Renting a car for Universal and beyond

[sammie3960]

Thread of the day on the Disboards
Feb 28


My family is taking two weeks in June to do Disney, Universal and a few days just to explore other activities, like Gatorland and Medieval Times. I want to rent a car the last day of our Universal stay to drive to our Airbnb, but I am not sure where the best place to rent a car would be. We are staying at Loews Royal Pacific. Is there a car rental place that my husband or I could walk to and then drive it back to the hotel (Royal Pacific) to pick up my family that is close by? I am trying to get the rental car without having to use an Uber or anything. Can anyone offer ideas?

 

[christophfam]

Royal Pacific has an Avis car rental desk at the resort.

 

[bobafemme]

There's an Avis right inside Royal Pacific. I found that I needed the hotel's address to look them up in Avis instead of looking up by Hotel name. Also I found a better rate renting from from a different on-site Hotel than the one we were staying in. So I just walked over to that hotel and got the better rate. In hindsight I probably should have called to see if they would honor the same rate.

 

[georgina]

Thread of the day on the Disboards
Feb 28


My family is taking two weeks in June to do Disney, Universal and a few days just to explore other activities, like Gatorland and Medieval Times. I want to rent a car the last day of our Universal stay to drive to our Airbnb, but I am not sure where the best place to rent a car would be. We are staying at Loews Royal Pacific. Is there a car rental place that my husband or I could walk to and then drive it back to the hotel (Royal Pacific) to pick up my family that is close by? I am trying to get the rental car without having to use an Uber or anything. Can anyone offer ideas?

I have always found the rental places inside the Doubletree (Avis) or Holiday Inn (Budget) to be much cheaper than the ones inside the Universal resorts. I reserve them through Costco, so I get a free 2nd driver. Both hotels are an easy walk from Citywalk, you go out through the valet parking area, follow the pathway down Major Blvd. So I would advise you check around for price at the various locations.

 

[CynBeth]

If you are flying there I would just reserve a rental car online to pick up from the airport you have you get to Universal anyway and instead of paying for transportation to get there you would have it for the entire trip and not worry about going somewhere to pick one up and return it back to the airport. I am an Alamo Insider and usually feel they have pretty good deals. You can pay in advance online and just print your stuff at the kiosk near the counter and go straight to the garage and pick your car from the section of the size you chose. Not sure if that has changed with Covid.

 

[Ross Kratter]

Royal Pacific has an Avis car rental desk at the resort.

All of Universal's resorts have Avis desks.

 

[georgina]

If you are flying there I would just reserve a rental car online to pick up from the airport you have you get to Universal anyway and instead of paying for transportation to get there you would have it for the entire trip and not worry about going somewhere to pick one up and return it back to the airport. I am an Alamo Insider and usually feel they have pretty good deals. You can pay in advance online and just print your stuff at the kiosk near the counter and go straight to the garage and pick your car from the section of the size you chose. Not sure if that has changed with Covid.

That's a lot of parking fees either at a Disney resort or at the parks, plus fees to park at Universal ($28 + tax/night at RPR).