DVC'ers: Great December Alamo 1-day rental from MCO

[Kidanifan08]

We are staying in a 1BR villa at AKV-Jambo for our Christmas trip this year. We will want to get groceries, so I was just pricing car rentals from MCO. We arrive on a Friday. I decided to look at a 1-day rental from MCO with returning the care at the Dolphin. Much to my surprise, the compact priced out at $21 and the full-size at $28! The other car types were much higher. It was the same price for any 1-day rental, no matter which day I chose to pick up at MCO. I booked through Alamo, but the same prices came up on Costco and Orbitz.

Just an FYI for any of you who need to have a car for a day to get groceries and/or replenish the OL!

 

[E-P-C-O-T]

I want to thank you, because, even though renting a car at MCO for our Christmas trip was $763 you gave me the idea to check at the Dolphin and the Car Care Center. Our rental with pick up and drop off at the Car Care Center is now $445. We will now take the Magical Express on our way to and from the airport and save $318

 

[Kidanifan08]

I want to thank you, because, even though renting a car at MCO for our Christmas trip was $763 you gave me the idea to check at the Dolphin and the Car Care Center. Our rental with pick up and drop off at the Car Care Center is now $445. We will now take the Magical Express on our way to and from the airport and save $318

Wow, that is a great savings! I'm glad I was able to help.

I tend to check the various combinations of pick-up and return at MCO vs Dolphin/CCC. When I was looking at renting in December 2012, I remember that it was shockingly high renting and returning at MCO, but much cheaper for the same number of days to just use Dolphin or CCC. Other times of the year, there does not seem to be as much of a difference.

I know that it can be even cheaper to find an off-site rental, but I like the convenience of the Dolphin/CCC. I will miss riding with my family on the Magical Express, but I should be able to get to the resort pretty close to when they get there, even with a stop at the grocery store!

 

[nalajms]

Thanks for posting! I never even knew about the Dolphin. And I cannot believe it's cheaper than MCO. Definitely taking advantage of that in Nov.

Is it in the hotel lobby?

 

[Kidanifan08]

Thanks for posting! I never even knew about the Dolphin. And I cannot believe it's cheaper than MCO. Definitely taking advantage of that in Nov.

Is it in the hotel lobby?

The Alamo desk is in a small room off the lobby. It is only open from 8 or 9 until 4PM, but you can return cars outside of the usual desk hours, as the valet service will check the car in and provide a receipt.

 

[Canadian Disney Mom]

We are staying in a 1BR villa at AKV-Jambo for our Christmas trip this year. We will want to get groceries, so I was just pricing car rentals from MCO. We arrive on a Friday. I decided to look at a 1-day rental from MCO with returning the care at the Dolphin. Much to my surprise, the compact priced out at $21 and the full-size at $28! The other car types were much higher. It was the same price for any 1-day rental, no matter which day I chose to pick up at MCO. I booked through Alamo, but the same prices came up on Costco and Orbitz.

Just an FYI for any of you who need to have a car for a day to get groceries and/or replenish the OL!

Did you use any discount codes?

 

[Kidanifan08]

Did you use any discount codes?

I only rented for 1-day, so I could not find any discount codes. The pricing is the same with or without logging in as an Alamo Insider. The same pricing came up on Orbitz without using any code. I just checked this AM, and a compact is still pricing for $23 total and full-size for $30 for a 1-day rental.

The 1-day bargain seems to only be for pick-up at MCO and drop-off at Dolphin or CCC. The price is higher for pick-up and return at Dolphin/CCC. As E-P-C-O-T pointed out, the weekly rental is much less for pick-up and drop-off at Dolphin/CCC vs MCO.