car rental on property

[tminx]

I need some help on renting a car for the last 2 days of our stay while on WDW property in early Jan. 2002.
What car co's are actually on property if any? Can you arrange this at guest services of your resort? Will the car co. come and pick you up and or drop you off at your resort? Do resort guest get any kind of discount? Has anyone done this and is it somewhat hassel free?
Would doing this the day we arrive at our resort 3 days before we require the car be enough time?
We are planning a trip to the Kennedy Space Centre to view the launch on Jan 17, has anyone done the drive? How long is the drive?
We have ordered tickets to view the launch froM right on KSC property.It's a 3:52AM launch should we expect less then normal traffic.
Any help in this area would very welcome.

 

[maciec]

I know from National's web site that they have a branch at the Swan and Dolphin

 

[ducklite]

Originally posted by tminx
I need some help on renting a car for the last 2 days of our stay while on WDW property in early Jan. 2002.
What car co's are actually on property if any? Can you arrange this at guest services of your resort? Will the car co. come and pick you up and or drop you off at your resort? Do resort guest get any kind of discount? Has anyone done this and is it somewhat hassel free?
Would doing this the day we arrive at our resort 3 days before we require the car be enough time?
We are planning a trip to the Kennedy Space Centre to view the launch on Jan 17, has anyone done the drive? How long is the drive?
We have ordered tickets to view the launch froM right on KSC property.It's a 3:52AM launch should we expect less then normal traffic.
Any help in this area would very welcome.

National is on property. They will pick you up at your resort and take you to their location to do the paperwork. Very convenient.

It's about an hour from WDW to KSC. You will only need the car for one day--they go by 24 hour rental periods, so pick up late afternoon on one day and return the next day around noon. If anything you will hit heavier traffic as you get out towards Titusville on th Beeline. Please keep in mind that launches can get cancelled/postponed. I don't know KSC's refund policy in this case. A night launch is one of the most spectacular things you will ever see Enjoy!

Anne

 

[tminx]

Hi Anne,
Thanks for the info.
The tickets to watch the launch on KSC property were a mere $15x2 so I think it will be worth the risk of a postponed or a scrubbed launch.
Any idea what the cost of daily rental is? We are from Canada so things get to be a wee bit expensive aftera week at WDW.
Any discounts for resort guests?
Will guests services be able to help?
I must also admit I'm a poor navigator so is the route from WDW relativly simple and are there many tolls to pay?
THANKS.

 

[Meagansmom]

Here is a list of what I know:

National - at the Exxon Station at MK
Dolphin

Avis - Hilton

Budget - Doubletree

Dollar - Courtyard by Marriott

Alamo - Wyndham

Thrifty - Grosvenor

I think most of these will pick you up. I would check with Guest Services at your hotel with procedures or any questions and to check if there are any discounts. I also think Dollar is at the Dolphin. The Exxon Station is only open (I think) from 8:00 to 6:00. Hope this helps. We always rent a car onsite, it is very convenient.

 

[ducklite]

Originally posted by tminx
Hi Anne,
Thanks for the info.
The tickets to watch the launch on KSC property were a mere $15x2 so I think it will be worth the risk of a postponed or a scrubbed launch.
Any idea what the cost of daily rental is? We are from Canada so things get to be a wee bit expensive aftera week at WDW.
Any discounts for resort guests?
Will guests services be able to help?
I must also admit I'm a poor navigator so is the route from WDW relativly simple and are there many tolls to pay?
THANKS.

The front desk will be able to connect you with National.. Rates wil depend on the type of car you get, I would imaging around $40 day. No discounts for resort guests.

EASY to get there... Take Route 528 (Beeline Expressway--National will give you a map and directions) all the way tot he end, and you are pretty much there, it is well marked. There are some tolls, about $3-4 dollars each way as I recall. They have toll collectors, you dno't need exact change.

Where in Canada are you from?

Anne

Anne

 

[tminx]

We are from the beautiful multi-cultural city of Toronto.
I have been to WDW several times but never really ventured off property so this is an adventure for us. I've visited before in Jan. so i know the weather can get a bit nippy especially at the coast.
now i need to decide if we should go to a park that day and stay up all night or rest for the day before heading out to the cape. All i know is we'll be tired coming home. it will be an experience for sure.

 

[ducklite]

We went out for a launch in the middle of the night--set the alarm and requested a wakeup call, and took our som in his PJ's (there were other kids in PJ's too!)

After we went back and went back to sleep.

Anne

 

[tminx]

wow sounds like that scene from Close Encounters when the father takes the kids out in the middle of the night to see the flying saucers. Only in that case there were no space ships. did your son think it was the coolest???
i think we will have a nap before heading out it's just they recomend you be at the KSC 4 hrs before the bus boards for the veiwing area. The bus leaves 3 hrs before launch. There are food and snaks services for people to buy as well as a pa system to keep you updated.
what time was your launch ours is at 3:52am so that's really in the middle of the night.

 

[R4racing]

tminx, be prepared to be stuck out once you take the bus out to see the launch. We went to a launch scheduled for mid-morning, they kept pushing it back and took the count down to a few seconds and held it there. They eventually cancelled it though. What we weren't aware of when we took the bus out there is that once you get out there, you are stuck there till either the shuttle goes or is cancelled. We missed our late afternoon flight out of Orlando as we were sitting stuck waiting for the bus to take us back to the Space Center lot. It was a cool/cold, rainy Oct day and the few food stands they had out by the bus area all ran out of coffee and hot chocolate and most if not all hot foods. we never did get to see the launch that trip.

We actually did get to see a launch on a different trip, viewed it from Titusville, a park by the water there. It is quite a sight to see.

 

[ducklite]

Originally posted by tminx
wow sounds like that scene from Close Encounters when the father takes the kids out in the middle of the night to see the flying saucers. Only in that case there were no space ships. did your son think it was the coolest???
i think we will have a nap before heading out it's just they recomend you be at the KSC 4 hrs before the bus boards for the veiwing area. The bus leaves 3 hrs before launch. There are food and snaks services for people to buy as well as a pa system to keep you updated.
what time was your launch ours is at 3:52am so that's really in the middle of the night.

We've actually seen several night launches, but the one taht we actually went out to KSC for was at around 2:00am, it was in 1996 I think. It was originally scheduled for the night before at around 11:30 pm. With sleeping son in back seat, we started to drive out there. We got to the Beeline and the toll collector said "Ya'll goin out to see the shuttle launch?" We said yes, and she said "Well ya'll might as well turn around and go on home 'cause it's been cancelled." Ugh. So we found out that it was rescheduled for the next night at about 2:00am. We took naps for a couple hours and then drove out. I don't recall needing to be there four hours in advance, but I could be wrong. They may have changed the times for security reasons, or I might remember it wrong. We all think it was one of the coolest things we've ever seen.

I've seen two more night launches from WDW, and another from the causeway in Titusville. I've also heard about four land, you can't miss the sonic boom! I've also seen a miilitary rocket launch out of Cape Canaveral, from the MElbourne Beach area last November.

Anne