Daily Car Rentals AND Best Airport Shuttle for 7?

[smithfamilyof7]

We're a family of 7 (2 adults, 5 kids), coming to DL next month. I found a pretty good deal for a car rental from the airport, so that's what our current plan is. We've never rented a car for DL before, but this time we plan to have a non Disney day in the middle of our trip. Now I'm thinking maybe I should check out my other options to see if I can save money anywhere (mostly the daily parking fees at the hotel are making me reconsider!).

So, if you've rented a car just for a day, what company did you go with? Are there car rental places near DL?

Also, what is the cheapest shuttle from SNA for a big family? (We're staying at the Embassy Suites Orange, if that makes a difference.)

 

[Darkbeer1]

OK, let's look at your options...

Rental Car, the longer you rent, the cheaper the rate can go, so you might find that just renting the car and leaving it as the Hotel is the best option, even with the $16 per day parking fee. (It is located on the east side of I-5 near Angel Stadium, and I would want to have it to just do errands also.

For a nearby Rental Company, on Katella near Disneyland and the Anaheim GardenWalk, you have Avis, Hertz, Enterprise, Alamo and National, but they are only open during the day, and the issue is either getting it the night before, or returning it late. Where do you plan going on the non-Disney day? It might be better to just get a shuttle service to take you there.

Another option, find a closer Hotel to the park, and maybe find one with free or lesser fee parking.

 

[Satye1]

OK, let's look at your options...

Rental Car, the longer you rent, the cheaper the rate can go, so you might find that just renting the car and leaving it as the Hotel is the best option, even with the $16 per day parking fee. (It is located on the east side of I-5 near Angel Stadium, and I would want to have it to just do errands also.

For a nearby Rental Company, on Katella near Disneyland and the Anaheim GardenWalk, you have Avis, Hertz, Enterprise, Alamo and National, but they are only open during the day, and the issue is either getting it the night before, or returning it late. Where do you plan going on the non-Disney day? It might be better to just get a shuttle service to take you there.

Another option, find a closer Hotel to the park, and maybe find one with free or lesser fee parking.

We are renting car too but not until after Disney. But we are renting from Avis on Katella near garden walk. We will ride ART there too to pick up car as it is one of stops
Used coupon on entertainment book for added rental car savings.

As far as transportation to the hotel (from airport) we have used Primetime Shuttle for 3 past trips & been really happy-also got discounted rate with promo/coupon https://m.retailmenot.com/view/primetimeshuttle.com

 

[Satye1]

Decided to book our shuttle tonight too--ended up getting better deal with Karmel Shuttle with promo code CVB4 tonight! 47.00 for our family of 4.

Well I purchased too quickly lol...getawaytoday website had tickets with Karmel shuttle for adults 20 & kids ride free.

 

[lcp9]

This last visit we had 4 adults and 3 children under 5, and we found uber to be way cheaper than any of the shuttle options (we stayed at the new residence inn on harbor/katella.) We had an enormous double stroller and car seats for all the kids, so we got two uber XLs - both ended up being vans if I recall. We have Chase credit cards and used the ChaseUber code for $30 off, so both rides ended up being free. I should add we got in at 10:30 so our options were limited, but Ubers ended up being cheaper than any option available during the day as well.

 

[felice]

You shouldn't go wrong with Karmel Shuttle - my wife and I traveled with them when we were visiting DL in October from the UK. They were superb

 

[smithfamilyof7]

OK, let's look at your options...

Rental Car, the longer you rent, the cheaper the rate can go, so you might find that just renting the car and leaving it as the Hotel is the best option, even with the $16 per day parking fee. (It is located on the east side of I-5 near Angel Stadium, and I would want to have it to just do errands also.

For a nearby Rental Company, on Katella near Disneyland and the Anaheim GardenWalk, you have Avis, Hertz, Enterprise, Alamo and National, but they are only open during the day, and the issue is either getting it the night before, or returning it late. Where do you plan going on the non-Disney day? It might be better to just get a shuttle service to take you there.

Another option, find a closer Hotel to the park, and maybe find one with free or lesser fee parking.

Thank you! I had the same thought, that having a rental would make it a lot easier to go get groceries or even out to dinner if we decide to eat outside the parks. We're planning a beach day so not really an option to use a shuttle; however, we will have an ART pass for the day so we can take that to/from the rental place. We'd have to go with a place that has after hours returns... We have a pretty unbeatable rate at our current hotel so moving closer isn't an option (DH works for Hilton and this is the closest one with availability).

I'll do a bit more digging for some rates (going to check out getawaytoday!) but I'm starting to think it might be worth paying a bit more just to have the car for convenience sake.

I appreciate all your feedback!