Car rental locations for WDW...

We are traveling with a family who will be staying with us at BLT but will by flying into MCO about 5 days before us and staying someplace off property before the stay at BLT. They were hoping to rent a car at the airport but return it somewhere on Disney property. Can they do this and with what rental company? Is there a better option for them? Should they taxi to rental place on Disney property, then rent a car?
 
A few options. They could rent at MCO, and then return it there if they are going to be done with the car when you get there. They could then take DME back to BLT. They could drop off their bags at BLT, as well as family members, then one person could drive back to MCO, return the car and take the bus back. They could also look into renting at MCO, through Alamo/National, and returning it to the Car Care Center...a short distance from BLT. They can then take a shuttle back to BLT.
There are other rental companies in the area, mostly in Disney Springs, and some will drive you back to your hotel after returning your car. But, it can cost more if you rent at MCO, and return someplace else.
 
We are traveling with a family who will be staying with us at BLT but will by flying into MCO about 5 days before us and staying someplace off property before the stay at BLT. They were hoping to rent a car at the airport but return it somewhere on Disney property. Can they do this and with what rental company? Is there a better option for them? Should they taxi to rental place on Disney property, then rent a car?
Yes, it would be much more convenient to check in at BLT and then return the car somewhere on or near WDW property.

You might even want to keep the car for an extra day or two. It's a good way to get to various corners of WDW where using buses is awkward. And it's great way to get to an off-site restaurant for dinner.

Typically, 5-day rentals and 7-day rentals (with days measured as 24-hour periods from when you rental began) cost the same. In other words, the fist 5 days are usually billed at a daily rate. Then the weekly rate, which is the same as 5 times the daily rate, kicks in. This is common in the rental car business (but might not apply with your rental car company and/or rate code).

You would need to make a car rental reservation that indicates where you will return the car. With the non-public corporate rate code I normally use, the price is the same as renting and returning at MCO. You should also be able to get such a rate, but there may cases when there's a cost difference when returning somewhere other than MCO. If the amount is "no difference" or at least reasonable, it would be worth it, compared to having to drive back to MCO for DME (which would chew up valuable hours). Only one person would need to return the car, while everyone else does something more enjoyable or relaxing.

On the first page of this topic, you'll find information about various car companies and various places where they have facilities. Remember that "local" rental office hours are far more limited than airport rental hours. Usually, the car rental company will shuttle you back to your hotel or other location on WDW property at no charge, but call them before you finalize your reservation.
 
Last edited:


We are thinking about renting a car the day before we change from the Disney resort to an off-property resort. Expedia has some really good prices for cars with locations that are supposedly at the airport, but when I looked up the address its like 20 minutes away. My question is, what would be best for us to do? Could we rent a car from, for example, one of the car rental places around Disney resorts, or should we take DME to the airport and pick one up directly from there?

My issues are two things:

1) The car we rent will be the car we use to get to the airport the day we leave. I know some car rental places offer complimentary shuttles to the Terminal if their office is not at the airport, but I dont want to take a chance. The place I was looking to rent from is Enterprise and they are 20 minutes away from the airport. Would they provide us transportation to and from the airport if we rented from them?

2) If I rented from a company that is on the Disney resort area, would the same apply? Or would I have to end up getting a taxi/Lyft/Uber to the airport from there? I know some of those same companies are located at the airport, but I am not sure how it works. I am also worried about hiked up costs for renting from a tourist area, rather than venturing further out.


I am sure I will have more questions soon, but answers to these would be greatly appreciated!
 
We are thinking about renting a car the day before we change from the Disney resort to an off-property resort. Expedia has some really good prices for cars with locations that are supposedly at the airport, but when I looked up the address its like 20 minutes away. My question is, what would be best for us to do? Could we rent a car from, for example, one of the car rental places around Disney resorts, or should we take DME to the airport and pick one up directly from there?

My issues are two things:

1) The car we rent will be the car we use to get to the airport the day we leave. I know some car rental places offer complimentary shuttles to the Terminal if their office is not at the airport, but I dont want to take a chance. The place I was looking to rent from is Enterprise and they are 20 minutes away from the airport. Would they provide us transportation to and from the airport if we rented from them?

2) If I rented from a company that is on the Disney resort area, would the same apply? Or would I have to end up getting a taxi/Lyft/Uber to the airport from there? I know some of those same companies are located at the airport, but I am not sure how it works. I am also worried about hiked up costs for renting from a tourist area, rather than venturing further out.


I am sure I will have more questions soon, but answers to these would be greatly appreciated!
You can rent from any of the locations at Disney (the car care center,The Dolphin or the hotels in Disney Springs) and return the car to the airport, we've done it twice and it was easy-peasy. I know for a fact that the Enterprise has a drop-off spot at MCO because that is one of the companies we use.
this webpage has a list of all the Rental Car agencies that service MCO, you can see both on & off site companies.
Rental Car Agencies at MCO
When you are selecting the return location just make sure it says Orlando Airport (MCO) -- the address for those is 1 Jeff Fuqua Blvd

Most will charge more for returning to a different location but it is worth it to us for the convenience. Play around with reservation sites using slightly different times, locations to pick up at, companies to see if you can get a better deal. Search for codes -- there should be a thread here for your month and try them all. Book your reservation and then continue to look for a cheaper rate & if you see one book it and then cancel the first one. Have a blast!
 
