Should we rent a car during WDW stay?

[thefourofus]

Hi everyone.....first time poster here. I've been reading so much the past couple days that my eyes are starting to bleed!!! I have a question for all you experts. We have booked a mid November Mon-Th stay.

We get in Monday 1pm, will hopefully have dinner reservations for Boma/ohana's. Maybe visit DTD.
Spend Tuesday relaxing, maybe minigolf and have dinner at Boma's/Ohana's and visit DTD.
Wednesday will be spent at Epcot.
Thursday we depart for Fort Lauderdale.

We've never stayed on site so we don't mind at some point exploring/self touring the deluxe resorts, riding the monorail, and our kids are 11-15....so no little kiddies to carry around.

Question number 1:

Do we:

Option A: Rent a car upon arrival at MCO for the week.

Option B: Rent a car upon checkout day for the remainder of our trip.

We save $140 with option B which is important to us.

Question number 2:

If we choose to rent a car upon checkout day....can hubby ride the Magic Express back to MCO to pick up the car rental? If he can how much of his time would riding to MCO take up?
(Unfortunetly MCO rate are half the price of renting within disney areas).

Thankyou!

 

[kaytieeldr]

Plan B. And figure on about two hours for the round-trip to MCO, and to complete paperwork and pick up/out the car.

 

[TheWog]

First welcome.

Depends on where you are staying and how you want to do things. If you are staying at either Poly or AKL then it might make it easier to not rent a car. If you are not staying at either then you would need to do a taxi or a bus transfer to get where you want to go. If the savings is key and you are not on any type of time crunch go with B.

 

[thefourofus]

sorry, i forgot to mention we are staying at Coronado Springs.

 

[aristocat65]

For such a short trip, I would rent a car from the beginning.. Coronado Springs has fairly good bus service , but you could still be waiting 30 min for a bus. Taking Disney transportation gets you from hotel to park or park to hotel or Downtown Disney. You plans for dinner at Boma, or Ohana would be inconvenient with no car. For example, you would have to take a bus from CSR to a park and from there take a bus to AK resort for dinner. It could take a long time.

We've never done the mini golf, but I think you would also be better with a car to get there.

Good Luck

 

[kaytieeldr]

TheWog will tell you to rent the car for your entire stay . Nothing wrong with that. I'm frugal (NOT to indicate TheWog is not!!!!) and would rather 'pay' myself the $70 per hour for the two hours out of my vacation and pick up the car on the day I needed it.

 

[ma2jr]

I would absolutely rent a car.

 

[Nanajo1]

"If we choose to rent a car upon checkout day....can hubby ride the Magic Express back to MCO to pick up the car rental? If he can how much of his time would riding to MCO take up?
(Unfortunetly MCO rate are half the price of renting within disney areas)."

ME asks for your flight # , airline and departure time to book your return pick up.
I think you would need to contact ME directly to ask about using the return w/o flight info.

 

[PebblesMK]

Why not rent from the Alamo car care center on Disney property? They will provide a shuttle to take you there and back (if you need to drop it off instead of driving to MCO)

 

[thefourofus]

Wow, you guys are super quick....Thanks for all the responses.

Lots to think about....

I'm not too crazy about waiting for buses.

The reason I don't want to rent from Car Care Center is that the rates are so ridiculously higher...basically we can get a rental for a week at MCO for the same price as a 3 day at CCC. Same thing with Dolphin.

I don't know what to do!!!

With these buses...how long would it usually take to get from Coronado Springs to the 2 restaurants and to DTD usually? (keeping in mind we are there mid november mid week)

Not being able to use the ME back to MCO would certainly put a dent in the savings too.

 

[thefourofus]

oops double post

 

[poohbear8]

I rent when I go, just so I can get where I want to be on my time. What about renting from other places in Orlando. Many will come pick you up.

IF you think you might want to rent, I would go ahead and book something asap. rates seem to keep going up, so if you find a deal, book it. You can always cancel it.

I found a rate for my Oct trip and booked it. I keep checking and the same car is now almost double what I am paying with the code and coupon.

 

[can]

Welcome to Dis Boards! A great place for info and to have your questions answered. We have done both on Disney property, not rented and rented a car. We now always rent a car with pick-up at MCO, no matter how short or long the stay. I gives you so much flexibility around Disney and if you decide to take a quick off property trip anywhere.

There are several good sites to check continuously for car rental discounts:

www.carrentals.com
www.rentalcars.com
www.rentalcodes.com/Florida

IMO, it just makes it easier to go on your schedule and not the schedule of others when relying on them for getting around.

I think you have enough time you can research, and make your decision up until the last minute. Have a great time and good luck!

 

[kaytieeldr]

I don't know what to do!!!

I know what to do - listen to me!!!!
Except, all my advice is useless if you don't like to wait for buses .
Ask yourself, "Is it really worth $140 to avoid a few bus rides/waits?". If it is worth that much, then you've got your answer. Rent the car on arrival at MCO.
If you have better uses for that money, 'suffer' through Disney transportation and just pick up the car the day you need it, to get to Ft. Lauderdale.

Don't worry about using Magical Express to get back to the airport to pick up the car. When you check in at the Welcome Center, tell the CM your need - for your husband to get back to the airport on ___ at about ____. Magical Express schedulers will set him up with a pickup time about an hour before that. TRUST me. I've done it - except I went back to MCO the day after I arrived . That one day, and picking up the car at the airport, made a HUGE difference in the cost. I paid about $78 for eight days; adding my arrival day to the rental would have increased the cost about $60; picking up the car onsite would have tripled the price!

 

[Lewisc]

You have at least 2 meals planned at other resorts and at least one trip to DTD. You'll save time with a rental car.

How long is your total trip? Can you play with your return time, and maybe your pick up time so you only have the car for 7 days? Look at your return time/date and go back 7 days. Price a rental at the DTD hotels, CCC and at the Dolphin for a 7 day rental.

 

[TheWog]

TheWog will tell you to rent the car for your entire stay . Nothing wrong with that. I'm frugal (NOT to indicate TheWog is not!!!!) and would rather 'pay' myself the $70 per hour for the two hours out of my vacation and pick up the car on the day I needed it.

 

[TheWog]

......sorry

 

[thefourofus]

You have at least 2 meals planned at other resorts and at least one trip to DTD. You'll save time with a rental car.

How long is your total trip? Can you play with your return time, and maybe your pick up time so you only have the car for 7 days? Look at your return time/date and go back 7 days. Price a rental at the DTD hotels, CCC and at the Dolphin for a 7 day rental.

Our rental would have been monday to sunday....so I was able to do the 7 days, with contract ID and a coupon, for $295 that's emerald aisle with national

3 day rental $120 again Emerald Aisle with National.(edited..just found another rate bringing it down to 120 now so savings of 175)

I tried all 3 National (and Alamo) from the ccc, dtd, and dolphin....no discounts at all with any contract ID's....very frustrating.

Maybe as time gets closer weekly deals will pop up.

Can anyone tell me how long bus service to the two restaurants and dtd takes from coronado springs. Are we talking like an hour? (remember mid week, mid november)?

Thankyou so much all.

 

[thefourofus]

another question or two if I may.

Do you need park tickets to use the monorail? Or is it included in resort stay?

Does the monorail get to poly and animal kingdom lodge?

 

[TheWog]

another question or two if I may.

Do you need park tickets to use the monorail? Or is it included in resort stay?

Does the monorail get to poly and animal kingdom lodge?

No you do not need park tickets to ride the monorail. You can use it based on your resort stay. It does go to Poly, it does not go to AKL.