Returning car then hopping on DME?

[DisneyFansInLINY]

I will be traveling with my 2 children ages 5 and 2. My husband will be arriving a few days later. I just want to make sure I can handle this traveling alone. I am arriving a few days earlier and staying with my family at my parent's vacation home for 3 nights and then checking into AoA. I will be renting a car for the 3 days that I will be at my parent's house. My question is how difficult is it to return my rental car at the airport and then hop on DME to AoA? Do I have to travel far from the rental car area to get to DME? As I do not know how I will be able to handle a far walk with 2 kids and our luggage. Any details or advice would be appreciated. TIA

 

[SteveMouse]

I will be traveling with my 2 children ages 5 and 2. My husband will be arriving a few days later. I just want to make sure I can handle this traveling alone. I am arriving a few days earlier and staying with my family at my parent's vacation home for 3 nights and then checking into AoA. I will be renting a car for the 3 days that I will be at my parent's house. My question is how difficult is it to return my rental car at the airport and then hop on DME to AoA? Do I have to travel far from the rental car area to get to DME? As I do not know how I will be able to handle a far walk with 2 kids and our luggage. Any details or advice would be appreciated. TIA

There are locations for most/all of the major rental car vendors much closer than MCO (care care center, dolphin, hotels near DTD). Post what vendor you're using and someone can post which location's closest. Do be sure to change your reissie to reflect the other drop off location.

Steve

 

[DisneyFansInLINY]

There are locations for most/all of the major rental car vendors much closer than MCO (care care center, dolphin, hotels near DTD). Post what vendor you're using and someone can post which location's closest. Do be sure to change your reissie to reflect the other drop off location.

Steve

My parent's vacation home is close to the airport. I will be returning the car from their home and then wanting to hop on DME to get to AoA.

 

[kaytieeldr]

If you return the car in the Side B garage, you just walk across the street, into the terminal, and turn left.

Would it be possible for you to leave the kids with your parents, drive to WDW, check in and leave luggage, then pick up the kids and return the car? Yes, it's going to take longer - but then you won't have to wrangle kids and luggage, at either the airport or resort.

And you know you can't just 'hop on' the DME bus, right? That you need reservations?

 

[DisneyFansInLINY]

If you return the car in the Side B garage, you just walk across the street, into the terminal, and turn left.

Would it be possible for you to leave the kids with your parents, drive to WDW, check in and leave luggage, then pick up the kids and return the car? Yes, it's going to take longer - but then you won't have to wrangle kids and luggage, at either the airport or resort.

And you know you can't just 'hop on' the DME bus, right? That you need reservations?

Yes, I have used DME several times but never after returning my rental car. I actually have reservations for July 2 because that was when I was originally flying in and staying at BWV. However, I extended my trip when I heard my family was coming down.

My trip is a little crazy right now. June 27-June 30 at my parent's house. June 30-July 2 at AoA. July 2-July 3 BWV. July 3-July 4 BLT. July 4-July 7 BWV. We are in the middle of becoming DVC members but our contract doesn't have points until 2014 so we had to rent points and since we decided late about this trip, there wasn't much availability and resorting hopping was necessary. I would stay at my parent's vacation house the entire time but it's a full house. We were at Disney for Christmas and New Year's. My family was supposed to go too as Dec. 24 is both my husband's and my mom's birthday and it was my mom's 60th. But they couldn't go even though we had already booked it and so we went. But now we are surprising my daughter, son, and 3 nieces with this trip. My daughter's birthday is July 5 and my dad's is July 4. So we will all be down there to celebrate together. My parent's house is 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. But it will be full with my mom, dad, brother, 2 sisters and 3 nieces so after 3 nights I am off to the Disney resorts.

I think I might pick up at MCO and drop off at an onsite location and not take DME. Or maybe I will add my mom or one of my sisters to the reservation as it's only my 2 children and myself on the reservation and you are allowed 4 people plus one infant. So since my son is 2, I am definitely within the room occupancy allowance. And if I add one of them to the ressie, they can hop on DME (with a reservation) with me and help me with the kids and luggage. Problem solved. Aggravation lessened Thank you

 

[Sandi]

With that many resort changes, you might want to consider keeping the rental car for the whole trip. I've done split stays where we've used Disney to transfer our bags and where we've thrown the bags in our rental car. Both work fine, but if Disney transfers your bags, you likely won't see them at your new resort until very late in the day. That's an added cost, but sometimes the longer term rental ends up being less expensive than a short term rental. I know this wasn't your original question, but I just thought I'd throw this thought into the mix.

 

[bumbershoot]

Would it be possible for you to leave the kids with your parents, drive to WDW, check in and leave luggage, then pick up the kids and return the car?

I thought that was a decent idea.

With that many resort changes, you might want to consider keeping the rental car for the whole trip. I've done split stays where we've used Disney to transfer our bags and where we've thrown the bags in our rental car. Both work fine, but if Disney transfers your bags, you likely won't see them at your new resort until very late in the day. That's an added cost, but sometimes the longer term rental ends up being less expensive than a short term rental. I know this wasn't your original question, but I just thought I'd throw this thought into the mix.

Oh, most definitely.

27-June 30 at my parent's house. June 30-July 2 at AoA. July 2-July 3 BWV. July 3-July 4 BLT. July 4-July 7 BWV

No chance of doing SSR or OKW for the trip and just staying put?

I finally out-split-stayed myself on our last trip, with POR 1 night, then 3 night cruise, then Kidani 3 nights, SSR 3 nights, and VWL 2 or 3 nights (not remembering right now). That was pretty bad, especially b/c we had to switch after one night at SSR b/c of problems with the room.

Yours has even shorter stays once you hit WDW.

A car would make those moves MUCH easier.

If you do really want to stick with those plans, for the BLT night I would really recommend you do a switch of packing, get everything for the 3rd and 4th into ONE bag and check the others at BWV as you're leaving. That way you aren't moving everything else along, and can just be focused packing-wise.

I don't think I'm an overpacker, since I think about everything I am packing and use everything most of the time (the things I don't end up using are light or small, it seems), but to others it would definitely appear as though we just shoved everything in our house into bags...I definitely know what it's like to be carting large numbers of bags from place to place, and it's not much fun, even when you know what's in the bags and know what you'll be using everything for. So for the times when you can, I'd stash extra bags and streamline one of the shortest stays.

 

[sam_gordon]

Another option you may have considered...

Pack your DH's clothes in your suitcases. You travel with the kids, get your luggage, the rental car, and spend the first three days with the parents. When your DH flies in, you pick him up in the rental car (no need to get kids/luggage out), drive to WDW, and check into your resort.

DH takes the kids to a park using Disney transportation, you return the rental car to one of the on-site (assuming National or Alamo) or a close off site, and have the rental company shuttle you to the park the rest of your family is at.

There's no worry about getting the kids & luggage back through the airport, no waiting for a DME bus, you can stop for groceries before picking up DH, I see all kinds of advantages as long as the added cost (if there is one) for a "one way" rental isn't outlandish.

 

[DisneyFansInLINY]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I will consider everything and create a plan. I got a standard rental car from Dollar for $99 total. 6/27 pick up at MCO drop off at Wyndham DTD 7/1. However, I am waiting to see if I can get anything better for either the whole week or just the weekend 6/27-6/30. And if I can get the whole week for $99 or less, I would take the whole week. But right now rates are so high.