgot the bag with my shoes in it! ) To each his own!

BTW, OP. Time and Money are inversely proportional at Disney. Keep that in mind as you make your decisions! PS You will love Pop!

And there is still some luck involved - and you won't get great deals at certain times of year.

Personally, I find the hassle of the rental to be the biggest barrier. If you spend the cash to go with Hertz, it runs smoothly, IME, but when I try and save a buck, I end up with clerks insisting I must pay for the upgrade I don't want because they don't have my compact, I must have insurance (and billing me for it after I leave), waiting two hours for carseats, and billing me for damage that was on the car when I got it. Car rentals at MCO, IME are a scummy business.

 

[Frankiemack]

A friend of mine was telling me recently her first and only trip to WDW was when she was a young girl. They stayed offsite. Her biggest memory of her trip, she said, was her and her Mom waiting around their hotel pool for half the day while her father attended a time share presentation in order to get free park tickets. (Money was not an issue in this family, either.) She is thinking about a trip with her own kids now and wants to do it differently.

My parents did the same thing when we went...attended a timeshare presentation for Universal Tickets...They stayed at Holiday Inn Lake Buena Vista.

We're heading back to Dis at CSR in October and am bringing my mom back there for the first time since that trip so many years ago. I want her to appreciate it as much as I do now.

 

[ssawka]

And there is still some luck involved - and you won't get great deals at certain times of year.

Personally, I find the hassle of the rental to be the biggest barrier. If you spend the cash to go with Hertz, it runs smoothly, IME, but when I try and save a buck, I end up with clerks insisting I must pay for the upgrade I don't want because they don't have my compact, I must have insurance (and billing me for it after I leave), waiting two hours for carseats, and billing me for damage that was on the car when I got it. Car rentals at MCO, IME are a scummy business.

I like Alamo. You get to the airport and use their self-service kiosk. You do not have to deal with a clerk at all. Only the person that checks you out in the garage.

 

[crisi]

I like Alamo. You get to the airport and use their self-service kiosk. You do not have to deal with a clerk at all. Only the person that checks you out in the garage.

That is one thing I like about Hertz is that I'm a Gold Club member (through former work) so that I walk to my car and leave. Its always more expensive, but there is never a hassle. (I think Alamo is the recreational arm of Hertz). Hertz is off airport in Orlando, last I used them.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

And there is still some luck involved - and you won't get great deals at certain times of year.

Personally, I find the hassle of the rental to be the biggest barrier. If you spend the cash to go with Hertz, it runs smoothly, IME, but when I try and save a buck, I end up with clerks insisting I must pay for the upgrade I don't want because they don't have my compact, I must have insurance (and billing me for it after I leave), waiting two hours for carseats, and billing me for damage that was on the car when I got it. Car rentals at MCO, IME are a scummy business.

Perhaps. We have never been at Christmas. But aside from that, I have never not gotten a good deal. (As I said, sometimes are easier than others booking.) I've also never been hassled. They offer extra insurance, I say no, that's it. The biggest problem I ever had was waiting in a long line once, but that was resolved by checking in online, so we go right across the street, hand someone our paper, pick out our car and we're on our way.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

That is one thing I like about Hertz is that I'm a Gold Club member (through former work) so that I walk to my car and leave. Its always more expensive, but there is never a hassle. (I think Alamo is the recreational arm of Hertz). Hertz is off airport in Orlando, last I used them.

Hertz is always pricey even with a discount code. Alamo and National are associated, I believe. I generally use Alamo (and often wind up with a National rental if they are out of whatever I booked), but I've used Dollar and Budget also. Minivans, SUVs and luxury cars, naturally, are more expensive, though I've gotten good deals on them, too, and sometimes gotten them as a free upgrade.

 

[crisi]

Perhaps. We have never been at Christmas. But aside from that, I have never not gotten a good deal. (As I said, sometimes are easier than others booking.) I've also never been hassled. They offer extra insurance, I say no, that's it. The biggest problem I ever had was waiting in a long line once, but that was resolved by checking in online, so we go right across the street, hand someone our paper, pick out our car and we're on our way.

Perhaps I've just been unlucky. I'm two for three on getting a scam pulled on me at the airport or after the fact at MCO - the third was Hertz and was NOT a deal.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Perhaps I've just been unlucky. I'm two for three on getting a scam pulled on me at the airport or after the fact at MCO - the third was Hertz and was NOT a deal.

