Rental Car Returns

[SarahBella82]

Hello, all.

I'm sure I could locate this information somewhere on the Web, but I figure y'all will be just as helpful and probably faster.

I will be renting a car from MCO in October, and for the first five days of my trip, I'll be staying with my sister off-site. I would like to spend the last two nights of my trip on-site; my sister will stay with me and will bring her car to the hotel as well. That said, I won't need my rental car for the last two days of my trip. Is there an easy way to return the rental car without going all the way back to MCO?

I've never used a rental car before, so please excuse my naivete.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Monty]

Hello, all.

I'm sure I could locate this information somewhere on the Web, but I figure y'all will be just as helpful and probably faster.

I will be renting a car from MCO in October, and for the first five days of my trip, I'll be staying with my sister off-site. I would like to spend the last two nights of my trip on-site; my sister will stay with me and will bring her car to the hotel as well. That said, I won't need my rental car for the last two days of my trip. Is there an easy way to return the rental car without going all the way back to MCO?

I've never used a rental car before, so please excuse my naivete.

Thanks for your help!

Most rental car companies allow for drop-off at a different location [there's an additional fee]. I don't remember which company it is that has a rental office at WDW, but that would probably be your best bet.

 

[metscool]

If you get it from MCO you are going to return it there. You could have your sister go and meet you there or take a cab to the resort you are going to stay at.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Leave it parked up, unlocked and with the keys inside. Report it stolen.

This will save you the drive to and from MCO but you may get a free ride to the nearest jail if you get found out !!

 

[shoppingnut]

If you rent from National or Alamo, they are on site at WDW. I have picked up a car at MCO and dropped it off at the Dolphin hotel (you drop it with the valet there) or the Car Care Center, but they are only open until 4:30p, so any time after that it would have to be at the Dolphin hotel. National doesn't charge an extra fee for this and if you have emerald aisle your rates are generally cheaper. You can join the emerald aisle for free on www.mousesavers.com

 

[DisneyPhD]

Alamo (and National?) has a couple of places on WDW property, one at the Car Care Center near the MK parking lot, the other at either the Swan or Dolphin (I don't remember which) hotel. I've heard of people renting a car at MCO for a few days then dropping it off at one of these two, then picking up another car later when they're ready to head back to MCO.

 

[SarahBella82]

Thanks, everyone (except for CaptainHook, whose suggestion wasn't exactly what I had in mind-- though CLEVER).

I'll do a little more research and sort it all out. Thanks for the direction.

 

[Love Mickey 18B]

Budget also has a drop off, not exactly on site though. It is at one of the hotels on Hotel Blvd, the road across the street from Downtown Disney.

This would be my last option though. I did this once and the man at the counter would not bring me back to the hotel. He had to pick someone else up. He did bring me to Downtown Disney and I was able to catch a bus back to my resort. Budget had told me I would recieve free transport back to my hotel.

 

[Rob562]

Apparently it is Florida Law that rental car companies can't charge a fee for dropping a car off at a different office than the one that it was rented at, as long as both pick-up and drop-off are within the state of Florida. (Though it's probably more specifically that the rental must be considered a round-trip rental and not a one-way rental) My guess is that it was a law passed to encourage tourists to go and see the rest of the state without the penalties of one-way rental charges.

In any case, I'm one of those who has rented at the airport and returned at the Dolphin (and vice versa). Two years ago we did two 24-hour rentals with Alamo, as it was cheaper and more convenient for our group. Rented at MCO, made 2 1/2 round trips from and back to the airport to pick up various people that first day, then returned it the next morning at the Dolphin. Then the evening before we left, we stopped by and picked another car up, made the single trip to the airport and returned it there.

Look into both National and Alamo. Although they're the same company, they rarely have the same prices. Sometimes one will have cheaper compacts and intermediates, while the other has cheaper fullsize and minivans. And look into possible discount codes and coupons if you belong to a warehouse club like Costco or BJ's, or through a frequent flier club. (I've gotten some GREAT deals with my BJ's Wholesale Club membership code)

-Rob

 

[SarahBella82]

Follow-Up: We ended up dropping the car off at the Thrifty location nearest WDW: International Plaza on I-Drive. It was an incredibly easy transaction, and we were only 15 minutes from WDW, as opposed to 30-45 if we'd dropped off at MCO.

For the record: Thrifty was a fantastic company to work with. The transactions were seamless, and the car was, frankly, way better than the one I drive ordinarily.