Rental Car or Not

[pms122765]

We are going to at WL (Cabin), BCV & then OKW for 13 nights.

I am just wondering if spending the $400-500 for a rental car is really going to be worth it?

Being able to get around where I want - when I want is really nice & of course driving to the airport will save over Mears etc..., but I have heard DISNEY now has free buses.

Buying food at the grocery store is also a nice savings, but what do people think?

Is there a way to rent a car inside WDW for just a few days at a time?

What do most people do for a 2 week stay?

Living in Seattle makes driving out of the question.

Cheers

Paul in Seattle

 

[WebmasterDoc]

You can certainly use the Magical Express program for free transport upon arrival and departure and if personal transportation is needed at other times during your stay, there are rental desks at the Car Care Center near the MK (transportaton is provided to/from WDW resorts to the center) and there is also a Budget/National rental desk at the Dolphin Resort.

Unless you will want transportation for the entire stay, I'd ride the free shuttle (wev'e used that twice since it began in May with good results) and only rent a car for the times you want transportation off-site or to stock up on groceries. You can certainly save enough on groceries to justify visiting a local store versus purchasing everything at your resort.

Some insist on having personal transportation while staying at WDW, but we enjoy using Disney transport- even when we have a vehicle available.

 

[lsutigger2]

Sometimes have a rental is just nice. Going to get groceries is great. We use our rental to go places that are a little difficult to get to on WDW transportation. DTD is one. We usually do a big shopping at the Wonder of Disney and I really don't want to have to carry large pkgs on the bus. DH golfs and uses the car to get to the golf courses (I think you can use a taxi for free from resorts to the golf courses, but not sure). And you may want to go off site for a meal or two. maybe having a car mid-way of your trip might be a good compromise.

Enjoy your two weeks, sounds great.

 

[JimC]

We used Mears shuttle for years. Then I surprised my wife with a towncar on one trip and we were hooked. The additional cost over Mears was worth it for door to door service with no waiting.

Then we needed to bring a wheelchair with us and the Disney busses proved unreliable regarding lift operations. We switched to rentals and are very happy with the freedom to come and go as we please.

In your situation, I might do what Doc said, take the free Disney service and use daily rentals when you want/need to go off property.

 

[CharlesTD]

I would say save your money and take the Disney transportation they will even move your luggage for you.

 

[utahkennedys]

For our trip to OKW this month, I decided to rent a car at the airport and drop it off at the Dolphin 4 days later to save $. I want to be able to get groceries, eat at a few of our off-site favorite restaurants, go to the new mall, etc. It is only costing $120 for a nice car with National and using Emerald Isle I don't have to wait at the rental counter. I think it's a nice alternative.

I have never done it, but you can rent a car at the Dolphin or at the Car Care Center, and I have heard the Car Care Center will schedule a shuttle to pick you up at your hotel.

I have done WDW on about 25 trips in my life, and I really like having a car vs. being stuck "inside" WDW the whole time...

 

[Disney Fanatic]

We love the freedom of having a car to go for dinner outside Disney, groceries and shopping.

We are renting just a very small car this trip to get us from point A to B.

This trip we want to try Emeril's restaurant so we definately will take advantage of the car.

You can rent a car for a few days to get the stuff you need but I would not want to go through the hassle of dropping it off and getting back to the resort.

 

[skelooch]

It's a no brainer as far as I am concerned, rent the car, the flexability is worth every penny especially for a 13 day trip. Going from resort to resort can be a real hassle on the buses and you can spend a lot of valuable time waiting for buses. Plus if you plan to go off site at all to Universal, Sea World,etc. Makes Grocery shopping a breeze.
The $400-500 seems a bit high, I think you should be able to do better, I just reserved a std size SUV for 10 days in Nov at thanksgiving for about $275.
Shop around online, I've done best with Alamo and Dollar, both are at the airport. Keep checking everyday you can sometimes hit a special.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I have to agree that I would miss having a car for that long. We like to go off site for groceries and occationally the malls. In reality though, we usually only use it for back and forth to the airport and resort to resort travel.

 

[dgaston]

And if you don't mind the risk of taking a shuttle off airport to rent a car, consider Priceline. It's a very short trip, but I managed to win a bid on Priceline for a compact for $12 a day for Don's Extravagant Birthday Trip next weekend (Hertz). If I had to pay the going rates, I'm certain I wouldn't have wanted the rental. After many trips we like to drive to the parks, except for MK, to visit Publix and the Prime One outlets.

HTH

Also if you go the Priceline route, check out www.biddingfortravel.com just remember that Sheryl is a stickler for completing her forms before she will give you info.