Car Hire

[UKDisneyJoe]

Hi all
Im sure similar questions have been asked before but just wanted to know if anyone has had similar issues or knows what I can do. Previously on Disney trips we have done package deals with flights and cars and stayed offsite. This time we are staying on property and not getting a car for the 2 weeks. However we would like to go to get some provisions from Walmart or similar when we get there as well as a shopping trip or two. I know I can hire from Disney during the holiday but would need to go to near Swan and Dolphin (i believe). The main one is for when we arrive I would like to have a car for the first night but wont be landing until 4-5 in the evening so by the time i get to Coronado (our chosen resort) check in then get the bus over to swan and dolphin area it will be getting quite late. Is there a way round this, perhaps getting a car at the airport and dropping it off near Disney or having a car available when we get to our resort. Also do people hire cars for the odd day here and there or does it work out cheaper just to get it for the whole holiday. Havent checked prices myself yet as not going until Nov2017 but just wanted to get an idea of what others do.
Thank you in advance and hope it all made sense

 

[BagOLaughs]

FYI Alamo will pick you up from your resort on a free shuttle bus and take you to the car centre near the MK. When you're finished with the car you drop it back there (before 6pm) and the shuttle bus will drop you back anywhere in WDW property.

 

[BagOLaughs]

Also I have a similar issue to you, I won't be having a car and so I've been looking at using UBER to get a cheap "taxi" to walmart and back again. Cheaper than a taxi and hire care and good if you have specific destinations in mind.

 

[wayneg]

If anyone wants a car for 1 day try Virgin Atlantic, it won't be a lot different in price compared to a taxi from Disney to Walmart and back.
For example I just looked for a sample date in September, smallest car would be £30.66, you can also add a tank of gas and upto 3 extra drivers for only £5.99 more.
Very few companies will allow 1 day rentals anymore.

 

[pinklotusflower]

this is our first trip this year where we've not hired a car as it spends more time in the parking lot than being driven. Instead we have ordered groceries through Dizzy dolphin which will be there when we check in & plan to use UBER for any off site visits, there's an app that will calculate the cost for you and it's really reasonable.There also a UBER thread on here with lots of info.

 

[Elise79]

I'd get a car from the airport.

On property you have two choices: the car care centre or the swan/dolphin. Alamo will collect/drop you off if you use the car care centre and they have a bigger stock of cars.

Personally, we always have a car the whole time. We drive to the parks (except MK) as I get fed up waiting for buses. We have also found that most of the parking lots are easily walkable so you don't need to use the trams.

 

[chmurf]

get a car at the airport
book with alamo, do online check in and skip the counter, and proceed straight to the garage
you'll be at CSR in no time, and well before your fellow passengers who will go 'sightseeing' onboard the Magical Express

drop it off at Car Care Center the next day before 6pm if that's what you choose

a rental day is a 24hrs period, not a calendar day, so if you pick up at the airport at 4pm, as long as you book for a 4pm drop off the next day, you'll only charged for one day

walmart is open 24/7 and since people are usually up at silly o'clock, it's always good to have the car ready if you fancy walmarting at 5am (we like to go to walmart around 10 or 11pm on our arrival night. It helps go to bed later, and get a bit more sleep on the first morning)

I'm also a guest who will keep the car for the whole duration of the trip. It's so much easier to go to parks, and even places outside of Disney
the only place I don't take the car to, is Magic Kingdom

 

[jothp]

Hi, I have looked into collecting a car at the airport and returning it to the Disney car care centre later in the holiday and it wasn't a problem. The only problem with getting a car at the airport is that you need it to be big enough for all the people plus luggage. We are planning to get around this by the majority of us taking the magical express with most of the luggage so we only need to get the size of car that will suit us for the rest of the holiday.

We were not going to hire a car for our trip last year but changed our minds and are glad we did. Although we could have got around with Disney transport it was much easier to visit other resorts with our own car and we could more reliably know how long it was going to take us to get places. We wanted to do Kennedy space center and the cost of getting there and back for the 5 of us was not that much less than a hire car for the whole fortnight which is why we changed our minds. Try pricing up the journeys you think you would need a taxi for against the cost of a hire car for those days to see what works out better value.

 

[UKDisneyJoe]

Thanks for all the advise guys. This is such a great forum with a lot of friendly people and different perspectives. I think we will look at the cost for our first week and two weeks and see if its much more.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

......
Very few companies will allow 1 day rentals anymore.

Not true at all, at least in the US.

 

[wayneg]

Not true at all, at least in the US.

Sorry, I did not finish the sentence. It should have read Very few companies will allow 1 day rentals anymore and allow you to upgrade to Gold.

I just checked Alamo and they allow to upgrade to Gold but the price they quoted, £178.59 (ontop of the £32.89 1 day rental)