Trip Planning Help Q2: Renting a Car

[wishspirit]

Thanks for the help guys, there will be plenty more!

After deciding that June really was the best time for a trip, now onto the detail. Every other Disney holiday I have been on (except the one coming in September) we have always had a car. It was great for going to eat off site, getting to Universal and Sea World, going shopping and all those little things that cars make very useful.

However, by the time we go on holiday, my boyfriend and I will only be 21. This adds BIG problems. I have looked on car rental places and they will put on a surcharge of $30 A DAY just because we are young. (I mean we hold British Driving licences, we both drive manual cars and could generally pay insurance on a car for a whole YEAR the price they are quoting me).

Anywho this leads us to a conundrum:

1) Should we abandon the whole rent-a-car thing, maybe rent it it for a day or two from the Swan/Dolphin to go shopping and let Garden Grocer do the drinks and snacks. This would mean taking taxi's to and from Universal (which we are thinking about doing in one big block and staying at a Universal hotel anyway) and I haven't a clue how expensive that will be!

2) Suck it up, pay about £500, or about $700 for 2 weeks worth of car use. Will that make up for spending on food etc at Disney?

Any help (or coupon codes for Rental Cars!) would be useful!

 

[wdwscout]

I certainly would not rent a car for the whole duration.
Assuming you are beginning and ending at WDW, use Magical Express to get to and from the airport and use Garden Grocer for all of your food needs.

In 2 weeks time you are probably planning some time off of Disney property.
If it's ONLY for the block of time at Universal, I might rent a car only for those days.

It's too expensive and defintitely not a necessity while on Disney property. We never have had a car while on vacation at Disney- and we can get around just fine!

 

[Annette_VA]

Check here for rental car coupons
http://www.mousesavers.com/rentalcar.html

 

[wishspirit]

Check here for rental car coupons
http://www.mousesavers.com/rentalcar.html

Thanks Annette! Lets see if that knocks some dollars off!

 

[FireDancer]

Are you sure you are even able to rent a car? In the US I was always under the impression that you had to be 25. Unfortunately I am past the point of 25 being an issue. I could be mistaken or the rule could have been changed after I was of the age to care.

Does Orlando have public transportation? If there is a decent bus system that doesn't require you taking your life into your hands to ride it may be an option.

 

[wishspirit]

Are you sure you are even able to rent a car? In the US I was always under the impression that you had to be 25. Unfortunately I am past the point of 25 being an issue. I could be mistaken or the rule could have been changed after I was of the age to care.

Does Orlando have public transportation? If there is a decent bus system that doesn't require you taking your life into your hands to ride it may be an option.

According to almost every American Car Rental Company you look at, you can rent between the ages of 21-25 but it has a surcharge on is of about $30 a day compared to the 25 and overs.

I haven't a clue about public transport! Can anyone help?

 

[safetymom]

www.golynx.com is the website for the Orlando bus company.

 

[Castaway Kev]

I used to work for a rental car company. The only way to get around the under 25 year fee is to have a corporate discount that includes a provision that the under 25 fee is waived.

It stinks, I know.

You won't find any coupons that will waive that portion of their charge. It takes a lot of grocery savings to make up for a $30/day surcharge for being young. Your best bet is likely to only rent for a day or two. Don't feel like you have to go through the swan/dolphin. There are Hertz and Enterprise locations scattered around the outside of the property. If you book with them, you can call the location and arrange for them to pick you up and drive you back to the location to complete the rental. When you drop off the car, they should be able to give you a lift back to your resort as well.

I was actually on a company trip for training with the rental car company before I turned 25. At that time, they would not rent to people under 25.
My wife was flying in to join me for the weekend, and I had a reservation for a car. Because I wasn't 25, they wouldn't rent to me.

They would pay me to drive their cars during the day, but would not let me pay them to drive one. I thought it was ridiculous.

 

[MM32830]

Take a look at http://sunshinerentacar.com/

Their underage fee (21-24) is only $12.00 a day. Not sure how their rates compare with the other agencies.

I have never rented from them but I have used their off airport parking service. Very efficient and pleasant people to deal with. One time when I went to pick up my care I found that they had washed my car without being asked or being charged!




_____________________
Armand

 

[katscradle]

We find that the discounts offered to us, as we are Canadian are not as good as what you would get if you were American.
Every year we would pay about $800.00 to rent a car for our 2 week stay.
Our last trip in May we decided to not rent a car.
We took FL Tours to and from the airport.
This allowed us a 1/2 hour grocery stop. Very handy I might add.
We were going to rent a car for 1 day to do some off site shopping.
I wound up deciding that anything I might want to buy would not be worth the cost of a rental car.
However we have decided to rent a car for a day the next time.
I found that things went well without the car.
It is not worth the price to have it for our whole stay.

I would take ME or FL Tours to and from the airport and pck 1 day to rent a car for offsite shopping. I would do a taxi to Universal.
This is just my thoughts. Hope this helps..

 

[raftislander]

My family took a one week vacation at WDW this past March and did not rent a car. We took a cab one night to make a resort to resort trip for an ADR, but that was it. ME worked very efficientlygetting us to and from the airport. Over the course of the week, we only had two waits for busses that were unreasonbly long- for the most part the bus system worked very well. While I was worried about not renting a car, in the end, I am glad we didn't and saved the money. Now, my family did not step off Disney property the week we were there. Still, I think your best bet is to only rent a car for a couple of days when you plan to go off property and use grocery delivery and Disney transportation for the rest. I envy you your two week stay- enjoy!