Airport Car Rental, Disney Drop off question

[andrelaplume]

We are flying into Sanford. Once at Disney I'd really prefer not to have to drive - I'll use their transportation and take a town car back to Sanford when we leave.

Getting from Sanford to Disney is another issue. We could of course use a town car service. However we thought it might be nice to travel more leisurely to our room, perhaps stopping a few places along the way, especially to get some goodies for the week. (The towncar will stop somewhere but only for a half hour)

I came up with a thought of renting a car from the airport and dropping it at Disney that night, maybe at the Dolphin. Great idea except that one rental is $144!!! I can get a car for a little more than that for the week...if I take it back to Sanford...which I really don't want to do.

Does this pricing sound right. Any other ideas?

 

[thomas998]

We are flying into Sanford. Once at Disney I'd really prefer not to have to drive - I'll use their transportation and take a town car back to Sanford when we leave.

Getting from Sanford to Disney is another issue. We could of course use a town car service. However we thought it might be nice to travel more leisurely to our room, perhaps stopping a few places along the way, especially to get some goodies for the week. (The towncar will stop somewhere but only for a half hour)

I came up with a thought of renting a car from the airport and dropping it at Disney that night, maybe at the Dolphin. Great idea except that one rental is $144!!! I can get a car for a little more than that for the week...if I take it back to Sanford...which I really don't want to do.

Does this pricing sound right. Any other ideas?

Yes because you are picking up at one location and dropping off at another. The only time I have been able to pick up at one location and drop off at another in Florida has been when I pick it up at an Orlando location outside the airport and then drop it off at the Orlando airport some car rental places will let you do that for no charge.

Also note that unless I'm mistaken Swan and Dolphin charge a parking fee if you park a car at their hotel. Most other hotels don't but for whatever reason they are trying to nickel and dime customers to death.

If you want to get a car to bet things once you get there, rent one after you arrive at the hotel use it and return it the same day. You'll pay the full daily rate but can do so without the extra expense of paying the hotel for parking assuming the hotel has a rental office on site. Another option is to use a rental agency near the hotel like Enterprise which will come to your hotel and take you back to their rental office to get the car, will also take you back to your hotel when you drop the car off. Also not when you rent a car from a location located at an airport you will get hit with special rip off the out of towner fees that only apply to people picking up a car from the airport.

 

[andrelaplume]

The roundtrip towncar...though similar in price to an econo rental is sounding like the way ro go. I dont want the stress of geting back to the airport for a 6am flight in sanford...

 

[marni1971]

Also bear in mind that price is mainly for the rental; incremental days add very little to the actual rental price.

 

[thomas998]

Also bear in mind that price is mainly for the rental; incremental days add very little to the actual rental price.

No the $144 price is mostly for the drop fee at a different location. You can easily find a rental car in for about $50/day from the Sanford airport including the normal airport fees. A drop fee to a different location almost always more than doubles your price if you are only renting for a day... now drop it off in another state and your charges become astronomical.

 

[marni1971]

No the $144 price is mostly for the drop fee at a different location. You can easily find a rental car in for about $50/day from the Sanford airport including the normal airport fees. A drop fee to a different location almost always more than doubles your price if you are only renting for a day... now drop it off in another state and your charges become astronomical.

No, Alamo do not charge for drop off at a different location even for one days hire.

I can get the same car for one night for the same price from the Dolphin regardless of returning to the Dolphin or MCO. Or Sanford.

 

[thomas998]

No, Alamo do not charge for drop off at a different location even for one days hire.

I can get the same car for one night for the same price from the Dolphin regardless of returning to the Dolphin or MCO. Or Sanford.

Sorry but you aren't even looking at the rates that apply to what the OP was considering. OP wanted to get a car at Sanford and drive to Dolphin... If you used Alamo's website and an economy car picked up at Sanford and dropped off in Kissimmee was $144... If I do a reservation for Sanford and return to Sanford the cost is $34... Now if you rent at the hotel you will pay over $50 for a economy size car regardless of where you drop it off but that isn't what the OP had in mind.

Now you may find the ability to pick up a car at a hotel and drop it at the airport without any drop fee, the reason for that is it saves the rental companies from having to take cars back to the airport that customers used and just dropped at their off-site location which is generally always smaller than the airport location. But I have never found it to be the same price to pick up a car at the airport and drop it off anywhere else than the airport it came from because when you do that they have to spend manpower to get the car from whatever off-site drop off you left it at back to the main point of the airport... I've looked into it on several occasions, and never has it been the case.

 

[marni1971]

I bow to your superior knowledge.

 

[andrelaplume]

I bow to your superior knowledge.

...looking like a towncar....maybe an uber or two throughout the week....how does that work at WDW...do they even allow uber..?

 

[Rob562]

...looking like a towncar....maybe an uber or two throughout the week....how does that work at WDW...do they even allow uber..?

Yes, Disney allows Uber, both at the hotels and the parks. The one exception is that there is no pickup/drop-off right at the Magic Kingdom. You'd have to get them go to either the TTC or the Contemporary. Also note that after midnight there is higher security at the resorts and Uber getting through the guard shack will take longer. (If you're returning to the hotel after midnight, I suggest you have your driver go to the Returning Guest lane and have them use your MagicBand to open the gate, but if they're coming to pick you up, you're stuck waiting)

Getting back to the rental car question... Make sure you price out the drop-off at both the Dolphin and the Disney Car Care Center. Often the prices will differ. (I think Dolphin has a smaller lot to handle rental cars, so they may be discouraging drop-offs with higher prices) At the Car Care Center they have a free van that can bring you to any Disney park or hotel. Also make sure you're pricing out both Alamo and National. They're owned by the same parent company and the desks are for both companies. I've found Alamo to usually have the cheaper prices, but sometimes you find that certain vehicle sizes can be cheaper with National.

If you have AAA or a club membership like Costco or BJ's you can often get a discount rate.

And if National/Alamo aren't working out, most other major car rental companies have a desk at one of the Hotel Plaza Blvd hotels near Disney Springs. I don't know of the availability of free vans to bring you places afterward, but you can always drop off and walk over to Disney Springs.

-Rob

 

[Jim Buck]

Look at dropping off near Disney Springs as well, the hotels nearby often accept rental and there is the Disney bus you can take from the Springs to get back, done that in the past.

Also consider shipping stuff to the resort so you don't have to shop on the way, Amazon and others you can do that and the resort will usually accept within around a week of your stay so it will be ready for you.

 

[EOD K9]

Also consider shipping stuff to the resort so you don't have to shop on the way, Amazon and others you can do that and the resort will usually accept within around a week of your stay so it will be ready for you

That is spot on. I stayed at the Poly prior to my last cruise and had a box of diapers shipped to the resort. I purchased it and shipped it myself so I could postmark it appropriately (ie reservation number, dates, etc). While my room wasn't ready upon arrival, my package was in the room when it was. We shipped it down about ten days prior. It worked out great and I'd suggest the same.