rental car? still undecided

[drcmk]

I just can't decide whether to rent a car or not. The main reasons to avoid renting a car is the added expense (we would take a limo otherwise at half the cost), not dealing with traffic and not dealing with a rental agency. The process of picking up our rental car during our last Florida trip took 45 minutes and was extremely unpleasant.

We will be staying at the Poly in November. I'm not terribly concerned about getting to the parks, but we will be going to Boma for breakfast one morning and will be going to DTD. Those two places might be difficult without a car. What do you think?

 

[safetymom]

We enjoy having a car when we go to WDW. We don't have to worry about waiting at bus stops and can leave when we want. If you aren't planning on doing a lot of driving then I wouldn't worry about a car.

We rent from Hertz and we driving down the road in less than 10 mins at MCO.

 

[johnnyr]

We used to rent a car, but now just use a Towncar service to get from the airport to WDW. Once we are there, we use WDW transportation to get everywhere on property. When we did have a car, it sat in the resort parking lot for most of our stay. It may be worth getting one if you are doing Universal or Sea World. I can relate with you in regards to the unpleasant rental car experiences. I don't like playing "let's make a deal" when I'm on vacation. Not to mention all of the hidden costs when you return the car. The Towncar service, for us is perfect. We haven't rented a car for our past four trips.

John

 

[glo]

I am going to move your post your post to our transportation board, where this will get more responses...

 

[#1hockeymom]

This was our first trip w/o a rental car and I have to say it was the most relaxing yet! No rental car counters, no making fun of the "little car" that you end up getting, no disagreeing over which way to get to Disney/where to turn/where to park. We got in our limo (had the limo there/towncar back...Happy Limo), smile, and enjoy the ride! Coming back was even nicer. We had a nice chat with our driver on the way to the airport and it seemed our trip still had some pixie dust left and our vacation wasn't quite over, yet.

The last time we rented we only left Disney property once, to buy a new pair of shoes for our DS. We thought we'd save some money by getting breakfast offsite at the McDonalds. HAHA We ended up paying more, and the disney magic leaves as soon as you leave property. People were mean, ornery, and not one smile was to be had in that McDonalds! We decided from then on NEVER to leave property!

Let us know what you decide and how it works out during your trip!

Debbie

 

[ahoff]

We prefer to have a car available when we need it, so we get a rental. The cost do not seem to be that much more than the cost of a RT limo ride. Although once on site we hardly ever use it, I like the comfort of mind knowing that should the need arise it is there for us. It does come in handy if you want to go to another resort, and it is sometimes easier to go to DD with a car.

 

[swilphil]

I loved not having a car to deal with on our last trip. We used Tiffany Towncar service and they met us at the baggage claim and carried our stuff to the car out front. It was so quick and easy. There was also a free grocery stop. They have a $5 off coupon on their website.

As far as going to DTD and Boma's, I would think that Disney transportation would be fine. If worse comes to worse, you can take a taxi.

 

[sgtdisney]

I won't go to Disney World without a car. I need to have the freedom to come and go. If you are going to visit other resorts, other than the ones on the monorail, it is much easier in many cases to do this with a car. Also, we go off property to shop frequently, either to the Disney World Outlets, and also for groceries and the savings are substantial. We also visit DTD a couple of times per trip usually and use the car to get there.. If you rent from National you can bypass the counter altogether and go right to the car class you have reserved, and drive right up to the checkout gate. This newish feature is called QuickRent.
It truly is a personal choice as to what is best for you and your family.

For me, I won't be there without my own wheels. I even rented a car when I was at a User Conference in Vegas just to know I could go where I wanted when I wanted to.. Good Luck on your decision...

 

[CRCrazy]

We always get a rental car - for our family of five - it works out to about the same money as the van from the town car company!

We always rent from an on-site company, and usually go with National's Emerald Aisle! You don't get into any hassles at the desk - everything is reserved and settled in advance - just bring your computer printout - go out to the garage - pick your car from the appropriate aisle, head to the checkout kiosk - sign the slip and go!

Less than 10 minutes from baggage claim to the airport exit, including walking time! We have also rented from Dollar at MCO one time - they had a great deal on Jeeps (although they gave us a Dodge Durango ). We did sign up for their Fastlane program - they have a special line for this - goes faster as again, all your info is already in! Not as easy as National, and you don't get to choose your car, but easy all the same - and the vehicle we got was great!

Transportation to/from the resorts and DTD is not too good from the monorail resorts - we were on the Downtown Disney bus for a solid hour on our first trip (had a rental car - didn't use it!). Since then - we always use the car for DTD, and we've found it's much quicker for exiting MGM after Fantasmic, and works pretty well for AK as well. We never use it for MK, as then you have to go through the TTC.

