Experience Renting a Car while at Old Key West

[zeebs758]

I have a trip to WDW this upcoming November and I am debating whether or not to rent a car for the first time ever. I have zero experience in this category and I'm looking for some guidance.

Last year, I stayed at Old Key West and I found the bus experience to be less than ideal. I had told myself that if we were to go to OKW again that I would rent a car.

Here are some of the advantages I see when renting a car:

1. Parking spot directly in front of our room at Old Key West
2. No park or resort parking fees (I'm using DVC points)
3. Easier to get to and from parks. OKW is a big resort and has 4 bus stops.
4. It will save us a lot of time instead of having to wait in line for transportation

So my question is, what is your experience with renting a car while your stayed at Old Key West? I'd liked to hear some feedback on this.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

I have a trip to WDW this upcoming November and I am debating whether or not to rent a car for the first time ever. I have zero experience in this category and I'm looking for some guidance.

Last year, I stayed at Old Key West and I found the bus experience to be less than ideal. I had told myself that if we were to go to OKW again that I would rent a car.

Here are some of the advantages I see when renting a car:

1. Parking spot directly in front of our room at Old Key West
2. No park or resort parking fees (I'm using DVC points)
3. Easier to get to and from parks. OKW is a big resort and has 4 bus stops.
4. It will save us a lot of time instead of having to wait in line for transportation

So my question is, what is your experience with renting a car while your stayed at Old Key West? I'd liked to hear some feedback on this.

So I stayed just one night there but also stayed at other DVC properties with a rental car. I love renting a car. Especially with DVC. Here is my recommendation. Have whomever you are travelling with, as long as they are an adult, take magic Express to the hotel, this will ensure you did the right thing with the bags and if traveling with kids, will make the car rental process easier. Most rental companies now have an option to skip the desk and either go to a preassigned car or let you pick one right at the airport. On your way down maybe pick up some snacks and water for the hotel, if it got keep that in mind your room may not be ready so no way to keep things cold.

 

[zeebs758]

So I stayed just one night there but also stayed at other DVC properties with a rental car. I love renting a car. Especially with DVC. Here is my recommendation. Have whomever you are travelling with, as long as they are an adult, take magic Express to the hotel, this will ensure you did the right thing with the bags and if traveling with kids, will make the car rental process easier. Most rental companies now have an option to skip the desk and either go to a preassigned car or let you pick one right at the airport. On your way down maybe pick up some snacks and water for the hotel, if it got keep that in mind your room may not be ready so no way to keep things cold.

Here is some context of our trip:
6 Adults (3 couples). We are staying at a non-Disney resort for the first two night then heading to OKW. So no Magical Express at all this year. We would be using Uber/Lyft to get to the resort if we don't rent a car. That is what also makes renting a car a little more tempting.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

Here is some context of our trip:
6 Adults (3 couples). We are staying at a non-Disney resort for the first two night then heading to OKW. So no Magical Express at all this year. We would be using Uber/Lyft to get to the resort if we don't rent a car. That is what also makes renting a car a little more tempting.

No brainer then imo.
Rent a mini van at the airport. You can save with AAA or a BJs membership. Book it and check it every so often to see if the price changes, I have seen it fluctuate as much as a 200 dollars for a week long trip. Remember to check your bags to for the return if you are traveling on an airline that has resort check in.

 

[CLEtoWDW]

Honestly you pretty much have to rent a car at OKW. The bus transportation is unreliable at best and I’d highly recommend driving your car to all parks (with the exception of MK).

 

[stratman50th]

We've stayed at OKW 3 times in our many trips. I always request Old Turtle Pond Rd. area. It's almost at the bus stop and there is a pool 50 yards from the building. We had always driven to Disney from Maryland so we had a car. Except for two occasions, Dinner at Cape May Cafe, too many transfers to get there, and taking our girls to surf lessons at Typhoon Lagoon- way to early for the buses, we used the bus transportation and didn't have a problem. (2011 trip) That being said, Rent a car if it's in the budget. Aside from getting to meal reservations, you can hit the grocery store to stock up the kitchen.

 

[correcaminos]

We have done it many times. Though we like to stay in a HH room so if we want to rake the bus or boat it's easy. I do not like to drive to MK so we always bus there. Having a car is great. Easy to park near your room as well.

 

[Dad 2 M & M]

Start with Google "Cheap rental cars MCO" and you'll have many sites show up..... we use Expedia. When you find the best deal, do direct to that Rental company's website and book direct. We use this method and the rates are cheaper when booking direct....

We find Dollar, EZ, and Thirfty are usually the best rates, and all three are in Terminal (no shuttle to off-site). The best off-site seems to be Fox.....

 

[HansGruber]

Look at rental prices away from the airport (anywhere in Orlando). The prices at the airport are absurd.

 

[Dad 2 M & M]

Look at rental prices away from the airport (anywhere in Orlando). The prices at the airport are absurd.

?

The airport is the cheapest by far....

 

[HansGruber]

?

The airport is the cheapest by far....

Ok. Doesn’t make a lick of sense, but if you say so.

 

[Skibum1970]

We took the Magical Express both ways from OKW and MCO. Once at Old Key West, I rented an Enterprise vehicle from the "B Resort" hotel on Hotel Drive (about three miles away). I have since found that Swan/Dolphin also has an Enterprise but "B Resort" was quite close. It worked out great for the following: Any non-Magic Kingdom parks, freedom to drive to grocery stores for supplies or off-site food, ability to drive to resorts for walking around which is part of our normal array. Only negative was for Magic Kingdom, our favorite park. It has zero advantage as you still have to take the ferry or monorail to the park.

