Help Sorting Some Logistics

[EdnaMarieMode]

On 9/28 we are checking into POFQ and leaving 10/1. DH will have been at a work conference before this and has a rental car to return to the Dolphin (through National).

Will this work- Drive to POFQ and leave bags with Bell Services around 2:30 PM when DH is done with his last meeting, then drive to HS and be at the park by around 3 PM. We would leave HS around 5:30 to drive to Dolphin, leave rental car (do they have after-hours drop off??), have dinner from 6-7:30 (that should be enough time, right?) and take a boat or walk (tall order after a steak dinner!) back to HS for around 8/ 8:30.

Mainly the wild cards are- is it really a 15 minute drive from POFQ to HS, and a 10 minute drive to Dolphin from HS, and can we drop the car at Dolphin after the National counter closes at 4 PM?

Or is there some better way I can't get my head around?

 

[sam_gordon]

On 9/28 we are checking into POFQ and leaving 10/1. DH will have been at a work conference before this and has a rental car to return to the Dolphin (through National).

Will this work- Drive to POFQ and leave bags with Bell Services around 2:30 PM when DH is done with his last meeting, then drive to HS and be at the park by around 3 PM. We would leave HS around 5:30 to drive to Dolphin, leave rental car (do they have after-hours drop off??), have dinner from 6-7:30 (that should be enough time, right?) and take a boat or walk (tall order after a steak dinner!) back to HS for around 8/ 8:30.

Mainly the wild cards are- is it really a 15 minute drive from POFQ to HS, and a 10 minute drive to Dolphin from HS, and can we drop the car at Dolphin after the National counter closes at 4 PM?

Or is there some better way I can't get my head around?

That seems extremely complicated and I'm not sure what you're trying to accomplish. Will you have two cars (one for you and the rental for DH)? Or are you all using the one car that needs to be returned?

Are you trying to maximize park time?

Personally, I'd go to HS, let DH return the car when he's done with the meeting, then take the bus to meet you. Wait, will he have luggage that you have to get to POFQ? That adds to the problem.

 

[bumbershoot]

I personally would drop bags then go straight to return the car. And go to HS from there.

 

[FCDub]

^ Ditto.

Seems you're overthinking things.

 

[EdnaMarieMode]

That seems extremely complicated and I'm not sure what you're trying to accomplish. Will you have two cars (one for you and the rental for DH)? Or are you all using the one car that needs to be returned?

Are you trying to maximize park time?

Personally, I'd go to HS, let DH return the car when he's done with the meeting, then take the bus to meet you. Wait, will he have luggage that you have to get to POFQ? That adds to the problem.

One car, has to be returned Friday, only DH can drive it (it's a reservation through work). DH needs it Friday morning to drive TO the conference and Friday afternoon to drive FROM the conference. We also have luggage to drop off at POFQ and we need the car to do that.

I'd love to maximize park time because the park closes at 8 and we'd like to have dinner at Shula's and that's our only night to do so (we are meeting other people Saturday and Sunday). I know Shula's is cutting into the park time but assuming that's not negotiable the only other way to maximize park time is to not wait an hour for a boat.

I personally would drop bags then go straight to return the car. And go to HS from there.

I considered that, except dropping the bags and returning the car means that I'm then at the mercy of Disney transportation (or incurring another expense using Uber/ Lyft/ Minnie Van or so on and I'd rather not do that) to get to dinner at Shula's and that means at least 2 hours of park time vs. 1 hour of park time spent on transportation.

Edited to change park closing time.

^ Ditto.

Seems you're overthinking things.

It may seem that way, but these are the logistics I've been dealt.

 

[bumbershoot]

First, check to make SURE you can't drive. My now-ex got National rentals with his work rate all the time and was able to add any coworkers, and me, onto it.

I considered that, except dropping the bags and returning the car means that I'm then at the mercy of Disney transportation (or incurring another expense using Uber/ Lyft/ Minnie Van or so on and I'd rather not do that) to get to dinner at Shula's and that means at least 2 hours of park time vs. 1 hour of park time spent on transportation.

