Renting a Car While On Site?

[iankh]

First, let me preface this by saying, I hate to drive. I live in the city and take public transportation to work. Yes, I do own a car.

In the past, because for multiple people, the cost of Mears just didn't make sense when compared to a rental car, so when visiting WDW I always rented a car.

Magical Express changes that part of the equation. I don't have to rent a car to get to WDW (yippee!).

We typically take WDW transportation to get to the parks, but have enjoyed having a car in the past to hop from resort to resort for meals, or to the supermarket.

I've got the supermarket problem solved, that can be done with wegoshop.

I'm still thinking it might be nice to have a car for the restaurant thing.

Has anyone ever rented a car while on site at WDW? We'll be staying VWL. Anyone have any recommendations? Can I even rent a car while I'm on site? Are the costs substantially different? Where do I pick up the car?

Any information you can provide would be great.

 

[LIFERBABE]

We have AP's for US/IOA so we always go there. My Dh really dislikes the busses so renting a car is our compromise for WDW trips.

There are multiple locations onsite to rent from. I know the Car Care Center and S/D hotel have rental desks. These locations have limited hours.

THe airport locations are open 24/7.

We always use National because they have great prices on mid-size vehicles and with the Emerald Club membership (free!) we always end up with a full size.

Visit mousesavers.com for discount codes, but I find the best rates using a combination of 6600330 ID code and the Entertainment book -$20 coupon.

We have planned a side trip to Ft. Lauderdale or St. Augustine and just like the overall freedom of having a vehicle. Ours will be less than $20 a day.

 

[DebbieB]

I was able to get a full size car last week from National for $97 for 6 days. I used the priceless code (6600330) and the $20 Entertainment coupon. Got a new Chevy Impala, picked it up at the airport. We like having a car, so didn't even consider DME.

 

[ColoradoBelle1]

Yep, I have to have a car too. This trip we went to Universal, stayed the weekend at Wyndham, checked into BWV, had to visit Bonnet Creek, do some computer work at Kinko's (but next time will just use the computers at the convention biz center at BWV...big mistake, Kinko's!)...picked up a friend at Pop and drove to AK park and then MGM and GF....used valet parking and loved it...well heck yeah...gotta have wheels!

My sister rented a car at the Dolphin for a day . It was easy but I don't know the cost there as opposed to the airport where National was $85 for 5 days Emerald Aisle midsize..but leather/wood trim lux.

I don't mind using Disney water trans or the monorail...just hate the buses.

 

[rocketriter]

We rented a car once. It took forever to shuttle around and check it out from the airport, we had to return to the airport early and ride another shuttle to turn it back in, and we left it in the hotel parking lot for the entire trip.

Now we use the town car service that sponsors this board. They meet us in the luggage area, collect everything and haul it out to the car for us, stop and wait for us at the grocery store, then help us unload at the villa; at the end of the trip they again do all the driving and heavy lifting. For our family it costs about the same as Mears and is much faster and more comfortable.

 

[MagikMom]

Because I have family living in Orlando, we always rent a car just for a day or 2 to go visit them. We pick it up and drop it off at the Dolphin. I don't remember the exact price but I do remember that it is very reasonable. We are a family of 4 so we only need a compact car. My DH does the picking up and dropping off of the car and we have never had a problem. We usually just call a few days ahead of time to book it. Good Luck.

 

[bz8bls]

I didn't want to rent a car last year (before Frances hit); my DH always wants a car...well it came in handly that time because we left WDW (after only being their for 24 hours) and drove to Atlanta to get a flight back to Michigan. All of the airports were closing due to the hurricane. There were people that desparately wanted to get cars to leave the area and could not get one due to all of the vehicles being rented.

During hurricane season, it might be advisable to have a car at your disposal and always filled with gas.