Car Rental (Magic Kingdom)

[biggroofy]

I read that driving to MK is not a good idea, since parking lot is far away (need to take monorail, boat?).

I also read that there is a Car Care Center in front of MK (how far?), wondering if it is easier to return the car there and walk to MK?

 

[kidd_freeper]

The resort bus transportation takes you right to the front entrance of the MK. If you park your car at the MK, you will have to take a monorail or the ferry to the front entrance of the MK. Thats about 1/2 hour difference going to the park and about 1/2 hour difference when leaving the park.

I don't believe that you would be allowed to walk from the car care center to the MK. Even if you could, you'd have to cross a very busy road, then you would still have to take the monorail or ferry. It really isn't that close to the front entrance at all.

 

[safetymom]

It would be a dangerous walk. You would walk down by the Contemporary but there are no sidewalks and drivers aren't used to seeing walkers.

I would use the shuttle that they operate and have them take you to the Contemporary and walk from there if you don't want to use Disney transportation.

 

[speedyf]

We rented a car back in 2004 (before ME) because it was cheaper to rent a mini-van for 1 day for $42 on our arrival day and departure day than to pay for Mears for 6 adults and 1 child.

We picked up the Alamo car at the airport and returned it to the Car Care Center the next day. They have a shuttle van that brings you right to the TTC to catch a monorail or bus to wherever you want to go.

The Car Care Center also services National as well.

For our return trip to the airport...we called the desk at the Car Care Center the day before and set up a shuttle to pick us up at Pop Century the next morning. The shuttle arrived on time and brought me to the Car Care Center where I rented the car and returned to the resort to load everyone up for our trip back to the airport.

We ended up paying about $90 total for the 2 days of a mini-van rental which would have normally cost us around $200 round trip using Mears.

Speed

 

[wdwgoofeeee]

I read that driving to MK is not a good idea, since parking lot is far away (need to take monorail, boat?).

I also read that there is a Car Care Center in front of MK (how far?), wondering if it is easier to return the car there and walk to MK?

As other posters have stated: If you drive to the MK you must park at the TTC. Depending on how far back you are you may have to take a tram first. Then you have a choice of either the boat or monorail over to the MK entrance. Only Disney buses are allowed near the MK entrance. It's much easier just to take a bus from your Disney resort directly to the MK.

 

[MECH8T7]

For our return trip to the airport...we called the desk at the Car Care Center the day before and set up a shuttle to pick us up at Pop Century the next morning. The shuttle arrived on time and brought me to the Car Care Center where I rented the car and returned to the resort to load everyone up for our trip back to the airport.

We are staying at the Contemporary and will be picking-up a National rental car from the Car Care Center on our second day. Is it necessary to arrange for a pick-up from your resort the day before or can you just call them when you are ready to go there?

Thanks.

 

[speedyf]

I've never stayed at the Contemporary, so I wouldn't know the procedure from there....but, I would call at least a few hours ahead to arrange pick-up. If you call and ask for pick-up right away....the shuttle driver may be making other pick-ups and/or drop offs and you may have to wait.

The shuttle came to pick me up at Pop Century to bring me to the Car Care Center to rent my car. We also stopped at another resort to pick up another family. It probably took at least a half hour from when I was picked up until we reached the CCC. If you happen to call and the shuttle driver is just leaving to pick up several other people at different resorts, I can see having to maybe wait more than an hour before he can get to you. Of course, they could be right over in a few minutes if the driver is not busy at the time.

I guess the more time you give them by calling as early as possible, the less waiting you will do when they come to pick you up.

Speed

 

[biggroofy]

Thank you everyone for the advice. I may just ignore the possibility of renting a car, if parking at MK is not convenient (far from MK entrance).

We will stay at POFQ, but one day we have breakfast at Chef Mickey, and dinner at 1900 Park Fare, and in between we will be in MK. Just wanted to rent a car to make life easier, but it seems not necessarily the case.