Eeyore said:
There is a car rental office off the lobby of the Dolphin Resort (Alamo I think). It would be very easy to get to.
[snip]
I'm not sure if you can just walk up and get a car, a reservation may be required. :wave:
The Dolphin has the combined Alamo/National desk, just like the Car Care Center. You can walk up to the desk and rent a car if they have one available, but for the best rate you should definitely have a reservation. (Especially if there's a specific sized car you want). The Dolphin rental desk will send out a van to pick you up, too. (They offered it to us, but I decided to go by way of the Studios to get one final ride in on Tower of Terror, and then walked over)
Two years ago, because the people in our group were arriving at the airport at three different times but departing virtually all at the same time, we decided to get two one-day rentals. I arrived first and rented the car, drove to WDW and checked into the hotel, bought my AP, etc. That afternoon I returned to the airport and picked up the first friend. Then very late that evening my second friend arrived, and we went and picked him up. The next morning we dropped the car off at the Dolphin, grabbed breakfast at Tubbi's, and then walked over to Epcot.
On the return trip, I did as mentioned above: busses from our resort to the Studios, rode Tower twice, then walked over to the Dolphin. We then returned the car at the airport.
This was before Magical Express, and thanks to my warehouse club discount rate the two one-day rentals plus gas was still less than the three round-trip fares on Mears that we would have needed. It was also more convenient for us.
One final Alamo/National rental tip that I've discovered:
Once you make your reservation, keep checking back on the site every few weeks. I've found that often prices will slowly go down up until about one month before your rental date. If you find that the price has gotten cheaper, you can book the new rate and then cancel the original reservation. (It's easy to do, as they don't require a credit card number) I've saved $30-$50 on rentals by doing this.
-Rob