2010: What's on the Emerald Aisle?

[Disflyer]

Three weeks ago we had a choice of a minivan or a dodge charger. There are only 3 of us so I took the charger (it was a 4-door) but I was surprised to be offered the van at first. No discount codes used and I had a rate of $38/day.

 

[kath2me]

With National, i also got a great rate for 6 nites, just curious using my AE to pay, does anyone take the extra insurance ?

 

[AlexDurrani]

With National, i also got a great rate for 6 nites, just curious using my AE to pay, does anyone take the extra insurance ?

Check with American Express and make sure you have opted for the Rental Car insurance feature of the card. If I am not mistaken it works in tandem with your regular car insurance so there will not be any extra costs involved. When I activated my card a few months ago Amex asked if I wanted to participate in the program and if I did and used the card it would automatically cover the rental I was getting for a cheaper rate per rental then the rental companies.

 

[mousey]

Arrived on the B side on 11/20 at 11:45pm. The emerald aisle had mostly mid/full size cars and 1 ford escape. The executive had mostly full size cars and 1 Nissan Rogue (considered crossover). Due to the fact that it was Saturday night and I was using a coupon which required a Saturday night stay, we chose the Nissan and went to the check out. My receipt printed at 11:57pm. Three minutes and I would of lost the $35 off coupon. That's the trouble with those late flights on a Saturday. The Nissan was very good on gas--about 22 miles per gallon. We paid $2.72 at Hess on International Dr near the outlet.

 

[cccdisney]

We picked up on Thursday, 11/18 and scored a great deal! When arriving at the garage I went to the worker in the booth and told her it was my first time using Emerald Aisle and wanted to make sure I was picking a car from the right aisle. She told me to go ahead and pick a car from any aisle! I verified that she meant ANY aisle (and specifically pointed down the executive aisle) and she verified that yes, that day I could pick any car.
So - my three kids and I walked down the aisle and picked out a 2010 Chevy Tahoe. There were many mini-vans, Tahoes, suburbans.

We dropped off at Tampa Int. Airport on Sat, 11/27.
LOVED having a car at WDW!!!!

 

[Buzz's Buddy]

When arriving at the garage I went to the worker in the booth and told her it was my first time using Emerald Aisle and wanted to make sure I was picking a car from the right aisle. She told me to go ahead and pick a car from any aisle!

I do wonder exactly how this works. I almost always reserve a mid-size to use the Emerald Aisle; however, on my last trip, I reserved a full-size car which was only about $8 more than the mid-size. My wife had gone to pick the car while my son and I waited for the luggage.

My wife told the employee that we reserved a full-size car and he pointed her to the Emerald and Executive Aisles and told her to pick one from either aisle. We ended up with a mini-van. On a previous trip when I booked a mid-size, the Emerald Aisle was completely empty and the employee told me to pick a car from the Executive Aisle.

My question is, does the person at the booth know what ailse you picked the car from? And if so, how do they know you weren't told to take to take from that aisle?

 

[n2mm]

I do wonder exactly how this works. I almost always reserve a mid-size to use the Emerald Aisle; however, on my last trip, I reserved a full-size car which was only about $8 more than the mid-size. My wife had gone to pick the car while my son and I waited for the luggage.

My wife told the employee that we reserved a full-size car and he pointed her to the Emerald and Executive Aisles and told her to pick one from either aisle. We ended up with a mini-van. On a previous trip when I booked a mid-size, the Emerald Aisle was completely empty and the employee told me to pick a car from the Executive Aisle.

My question is, does the person at the booth know what ailse you picked the car from? And if so, how do they know you weren't told to take to take from that aisle?

The ticket on the dash that you hand in says what aisle the car was in. I dunno what happens if you get there and they question your eligibility. Several years ago we choose an SUV from the aisle and it had the wrong tag in it. When we dropped off we were charged the rate for an SUV which was double what the aisle amount was. It took us nearly 30 minutes at the counter to dispute the charge. They accused us of taking the SUV from the SUV aisle and not the emerald aisle. It was a huge headache. When the rep at the kiosk pulls up your account, they know your status then. We are executive aisle members and have been for many years. After the problem we had those many years ago, I personally would never take a vehicle from any aisle that I was not entitled to choose from as I dont' want that headache ever again. I guess when the rep tells you to choose either aisle, maybe they decided that day, to just move the cars no matter what...dunno...

 

[encinc]

We scored a great deal! When arriving at the garage I went to the worker in the booth and told her it was my first time using Emerald Aisle and wanted to make sure I was picking a car from the right aisle. She told me to go ahead and pick a car from any aisle! I verified that she meant ANY aisle (and specifically pointed down the executive aisle) and she verified that yes, that day I could pick any car. !

We had the same thing happen to us. Checked out the Emerald Aisle. Lots of midsized cars, some sort of a midsized SUV toward the end. As we were walking down the aisle trying to decide which car we wanted, a worker approached us. He asked whether we had a EA reservation. I said we did, and were hoping there would be a minivan. He said that there were lots of minivans "down toward the end and to the right" We walked down toward the end, and realized that he was pointing us toward the minivan aisle. DH waited by an 8 passenger Toyota Sienna, while I went back and confirmed that we could take from the minivan aisle with a EA reservation. He smiled and nodded. I was still wary, but we checked out the receipt carefully after we went through the booth, and there were no additional charges on there.

