to rent a car or not

[gracefor5]

Hi all,

Here's the info: Arriving July 28,08 at 6 AM scared1 MCO and staying at Poly.
Stay 6 days and then take 4 days in Cocoa Beach and back to MCO and home to CA.

Do we rent a car for the whole trip or just the part to Cocoa Beach.

Any probs with getting to AK from Poly? What about DME at 6am I would guess it wouldn't be as hectic as after 9am but what do you think?

It's not really the $$ (only $60 diff). It's really that hubby would like to relax and get on DME and not worry about a car until we have too! But I don't want to spend 2 hrs waiting for DME..
Thank you , thank you!!
Kim

 

[scrapnmom]

We rented a car and were glad we had it. We went to Kennedy Space Center for a day which was the reason why we rented in the first place. We ended up driving ourselves to the parks because we didn't like having to wait around for the bus.

 

[heartbeeps]

Hi all,

Here's the info: Arriving July 28,08 at 6 AM scared1 MCO and staying at Poly.
Stay 6 days and then take 4 days in Cocoa Beach and back to MCO and home to CA.

Do we rent a car for the whole trip or just the part to Cocoa Beach.

Any probs with getting to AK from Poly? What about DME at 6am I would guess it wouldn't be as hectic as after 9am but what do you think?

It's not really the $$ (only $60 diff). It's really that hubby would like to relax and get on DME and not worry about a car until we have too! But I don't want to spend 2 hrs waiting for DME..
Thank you , thank you!!
Kim

It' my understanding there's not a big problem getting from a resort to a park and reverse. Also no problems with DME either. The rub seems to be when you want to go from one resort to another b'c you have to make a transfer in a park (for the most part). Since we have so many resort ADRs booked, we're going to rent a car; however, we're not doing so until we get on property. I'm holding both a Dollar & National ressie right now; haven't decided which one to keep vs. cancel. We'll pick it up at either the Car Care Ctr (Nat'l) or Regal Sun resort in DTD ($) and then return it to the airport when we're done. We will not transport our luggage back to the airport.

it's a tough call! i still waffle on it!

 

[mom2aredhead]

We rent a car every trip, but we stay at AKL which is a little further out so it really comes in handy.

We like being able to run to the store and grab some snacks/drinks/breakfast stuff when we arrive.

We like having it for early morning ADR's - the buses are good, but it's just easier to drive to the 7:30am Chef Mickey's breakfast.

We like being able to send our luggage to the airport with the check-in at the lobby, go to a park for a few hours, then go directly to the airport without having to come back to the resort hours ahead of our flight to wait for DME.

If you rent a car just for the Cocoa Beach part, where/how will you pick it up and return it mid-trip?

Check the transportation board - there are coupons and discount codes that you could probably use to get the price down if you rent it for the whole stay. For our trip in May, Alamo seems to be the cheapest, but we've had luck with Dollar and National as well.

 

[dawnbu40]

We found that is was cheaper to rent a car for the week then to just get it for a few days. Using the Entertainment Book website we booked with Alamo for a week for 90$

 

[mrsltg]

We ALWAYS rent a car for our Disney trips. We really like the freedom which comes along with having our own transportation. The only time we ride Disney transportation is when we go to the Magic Kingdom. We don't like parking at the TTC and then going across the Lagoon - takes too long. Other than that, we're in our own car.

 

[mom2aredhead]

We'll pick it up at either the Car Care Ctr (Nat'l) or Regal Sun resort in DTD ($) and then return it to the airport when we're done. We will not transport our luggage back to the airport.

it's a tough call! i still waffle on it!

Check the rates. I compared prices and the airport was cheaper. I was shocked.

We'll be there for 8 days, so our rental comes up as the weekly rate + 1 extra day. At the airport they charge the concession (or whatever its called) fee that adds about $12-$15 to the total, and we really didn't need the car the first day, so I checked about picking it up the following day on property.

The price to pick up at the car care center OR the dolphin, which would eliminate the airport fee and the 1 extra day (so just a week rental) was HIGHER than if I did the full 8 days from the airport. About $40 higher.

 

[liznboys]

I think with kids having the most flexibility and options makes for a better trip. So having a car on hand for when you want it or need it is really nice! If the money isn't an issue, then I'd say rent for sure. We flew to MCO and rented several times, and would again if we were still living in Maryland. (We now live close enough to WDW to just drive there.)

I do understand your dh's point about using ME and it being more relaxing (in that you wouldn't have to go get your rental and deal with all that entails), I agree with him there. But once you HAVE the rental I think it's better. I think the pros outweigh the cons and I'd rent.