Sorry, we must have been posting at the same time. I added to my post above.

 

[lisaross]

Definitly stay on-site...so easy not to drive AND free dining is the BEST! ENJOY

I have enough miles for this year. But it will bring my balance down to zero and I may or may not have enough time to accumulate enough for next year.

I think I am going to keep my reso at Pop. If this was our third or fourth time going, then sure, stay off site, just for comparison. This time next year, I may have enough miles for Hilton Bonett Creek, which is so nice it's ridiculous. I wish I could use miles to book Wilderness Lodge! That would be perfect, but there's only certain hotels on the list with the miles program.
Thank you everyone!

 

[rigs32]

Where? On occasion I have found deals on rental cars for $125-$150 for 5 days, but the normal price is in the $350 range. To me that is a "huge saver". Maybe I just don't know where to look. I'm not trying to be snarky, I would just truly love to know where I can find cheap rentals at MCO.

OP, sorry for hijacking the thread!

Really? I've never paid more than $100 for a week. I watch and stack codes or use Hotwire.

And when they run out of compacts they can't force you to pay for an upgrade. Never been denied a car.

 

[hsmamato2]

To OP (back on track here)
If the difference on vs. offsite is only 400.00, why not ditch the car rental? at 400.00 (difference) minus 233.00(car) = 167.00 difference.
No brainer at that point! I would stay onsite...I like a car too, but to save,I'd rather do buses than stay offsite....just my preference...buses aren't so bad if you go against the crowd.....(i.e., the opposite of what everyone else is doing at the moment)

 

[crisi]

And when they run out of compacts they can't force you to pay for an upgrade. Never been denied a car.

No, but they can waste an hour of your vacation while you ask them to get the manager and explain the situation. Then another few hours while you get unauthorized charges off your credit card when you get home.

 

[ZehnJahren]

Have to throw out there how surprised I am by people saying they had a "disappointing" vacation by staying offsite as a kid. Makes me wonder what kind of other vacations or perks they got in their life that a Disney vacation in itself just "wasn't good enough".

I went to Disney almost every summer as a kid and we never, ever stayed onsite. My ENTIRE FAMILY was THRILLED to be there; there was no complaining about not being onsite or thinking we had "less of a vacation", and I couldn't have better, more wonderful memories of the Yogi Bear Campsite, or the Holiday Inn Maingate West. I grew up loving Disney and being ecstatic every time we went; we always drove down from Illinois and as soon as we saw the Orlando signs we all went crazy. Yes, we may have dreamily said "oh, we're staying here someday" when the monorail went through the CR, but we never ever said a word against where we were staying. We were grateful to be there.

OP, do the math to determine if you should use your points and when. Hope it works out if you can stay onsite, but if the savings are substantial then you should definitely stay offsite and enjoy your Disney vacation! It's the PEOPLE YOU'RE WITH that make the vacation, NOT the hotel!

 

[martiniglassesforme]

We were going to rent a car regardless of if we were staying onsite or not. So if we were to drop it (still kind of a slim option) then that would change the savings from $400 to $633.

The only day I'd really like a car is the last day. Every other day isn't really necessary. It would just get us there quicker than the bus and from what I hear, the bus at POP isn't really a pain in the rear as I'm expecting. FYI we are traveling Nov 2-9, so not a terribly crowded week. And we are planning on taking breaks in the middle of the day a couple days that week - I guess it makes no difference if we were to take the bus vs having the car.

BUT the last day - it's the end of Jersey week. The Wine & Dine Half Marathon was the night before and that means lots of extra people around. We are not going to the parks that day, but we were planning on driving around and checking out some of the other resorts before our flight at 4pm. We have a reso for Whispering Canyon at 10:30am. I also don't want to be railed into catching the Magical Express bus at 1pm for a flight that doesn't leave until 4pm. I practically live in an airport anyhow as much as I travel. If I can control that (waiting in the airport for an inordinate amount of time), I'd like to. Plus then we can shop for a couple hours or so at DTD or at the outlet mall or something.

Maybe I can price out how much it would be to just rent a car for the day - pick it up on property and drop it off at the airport. Maybe that is a good happy medium.

any thoughts?