Rental Car for 1 or 7 days?

[firsttimer03]

Okay, we've found DIRT cheap airfare with SWA so we will be flying to Orlando.
My problems is....we were planning on going to IOA for a day and now need transportation. We are signed up to do DME and have been trying to find cheap rental car rates and coming up with $165 for a week. I really didn't want to rent a car.........but if we use a taxi we might as well rent a car from what I've read. I also know we could use the Orlando bus system but would take 45-60 minutes to get there one way.
What do you all suggest?
Thanks always for your input!

 

[joellyn23]

I love having a rental car just for the freedom to get food other than Disney offers & I much prefer driving to the parks over the bus system (except for MK).

If you think the cost would be about the same (taxi vs rental car), you might find that you enjoy renting for the flexibility it gives you.

 

[shoes99]

We also rent a car for flexibility. Don't forget to add the cost of gas to your$165 estimates for the car.

 

[firsttimer03]

We wouldn't spend that much in fuel because we would probably use it for a grocery run and IOA trip.
What would be a good price for a week rental?
We usually pick the economy or compact.
Thanks so much!

 

[WillCAD]

$165 for a week in May is not terrible, although you might be able to shave that down some with coupons and codes; check MouseSavers.com for codes, and check all the codes with all of the rental companies - shopping around can really pay off in teh rental car arena.

Don't be afraid to cancel and rebook multiple times when better rates come along. Just be sure to book the new deal before cancelling the old ressie!

If you do get a good deal for the week, cancel your DME ressie and just drive everywhere. You will get many opinions on the DIS about driving vs. using teh Disney busses - some people think that geting behind the wheel on vacation is like being tortured on teh rack and avoid it at all costs, while others like me prefer to be in control of our own destiny and hate waiting for busses all day. But the only way to know if it will work for you is to try it on one trip, make full use of the car, and then decide which way you like better.

Travel time to Uni from most WDW resorts is about 30 minutes (less if you take I-4), whereas I've heard of people taking the Lynx system from TTC and spending upwards of 2 hours to get from their WDW resort to Uni.

 

[I'mNoPrince]

What we have done on the past few trips is take ME to our resort get a rental fromDollar at their DTD hotel location.

This shaves off a day or so on the rental, lets us get a smaller car (cheaper) as we don't have to deal with luggage.

We had great rates useing the KISS2 code with them.

 

[firsttimer03]

Well, I've booked thru Budget.
I used a code and got a economy car for 6 days from MCO for $157.
I'm pretty happy with that.
Thanks for everyone's input.
The DIS is wonderful and so is the people on it.

 

[gigi1313]

we always do a one day car rental (to visit my elderly aunt) when at wdw and it's great... we call the car care center to come pick us up via shuttle, get our rental car, do our thing and then we typically return it to the dolphin where you can drop off a rental 24/7 w/the valet and take disney transport to a park or dtd from there...

 

[aquaticmom]

If you only need a car for just that one day, I would rent from one of the onsite rental agencies just for the day. You just take Dis transportation over to which ever site you choose and rent the car and return it the next day. It's fairly simple, we have done it a few times.