Car rental advice, please.

[mac41099]

We are flying into Tampa for a wedding. There will be 4 of us (me, wife, 4 year old, 1 year old), so we'll need a rental car. Plan is to rent a car at airport in Tampa and after the wedding, drive up to Disney the next morning. We only need a car for 3 days total.

So, here are my questions:

1. Are there places to drop off a rental car in WDW, so we can get to our hotel and then use bus transportation to the parks? If so, what companies and their locations?

2. We will need 2 car seats, so are they readily available with all rental companies? If so, how much more do they rent for?

Thanks for your help.

 

[PigletIsMyCat]

Alamo is the rental car company on WDW property. They are located just south of the Magic Kingdom Toll Plaza.

Any major car rental company should give you an option for child seats at the time of booking. If you hope to rent a car with child seats the day you need it, you may not get what you need.

Where are you flying out of? Aren't you going to need the rental car to get from Disney to an airport? If you have booked a stay on property, you should be able to use Disney's Magical Express to return to Orlando International.

If you are flying out of Tampa, might as well keep the car and return it at the airport. When we were looking to rent a car, we ended up renting from the Budget on MCO property - it was cheaper than the Alamo at WDW, even with a CM discount. That Alamo still charges the ever-annoying 'origination/destination' charges popular at airports.

 

[Adventure]

I'd keep the car for the whole time. We flew into Tampa in October and rented from Dollar. We visited Busch Gardens and then went on to Disney for 10 days. Fast easy return at MCO for our flight home. If your staying on site you won't have to pay for parking at the parks or worry about putting strollers on the buses, just put them in the trunk of your car.

 

[manatee74]

Check different sources (Expedia, Sams club,Entertainment Book, etc). We just reserved a car for when we arrive next week. We have family local so we need a car for several days after we check out of wdw. It is 200 less to rent a car for 7 days than to get it for 3.Alamo was the best deal . Came to 129 plus taxes for a full week. 3 days was around 300. Hope that helps.

 

[mac41099]

We are staying on WDW property, so we had planned on just using the buses and then taking the Magical Express back to Orlando Airport.

But, now that I see it may be cheaper for a whole week than just 3 days, I'll have to look into that. I really despised using the buses, especially with a stroller. We also have the Entertainment Book and saw a bunch of coupons in there for all rental companies.

Thanks for the help and advice.

 

[LivingtheDream]

being a former rental car manager, here's a few tips for you ... 1) reserve the car seats that you need 2) call the location the day before you arrive and verify that that have the right size of seat for your children 3) if you can rent a car from somewhere other than the airport (downtown Tampa or one of the hotels off of the airport), do so as you will not have to pay any airport fees 4) when you get to the counter, ask if there are any "walkup" deals available (non-reservation rentals) ... sometimes they will have an excess of a certain vehicle like a 4x4 or a van and offer them at low rates to get them off the lot 5) DO NOT buy the fuel purchase option ( buying the full tank in the car and bringing it back empty) unless you plan on pushing the car back to the return location, you WILL NOT get any credit for gas that you bring it back with if you take this option ...... good luck and have a great trip !!!!

 

[bfbulldog]

I've got two little ones too, my advice, rent a car for the whole trip. The buses at Disney are a nightmare if you have strollers and can take forever. You can get some good deals on car rentals on Expedia, Hotwire and the like and you could rent in Tampa and fly out of Orlando. Car seats range from $10-15 per day each so make sure you request them in advance. Also, the last three times I've rented at Orlando I've always requested just a compact car but asked at the counter if there are any deals or upgrades and I've been upgraded for free each time.

 

[ryguy]

I have two small children and I always rent a car. I like to bring the kids back for naps and go out to eat and shop off property so for me its a no brainer. Plus renting a car seat seems nasty:hurl:.

 

[shoppingnut]

Renting the car seats is about $7 or so a day for each seat, so it might turn into an expensive proposition renting for the whole week. In the past I have rented from National with the Emerald Club which you can sign up for free with www.mousesavers.com. You can drop off the car on property at the Dolphin hotel 24/7, just have to drop it with the valet.

 

[shoppingnut]

Plus renting a car seat seems nasty:hurl:.

We had to do it when we got stuck down in Disney in December for two extra days because I decided I wanted to go to DTD and other places since we had nothing planned for eating on property and it's tough to get ressies at any of the good places on such short notice. I can tell you that the rental car seat from National was very very clean, probably cleaner than what most people have in their own cars.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

being a former rental car manager, here's a few tips for you ...
1) reserve the car seats that you need
2) call the location the day before you arrive and verify that that have the right size of seat for your children
3) if you can rent a car from somewhere other than the airport (downtown Tampa or one of the hotels off of the airport), do so as you will not have to pay any airport fees
4) when you get to the counter, ask if there are any "walkup" deals available (non-reservation rentals) ... sometimes they will have an excess of a certain vehicle like a 4x4 or a van and offer them at low rates to get them off the lot
5) DO NOT buy the fuel purchase option ( buying the full tank in the car and bringing it back empty) unless you plan on pushing the car back to the return location, you WILL NOT get any credit for gas that you bring it back with if you take this option

Excellent advice

 

[mac41099]

So, how do I book this thing for a car??

