Logistics nightmare?

[la79al]

By deciding to fly instead of drive, we are pretty much adding on almost 2 days, which is really exciting. DH however, would like to visit with his sister (an hour away) one of our DW days. In addition to visiting with her, he would like to take the kids to a nature preserve near her house and go to one of his favorite restaurants. I talked to sis last night and she said she could come visit us at DW on our arrival day but she won't have DW tickets so I feel like we will not only 'lose' a Disney day, but may potentially get bored trying to entertain guests before we can even technically get into our room. The other option is to rent a car on one of our later days, go to visit sis, do the nature preserve and the restaurant. DH does not want to go this route because of the added expense, but also because he thinks it will end up being a huge hassle. I am more than willing to come up with the money if it can be done easily. I was thinking about renting a car through the CCC on Monday, shortly after lunchtime and returning it sometime the next morning (as early as they open so we can head to the parks ). So how would we go about renting a car from CCC (we are staying at Pop)? Is there a shuttle (free?) or would we have to take a cab? How would we go about returning the car? Would it be easier to rent from the Dolphin? Again, I would really like to do this for DH but we are flying to avoid headaches, I don't want to add new ones.

 

[englishteacha]

I might not be the best person to answer, but I'll try. When my friend from out of state comes to Maine, I do my best (as a Mainer) to try to get to see them where it's convenient for them. Reciprocally, if I'm going as far as Florida and have a relative not far from where I'm going to be, it would be nice if they would come to me.

It seems that either way to do it, you're going to "lose" a Disney day. Could your sis pick you guys up at the airport and take you back to her house for a visit that afternoon, then bring you to WDW afterwards? That seems like the best case scenario to me. You could give her gas money, which I'm sure will be cheaper than renting a car.

Just an idea. Don't know if I helped or made it worse for ya!

 

[englishteacha]

I might not be the best person to answer, but I'll try. When my friend from out of state comes to Maine, I do my best (as a Mainer) to try to get to see them where it's convenient for them. Reciprocally, if I'm going as far as Florida and have a relative not far from where I'm going to be, it would be nice if they would come to me.

It seems that either way to do it, you're going to "lose" a Disney day. Could your sis pick you guys up at the airport and take you back to her house for a visit that afternoon, then bring you to WDW afterwards? That seems like the best case scenario to me. You could give her gas money, which I'm sure will be cheaper than renting a car.

Just an idea. Don't know if I helped or made it worse for ya!

 

[la79al]

I guess if they come to us, I would feel bad about sitting in Disney World, missing out on all the parks. Also, when we took our December trip, I had an aunt come to visit us and it turned out to be a nightmare. We wasted the entire evening 'attempting' to resort hop. Not good, not good at all. Sis can not pick us up at the airport because there would not be room for all of us in her car. I am leaning towards renting the car and going to see her because I figure we can do a water park or DTD in the morning, leave after lunch (so the kiddos will sleep in the car, at least the little one), hit the nature preserve, which is pretty neat, then tie in dinner and visiting with sis when she gets off work. I am also thinking about keeping the car a bit longer the next day and letting DH go do something else while the girls and I have breakfast with Pooh. I just have to figure out how to get the car and redo my whole schedule with this new 'off day'.

 

[NotUrsula]

Easy as pie, really, but it would almost surely be cheapest for you to do your rental pickup on a weekend day. One day rentals are more expensive on weekdays. (In fact, a 2-day weekend rental, Saturday to Monday, might be cheaper than a one-day Monday rental, as long as you return it on time Monday (weekend rates sometimes have a Monday noon return deadline.)

You can rent on property from either the CCC or from the Dolphin. If you are onsite, you can ask Guest Services to ferry you back and forth to the Car Care Center; they will get someone to take you. There are also a couple of rental desks in Downtown Disney hotels, but they are a bit harder to reach.

Remember that car rentals are based on a 24-hr day. Whatever time you pick up is your return time the next day, and bringing it back any sooner won't save you anything.

PS: I agree about the issue of having someone come to you at WDW. Pretty much the ONLY way that works is to have dinner at one of the resorts and then let the kids hit the pool or playground while the adults visit and watch them. Trying to go anywhere in a park is almost always a huge time munch, and doesn't result in much "visit" at all.

 

[seashoreCM]

>>> DH does not want to go this route (renting a car) because of the added expense, but also because he thinks it will end up being a huge hassle.

If you put DH in charge of this aspect of the trip, how would he plan it?

>>> ... potentially get bored trying to entertain guests ...

Another item (the entertainment) to be put in DH's lap. Or is DH counting on his sister to entertain you (plural)?

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

Seashore, the reason this guy doesn't make any decisions is because I think la79al makes the decisions. You overlooked this sentence in her original posting:

I am more than willing to come up with the money if it can be done easily.

She's in control!

BobK/Orlando

 

[la79al]

Seashore, the reason this guy doesn't make any decisions is because I think la79al makes the decisions. You overlooked this sentence in her original posting:

I am more than willing to come up with the money if it can be done easily.

She's in control!

BobK/Orlando

No, I'm not in control. I am trying to plan stuff that DH wants to do (visit with his sister) so that he will plan stuff that I want to do (fly instead of drive)

And Seashore- I'm worried that if I leave it up to DH, he will get frustrated with the 'difficulty' of it and just give up and not see his sister and I don't think that's fair to him. He will either tell her to come see us and then get upset that we don't have something to 'do' or he will decide to rent a car to go see her but then figure that it's too complicated to try to do and just tell me nevermind.
I am going to talk to SIL today and tell her about the GAD/GAD thing and see what she thinks but it looks like plan B (renting a car from CCC) won't be too bad.

 

[seashoreCM]

Thinking of it as three small issues instead of one big issue may help.

1. Getting the car.
2. Rescheduling Disney activities.
3. Quality time with Sis (How much of this will the nature preserve fill in?).

Since the nature preserve is near Sis's, having her drive out to get you is disadvantageous; she would have to drive out a second time to take you back.

Reserve the car in advance, otherwise you may find only expensive cars.

 

[Traveliz]

Not sure if it is just one person or more but if the park admission is a problem why not mention to them the GAD offer. Perhaps they do something to get that park day in exchange for volunteering.

Liz