Magical Express without airline?

[perla75]

Kind of a weird question, but let me explain....we are considering a quick trip after Thanksgiving. If we did this, we would fly to Naples to have Thanksgiving with my family first & then rent a car and drive to Orlando. We won't want/need the car once we get to WDW and we were thinking it would make most sense to drop off our rental car at Orlando airport and hop on the ME to get to our resort.

Will WDW allow this if we don't have corresponding arrival airline info? We would plan to take ME back to Orlando airport at the end of our trip with a participating airline.

Thanks!

 

[mbanks21]

I dont think theyll let you do that. If its Alamo you can drop the car off at disney. They will let you take the ME back to the airport but they would need the flight info for that.

 

[dmslush]

I don't think so. When you book ME, you get a booklet that has a barcode that the drivers scan before you can get on the bus. I think without the barcode, they wouldn't let you on the bus?

 

[goofy4tink]

Yep, no problem. Many do this. Anyone arriving at MCO and departing from there to a WDW owned resort is entitled to a ride to their resort. It doesn't make any difference how you arrive...be it by plane, car or yak!!
Find an airline flight arrival time that more or less matches the time you plan to arrive at MCO. Then, give them that info, as well as your return flight info, when you call to make your reservations. Return you car, head to the DME counter, with your bags. You will then take your bags with you to the bus.
It's no problem to do it this way.

 

[zurgswife]

I'm doing this in July. I booked DME for me on the date of the car return. I figure no need to drag the entire family back to the airport. Then I booked the entire family for the return trip to the airport on departure day.

Just call DME and book a trip from the airport to your hotel on the date you need. As long as you are booked at a disney hotel you are entitled to transportation to the disney hotel.

 

[Lewisc]

The question isn't IF you can do what you want but rather SHOULD you do that. Figure a 30 minute drive to MCO then another 90 minutes to return the car, walk over to DME and take a bus back to your resort. Add another 20 minutes to get to a theme park.

National/Alamo has a rental desk at the Dolphin. Price a return there. Check into your resort, drop off the rental car and then walk (or boat) to EPCOT or DHS.

Most of the other rental agencies have a desk in a DTD hotel, check out a return there. Chances are you'll be allowed to use the hotel bus to go directly to a theme park.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

The question isn't IF you can do what you want but rather SHOULD you do that. Figure a 30 minute drive to MCO then another 90 minutes to return the car, walk over to DME and take a bus back to your resort. Add another 20 minutes to get to a theme park.

National/Alamo has a rental desk at the Dolphin. Price a return there. Check into your resort, drop off the rental car and then walk (or boat) to EPCOT or DHS.

Most of the other rental agencies have a desk in a DTD hotel, check out a return there. Chances are you'll be allowed to use the hotel bus to go directly to a theme park.

I agree with Lewisc 100%.

I'll only add that your rental car return options include not only the National/Alamo location at the Dolphin (or at the Disney Car Care Center near MK) and various companies' rental car counters at DTD hotels (or at hotels just off Disney property), but also actual rental car facilities just off-site with free shuttle service to WDW resorts, such as the Hertz Kissimmee-Walt Disney World location. If you decide to return at a hotel, be sure to find out ahead of time what your transportation options are from that hotel back to your resort; in some cases, you might have to use a cab.

I've returned a car at Hertz at Orlando International a couple of times and used Magical Express to get to our Disney resort. But I had a great rate that did not allow one-way rentals.

You're doing a one-way rental anyway, so you might as well arrange to return your car at the most convenient location, not necessarily at Orlando International.

 

[goofy4tink]

If you are able to return your car at some other area for the same or less money, then go for it.
The other posters are correct...it may be beneficial for you to just head directly to WDW and go to your resort. Unpack, get settled and then return the car to some other area, other than MCO. It is time consuming to drive past WDW to MCO, return the car and then wait for the bus.
But, I know that last summer, I got a much cheaper rate by renting from MCO before my cruise. So, I took DME back to MCO and then rented my car there, rather than from WDW area companies.

 

[perla75]

Thank you!!!

I did not realize there were other drop off options! We just want to be able to drop off the car and head to our on site resort. We will look into this! We will likely be staying at Pop, so we could just take a DTD shuttle there, right?

 

[CleveRocks]

I dont think theyll let you do that. If its Alamo you can drop the car off at disney. They will let you take the ME back to the airport but they would need the flight info for that.

I don't think so. When you book ME, you get a booklet that has a barcode that the drivers scan before you can get on the bus. I think without the barcode, they wouldn't let you on the bus?

I know this has already been handled, but ....

There is no requirement that a guest must fly into MCO in order to use DME. The only requirements are that the transportation be between MCO and the resort the guest has a reservation at, and that the trip to the resort be on or after checki-in date and the trip to the airport be on or before check-out date. That's all!

The barcoded info on vouchers is coded to your reservation number, not your flight information. You will receive a DME packet no matter what, even without flight info.

 

[goofy4tink]

Thank you!!!

I did not realize there were other drop off options! We just want to be able to drop off the car and head to our on site resort. We will look into this! We will likely be staying at Pop, so we could just take a DTD shuttle there, right?

What rental company are you planning on using? Alamo/National can be dropped at the Dolphin, close to Epcot and DHS. Also about a 4 min ride from POP.
If you use another company, chances are that you can find an office in the DTD area. The hotels in DTD have a variety of rental car companies. I know the Doubletree Guest Suites has a Budget office. This is my rental car company of choice, so if I can get a good rate in Dec, that's where I'll be returning my car. Then, I can take the bus from DTD back to my resort after I eat lunch there. You will have to walk to those hotels though. Some may offer a shuttle service back to POP for you.

 

[NotUrsula]

We will likely be staying at Pop, so we could just take a DTD shuttle there, right?

Just to address the point bolded above. By all means return at an on- or near-property office, but don't go through the hassle of hauling your luggage and your entire party on the shuttle. Drive your rental car to your resort first, check in and leave your bags, then only the driver need go to return the vehicle.

Depending on what time the car is due back (each rental "day" is 24 hours), you might have several hours on-property use of it, which could be handy if you wanted to go to another resort for a meal or something like that.

 

[perla75]

Thank you-thats a good idea! We've never driven to WDW before, so these things didnt occur to us.

I think maybe we'll actually stop at the market and pick up some water and snacks and drop everything off at the resort first, then drop off the rental, as you guys suggested.

We are basically going to opt for whichever company is the cheapest and also located in a convenient drop off area. I'm assuming we will be able to find all major rental car companies in Naples. I don't want to waste too much of the day with the drop off, so either a DTD or Swan/Dolphin drop off location.