Found Out I Can't Rent a Car - Should I Go Anyway?

[DizneyFamof4]

We always drive to WDW and only use it to go offsite or to another resort. With that said, if we did not have our own car, then I would not rent one just for the few times it would come in handy. But, I will add that, going to another resort to eat is a 100 times easier if you have a car. Yes, you can go to a park or DS and then catch another bus to the resort, but believe me it, can be a pain and time consuming.

 

[dizneedoll]

So in my panic spiral yesterday, I did not in fact double check what the person at Alamo was saying was accurate. I have found online that several companies directly state they will take a temporary license with another ID like a passport. Alamo says they "may not accept" a temporary license if you do not have proper additional identification. I called this morning and confirmed. But now I am thinking that I may just skip the car and the hassle after all of these kind and informative replies.....

You can always give it a try without and if you really don’t like it, then next time you can rent and if you end up enjoying not having to drive yourself then you will save some money!

 

[Dug720]

I travel to Disney solo all the time and have not driven anywhere since I sold my car when moving to NYC in 2006. Meaning I've never had a car on Disney property. And I've always had great trips! Unless I'm going for breakfast somewhere (like Boma or Toppolino's) I'll take Disney transportation - I even took it to AKL to eat at the Mara (I needed my gluten-free Zebra Domes). No issues. To go to a breakfast I'm more likely to use Uber. I've had too many Lyft attempts where a driver would pick up the ride, then cancel, a driver would pick up the ride, then cancel, etc. Uber pretty much once they picked up they came. Makes me wish the drivers would get dinged for cancelling after picking up a ride like we do if we cancel after a ride is picked up (especially annoying in NYC where you don't know if you're assigned a Tesla until it's too late to cancel).

 

[CoachBeard]

For me, the whole reason I go to WDW is so I don't have to drive at all. I drive too much everyday for work and I hate it.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I think the punch was a State thing to indicated your Real ID is in process. It should be fine

FWIW this may depend on state procedures. In my state if you are close enough to your expiration date they cut a clip from the corner which invalidates the license. It has zero to do with REAL ID. We get paper IDs until your actual one gets to you in the mail. That then becomes your DL. However, not all places will accept that, indeed I was denied alcohol purchases at a liquor store using my temp paper ID (this was even before REAL ID was issued in my state so it's not to do with that). But the OP's main question is about driving and in my state your paper ID IS your DL until your full one comes in the mail.

Also in my state you can renew your DL up to a year in advance. When I went in for my REAL ID I did it about 2 months in advance because we would also be in WDW just like the OP when my license would expire. I didn't want to worry about bringing any other documentation so I renewed it just a smidgen under 2 months in advance. Because it was done that early they did not clip the end of my existing DL. In my case it was about 2 weeks or so when my REAL ID came to me in the mail but they advise you in my state it can take up to 45 days (which is also the same for a normal DL); in practice it rarely takes that long.

 

[Mle8308]

Thank you, I will get a Lyft account. I will fly back home May 2nd. I have a passport and a Global Entry card. I may just bring both of them for back-up! Even without the Real ID requirement (before May 7th), I am now unsure if the "hole punched" driver's license will get me through security!

Wait for right before your trip to sign up for Uber and/or Lyft. New subscribers are often given discounts, but they are only good for a limited time.

 

[Dave006]

But the OP's main question is about driving and in my state your paper ID IS your DL until your full one comes in the mail.

Not quite, @kleigh1969's initial issue is that they could not rent a car from Alamo due to an Alamo rental procedure. Other posts asked if @kleigh1969 tried other rental companies for example but then as is often the case the discussion went to a broader discussion with lot's of good input on other DIS member's experiences.

Dave

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Not quite, @kleigh1969's initial issue is that they could not rent a car from Alamo due to an Alamo rental procedure. Other posts asked if @kleigh1969 tried other rental companies for example but then as is often the case the discussion went to a broader discussion with lot's of good input on other DIS member's experiences.