 

[Dad 2 M & M]

Ok. Doesn’t make a lick of sense, but if you say so.

I'd agree it is counter-intuitive and doesn't make sense. It MUST be due to the Orlando airport rentals being FORCED to be competitive, and the Lake Buena Vista area KNOWING they have a more captured customer. I just checked prices for a slow period, as well as a busy period, and found we were both correct........

Here is the comparison for cheapest rental:

Tues Sept 17-Fri Sept 20 (Slow period) MCO Off-site $28 Total (Zergo) MCO in Terminal $90 (Advantage) Lake Buena Vista $99 Total (Hertz)

Tues Dec 17-Fri Dec 20 (Busy period) MCO Off-site $99 Total (Routes) MCO in Terminal $171 (Advantage) Lake Buena Vista $112 Total (Hertz)

So it appears if one is looking for a rental during the busy period, it IS much cheaper to rent a car in Lake Buena Vista rather than at the airport. The off-site rentals at MCO can be REALLY bad, with the sporadic shuttles to the sketchy locales. Of the off-site places, the only one I'd even consider is Fox, and would use them if we were pressed for time. The in Terminal places seem to be fine....

 

[Dad 2 M & M]

We took the Magical Express both ways from OKW and MCO. Once at Old Key West, I rented an Enterprise vehicle from the "B Resort" hotel on Hotel Drive (about three miles away). I have since found that Swan/Dolphin also has an Enterprise but "B Resort" was quite close. It worked out great for the following: Any non-Magic Kingdom parks, freedom to drive to grocery stores for supplies or off-site food, ability to drive to resorts for walking around which is part of our normal array. Only negative was for Magic Kingdom, our favorite park. It has zero advantage as you still have to take the ferry or monorail to the park.

The TTA is a bummer as it does kill the advantage of the rental car (or driving your own)

 

[HansGruber]

I'd agree it is counter-intuitive and doesn't make sense. It MUST be due to the Orlando airport rentals being FORCED to be competitive, and the Lake Buena Vista area KNOWING they have a more captured customer. I just checked prices for a slow period, as well as a busy period, and found we were both correct........

Here is the comparison for cheapest rental:

Tues Sept 17-Fri Sept 20 (Slow period) MCO Off-site $28 Total (Zergo) MCO in Terminal $90 (Advantage) Lake Buena Vista $99 Total (Hertz)

Tues Dec 17-Fri Dec 20 (Busy period) MCO Off-site $99 Total (Routes) MCO in Terminal $171 (Advantage) Lake Buena Vista $112 Total (Hertz)

So it appears if one is looking for a rental during the busy period, it IS much cheaper to rent a car in Lake Buena Vista rather than at the airport. The off-site rentals at MCO can be REALLY bad, with the sporadic shuttles to the sketchy locales. Of the off-site places, the only one I'd even consider is Fox, and would use them if we were pressed for time. The in Terminal places seem to be fine....

I’m not really following any of this....but my original point is that it’s more expensive at the airport because flyers either don’t have a choice (the airlines bring the customer right to the rental companies) or would rather pay the inflated price out of convenience (by renting onsite at the airport). I did an Expedia search a couple months ago and the cheapest rentals were NOT at the airport.

 

[Dad 2 M & M]

I’m not really following any of this....but my original point is that it’s more expensive at the airport because flyers either don’t have a choice (the airlines bring the customer right to the rental companies) or would rather pay the inflated price out of convenience (by renting onsite at the airport). I did an Expedia search a couple months ago and the cheapest rentals were NOT at the airport.

The airlines bringing the customer right to the rental companies greatly increases the supply of cars available at the airport, thus putting downward pressure on the price. Orlando area, away from MCO has far fewer rental agencies and thus the price tends to go up.

Expedia currently is showing lower rates at MCO Airport, than Orlando and vicinity. That is searching for a rental in September....

 

[HansGruber]

Expedia currently is showing lower rates at MCO Airport, than Orlando and vicinity. That is searching for a rental in September....

Probably because the busy season has ended. Now that the onsite rental companies have a surplus of cars, they want to rent as many of them as possible.

 

[correcaminos]

I'd agree it is counter-intuitive and doesn't make sense. It MUST be due to the Orlando airport rentals being FORCED to be competitive, and the Lake Buena Vista area KNOWING they have a more captured customer. I just checked prices for a slow period, as well as a busy period, and found we were both correct........

Here is the comparison for cheapest rental:

Tues Sept 17-Fri Sept 20 (Slow period) MCO Off-site $28 Total (Zergo) MCO in Terminal $90 (Advantage) Lake Buena Vista $99 Total (Hertz)

Tues Dec 17-Fri Dec 20 (Busy period) MCO Off-site $99 Total (Routes) MCO in Terminal $171 (Advantage) Lake Buena Vista $112 Total (Hertz)

So it appears if one is looking for a rental during the busy period, it IS much cheaper to rent a car in Lake Buena Vista rather than at the airport. The off-site rentals at MCO can be REALLY bad, with the sporadic shuttles to the sketchy locales. Of the off-site places, the only one I'd even consider is Fox, and would use them if we were pressed for time. The in Terminal places seem to be fine....

Just curious have you looked into Autoslash or Costco? I find those deals to be better than other online places.

I cannot say about correlations of time of year and where is cheapest, but I wanted to throw out another option for you.

 

[Dave B]

Look at rental prices away from the airport (anywhere in Orlando). The prices at the airport are absurd.

Actually you are way off base here, I have done a lot of research and it is a lot cheaper at the airport