For some reason I thought DHS was walkable from the Dolphin. Is that not correct? Maybe I'm thinking Epcot, and that you can walk from Epcot to DHS?

or incurring another expense using Uber/ Lyft/ Minnie Van or so on and I'd rather not do that

Well, the rental car is being paid for by the company, so unless he's the owner, that's not an expense to you. So using a paid service wouldn't be *another* expense on top of the car, really. It might not be something you want or choose to do, but don't clump personal and work expenses together (learned that from experience).


I do think that Valet at Swolphin will take the after-hours return, though. Just sounds like a massive pain, and one that I would be overjoyed to throw a little personal money at to make go away. (from long experience with work trips I'm tagging along on)


Not sure where you'll be before POFQ or what your plans are that day, but if you were all ready to go before his conference that morning, and you're not too far away, he/you two could also take the bags over to POFQ really early.


And lastly, going to DHS for an hour or two then going to dinner elsewhere then going back to DHS sounds...unfun to me. I might consider a later dinner to have more hours in a row at DHS.

 

[EdnaMarieMode]

First, check to make SURE you can't drive. My now-ex got National rentals with his work rate all the time and was able to add any coworkers, and me, onto it.



For some reason I thought DHS was walkable from the Dolphin. Is that not correct? Maybe I'm thinking Epcot, and that you can walk from Epcot to DHS?




Well, the rental car is being paid for by the company, so unless he's the owner, that's not an expense to you. So using a paid service wouldn't be *another* expense on top of the car, really. It might not be something you want or choose to do, but don't clump personal and work expenses together (learned that from experience).


I do think that Valet at Swolphin will take the after-hours return, though. Just sounds like a massive pain, and one that I would be overjoyed to throw a little personal money at to make go away. (from long experience with work trips I'm tagging along on)


Not sure where you'll be before POFQ or what your plans are that day, but if you were all ready to go before his conference that morning, and you're not too far away, he/you two could also take the bags over to POFQ really early.


And lastly, going to DHS for an hour or two then going to dinner elsewhere then going back to DHS sounds...unfun to me. I might consider a later dinner to have more hours in a row at DHS.

Company policy is that I can not be added to the contract and thus can not drive the car. Since they're paying for the rental, those are the breaks regardless of National's policy.

The Dolphin is walkable. It's not so much fun in the heat (we did this last week). You can walk to Epcot from DHS but that's a longer walk- you'd walk past the Swolphin (and YC/ BC or Boardwalk depending on which side of the water you choose to stay on). Also it's a 20-30 minute walk and that's longer than the maybe 10 minute drive.

The rental car is paid for by the company until Friday. I'm not clumping the work expense with a personal expense, I'm clumping the personal expenses together because any transportation beyond what is paid for already is an additional expense (so yes, it is *another* expense on top of airfair, room, meals even if it has nothing to do with what his company has paid for). On that note, room is only paid for until Friday morning at checkout, and then we're on our own to book accommodations.

I fail to see how dropping off bags at POFQ, driving 10 minutes to HS, and then driving to the Dolphin later on and returning the rental is any more or less hassle than dropping off bags at POFQ, driving 10 minutes to Dolphin, returning the car, waiting for a boat to HS (or walking it which is really not an option after we did that last week), then taking a boat back to the Dolphin, and a boat after dinner back to HS. Or substitute the boat with "waiting for Uber/ Lyft/ Minnie Van and adding 3 expenses to this trip."

It may sound unfun to you, but this is the one dinner my DH would like to have and up until a week ago we literally had not had a kid-free dinner in 2 years. Not that it was the point of this post, but he literally never asks for a thing so if this is where he wants to eat dinner, then this is where we are having dinner that Friday night. I can consider booking dinner for 9:30 PM, that might be my best workaround.

 

[FCDub]

For some reason I thought DHS was walkable from the Dolphin. Is that not correct? Maybe I'm thinking Epcot, and that you can walk from Epcot to DHS?

It's definitely walkable.