Dave

You've misread what I was explaining. You made the connection of punched holes to mean that's the state's indication that the REAL ID is in the process. I stated not necessarily it depends on the state. I went onto explain how it works in my state (of which REAL ID is irrelevant it's just the process). Nothing I said was about the OP's issues with the rental car agency. I spoke to the portion I quoted of yours and how it is for my state. What a rental car agency accepts is their own thing, part of the reason I mentioned the liquor store problem I had.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

a driver would pick up the ride, then cancel, a driver would pick up the ride, then cancel, etc. Uber pretty much once they picked up they came. Makes me wish the drivers would get dinged for cancelling after picking up a ride like we do if we cancel after a ride is picked up

I agree on that, it's such an iffy system they have created where you're at the whim of someone choosing to accept a ride. We've had easy pick ups and then had ones that cancel after they are coming, some basically the car was around the block. I think at Disney it's likely easier to get a ride especially nowadays as it's widely used there.

 

[Dug720]

I agree on that, it's such an iffy system they have created where you're at the whim of someone choosing to accept a ride. We've had easy pick ups and then had ones that cancel after they are coming, some basically the car was around the block. I think at Disney it's likely easier to get a ride especially nowadays as it's widely used there.

Yeah, hopefully it's improved. I was there in 2021 after reopening and I needed to go to the COVID testing place to avoid having to quarantine for 10 days once I got back to NYC (it was only 4 if you had a negative test before returning to NYC and tested negative from a testing location on the 4th day back). I had pre-reserved a Lyft to pick me up but after 15 minutes past the time I'd requested they "couldn't find a driver" in spite of the app saying there were plenty of drivers around. Once I was done at the testing center in Orlando, I tried to get a Lyft and had 4 drivers pick up the ride then cancel on me after a few minutes of waiting. I swapped over to Uber and a driver did pick up and keep it. He got an extra large tip.

Even in NYC it can be hit or miss in terms of getting one. The odds of a driver cancelling after learning you're going to anywhere but in Manhattan have dropped, but aren't impossible. (I had one time at the airport where a driver picked up the ride and then when they were almost there messaged me "To Brooklyn?" and instantly dropped it, but that's a lot more rare now.) I've had a couple of times getting out of the theater where the app said plenty of drivers nearby, but it took a while to get one - and one time where the driver was quite literally pulling up to the hotel next to the theater to drop off a ride so I jumped right in.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Yeah, hopefully it's improved. I was there in 2021 after reopening and I needed to go to the COVID testing place to avoid having to quarantine for 10 days once I got back to NYC (it was only 4 if you had a negative test before returning to NYC and tested negative from a testing location on the 4th day back). I had pre-reserved a Lyft to pick me up but after 15 minutes past the time I'd requested they "couldn't find a driver" in spite of the app saying there were plenty of drivers around. Once I was done at the testing center in Orlando, I tried to get a Lyft and had 4 drivers pick up the ride then cancel on me after a few minutes of waiting. I swapped over to Uber and a driver did pick up and keep it. He got an extra large tip.

Even in NYC it can be hit or miss in terms of getting one. The odds of a driver cancelling after learning you're going to anywhere but in Manhattan have dropped, but aren't impossible. (I had one time at the airport where a driver picked up the ride and then when they were almost there messaged me "To Brooklyn?" and instantly dropped it, but that's a lot more rare now.) I've had a couple of times getting out of the theater where the app said plenty of drivers nearby, but it took a while to get one - and one time where the driver was quite literally pulling up to the hotel next to the theater to drop off a ride so I jumped right in.

We live in the suburbs and it's just easier (and cheaper) for us to rent a car to get to the airport if we are leaving for a long trip where we don't want to pay for parking at the airport (like trips that are 2 weeks+).

We used Uber in 2019 for DL and it worked pretty well. Our adventures in Kronberg, Germany however were awful and a passing by driver circled back around to us and took pity; the original driver wouldn't cancel the ride but also was going around in circles in their area so it was pretty apparent that while they accepted the ride they weren't going to come (that's my biggest gripe about rideshares) and in that city in Germany you are told call for a taxi or rideshare as opposed to just one being there so we got lucky.

Oddly enough one of the most successful times we've had was just recently in Lisbon, Portugal where the drivers not only picked us up quickly and with ease from the airport but also took us into and back away from the Downtown part very efficiently (public transit would have taken more than an hour in both of those cases as opposed to 15 or so minutes with rideshare).

I do think WDW has gotten a lot of rideshare requests especially seems without having DME people have been doing more of that so I would hope that for the OP if they don't do Mears shuttle or if they are wanting to just go from park to park or hotel to hotel that they would have an easy enough time, seems to be less complaints overall that I read about people's experiences in WDW.