 

[jcanary]

I do not think I could go without renting a car. we always stay onsite but with the shopping and waiting too long for a bus, I want my car. We were at BCV and my daughter and friend waited over 45 minutes for a bus to DTD and finally came back and we drove them. I need the freedom, to know I can come and go when I want. When we went to any park other than Epcot and MGM we drove. When we went out to dinner at the other resorts we drove. We rented boats at the wilderness lodge with the family plan for our duration of our stay so we were over there every day.
We use National, but this year we used Alamo and both were great. I got a convertible for 1 day when we arrived and 1 day when we left (knew we could not fit luggage for 4 16 year old girls and the girls in a van) from National. and we also had a mini van reserved thru Alamo, and we were able to choose ANY mini van, including the larger ones from ALamo's/national line of vans.
Alamo I give a thumb up to with their service and the choices, great surprise.

 

[XStAnt]

If you are comfortable with not having a car to use "if the need arises" then don't rent. Many people aren't comfortable with not having a car, "just in case", even thought they almost never use it. If you won't go crazy relying on other people driving you around, taking buses, having to wait a few minutes for a bus to arrive, etc., then don't rent the car. I usually rent, but that's because I usually go to US, etc. for a day or two. If you are just doing the Disney parks, you do not need to rent.

Disney transportation to the parks will be great, especially from the Poly. As for DTD, if leaving from the Poly there is a bus. It's not a short ride, but it's easy. If you are pressed for time you can always take a cab. It should only cost around $10.00, according to others on this board.

As for Boma, if you are leaving from the Poly you should take a bus to AK (or any park), and take the AKL bus to the AKL. In this case it may make some sense to take a cab. But, if you head to Boma directly from a park, take the AKL bus, then, just cab it back to Poly.

 

[welovedis]

We are thinking of doing both on our next trip. I got some good advice from another DISer (hi wdwbill!) about renting a car for a day. We are planning on renting a car from National @ MCO, driving to our resort and using the car for a day or 2. Then we can return it to the National desk at the Dolphin (or is it at the Swan). We figure we can use it to head to the grocery store & pick up what we need for our 12 day trip & possibly visit the outlet mall for some cheap Disney souveniers.

For the return trip we will go with Fl tours to pick us up from AKL to MCO for our flight home.

I have heard that others have done this with pretty good success, so I think we will try it again. We used Tiffany in the past & decided to try renting a car for our last 2 trips. I didn't like the feeling when I left WDW property and was "on my own", just didn't feel like a vacation anymore.

However, others feel differently & love having their car available.
Just my .02!

 

[cd&kids]

rent the car!

 

[caitycaity]

we have a 1-2 hour commute each way every day. while on vacation we prefer to let others do the driving as we spend too much time in our car at home as it is.

we have had our car or a rental a couple of times, but we find we prefer to take disney transportation. also, we like that we can both drink when we are at dtd without having to worry about a designated driver.

 

[timo]

I'm at little wary of the posts about waiting for buses using the Disney transportation system. Does time of year make a difference in the ease of using Disney transportation (we are staying onsite second week of December)?

 

[XStAnt]

I don't think the time of the year makes a difference as to how often the Disnney buses run. I think they roll out more buses to handle more people at busy times of the day/year.

Generally the buses run about every 20 minutes. My comment about waiting for buses was not meant to indicate you could be stuck waiting a long time for a bus. Many people can get a little frustrated at having to wait for any bus, especially if they're not used to taking mass transportation. They simply want to go, go, go, abd they want to do it when they're ready.

Personally, I don't mind waiting 5 -15 minutes for a bus. I think the time it takes to go from a park to a resort by bus is roughly the same as going by car. The actual driving time is about the same. But with a bus you may have to wait 10 minutes for it to arrive. With a car, you usually have to walk or take a tram to your section of the parking lot and then find your car. That usually takes at least 10 minutes, if not more.

If you're just going from resort to park and back each day, take the bus/monorail/boat. The only time it might not be worth it is for DTD, where the bus ride could be a little longer. If you don't want to wait/ride the bus you can just call a cab. Still cheaper than renting.

If you're going off-site, or if you're going to other resorts (for dinner, luau, HDD, etc), it is quicker to drive. To use the buses you would take a bus from your resort to a park or DTD and then transfer to a bus to that particular resort. If the parks are closed when you are returning from dinner to your resort you will have to use DTD as a transfer point. As you can see, this adds time. Of course, you can take a cab on those occaissions as well and still save money.

Just my thoughts.