OP, I really fail to see how this is what you've been dictated. It just makes no sense to do things this way. Drop the car at the Dolphin, walk 20 minutes to Hollywood Studios and enjoy your afternoon. Or literally pay $10 for an Uber. Reducing the amount of stress and back-and-forth you're about to incur is worth it.

If you're adamant about this, then go for it. But you asked for a "better way" to do it and people have given you better ways.

 

[sam_gordon]

One car, has to be returned Friday, only DH can drive it (it's a reservation through work). DH needs it Friday morning to drive TO the conference and Friday afternoon to drive FROM the conference. We also have luggage to drop off at POFQ and we need the car to do that.

If the car has to be returned Friday, wouldn't that mean it has to be turned in by COB? According to their website, that's 4p. What time is his conference over? Is it just you and him (or are there kids?) When do you arrive?

I'd love to maximize park time because the park closes at 3 and we'd like to have dinner at Shula's and that's our only night to do so (we are meeting other people Saturday and Sunday). I know Shula's is cutting into the park time but assuming that's not negotiable the only other way to maximize park time is to not wait an hour for a boat.

I'm really confused now. In your OP, you said you'd get to the park around 3 and return around 8/8:30.

I considered that, except dropping the bags and returning the car means that I'm then at the mercy of Disney transportation (or incurring another expense using Uber/ Lyft/ Minnie Van or so on and I'd rather not do that) to get to dinner at Shula's and that means at least 2 hours of park time vs. 1 hour of park time spent on transportation.

You might not have a choice if you have to return the car by 4.

It may seem that way, but these are the logistics I've been dealt.

I love working with logistics (I'm strange that way), but I think you're leaving out a lot of details that might help us come up with a solution for you...
1) What time is the conference over?
2) Who is traveling/wants to go to the parks?
3) Have you purchased park passes yet?
4) What do you want to do in the park (ride, walk, shop, etc)?
5) When do you arrive (are you with him on Friday morning and he's leaving you to go to the conference)?
6) Must you drop off at the Dolphin or is the Car Care Center an option (they'll give you a free shuttle ride anywhere on property)?

 

[EdnaMarieMode]

If the car has to be returned Friday, wouldn't that mean it has to be turned in by COB? According to their website, that's 4p. What time is his conference over? Is it just you and him (or are there kids?) When do you arrive?

I'm really confused now. In your OP, you said you'd get to the park around 3 and return around 8/8:30.


You might not have a choice if you have to return the car by 4.


I love working with logistics (I'm strange that way), but I think you're leaving out a lot of details that might help us come up with a solution for you...
1) What time is the conference over?
2) Who is traveling/wants to go to the parks?
3) Have you purchased park passes yet?
4) What do you want to do in the park (ride, walk, shop, etc)?
5) When do you arrive (are you with him on Friday morning and he's leaving you to go to the conference)?
6) Must you drop off at the Dolphin or is the Car Care Center an option (they'll give you a free shuttle ride anywhere on property)?

In my initial post, I asked if anyone knew if after-hours drop off was available at the National counter at the Dolphin. According to DH's travel portal the agreement with National is that cars returned by 6 PM count as same business day.

The park closes at 8 , it's a typo (and they do have a whole month to change the hours but that's a gripe for another post). We'd be getting to the park around 2 at the earliest (using the current plan) but 3 is a safer bet. Fireworks are at 8:30 and I'd like to return to the park before 8 so we're let back in for fireworks.

Not a strange interest at all- I'm usually really good at this stuff but I usually also don't leave a park midway through for dinner, return a rental car I can't drive and move my luggage all in one day.

