Rv Rentals

[MODisneyfan]

Does anyone know of someone that rents their RV close to WDW? I have heard there are people taht do this. They come in and set it up and you rent it for the week but when I called Disney they acted like they had no idea what I was talking about. I hope someone does ..

Thanks

 

[retired and happy]

Yep. There are a couple of them. Someone will come along shortly with the links to the owners. They are definitely not associated with any official Disney program.

 

[Lil' Lisa]

One of them is http://www.campatthefort.com/public/index.asp and the other is www.MakeCampingEasy.com. Both come highly recommended by the folks who have used them.

 

[duranfan]

We have owned RVs, stayed at the cabins and we did rent one time and never again.
IF something goes wrong you will be waiting a long time. Our MAJOR problem happened in the middle of the night. I had to try to trouble shoot it and fix it myself over the phone because the owner lives HOURS away from the Ft. Meanwhile, it was NOT able to be fixed, SO then the local service person calls and is rude to me because I don't want to do something I consider dangerous.
So then its like its my fault since I was afraid that I might get killed doing what they asked me (yes I am serious) and we are suppose to live with it since I am unwilling to take the risk. I tell you it was one of the most miserable nights of my life and we were about to pack up and go to a disney hotel at 3am.
The problem after being diagnosed the next day was basically something that should have never happened if properly maintained. It was not something that could be fixed over the phone nor without special equiptment.
So just remember IF you rent you maybe doing repairs yourself or waiting a long time in miserable conditions. No we did not get a refund for that night of misery.

 

[AuburnJen92]

I am sorry you had a horrible experience, however, it seems that you are condemning both services for an experience you had with one? a totally different one? I am confused. I personally know one of the website owners and know that that person maintains the equipment. I cannot speak personally for the other. I would hate to have the OP have a horrible opinion of the renting experience because of an experience you have had with one company and apply it to all rental businesses. That is really not fair to the people who work hard to give their customers a good product for their dollar.

 

[duranfan]

My experience did happen with one of the firms listed above. I am not saying that they don't run a reliable service but what I am saying is be prepared IF something goes wrong its not going to be as easy as calling Ft W engineering to get it fixed.
I got the recommendation to use this service off of this board by the way, everyone was vouching for them. I will say they are very nice personable people thats WHY I didnt make them give me a refund nor raise heck. Also, I know I am not the only one who had a bad experience with the firm.
Again, I am not saying not to rent, the rv was decent with lots of little extras and they were prompt setting up and friendly but things go wrong with any rv whether its the cabins, a personal rv or a rental so my point is valid.

I would say many probably would enjoy renting from them but I feel this was a valid point to bring up. It DID happen and it was a MAJOR issue. I'm not talking a clogged toliet or something minor where we could have gone to the comfort station.

 

[stacktester]

My experience did happen with one of the firms listed above. I am not saying that they don't run a reliable service but what I am saying is be prepared IF something goes wrong its not going to be as easy as calling Ft W engineering to get it fixed.
I got the recommendation to use this service off of this board by the way, everyone was vouching for them. I will say they are very nice personable people thats WHY I didnt make them give me a refund nor raise heck. Also, I know I am not the only one who had a bad experience with the firm.
Again, I am not saying not to rent, the rv was decent with lots of little extras and they were prompt setting up and friendly but things go wrong with any rv whether its the cabins, a personal rv or a rental so my point is valid.

I would say many probably would enjoy renting from them but I feel this was a valid point to bring up. It DID happen and it was a MAJOR issue. I'm not talking a clogged toliet or something minor where we could have gone to the comfort station.

This poster has said the same sentence second verse before. So the rv provider had a glitch. I am a renter and I'm also friends with the person you're mentioning. We both work our butts off to provide an excellent stay at the fort for people. We both give great service. There's a lot to putting this together such as expensive insurance, maintainance and wear and tear. We are not making a fortune, we're simply making a camper payment and maybe a little Disney dollars to offset our trips. Is everything in your little world perfect? Does the job you do go as scheduled? I'm sure this wasn't intentional. I've had great renters and provided them with bikes and any extras they want if I have it and never had a complaint. Before you ruin the service and turn potential renters away from us, put yourself in our shoes.

 

[duranfan]

I have EVERY right to post that we had a horrible experience. Like I said it was a horrible unbearable situation! I was not even offered a refund for that night. For most I am sure renting would be an awesome experience but why not be aware that this is not the same as having on site help if an issue arises? My main point is to make sure the renter KNOWS that if things go wrong it might not be as handy as staying in a cabin and that is the truth.
Quote: We are not making a fortune, we're simply making a camper payment and maybe a little Disney dollars to offset our trips.

