We are spending Aug 14-Aug 21 in Fla. We are flying into Orlando, using Disney transportation to go to Art of Animation. We will check out of A of A on the 18th. We want a car for the remainder of our trip, and would like suggestions to how to go about getting a car and then returning to the Orlando Airport on the 21st!
There are a few opions. However National will pick you up and take you to a rental place. However you may find it easier and cheaper to rent a car for the WHOLE trip from MCO. There is usually a hefty fee for picking up one place and dropping off someplace else. As AoA doesn’t charge for parking - I would just get something when you land.
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Check on prices for Alamo at the Car Care Center in Disney World. That’s most convenient, since (as noted above) they’ll pick you up at your Disney resort. I’ve rented from them and returned to Orlando Airport before. If you find a reasonable rate, then that will be easiest.
If the cost is an issue, then you may find a better rate renting from the airport, in which case, since you’re checking out you could probably use DME to go the airport and head right to the rental car counter when you get off the bus. It would take more time, but offer more flexibility.
Other options would be to rent from whichever company is at Dolphin/Swan or the non-Disney resorts near Disney Springs. In those cases, you’d probably want to leave your bags at Art of Animation while you go to pick up your rental car, then return to pick them up after you get the car.
I initially reserved a rental for my upcoming trip. I rented from alamo at the car care center, then was going to end up paying an extra $50 to return it to the airport. I ended up changing my plans so I’m ending my trip at disney now and don’t need to do that, but that’s about what you’re looking at. An extra $50 for a return to airport. (this was for first week of August, so should be about that).
I recommend pricing out different options. I could have saved $20 for the week by renting from someone other than Alamo, but that wasn’t worth it for me to deal with the inconvenience of not using disney transport to the car care center.
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@lawmandy - I’m all for saving a dollar - but - especially on vacation - convenience is what I strive for. We did a cruise one time and I forget the whole issue - but I had to drop it off at the Double Tree hotel at Downtown Disney. Getting back to the Hotel (Coronado Springs) was a royal pain. It was a nice nite - but it took me about an hour all told.
We used the Car Care Center on Disney property last year and plan to do the same this year. We’ll rent the car on the last day of our trip to go to the beach for a couple days, then drop it off at MCO. I know we can save a little bit of money if we picked up the car at MCO, but I’d rather have the extra time at the resort.
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