You can rent from any of the locations at Disney (the car care center,The Dolphin or the hotels in Disney Springs) and return the car to the airport, we've done it twice and it was easy-peasy. I know for a fact that the Enterprise has a drop-off spot at MCO because that is one of the companies we use.
this webpage has a list of all the Rental Car agencies that service MCO, you can see both on & off site companies.
Rental Car Agencies at MCO
When you are selecting the return location just make sure it says Orlando Airport (MCO) -- the address for those is 1 Jeff Fuqua Blvd

Most will charge more for returning to a different location but it is worth it to us for the convenience. Play around with reservation sites using slightly different times, locations to pick up at, companies to see if you can get a better deal. Search for codes -- there should be a thread here for your month and try them all. Book your reservation and then continue to look for a cheaper rate & if you see one book it and then cancel the first one. Have a blast!
Thank you! I don't know why I didn't even think of that! Originally we weren't going to rent a car and just use Lyft, but I am realizing that it may be easier for us to just have a car, especially on the days when we won't be at the parks and may want to get around a little more.
 


looking at renting through SIXT car rental . the rates look good and it shows a shuttle to the car rental from the airport, plus a return on property. not sure about the company-anyone know or use them? right now i have a standard elite suv on reserve(free cancelation if i decide not to use them). we need the suv for size and the fact that we arrive 2 days before we check in to disney and also have a wedding to attend. andy help would be appreciated. tia
 
Where is the closest location to All Star Sports to rent a car from?
Alamo/National are are the Car Care Center and the Dolphin Resort. You can arrange for a ride to the CCC to pick up your car. You can walk or boat over to the Dolphin from DHS and Epcot.
 
looking at renting through SIXT car rental . the rates look good and it shows a shuttle to the car rental from the airport, plus a return on property. not sure about the company-anyone know or use them? right now i have a standard elite suv on reserve(free cancelation if i decide not to use them). we need the suv for size and the fact that we arrive 2 days before we check in to disney and also have a wedding to attend. andy help would be appreciated. tia
I've used Sixt to rent a car in Germany before (believe they are a German car rental agency that's more recently expanded to the US). Not that's super valuable, but my experience with them in another country was great, so I hope that they have good customer service in the US as well.
 
Alamo/National are are the Car Care Center and the Dolphin Resort. You can arrange for a ride to the CCC to pick up your car. You can walk or boat over to the Dolphin from DHS and Epcot.

Which of the two locations is easier to access from AKV-Kidani? I think either location requires a change of bus unless a ride can be arranged. If a ride can be arranged, should I assume it's complimentary? TIA.

LAX
 
Which of the two locations is easier to access from AKV-Kidani? I think either location requires a change of bus unless a ride can be arranged. If a ride can be arranged, should I assume it's complimentary? TIA.

LAX
The Dolphin is closer to AKL, but has more limited hours and I assume a smaller fleet of cars.
Alamo will pick up up and drop you off in the Disney area. I'm not yet sure what the number is, need to look it up as I have a vehicle reserved at the CCC for me the day after we arrive.

Should note that the Car Care Center is right outside the Magic Kingdom. While we can not walk to it, it should be a very short ride to/from there to any of the MK area resorts, or the park itself.
 
Last edited:
Hertz has opened an office at the Holiday Inn Disney Springs:

https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/location/unitedstates/florida/orlando/ORLW15
  • Address: 1805 Hotel Plaza Blvd
  • Hours: 8am to 5pm every day
  • Pickup/Return Service: Available with a one hour advance notice and within 15 minutes from the Hertz Local Edition location. Once your reservation is booked, the location will call or email you at the phone number or email address provided to confirm pick up service.
This location is about a 10 minute walk from the Marketplace section of Disney Springs. Add another 10 minutes walking time if starting/ending at the Disney Springs bus loop.
 
We rented from National and picking up at the Disney Car Care Center. National Rental Car will pick you up on Disney property and bring you to the car care center, you just need to contact the dispatch office to schedule a pickup time. It says to allow 1 hour advance notice for your scheduled pickup time.
 
We rented from National and picking up at the Disney Car Care Center. National Rental Car will pick you up on Disney property and bring you to the car care center, you just need to contact the dispatch office to schedule a pickup time. It says to allow 1 hour advance notice for your scheduled pickup time.

Well Alamo is usually cheaper then National. National is usually for people that want to use there status or points.
 
The Dolphin is closer to AKL, but has more limited hours and I assume a smaller fleet of cars.
Alamo will pick up up and drop you off in the Disney area. I'm not yet sure what the number is, need to look it up as I have a vehicle reserved at the CCC for me the day after we arrive.

Should note that the Car Care Center is right outside the Magic Kingdom. While we can not walk to it, it should be a very short ride to/from there to any of the MK area resorts, or the park itself.

Well if you don’t like the car you get at Dolphin you could go to the car care center to exchange the car since the cars come from the car care center anyways.
 
Hi,

I picking up an Alamo rental at the Dolphin and dropping it back to Four Points by Sheraton on International Drive. Their office closes at 4pm.
Does anyone know if they have after hours arrangements for rental returns?

Thanks
 
We will be renting a car to spend a couple of days at LEGOLAND before our WDW stay in June. Our first resort is SSR, and we'll be arriving late afternoon with dinner that night in DS. Our park the next morning is HS. Alamo has the best price that I've found so far. What seems like the most hassle-free way to return the car? I'm assuming A or B, but would like an input on which will eat up the least of my husband's time. Thanks!

A) Drop family off at SSR to settle in, drive to Car Care Center, return car, shuttle back to SSR, go to dinner
B) Check into SSR, drive to DS, return car (is there an Alamo return at DS, or should I go with a different company? I don't mind a small price difference), eat dinner
C) Park at SSR on arrival night, drive to HS in am, and at some point (pre/post park) return car at Swan/Dolphin
 
  • Like
Reactions: Koz

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top