Maybe we worked hard for our money that we spent on that wasted nights rent!
I run a business and would have at least offered a refund for that night.
This board is for opinions and someone asked about renting and my point is that things may go wrong and they can not be immediately fixed.
I am not trying to scare anyone off from renting from EITHER service listed above. I DID like the people we rented from, that is the only reason I didn't even ask for a refund. They were nice folks.
Sounds like some people only want a one sided opinion. Like I said I know other people have had some negative experiences and I was told that the people of the companies and their friends post here so you can not tell bad experiences or you'll get blasted and I see that was sooooo true!

 

[stacktester]

I'm not by any means trying to "hush" you up. You are correct that if a problem arises we are 2 hours away. Fortunately no problems have come up that I had to drive back down for. I know for a fact that Tina's husband drove all the way back right after he returned home because a breaker kept tripping. It turned out the breaker tripping was outside the camper and it was Disneys box.

So if the renter calls the big co.'s at night do you think they will rush right over? I bet I would be there before they will. If you wanted a refund on the problem night you should've asked for it. Another thing to remember is the cabins don't allow pets. Sometimes people want to bring them and that can be accomodated.

There's plus and minus' with any option. The bigger rv co.'s charge linen fees, mileage and other fees. At the end of the day we've both had some great customers who are planning future trips and were very happy. It's unfortunate your experience wasn't as good as it could've been.

 

[AuburnJen92]

I didn't blast you at all. I merely asked where you had a bad experience. I do wish you would have worded it better, as there was more than one company listed in this thread and you seemed to go off on one particular one like we should have all known what was going on. Yes, you had a bad experience. All I am asking is that you respect the other person listed and maybe you should have taken this up on a pm to the op and you could have been more specific with the op.

I am sure if your fellow businessmen that you work with were doing something your potential customers did not like, you would not appreciate them putting you into the category with them as well. You keep saying you didn't ask for a refund, but keep coming on the boards to rant about it. Is that why?

Look, I wasn't there, I have no clue what happened and you seem in no condition to share, nor do I want you to. I am not asking anyone for a one sided opinion. Things go wrong. You got the short end of the stick. However, in reading your post, I would have called another RV repair guy and got a second opinion, since we are giving opinions here and all. I don't ever recall Fort Wilderness giving me on-site help with my RV when it breaks (like when my $2300 radiator fell out on the overflow parking lot). All they do is give you the list of people who will come and fix it.

 

[duranfan]

That is one point that is pro- renting from the two companies listed above. I do believe they are a lot cheaper than renting one from one of these national companies. (There's no way I would rent an rv painted with the companies name all over it.)
My problem was determined to be the rv's problem. I don't want to get into it. We have owned rv's before, we realize things happen.

 

[duranfan]

Like I said one of these firms fell short as far as I am concerned. I am saying my opinion is they are "OK" to rent from as they are nice people and nice equipment. There are advantages to renting an rv like the gentlemen said they have extra's and you can stay in loops instead of cabin loops.
I think both firms have pretty good reputations around here and I really don't want to call out the one I rented from.
If we weren't so tired we would have just checked into a Disney hotel in the middle of the night. Why should I pay someone probably double time to drive in from Orlando to fix something that was a big maientance mistake? When we use our rv's we have them checked out before we go and if there is a problem then we deal with it. But I think its fair disclosure for the rentor to know help is hours away if something goes wrong.

 

[Gatordad]

what exactly broke that should have not broken?

 

[big kahuna1]

I do not know of anything in an RV that would break and make someone's life so God Awful Miserable and it only be a simple maintenance issue so please explain.

 

[duranfan]

I don't want to get into it because of privacy issues. There was some extreme weather going on and basically the rv was not working due to a lack of power. (The weather did not cause the issue) It was the rv system, not anything to do with disney power,ect.

I have camped all my life all over the country. I am no wimp but this was a bad experience.
I am not trying to argue the point here. I did not come here to try to ruin a biz's rep. If I was going to do that I would also mention about the little things that were wrong. However, I realize with rentals you are going to have a lot of wear and tear where some people don't care and are reckless.

I agree these are nice people and nice services, but my point to a prospective renter is that IF something goes wrong you might be asked to work on it yourself over the phone (which is fine if it was safe) and if that doesnt work you maybe in for a long wait to get the issue resolved.

IF this had been my rv that had this major breakdown, we would have called and had emergency help that night. (The people's contact would not come out.) However, as a rentor I did not feel it was my place to have to pay a pricey bill to call someone out. Even the next day I am sure it was a pricey fix for them and thats one reason I didn't ask for a refund for that night because I felt bad because I knew that would be all their profit and more to have their rv fixed.

