Should I rent a car??

[icydog]

I am off to Disney in Sept and have a couple of questions. I am staying off site at La Quinta Inn in Kissimee for three nights and then moving on Sunday to the Old key West resort.We'll be renting a 2 bdrm villa from a close family friend for 5 nights after that.. It will be my family of two small children, Hubby and myself. My friend told me to rent a car but I am not sure I will need it to get around after we check into OKW. Is there any way to rent a car and drop it off once I check into the Disney Property?? If keeping the car for the extra five nights is a 100 dollars or so difference, since we'll have to pay to get to the airport anyway, maybe it is better to hold on to it considering the price of a limo or Mears???? I am confused and need help with the planning here.

 

[powellrj]

we are car renters. I love the freedom a car gives us for meals off site and because you are changing hotels midstay, I would keep the car just for the ease of it. You can drop the car off at disney, but from a price stand-point you may be better off just keeping it for the week. We always drive to the parks just because we like don't like to depend on disney transportation.( I think its more a control issue, LOL) with the codes from mousesavers cars really aren't always that much compared with other options.

 

[icydog]

Is Priceline a good source or Costco travel??? I should look into the mousesavers codes as well but I have heard these two are better.

 

[jtopp]

Keep the car. The ability to go off site to eat or food shop is well worth the money. A taxi or other transport to the airport will be at least $50.00, and you would not have the freedom to move around.

 

[janette]

I'd keep the car, you will get a better rate on the car if you are picking it up and dropping off at the airport. Also it will cost more than $50 to get to the airport, Town Cars are usually a little more for a one-way also. After accounting for all of that the savings will be minimal at best.

 

[ncbyrne]

I also suggest that you rent and keep the car for your stay. There are always discounts to be found. Try mousesavers and http://www.rentalcodes.com/. You may also find some good tips on the Transportation board here on the DIS

 

[icydog]

Thank you all. I have reserved an intermediate class from Avis through Costco.com which includes a free upgrade and a coupon for $15 off on the weekly rental. I like Avis because they never charge for the second driver and their cars are always clean and new. I guess you are all right the difference in $$ is not worth the hassle of returning a car and wasting all that time from our vacation.

 

[disneysteve]

Add me to the "rent a car" list. We always, always, always use a car to get around on or off property. It would be no vacation for us if we had to depend on buses and shuttles to get around. Disney does a great job moving people from place to place, but I can still get around much more efficiently with my own car.

Also, keep in mind that there are some limitations to Disney transport. For example, it is quite time consuming to get from one hotel to another. We usually spend one day or a couple of evenings visiting the various hotels. No way could we do that without a car.

We generally stay offsite, but even when we have stayed onsite, we still ventured offsite for meals, shopping, Old Town, Belz, etc.

So I say keep the car. You need it to get back to the airport anyway.

 

[mtakac]

I agree that having a car is great, especially if you want to explore the other resorts. We've done both (no car vs car).

I am wondering how much time, if any, we saved with the car. Parking is kind of a drag (ie-long walk or shuttle ride). The buses were nice b/c they dropped you right off at the entrance of each park. The time we were at the World w/out a car we had a great experience and never waited more that 10 minutes for a bus.

Do any of the veteran car people have any tips for parking, etc? Or maybe I'm just too darn excited and impatient when I'm there and am imagining that the buses are faster.