1. Conference ends at 12:30 PM. DH would leave conference and go to Sheraton Vistana Villages on I-Drive to pick me up (I'm erring on the side of him leaving conference at 12:45/ 1 p.m. because this group likes to linger). We would drop off luggage at POFQ and leave for HS from there.
2. DH and I are traveling on Friday and are going to the parks. The rest of our weekend has been sorted.
3. We are Annual Passholders
4. Rides- specifically the ones we had to skip last week due to weather. ToT (have FP), TSMM (have FP), Slinky Dog (no FP, willing to wait and ultimately willing to skip if needed for time), Alien Saucers (standby and also willing to skip if needed), Star Tours (have FP), SW Fireworks. Skipping Fantasmic, shows, and no real need to do shopping. Maybe a few minutes looking at the Star Wars land model but I can skip that and be fine as well.
5. I fly in on Thursday night and was planning originally on having him drop me and the bags off at POFQ on Friday morning before he leaves for his last conference session (which starts at 9 AM at the Hyatt Regency Orlando). He is at Universal the night before (for the conference) until 12:30 AM and I haven't slept in 2 years (thanks, toddler!) so I was hoping to skip an early drop off for me as well but if that's how this has to go, he can choose between sleeping in and having Shula's.
6. Rental is through National so either Car Care Center or Dolphin is an option.

We figured we'd drive to the Dolphin to avoid waiting for a boat or making the walk over to Dolphin from HS. After thinking about it some more a better idea seems to be:

Move luggage to POFQ in the morning before conference (not ideal but maybe saves the rest of this)
DH to conference, (can drop luggage at POFQ if I decided that I deserve to sleep in kid-free for the first time in 2 years), and can return the car to either Dolpin or Car Care Center (really doesn't matter, time suck would be about the same I believe) and I can meet him at HS taking the bus from POFQ
That puts us both at HS by 2 PM (probably earlier but again, real life isn't always on a schedule)
Rides, fireworks
Have dinner at 9:30 at Shula's (a later night than I wanted but saves me 2 1/2 hours plus of park time AND means if we walk it's not in the blazing sun with no shade). BUT, am I giving myself enough time after the fireworks to get to Shula's?

 

[goofy4tink]

Have dh pick you up after his conf. Go directly to PO from there. It should be quick...about 15 mins. Drop off bags, continue on to the Dolphin (about a 10 min ride), drop off the car. Take the boat to DHS. Enjoy your day.
When it’s time to leave, either boat or walk to the Dolphin for Shula. The boat takes about 15 mins once you get on and it leaves. Could be a longish wait for it to come and you get on. The walk is about 20 mins.
The question then is how do you get back to PO? I would just take Uber or a cab. Won’t cost much.

 

[sam_gordon]

According to DH's travel portal the agreement with National is that cars returned by 6 PM count as same business day.

This is by no means official, but as I understand after hours drop off, the drop off time will be whenever someone picks up the keys the next business day. So even if you drop the car at 5pm, since they're closed, there's no one to check it in until 8am the next morning. I might be wrong, but I would want confirmation before I count on it.

If you can change the drop off to the Car Care Center, I'd do the following:
1) He goes to the conference.
2) He picks you up ~1:30p. Put luggage in the car.
3) Go to DHS.
4) Leave DHS at 5pm
5) Stop at POFQ and drop your luggage (either with bell services or in your room)
6) Return car to CCC by 6pm
7) Utilize their shuttle to get you to the Dolphin for dinner.
8) Boat/Walk back to DHS for the fireworks.
9) Bus to POFQ

The Car Care Center is open until 7pm.

If you can't change, I think I'd do the following:
1) He goes to conference
2) He picks you up ~1:30p
3) Go to POFQ and drop luggage
4) Go to Dolphin and return car
5) Boat/Walk to DHS. Should get there around 2:30/2:45.
6) Leave DHS at 5:30, boat/walk to Dolphin
7) Have dinner
8) Boat/Walk back to DHS for fireworks.
9) Bus to POFQ.

 

[kaytieeldr]

The park closes at 8 , it's a typo (and they do have a whole month to change the hours but that's a gripe for another post).

Standard DHS closing time is either 7 or 8; anything beyond that is bonus time. Not legitimately gripable.

So even if you drop the car at 5pm, since they're closed, there's no one to check it in until 8am the next morning.

Dolphin Vaket service can officially check in rental returns. The actual return time should be the actual return time.


I wonder if the OP isaware that Shula's is open unti! 11 PM? Eat late. Avoid all the back-and-forth.

