Playing with the idea of renting a car

[KatyTheFairyPrincess]

Let me start by saying that in my group there is me (turning 21 5 days into the holiday), my Mum who won't drive and my DBF going, and it's his first time.

Now from what I understand, I couldn't rent a car until I'm 21, or if DBF rented it, I couldn't drive it until I was 21. I might be wrong about this?

We're staying at Pop and really don't fancy the drive after the flight to WDW, but we'd be happy to drive once we're settled and DBF has seen how easy the roads are. So is this possible? Can you get a car delivered to the hotel? I'm sure theres a place on property that rents cars so that could be an option but I did a search and can't find anything on it.

Also cost wise, would it be worth it?? I'm happy to use WDW transportation but if we had the car we'd use it. We're planning 2 days at USO and 1 day at Seaworld and possibly a day at Discovery Cove, so thats a lot of taxis (or shuttles but we'll realistically end up using taxis), so I'm starting to think we'd about break even if we rented?

Just interested on your thoughts really

 

[LauraDaveCharlie]

Disney does have a car care center onsite near the Magic Kingdom toll plaza. You can rent National and Alamo cars there - it should come up on their websites. Think you can also rent from the Swan or Dolphin but have never done that. With the car care centre, you can arrange for them to come and pick you up at your hotel and take you there. Then when you bring the car back they will take you back to your hotel. It is really easy and we have done it a few times in the middle of a WDW stay.

 

[KatyTheFairyPrincess]

Just checked it on Alamo now (had previously been using comparison sites which would only let you choose airports), anyway with the young driver charge for me + the additional driver charge it was coming in at £537. Which is a lot. I couldn't get the additional charges up on the other sites I was using so I had factored about $100 charge for each but I was obviously way off.

It might just depend on what we feel like when we're there, DBF is a confident driver over here but would like to see what the roads are like there first. If it was just him driving it would come in at £237ish so it more than doubles it if I was to be driving as well.

Theres always next time anyway!

 

[chmurf]

DBF is a confident driver over here but would like to see what the roads are like there first.

well first of all, there is one huge difference for you, UK people, it's that in the US they drive on the right side of the road, with a steering wheel on the left side of the car.
And that can need some getting used to. (I can remember how it felt the first time I drove in the UK, lol)

Roads in the "theme park area" (WDW, Uni, SW, etc) are very wide highways.
A first time driver there, just off their plane, feeling very tired, might find it a bit confusing, even a bit scary, but the next day, after a few miles, you feel like you've driven there all your life.
Once you begin to understand how the road system works, you're fine.

But I guess the biggest challenge would be that "wrong side of the road" feeling, but I'm French and drive on the same side as in the US so I wouldn't know for sure

 

[stba2006]

I'm not certain about where else you can pick up rental cars other than the airport as this is all we have ever done, but I would personally recommed getting a car.

We have stayed on site once and as we knew that we had free disney transport between parks, we thought that we would be alright not getting a car that year.

We found that whilst the buses are great for getting around disney, when we wanted to go any-where else (Universal/shopping malls, etc) it ended up costing more than we expected, but also it took a lot longer, so we didn't end up doing as much as we had hoped.

Other people may say that not driving works out good for them but for us, we would never choose not to rent a car again.

 

[flortlebap]

I'd check to be honest, most companies either won't lend to under 25s or charge a premium per day for the privilege! Once you hit 25 you're safe. At 21 I didnt hire a car for that reason.

 

[Elise79]

Have you tried usrentacar? They do a young driver package and can be reasonable.

 

[paulh]

Have you tried usrentacar? They do a young driver package and can be reasonable.

Just checked usrentacar for 21s to 25sand for a week they quote for a 4 door intermediate£230 and £252
1st price for 1 driver only and take back full fuel
2nd price for extra drivers (can be 21-25 as well)and take back with empty fuel
pick up from CCC
If he can drive a car here he can drive it there no problem,hope you get sorted
Paul

 

[Constant]

We have used car on the drive a couple of times now. They pick you up from the airport and have a hire car waiting at you hotel/villa. They can cost a little more but looking on their FAQ the minimum age is 21 so doesn't look like there is a premium. They can also be quite flexible and may deliver to hotel for shorter periods.