Can I rent a car on Disney property?

[Wife of Grumpy]

We are staying at PO-R for several days in January and were thinking of renting a car for a day or two. Is there anywhere on Disney property that we could rent a car? Any suggestions will be appreciated.

 

[Michael623]

I know you can, but from a financial stand point it may not make sense. Rental cars at the airport are typically much cheaper than at WDW. Plus you'd still have to pay for transportation to and from the airport. It would save you money to just rent at the airport, the weekly rates have been really cheap lately. And parking at POR is free as are the parks when staying on-site.

 

[SnackyStacky]

You have a couple of options.

The first is to pick up a rental car at the airport from either Budget, Dollar, Avis, National, or Alamo. You can then return the car to:

The Doubletree Suites at Downtown Disney (if you rent from Budget)

The Courtyard by Marriott at Downtown Disney (if you rent from Dollar)

The Hilton at Downtown Disney (if you rent from Avis)

The Car Care Center (if you rent from Alamo or National - the car care center is located just outside the Magic Kingdom parking lot)

You'll want to check with the rental company about their policies. I know Budget lets you return someplace other than the location you rented with no penalty, but I don't know about the other companies.

The pros to this are that you only have to pay for a shuttle one way to get back to the airport. There are also shuttles from the Downtown Disney hotels to get to the parks, so you won't have to worry about getting transportation from the hotel. (And if they check for a hotel ID, which they never did when I was there, Downtown Disney is a short walk away)

The con to this is that you'll have to have the car at the beginning of your trip, whether that's when you wanted it or not.

Your other option is to get a taxi or shuttle to those above locations.

The pros to this are that you'll be able to have the car when you want it. Also, contrary to Michael's experience, I've always had cheaper rates renting someplace other than the airport.

The cons are that you'll have to pay in order to get to whichever location you need. (Except the Downtown Disney hotels....you can easily take a bus to the market place and walk across the street)

 

[boBQuincy]

National also has a small rental office (not 24 hour) at Dolphin. I recently rented a car for the two one way trips (MCO to WDW and back) and saved a lot over keeping it for the five days.


boB

 

[bethnburke]

We are planning on renting a car from National at the airport and returning it the next day at the Disney Car Care Center. The cost is $19 for the 1 day - much cheaper than a taxi or a town car and we need the car to run some errands when we get there - grocery stop, etc.

My question is how do you get from the Car Care Center to the resorts - we will need to bring the car seats back - or to the parks - if DH returns the car alone? We were planning on going to AK or Epcot that day.

Thanks
Beth

 

[Ralph&Pam]

Originally posted by bethnburke
We are planning on renting a car from National at the airport and returning it the next day at the Disney Car Care Center. The cost is $19 for the 1 day - much cheaper than a taxi or a town car and we need the car to run some errands when we get there - grocery stop, etc.

My question is how do you get from the Car Care Center to the resorts - we will need to bring the car seats back - or to the parks - if DH returns the car alone? We were planning on going to AK or Epcot that day.

Thanks
Beth

National/Alamo will shuttle you from the Car Care Center to your on-site resort hotel when you drop off the car. Alternately, have the shuttle drop him off at one of the parks.

If you definitely plan to go to Epcot that day, you could reserve for drop off at the Dolphin rather than the Car Care Center, since there is a National/Alamo desk there as well. Then take the boat or walk from the Dolphin to the Epcot International Gateway entrance.

Ralph

 

[bethnburke]

Thanks!