Hi,
We just got back Tuesday, and rented a compact car from National. You do have to stop at the counter - but it wasn't too bad...no one in line at 10:30 on a Monday morning. We did have a tough time with the person we dealt with at the counter, though (see below). We then went out and picked a car from the "compact" row...which had two cars in it - one of which was being taken by another family! So there wasn't much of a choice. Hopefully, you'll have better luck!
Just a quick warning about the problem we had with the person at the desk.
I had made my reservation first, with DC and a coupon for a free weekend day. Then I realized that I had made the reservation in my name, and I usually like to navigate and let DH drive, so I then joined EC (free with DC), because with EC, you don't have to pay for an extra driver. After receiving my EC card, we called the EC phone number and had them note the EC # on the reservation (we didn't want any changes as we had gotten a good rate, and didn't want to lose that). We were told by the person from EC that just noting the EC # on the reservation would be good enough, and we would be covered so DH could drive. Well, the lady at the counter started off by telling me that because I made the reservation with a "leisure discount", the EC did not apply and I'd have to pay $5.95/day for DH to drive. I argued a little, and then let it drop - figuring I'd drive out, and then let him drive. It was really stupid, because we decline all coverage and go under our own insurance - but she insisted that if he drove, he wasn't covered or something like that - which made NO sense.
Anyway - I drove to Tampa (we went to see a few spring training games before going to WDW), and then I got mad. We called the EC phone # again, and they told us DH was covered...EC# was clearly on the paperwork. They suggested we call MCO National again, which we did, and spoke to a manager, who also told us DH could drive.
So, this lady got us all riled up for nothing.
Hopefully this will save one person from going through what we did - next time, I would insist on talking to a manager right away.
Hopefully, I helped you get a little less confused on the process for the compact cars!
Tigger 22