We're thrilled! We're travelling down state to visit my parents after our WDW time. They have their own rental there, but this means that if we go on a daytrip together, we can all go in our van. Definitely worth the extra $8 we paid for an EA reservation over the lowest price we found elsewhere. I will never count on getting an upgrade like this, but I will certainly book with National again in hopes that it might work out.

 

[bumbershoot]

Nov 30, picked up at around 7pm, got a Dodge Nitro. SWEET vehicle. I'm not generally an SUV person at all, but it's going on my list of "let's think about that one when we're in the market".

 

[paras4ri]

Arrived on 11/30 at about 5 p.m. - Executive Aisle - lots of Chrysler 300's and Dodge Chargers - also 5-7 minivans and a few SUVs. We chose a Nissan Pathfinder and it was great. I looked briefly at Emerald Aisle but didn't see much but cars. No small SUVs or vans.

 

[n2mm]

Arrived on 11/30 at about 5 p.m. - Executive Aisle - lots of Chrysler 300's and Dodge Chargers - also 5-7 minivans and a few SUVs. We chose a Nissan Pathfinder and it was great. I looked briefly at Emerald Aisle but didn't see much but cars. No small SUVs or vans.

Thanks for the update .... Side A or Side B?

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

IMy question is, does the person at the booth know what ailse you picked the car from? And if so, how do they know you weren't told to take to take from that aisle?

It can get messy.

Just last week at the LAX airport I took at Caddy that was DIRECTLY under the Executive Aisle sign. I did NOT look at the tag (Why would I?) When I got to the gate I got told I was going to be charged extra because "it's a luxury" I told the guy to go move the cars behind me I wasn't paying extra. He then "fussed" at me for taking something off the Luxury Aisle. I fussed back saying "it was DIRECTLY under the Executive Aisle sign" He said "well they probably parked it there because Luxury was full" Finally he gave it to me a my rate! (I did go formally complian when I returned the car Friday!)


B side yesterday at MCO (12/5) around 12:30? Aisle had sedans and one small SUV. Malibu, Impala, one Soneta. Execuitve had more Impalas, a 300, two HUGE SUVs, one Camry and one Grand Marquis.

 

[Inkmahm]

B side MCO at about 12:45 on 12/3 had lots of cars and several crossover SUV's. I ended up with a Dodge Journey as it was the only one that could fit 6 people (uncomfortably). Didn't have to worry about luggage though, only for getting the six of us around to parks, etc.

I asked the attendant about getting a mini van and first he told me to take on from the minivan aisle. I was about to do that when he came back over with his supervisor. The supervisor said he'd asked the manager that morning about putting Minivans on the Emerald aisle and was told NO, that the minivan business was really good for Sat and they didn't need to put any on the EA. Oh, well. I'd still try asking again in the future if I wanted a minivan and none were available.

 

[Detailor]

B side MCO at about 12:45 on 12/3 had lots of cars and several crossover SUV's. I ended up with a Dodge Journey as it was the only one that could fit 6 people (uncomfortably). Didn't have to worry about luggage though, only for getting the six of us around to parks, etc.

I asked the attendant about getting a mini van and first he told me to take on from the minivan aisle. I was about to do that when he came back over with his supervisor. The supervisor said he'd asked the manager that morning about putting Minivans on the Emerald aisle and was told NO, that the minivan business was really good for Sat and they didn't need to put any on the EA. Oh, well. I'd still try asking again in the future if I wanted a minivan and none were available.

Still no minivans on the Emerald Aisle on Saturday 12/4. There were several mid-size cars, a mid-size Jeep SUV or two, a couple of full size cars and a couple of Mercury Grand Marquis (premiums?).

 

[DisneyAndRedSox]

Arrived at noon on thurs 12/9
A side

Aisle had many full size cars (mostly Chevy), a Kia Soul, VW Beetle, jeep Compass, Dodge Journey, Toyota Rav, Chevy Equinox. When I arrived someone grabbed the Equinox, I took the Rav.

 

[jaysmom4285]

This was our first rental from National, and our reservation said we were Emerald Reserve. We picked up our car around 8 PM on 12/4 and had close to a dozen minivans to choose from, along with some SUVs and even a few convertibles, along with the usual full size cars. We happily took a minivan.

 

[tooncanator]

Dec 4th, got a Grand Cherokee Limited with leather and a huge moon roof and only 3k on the odometer. This truck was beautiful and fun to drive, but a pig on gas. This was on the executive aisle.

Toon

 

[Debi]

Picked up 12/8 at 9AM. Scored a Ford Escape with 7 (yes, 7!) miles on it. It was one of 2 Escapes on the EA, along with a few minivans and the usual Malibus, Impalas, etc.

 

[spencerbomar]

The whole point of the emerald isle is to not have to wait in line at a counter behind the foreign tourists who on average take 10 minutes to rent a car.
Bypass the counter with the aisle.

NOT waiting in line usually saves at least 30mins to an hour dependent upon your arrival date/time. I waited in line before the aisle (couple of decades ago) for an hour and a half once.....last time.

It has been a while for me for MCO...I have had VW bugs there before. Know it has changed.

 

[Karlzmom]

..thread is getting buried and we still want to see what people are scoring on the aisle!