 

[MandMLUVMMandDVC]

I would have called Disney for a little assistance! Back in July we lost power at 1AM and didn't know what to do. We called for assistance and explained we'd lost all power and didn't know why, that all of our neighbors seemed to be ok (as best we could tell at that time of night). It was July, in Florida, with a special-needs child in bed sweating like crazy! (no, Disney did not know he was special needs) The Disney manager showed up and said he had no clue what to do so he called in magical electricians to help out. Told me that even if it was my camper they'd make sure it was taken care of. It did in the end turn out to be a problem on their end, but I thought it was great that they'd help even if it was something wrong with my unit. So did you even call for help from Disney before calling the biz owner? Maybe they wouldn't have been too afraid to get things fixed (not that there is much to be afraid of). I'm sure they'd have helped you out and then you wouldn't have to post on this board of a bad experience. Even if you do feel you have to post about it, you should tell which one so that people don't think to not rent from either of them. It isn't fair to the one you didn't rent from for you to not keep them out of the equation!

 

[duranfan]

Well, I have camped at ft w for years and they do not fix your rv for you. It was an rv problem and even the tech who fixed it had to bring something in part wise to fix the issue. PLUS, there's been rumblings of some of the management not wanting third party people coming in with these other services. So do I really want to call up the front desk and tell them we are having a major problem with a rental rv?
If I say which one, this will just go on. Like I said I have no problems with their service as a whole. If someone wants to rent an rv, I would recommend them believe it or not! Again, my point is when someone is renting at Ft W through an outside source, then its important to realize its not going to be the same kind of service you get if you stay in a cabin if something major goes wrong. IF we had been in a cabin, they could have reassigned us. This is just a point to think about if someone is thinking rentals vs. cabins.

The problem we had could of happened with any rental service. I am not saying they did a poor job maintaining their rv, things happen.

 

[Disney Bunny]

Well, I have camped at ft w for years and they do not fix your rv for you. It was an rv problem and even the tech who fixed it had to bring something in part wise to fix the issue. PLUS, there's been rumblings of some of the management not wanting third party people coming in with these other services. So do I really want to call up the front desk and tell them we are having a major problem with a rental rv?
If I say which one, this will just go on. Like I said I have no problems with their service as a whole. If someone wants to rent an rv, I would recommend them believe it or not! Again, my point is when someone is renting at Ft W through an outside source, then its important to realize its not going to be the same kind of service you get if you stay in a cabin if something major goes wrong. IF we had been in a cabin, they could have reassigned us. This is just a point to think about if someone is thinking rentals vs. cabins.

The problem we had could of happened with any rental service. I am not saying they did a poor job maintaining their rv, things happen.

So what did the original person you called want you to do that you thought would have gotten someone killed? That's an extreme statement to make. I am not a lawyer, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn last night, but that statement could be viewed as reckless and possibly slanderous.

 

[MandMLUVMMandDVC]

Well then, as Jiminy Cricket would say, let your conscience be your guide. But, I for one would never bash a business that I have never used. Here's an example: Last year I hired a pest control company for my home & lawn. This company not only didn't spray my home properly (leaving me with critters I prefer not to have) but they also failed to spray my lawn properly for insects. I ended up getting cynch bugs that killed the majority of my half-acre lot. The owner come out to look at the lawn, agreed it was his company's fault, and said he'd have it resodded. Then he suddenly wouldn't take my phone calls anymore and 9 months later it still isn't fixed. So, I recently went to our county's twice yearly home show to intentionally steer people away from this company. . I did NOT go there with a shirt (plus 140 photos as proof) that said "hey ONE of the pest control services here killed my lawn". Instead I made sure that people knew EXACTLY which company I had issues with....by wearing a shirt that read.....Ameripest killed my lawn. I told exactly which company, and yes, I stand behind my comments, my shirt, and the 140 pics of my horrible lawn! It wouldn't have been fair/proper to not name names.

 

[auntie]

Duranfan, I think you're point is well taken. "If" there is an issue..and like any other type of vehicle, there is always that possibility, the renter needs to be aware of what procedures are in place to take care of any issues that may arise. I don't think that it should fall to the renter to make arrangements with either FW or an outside repair service.
Hopefully the owner of the company is available to take care of any such emergencies day or night. Knowing where the company is located..and how long it might take them to reach you should an emergency occur is a good idea.
To some renters, it may not make a difference..and to others, they may prefer to have someone close by. Especially if they're not familiar with RV maintaince themselves.