renting vs own vehicle

[Luckymommyx2]

I'm looking at taking our next Disney trip December 2003 or January 2004. To save some extra money I'm thinking of driving this time. My question is whether I should rent a minivan for a week-10days or drive my own vehicle. I like the idea of the minivan just to spread out; also, do they rent them with the tv/vcr combo? If it will be more than $300 or $400 then I'll forget that option. We have a mid-size car which we drove to Tennesse without a problem but we stopped overnight about 3/4 of the way there. I think when we drive we'll leave around 7pm and go straight through. I'm really in the initial stages of planning right now so any suggestions would be appreciated.

PS...Are the ice storms that hit in the Carolinas typical for December?! I am leaning towards December because I figured the weather may be better for driving.

 

[Kermit]

I don't know anything about renting a car, but the ice storms here were very unusual. Most of the time, January is the worst. Plus, it's usually just snow--not ice. It had been around 55 or 60 the day before the ice storms, so since there was warm air right on top of the cold air, we got freezing rain rather than plain old snow. You should be fine.

 

[peg2001]

I suggest that you plan on driving your own vehicle, if you consider it roadworthy for such a long trip, but also keep an eye on rental car rates. If you end up seeing a great rate for a minivan and you are willing to spend that amount, jump on it! I love the idea of renting a minivan when we are on vacation but when I actually look at the rates, I chicken out and rent something smaller/cheaper.

Peggy

 

[disneymom3]

I checked into renting a minivan when we were in the planning stages of our trip that we took this past month. We were driving from MN and the places I talked to all said the same thing. The ad says unlimited mileage, but there is a charge for mileage over 1000 miles per week. Now being the georaphy buff that I am (NOT) I have no idea how many miles you would be looking at, but in my situation it got really expensive really fast. We were lucky and the car companies came out with 0% financing again, so we bought the car we'd plan to buy next spring early and drove that.

Good luck!

 

[Luckymommyx2]

Thanks for all the feedback! Disneymom3...I had no idea about the unlimited mileage really being 1000 miles!!! We are almost 1000 from Disney so it would only pay to drive one way. I like the idea of having more room but if my car doesn't have any major problems between now and then I think we'll just stick with it. My car will have of 70,000 miles by then but--knock on wood--it will go for at least another 100,000 on top of that! Thanks again everyone!

 

[seashoreCM]

Also verify the rental company's geographic restrictions, which may vary with the kind of car and/or price promotion you are booking.

For example some companies impose a daily mileage allotment for going out of state, or prohibit going out of state altogether.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm