To rent a car or not to rent a car?

[corinne76]

We plan to do 5 days at DLR and stay offsite, but somewhere in walking distance.
We are thinking of visiting Legoland one day, and maybe the zoo another. But not set on it.
We do need to pick up some groceries, maybe at Target or walmart and also at a health food store.

A car would be useful for shopping and if we go to other parks, but other than that, it would sit for majority of our trip.
Are there other options besides renting a car? My kids will be 4 and 7, so still in car/booster seats

 

[scrappymel]

Von's does grocery delivery. You can use area transportation to get to other attractions(we are using anaheim tours). Rent a car just for a day or two. We are using select rental for a beach day. They pick it up from your hotel, so no worries about returning.

 

[cmpeter]

You can rent a car from the Alamo location at Downtown Disney...makes it easy for pick up and return.

 

[DetroitDisney]

I cant help with the car/booster seats aspect, but we rented an SUV for about $200 for the week. Allowed for some spontaneous outings to the beach and such.

also, check out the ART system for local transit. We used it to get to the park every day, as our hotel was about 1.5 miles away. The $30-ish it cost for both of us for the week was worth saving 3miles on our feet every day.

rideart.org

 

[MillauFr]

We always rent a car for the entire trip. Last time we were there in February is was no brainer as we flew into Ontario and were able to rent a full size for the entire week for $90. Taxi would have been close to $90 just for one way.

 

[corinne76]

Von's does grocery delivery. You can use area transportation to get to other attractions(we are using anaheim tours). Rent a car just for a day or two. We are using select rental for a beach day. They pick it up from your hotel, so no worries about returning.

Never heard of Von's. Do they go to more than one store if needed? I have one allergic to just about everything under the sun but loves his oat milk.

You can rent a car from the Alamo location at Downtown Disney...makes it easy for pick up and return.

DH suggested doing this for the couple days we wish to drive. But I worry about getting food and snacks and stuff like that.

 

[Zbugz]

Are you staying at a place that charges for parking? If so, it might not work out financially to have one the whole time.

You can do a daily rental, too, as others have mentioned, but you'll waste some time picking it up and dropping it off.

I personally get a car for the whole time. I like the convenience. I also like to pick up groceries and see non-DLR sights to round out my vacation.

With some diligence, you can get a rental for $20 - 25 per day, including tax. I used to bring car seats along from home for my kids when they needed them. For the price you pay through the rentals, you can just about buy a new one.

 

[khippster]

We are flying into LAX and renting a car for the week. I agree it's just easier to have the car if we need. My kids are 6 and 4, we are not flying with car seats on the plane. However we purchased the Bubblebum car seats to throw in our suitcases so that when we land we have car seats ready for the car without paying the astronomical car seat rental prices. These are not car seats I would use on a regular basis, but I felt like the minimal amount of driving we are doing we can make these work.
Also, we purchased our package through getawaytoday.com and we are staying at the SpringHill Suites by Marriott and receive free parking for our stay, so that was a big factor.

 

[JayRW]

We are flying into LAX and renting a car for our entire stay. We enjoy being able to go to the store for something we need or to go to In-n-Out for lunch. If you have a Costco card, I would check the prices on www.costcotravel.com . I have found them to be much cheaper than other sources.

 

[becstr]

I second using Costco.com for car rentals. And keep checking back for price changes. I originally book a full size car for around $250 for a week in November. I cancelled and re-booked several times and now my rate for the whole week, with taxes included, is $113!

 

[corinne76]

Do I have to have a costco membership to use costco travel?

Not sure where we will be staying yet (this trip is probably a year off, I plan early LOL). If we stay at Desert Inn again, then yes, parking will be charged but still cheaper than parking at the DL lots. I'm also looking at Park Vue Inn, which I believe has free parking.

I'll look around for rental deals. THe last time, I rented an SUV using Cap One miles. IDK what happened because I still ended up paying like $300 I must have done something wrong there...

 

[Zbugz]

Do I have to have a costco membership to use costco travel?

Not sure where we will be staying yet (this trip is probably a year off, I plan early LOL). If we stay at Desert Inn again, then yes, parking will be charged but still cheaper than parking at the DL lots. I'm also looking at Park Vue Inn, which I believe has free parking.

I'll look around for rental deals. THe last time, I rented an SUV using Cap One miles. IDK what happened because I still ended up paying like $300 I must have done something wrong there...

You do have to be a Costco member. The key is to keep checking prices every day and book, cancel and rebook. Otherwise Priceline is an option.