Rental car question

[mattykin]

we are visiting Disneyland at the end of April and staying at DLH. We have 5 day hoppers and will have the day we arrive (10am) free. I was tossing around the idea of renting a car from orange county airport and using it for the day and then returning it to downtown Disney. Does anybody know if there is an extra charge if you rented from the airport and return it the same day to the downtown Disney location? I figured this would be good for transportation to get us to the hotel but also we can stop at a store and get our groceries that we want. Also was thinking about going to Santa Monica pier for the day any thoughts on this? Thank you for your help

 

[sheetz]

There's usually a dropoff fee when you rent an the airport and return to a neighborhood location (Oftentimes there's no extra fee going the other way). However the fee may not be much for a one day rental and it will be included in your rental quote.

 

[Geemo]

If you have Costco they generally have the best rates.
When you are looking for a rental car, they usually ask location of pick up and location of return.
Alamo has an office at the end of DTD near the DLH.

Check it out and see what you come up with for a day.

Geemo

 

[KCAshley]

I work for a well-known rental car company- there is almost always a charge for a one-way rental, especially if you are taking a car from an airport location to an off-airport location. That being said, since it's in town it probably won't be much- they charge more based on distance (and stock and 800 other things, but mostly distance)

 

[Carlyzmom]

We just returned from California. We went to both parks and DTD. One evening we went to Santa Monica pier. I would plan on going for an evening. Maybe to watch the sunset and eat dinner. Maybe not enough to do for a whole day, but an evening was fun!

 

[Disney_Alli]

You might compare the cost of the one-way rental to the cost of a one-day rental from the DtD or Airport location vs the cost (~$20) of an Uber from SNA to the DL area. You could either Uber it to your hotel then rent a car or rent a car at the airport and Uber back after you return. Just a thought

 

[Carlyzmom]

They have a fun coaster, a pretty ferris wheel, and a few other rides. We ate a Bubba Gump. It was good.

 

[mattykin]

Thank you all very much for your help. After thinking about it more, instead of Santa Monica Pier I was thinking of doing a little tour of Hollywood, seeing the walk of fame ect. My daughter would be thrilled just not sure how much it would involve.

 

[Geemo]

If anyone in the family is into Harry Potter, you might consider Universal for the day.

Geemo

 

[smartlabelprint]

Thank you all very much for your help. After thinking about it more, instead of Santa Monica Pier I was thinking of doing a little tour of Hollywood, seeing the walk of fame ect. My daughter would be thrilled just not sure how much it would involve.

What time do you get in? It seems like you'll be in the car a lot for that. Hollywood isn't exactly close.

 

[mattykin]

What time do you get in? It seems like you'll be in the car a lot for that. Hollywood isn't exactly close.

We get in around 10am, yes I just looked it appears to be about an hour away, might need to re-think this lol maybe just a relaxing day at DTD instead

 

[mgd]

Unless you plan to do an actual bus tour or know where you plan to drive by already, or attend a taping of jimmy kimmel, hollywood blvd near jimmy kimmel's place isn't as glamorous as you might think. A bunch of shops with cheap generic souvenirs, and a big shopping center with a parking lot you would probably want to use, validates at a few local shops. Traffic is almost always congested there. A few places like wax museum and madam toussards if you are interested in those kinds of things (and paying admission for each) and other "famous" chains, plus a ton of semi-homeless people dressed up as spiderman and marilyn monroe accosting you to take your picture with them (and pay). That 1 hour drive is not horrible, but can turn into a parking lot if you hit traffic. There may be a bus/shuttle option from close to disneyland.

I would assume universal and harry potter will be fairly packed for the foreseeable future. But 5 days straight at disney is a lot, dare I say possible to get bored.

Also, hotel checkins should be ~3-4 pm unless you have already arranged early checkin.

 

[luulu1999]

it is def cheaper to rent from dtd we are taking disneyland express to our hotel then im getting a car from enterprise even after paying for the shuttle it was cheaper for us to rent from dtd but we are also keeping ours for a few days

 

[luulu1999]

we will be getting in around 11 on our arrival day my plan is to take the DLE to our hotel and get a car with enterprise then go to newport beach for the afternoon and maybe Balboa fun zone, my kids loved the beach and we wont hv quiet as many free days as we usually do and newport is only about 30 mins away

 

[smartlabelprint]

5 days wouldn't be enough for our fam. Just depends on your family makeup, preferences & travel style.