 

[EdnaMarieMode]

Standard DHS closing time is either 7 or 8; anything beyond that is bonus time. Not legitimately gripable.


Dolphin Vaket service can officially check in rental returns. The actual return time should be the actual return time.


I wonder if the OP isaware that Shula's is open unti! 11 PM? Eat late. Avoid all the back-and-forth.

My gripe is that they change close to the day you’re going. I don’t question the legitimacy of the many gripes I see on any of these boards and as I said, that’s for another post anyhow.

National’s rental car policy is that if it’s dropped off after the rental location closes its checked in the next business day (we had to call to find this out). So no, it wouldn’t be whenever the valet takes the keys. Maybe it should be, but it isn’t.

Yes, I am aware they are open until 11 PM. If the park is open later (which is possible) then fireworks could be later (unless it’s EMH). Oh wait, now we’re back to my illegitimate gripe about changing hours.

 

[kaytieeldr]

You could make two separate reservations now, directly on the restaurant website, then cancel one without penalty when park hours are finalized. The comment about EMH confuses me. Not aware of EMH being added, especially this close to the date

 

[EdnaMarieMode]

You could make two separate reservations now, directly on the restaurant website, then cancel one without penalty when park hours are finalized. The comment about EMH confuses me. Not aware of EMH being added, especially this close to the date

There are no EMH on the calendar at all for that week. I've never seen that. Chances are, they are going to add EMH somewhere in that week at at least one park, possibly even at HS.

ETA- I understand I can make a reservation without penalty. That doesn't mean that if I make a reservation for 9:30 and park hours change, I still get to go to dinner and see the fireworks.

 

[sam_gordon]

Dolphin Vaket service can officially check in rental returns. The actual return time should be the actual return time.

Are you positive about that? Enough that you would chance returning a car after 4pm, knowing that if you're wrong, you're going to get hit with an extra day rental charge (that I'm guessing the company won't pick up)?

 

[kaytieeldr]

There are no EMH on the calendar at all for that week. I've never seen that. Chances are, they are going to add EMH somewhere in that week at at least one park, possibly even at HS.

ETA- I understand I can make a reservation without penalty. That doesn't mean that if I make a reservation for 9:30 and park hours change, I still get to go to dinner and see the fireworks.

Then make three reservations: your original plan, 9:30ish, and 10:45. Then cancel the two you don't need. You seem to be planning a lot of back and forth, with Shula's dinner being mandatory.

Are you positive about that? Enough that you would chance returning a car after 4pm, knowing that if you're wrong, you're going to get hit with an extra day rental charge (that I'm guessing the company won't pick up)?

Nope. It's been (quite) a few years since i returned a car to Dolphin Valet.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

irst, check to make SURE you can't drive. My now-ex got National rentals with his work rate all the time and was able to add any coworkers, and me, onto it.

With my husband's company it's set up this way:

1) On Business--only business people can drive which includes coworkers--spouses are not covered to drive

2) On Pleasure/Leisure--the specific companies that allow for spouses to drive for free equals I can drive for free or I can be added as an additional driver for the companies that do not allow for free spousal driving.

In both situations the corporate rate can be applied. It's the type of travel that determines who can drive for my husband's case.

I'm willing to bet the OP's husband's company is set up like my husband's company and because the OP's husband will be there for business (even though they will extend the trip) during the time in which it is business travel she cannot drive the car. For insurance reasons my husband's company would cover him and his coworkers during business travel. When on pleasure/leisure travel our personal insurance is what covers us.

 

[nkereina]

OP, what are you doing during the day before 2:30 when your DH is done with his conference? Could you Uber the bags over to POFQ during the day so that part is out of the way? Or even drive DH to his conference and pick him up so you can do the bag Then have your DH either meet you at DHS or pick you up from POFQ. Or another option is to have the Dolphin transfer the bags to POFQ so you don't have to stop there at all.

Another option would be to drop off and pick up DH from his conference so you have the car during the day and can drop off the bags at POFQ and then go straight to DHS after you pick him up. But this would assume you could add yourself as a driver on the reservation, which I know may not be feasible for a work trip.