Need Help figuring out Rental Car situation

[vossjemi]

Ok, I've been reading these threads about discounts and codes and all and I still haven't been able to get a very good deal. Maybe its too early? Here are our travel plans. We have 6 people (4 adults and 2 children), so we think we'll need a minivan. Our trip will be from sept 17-24 (sat to sat). We plan to fly into MCO on 9/17 and head over to cape canaveral. We'll stay 1 night at a hotel (looking at the ron jon right now) and then head out on our 4 day cruise (9/18-9/22) aboard the wonder. When we get back on 9/22, we'll need a rental car to get us to WDW where we'll stay at the poly until we go back to the airport on 9/24.

I've priced this several different ways. First, I tried just a 1 day rental on 9/17 and a 2 day rental 9/22-9/24. The cheapest 1 day minivan rental I could find was through smarterliving.com's 15% discount code U010746 for $59.30 through Budget, which I thought was good. The problem is I cannot find a cheap 2 day rental for 9/22-9/24. The cheapest I could find there was through National at $135.76. But National doesn't have a courtesy shuttle at the pier, and dcltribute's website says they can get a taxi for you at a negotiated rate of $11, so if you include a $5 tip, I get a grand total of $211.06 going this route for merely 3 days worth of a rental minivan.

Now, if I just rented the whole week from 9/17-9/24, the cheapest minivan I found was through national's website using the priceless and entertainment codes for a total of $316.20. Since this is $100 more, I wouldn't want to do this and then have to deal with leaving the car at the ron jon, which I understand doesn't have a courtesy shuttle, so we'd have more expense there.

So, is there anything I'm not thinking of to get this any cheaper? Or is this the best I can do? Or is it too soon? Any ideas? Thanks in advance!

 

[gigi1313]

i've never cruised, so i may be "all wet" but doesn't disney provide transport from their cruises to their resorts? if so, why rent post-cruise at all? after your stay in a wdw resort, you will be eligible for the new bus service back to the airport also...

 

[gigi1313]

second thought... if you rent national at the pier, drop it off when you get to wdw (at the car care center or dolphin) to avoid paying for two days... again, taking bus back to mco...

 

[vossjemi]

Yes, Disney does provide transport at the cost of $30pp, so RT that would be $360. Which makes a rental car more economical. I did think of the 1 day rental to WDW, but drop offs aren't near the poly I don't think, and then we're left with taking a bus (is that courtesy or cost?) dragging all of our luggage onto the bus, which sounds like a pain. Has anyone done this? Would it be cheaper? Or more of a hassle? I wouldn't mind using the Magic Express on the trip back since it is free though. But, if the cost is close, it might be nice to just have the vehicle so we can eat wherever we want.

 

[gigi1313]

what we do is rent a car at the airport, do the obligatory relative visiting, drive the car to our hotel, unload, relax, get in the car and head to the dolphin, drop the car w/valet parking and grab a bus or boat to a theme park for dinner/fireworks/whatever (depending on the time) and then use disney transport to go back to our hotel... since you are staying at the poly, going from dolphin to mk would be a snap then just walk or ride to the poly... also, the car rental co's offer their own transport if you call ahead and ask them to meet you... we've always done it the other way 'cause we are out and about our first night anyway...