Staying on-site, no car - how to go shopping?

[chanty]

Hi all,

Last time we were there, we wanted to go out and shop around in Orlando (outlets, malls, etc). How do you go about doing that if you don't have a rental car?? Last time, it cost us $20 by taxi to go to the mall.....
We'd also love to do the Medieval Times dinner/show... I don't know how we'd go about renting a car for a day or 2....

Any thoughts, experience to share?

Thanks!

 

[WillCAD]

You have several options:
Cabs (expensive but easy)
Lynx Busses (cheap but inconvenient)
Rent a car (less expensive than cabs, much more flexible)

I think the most flexible would be to rent a car for a day or two. You can rent from National either at the WDW Car Care Center in the Magic Kingdom area (you can get shuttle busses there from any Disney resort, just ask at the front desk) or from the rental desk in the Dolphin hotel (take a bus to Boardwalk and walk over).

Look for National discount codes on MouseSavers.com. You will probably be able to get a mid-size car for around $30 a day, and a compact or economy for less. Also look for coupons in Sam's Club, Costco, or BJs if you have memberships to any of those. Pay particular attention to percent-off coupons, which get you a flat percentage off the total rental cost, and free upgrades, which will allow you to book a cheaper compact class car and upgrade to the nicer mid-size, or book an economy and upgrade to compact, etc.

 

[bballdiva]

I was wondering the same cause i wanted to check out the outlet stoo. Big shopper here!!!!! i didnt really want to rent a car because of the under age surcharge of $25 a day,I'm 24. An thats on top of the $40 a day that i have seen for the price of a rent in disney.

 

[utahkennedys]

For our September trip we rented an Intermediate car at Nat'l for a great rate from the airport, then I am dropping it off 4 days later at the Dolphin. I figure for $120, I can go grocery shopping for Old Key West, do some fun shopping, eat off-Disney, etc. for a very reasonable cost. Plus, with all of the bad stories I have heard about ME, I decided I would rather drive from the airport at least straight to OKW. I think it ends up cheaper than cab fare a few times and gives lots more flexibility.

 

[chanty]

Oh, oh! Bad stories about ME??? Haven't read those... were should I start looking? hehe. Maybe we'll end up getting the car I reserved at the airport and keep it for the 11 days. It's only costing us $208. I've looked around for 5 days and it's the same price!!!! WOW.

 

[WillCAD]

For our September trip we rented an Intermediate car at Nat'l for a great rate from the airport, then I am dropping it off 4 days later at the Dolphin. I figure for $120, I can go grocery shopping for Old Key West, do some fun shopping, eat off-Disney, etc. for a very reasonable cost. Plus, with all of the bad stories I have heard about ME, I decided I would rather drive from the airport at least straight to OKW. I think it ends up cheaper than cab fare a few times and gives lots more flexibility.

If you pick up AND drop off at Dolphin, you will save a few bucks by avoiding the 9.8% airport concession fee. It's not much, but still...

 

[Disneyjosh229]

You have several options:
Cabs (expensive but easy)
Lynx Busses (cheap but inconvenient)
Rent a car (less expensive than cabs, much more flexible)

I think the most flexible would be to rent a car for a day or two. You can rent from National either at the WDW Car Care Center in the Magic Kingdom area (you can get shuttle busses there from any Disney resort, just ask at the front desk) or from the rental desk in the Dolphin hotel (take a bus to Boardwalk and walk over).

Look for National discount codes on MouseSavers.com. You will probably be able to get a mid-size car for around $30 a day, and a compact or economy for less. Also look for coupons in Sam's Club, Costco, or BJs if you have memberships to any of those. Pay particular attention to percent-off coupons, which get you a flat percentage off the total rental cost, and free upgrades, which will allow you to book a cheaper compact class car and upgrade to the nicer mid-size, or book an economy and upgrade to compact, etc.

$30 a day! Got mine for $14!

 

[chanty]

How did you get $14 a day???

 

[kaddjr]

I just reserved a full sized car through National- picking up and dropping it off at the CCC in WDW for 8 days (Dec 4-11) @ $109, which works out to be about $13.63/day. I found the coupon at mousesavers.

 

[Disneyjosh229]

How did you get $14 a day???

Intermediate at MCO using the "Entertainment" code, not a cupon.