I've gone to Expedia, Hotwire, and Orbitz to see about it and they pretty much force me to price it through the airport.

I will be in Tampa before the wife and kids arrive, so I can pick up the car/SUV at a non-airport location and save the fees. Then I can drop it off on site somewhere in WDW.

Am I going to have to call each individual car company to find the best price? :shrug:

 

[ryguy]

I would look at Mousesavers and use one of the discount codes mentioned. Dollar always seems to be the cheapest. Since your going from tampa to WDW most companies will charge a one way $25.00 fee, which sucks. Hotwire is good if you don't care what car company you use. Mousesavers tells you which car rental companies have locations on WDW property. Hope that helps.:wave:

 

[cemeb4dk]

Alamo has a location in the swan and Dolphin also. We needed a car for 3 days for our 12 day trip. I have family up north of Orlando so we went to visit them for a few days before heading to Disney. We took the magical express back to the airport. We did not have to rent a car seat as we brought ours from home for on the plane or you can check it in baggage. This way I trusted the seat and knew it was in working order and I knew it in and out. When I dropped the car off I just gave it to the valet at the Sawn and Dolphin and they gave me a slip. Then we walked to the bus depot and took a bus to the park.

Also a nice thing about Alamo is they have online check in, so once we got our bags walked to the section of cars that are class was got in and drove to the gaurd at the gate, checked our paperwaork and away we went. This is the only way I will do it from now on, it was great not waiting in a line to check in.

 

[daliseurat]

We did something similar to what your are doing. It was cheaper to keep the car than to return it. So we kept it, and were glad we had it. Normally I would NEVER spend extra money on a car, but since we needed it for something else and it was cheaper to keep it...

Anyway, if you are renting Booster seats and not the full on BABY SEATS, I would recommend NOT renting them from the car companies and just bringing your own. Booster seat only cost 20-25 bucks, and after three or four days you've paid for them with your rental. That bugs me. So we carried our own on the plane and used it with our rental car. We also caried our own car seat on the plane. We just strapped it into the seat and our child was a happy camper on the plane. Granted if you have two full seats. it's a bit much to carry. But the boosters (just the bottoms) are small enough to toss in a duffel bag. Just a thought. But it can save a hundred buck or more depending on how much they soak you for the car seats.

 

[manatee74]

We booked ours through the entertainment book website. Click on travel, then Renal cars and try the different coupons.In addition to the 20 dollars off they also give you a 20% off rates. Check the sites everyday if you have the time. The prices change frequently.If you see a good price book it. It won't last. Alamo will also accept debit cards as long as you have proof of round trip airfare.

 

[bcuinohio]

If you total trip is over five days, you may want to look at a weekly rental. Many companies have coupons in the Entertainment Book also. I like having a car while on premises. The busses can be slow at times. It is also handy if you want to eat a location outside of the park. Sometimes Hotwire has some good deals but they always seem to be sold out when I try. I like to go to Orbitz to see what company has the best price. After I find the best deal, I go directly to that company's website. I find a coupon in my Entertainment book and reserve a car. Most rental companies don't require a deposit so you can cancel the reservation if you find a better deal. I booked a full size SUV form Alamo in the Orlando for a week next November. The total cost inclding tax was less than $200. A very important thing to keep in mind is to make sure you book a vehicle that will fit all of your luggage.

 

[mac41099]

If you total trip is over five days, you may want to look at a weekly rental. Many companies have coupons in the Entertainment Book also. I like having a car while on premises. The busses can be slow at times. It is also handy if you want to eat a location outside of the park. Sometimes Hotwire has some good deals but they always seem to be sold out when I try. I like to go to Orbitz to see what company has the best price. After I find the best deal, I go directly to that company's website. I find a coupon in my Entertainment book and reserve a car. Most rental companies don't require a deposit so you can cancel the reservation if you find a better deal. I booked a full size SUV form Alamo in the Orlando for a week next November. The total cost inclding tax was less than $200. A very important thing to keep in mind is to make sure you book a vehicle that will fit all of your luggage.

Wow, that is a great deal. Can you tell me how you went about booking that? The best I'm coming up with is $311 with taxes for a full-size SUV with Alamo.

 

[jakeman]

....Click on travel, then Renal cars...

The company that makes you go!

Sorry, that misspelling made me laugh...

Back to your originall scheduled thread.