Car Rental for our drive down to the World

[CMac72]

We are headed to WDW one month from today. Yes, the excitement is really building now. We will be traveling from Birmingham, AL so looking at about a 10-11 hour drive with rest/gas stops. We are a family of six - Myself, DW, DS(19), DD(16), DS(5) and our DD(4). We own a Traverse that has a third row but there is absolutely zero luggage space behind it which is why we are renting. Currently, I have a Chrysler Pacifica reserved through Budget here locally. I have read great reviews regarding safety, features and handling. Rear and middle storage wells will be plenty of space for luggage. Questioning the legroom for our older kids.

The second row captains chairs have plenty of legroom, but my concern is the third row legroom. Typically, in our Traverse, our little ones in car seats occupy the second row so the front seat passenger can attend to them if needed. This puts our teenagers in the third and they complain about the legroom. The rental is a Limited but does not have the DVD player nor touchscreens on the backs of the front seats so tablets/phones will be used for movies and games. If I put the cars seats in the third row as little legs don't need as much room this will put our teenagers in the position of attending to them from the second row. My question is, for those that own a newer Pacifica or have rented one, will this be roomy enough for the six of us for that long of a drive? Would the teenagers be comfortable in the third row or should we put the littles back there? They are 5'7" and 5'10".

Sorry for all of the rambling. Just want to be sure I have the right vehicle for the ride down.

 

[rg35]

Unless you want to rent a full size van, a minivan is really your only option.
All minivans have reasonably similar legroom, but consumer reports ranks the Pacifica as best in third row legroom and comfort. I have owned both an 8 passenger Toyota Sienna and Honda Odyssey, and have had adults sit in the back row with no complaints. We also drive to WDW from NYC (16 hours if we do non stop, which we do on the way home) and our son sits in the third row. He's only in 6th grade but he is already as tall as my wife and fits comfortably.

If legroom is a real concern, you could pay a visit to a dealer and have your kids sit in the third row of a floor model and see how it feels. But I don't really see that you have many great alternatives for other vehicles anyway. Your teens are getting a wonderful vacation to Disney World - they could suck it up a little.

A mid size SUV like the Traverse is probably not a great comparison to a minivan as far as third row legroom and comfort goes. If that's the main point of comparison for your kids, they'll find that the Pacifica third row is much more comfortable and offers about 3 more inches of legroom. Minivans are designed to maximize interior space while mid size SUVs are generally more cramped inside because they are trying to be many things to many people.

One final thought but what about putting the carseats in the third row and having the teens tend to them when needed? That would need to be their tradeoff for sitting in the middle row and having more legroom.

 

[CMac72]

Your teens are getting a wonderful vacation to Disney World - they could suck it up a little.

My thinking as well...

One final thought but what about putting the carseats in the third row and having the teens tend to them when needed? That would need to be their tradeoff for sitting in the middle row and having more legroom.

Absolutely. I like how you think.

I'm just as excited about the drive itself in the Pacifica. My wife has sworn off minivans ever since moving to a SUV. While I have generally put them in the rearview mirror, I really do like the Pacifica. The rental place allowed me to check one out the other day and it really does seem like a nice vehicle.

 

[rg35]

I'm just as excited about the drive itself in the Pacifica. My wife has sworn off minivans ever since moving to a SUV. While I have generally put them in the rearview mirror, I really do like the Pacifica. The rental place allowed me to check one out the other day and it really does seem like a nice vehicle.

My first car was a station wagon (very uncool for a college kid, but it was good for driving my buddies to our hockey games). I had a Passat and then when we had triplets had to go to a minivan. I never really considered SUVs because the interior space both for passengers and storage (especially at the same time) is just much more in a minivan. Even in large SUVs there's usually interference from wheel wells and stuff. I know it's uncool to drive minivans, but as our kids get older and we don't need one anymore, I'm still not sure if I'd want to switch back to anything else. Living in the city and keeping things like off season clothing and holiday decorations in storage, the van also makes it simple for me to bring stuff back and forth in a single trip. I also think they drive pretty well these days, and I like that I can take my family of 5 out plus my parents or in-laws and everyone is very comfortable. I guess I have become a full-fledged minivan convert over the last 10 years!

Right now we have a 2018 Odyssey. I looked at the Pacifica too when shopping that year and REALLY liked it, but I was concerned about long term reliability since it was the first model year so I decided to pass on it for that reason.

 

[kaytieeldr]

If I put the cars seats in the third row as little legs don't need as much room this will put our teenagers in the position of attending to them from the second row

Not that there's anything wrong with that! Or, put the teens in the third row and let them switch off the driving with you.

Probably not an issue, but you do wznt to confirm you can drive the car to and in another state

 

[bdcp]

Not that there's anything wrong with that! Or, put the teens in the third row and let them switch off the driving with you.

Probably not an issue, but you do wznt to confirm you can drive the car to and in another state

Rental car companies will not allow 16 and 19 years olds to drive their vehicles. For most you have to be like 24, unless you are official gov or company business and they will waive that requirement then. Or, if it's an insurance rental then they will allow it also. For a family vacation, nope. I know there's one that is a little more flexible with ages, but I think it's 18 or 21 even for them.

 

[CMac72]

Rental car companies will not allow 16 and 19 years olds to drive their vehicles. For most you have to be like 24, unless you are official gov or company business and they will waive that requirement then. Or, if it's an insurance rental then they will allow it also. For a family vacation, nope. I know there's one that is a little more flexible with ages, but I think it's 18 or 21 even for them.

Yep, it's 24 or 25 with Budget. On our vacations I do all the driving if it is 5-6 hours. However, for this trip my wife will pick up some of it if I happen to start doing the head bob.

 

[sponica]

I know I'm just a grumpy. It's 10 to 11 hours, not 3 days. A good rule of thumb I use is that when someone starts to get uncomfortable in the car, it's usually a good time to start looking for the next rest area.

I think if you're stopping every 3 to 4 hours or so (especially for bathroom breaks for the little ones) I don't think you'll need to worry about the teenagers being cramped. I also think teenagers just like to complain...

 

[kaytieeldr]

Rental car companies will not allow 16 and 19 years olds to drive their vehicles. For most you have to be like 24,

Yes, sorry. I was so focused on the comfort aspect, i forgot they're rentng. And yes, I did refer to the rental in the same post! Brain disconnect.