Prob a silly question....

[MissManda]

but we've never rented a car before at the airport ever. We currently have one reserved through Budget but may switch if a better price comes up on an SUV. If we do switch, we will stick with a company that is in the terminal so we won't have to take a shuttle.

What is the process for getting your car? From what I've read it seems like we have to go to the Budget counter and get our assigned car, then we have to go to a parking garage to pick up the car, look it over, etc. Including getting luggage and then picking up the car, about how long will this take? We are arriving around 6:00 on a Sunday night. I'm thinking we won't be getting on our way until about 7. Is that a reasonable estimate?

What about returning the car? Do we just park it back in the garage and give the keys to someone? Our plane takes off at 11:00. Will we be okay getting to the airport at 9:00. Will that give us enough time to turn in car, check luggage, etc?

ETA- one more question. We currently have a Ford Escape booked. We will have 3 kids in the backseat. The 14yo is quite tall (5' 11"). Other kids are 10 and 8, average size. I've never been in an Escape before. What's the room like in the back? For about $25 we can switch to a Jeep Cherokee. I've been debating if we should do that. Thoughts from anyone familiar with those vehicles?

 

[francie57]

There really is no way to tell how long it will take for you to get out of the airport with the car since it depends on how fast your luggage comes of the plane and how long the line is at Budget. From what I remember from using Budget you go to the counter to do all the paperwork and then walk across the street to the garage and get the car (we now basically use Alamo and National since you can check-in online and just go to the garage and pick the type of vehicle you rented and away you go). Not sure if they assign you a car or you just pick one. Make sure to check it over and inform the clerk at the exist if there are any problems so that it will be noted on your rental and you won't be blamed. When you return, just drive into the Budget return and they have all the people out in the garage checking the cars back in. As far as returning, are you staying on property at Disney, if you are you can check your luggage at the RAC desk and that is one step out of the way (they will also print your boarding passes). If you have to check your luggage at the airport, I would arrive at the airport a little earlier since you will have to stand in line to check the luggage and then have to get through security. As far as the SUV goes the biggest concern would be how much luggage you have. We had a full size SUV last year (Tahoe) and it just held the 3 large suitcases we had. Since the price of full size SUVs is outrageous at this point, we are going with a minivan so far. My suggest would be to take a look at the cargo area in both the vehicles you are considering and see if that will work.

 

[RMAMom]

I am not sure the difference between the Escape and the Jeep. My son is 6'7" and drives an escape but I don't think there is a lot of leg room in the back seat.

 

[sonogal]

The Escape won't have any extra room in the backseat or the cargo area. We have 3 kids too (12, 11, 7) and ended up going with a minivan because we were concerned about fitting everything and everyone without being totally stuffed. I would definitely look at anything larger than an Escape for a family of 5.

 

[DebbieB]

Be aware that you may not get that exact model.

intermediate SUV car rental - Ford Escape or similar

 

[eeyoregon]

I too was worried about the same situation so I went with Thrifty's $199 mini-van for 7 days...it was actually less than the SUV .