Navigating around MCO and car rental questions....

[ClaraOswald]

We haven't been to MCO in over a decade and we've never rented a car there.

We are going to WDW next month. Right now, we are booked with Mears. But I'm still contemplating a car rental instead.

One of our biggest concerns when traveling is our son. He is autistic and has a lot of struggles with various things. So we try to pick the easiest options for him. Last time we went to Disneyland, instead of renting a car, we used a car service. Getting him into a unfamiliar car driven by someone else was tough! So that's why we booked Mears...he normally is fine on a bus. But we're concerned that we'll likely end up in a van for the drive back to the airport.

So I decided to start looking at car rentals to see what the prices would be. And...they are kind of all over the place!

I'm thinking in-terminal would obviously be the easiest. But can someone tell me if getting to the car rental counter/pick up is a lot more complicated than getting to the Mears bus? I literally have only rented a car at 1 airport before - John Wayne/Santa Ana - and it's such a tiny/easy place compared to MCO! I'm wondering if trying to get to a rental car at MCO is massively more annoying than just going down to the Mears bus area.

Are there vastly different in-terminal areas based on which car rental company you use or are they all in the same basic place?

Any help would be great. I just don't know what we want to do at this point! Our trip is just over a month away.

Oh...and we're flying Southwest if that makes a difference at all.

 

[CarolynFH]

We haven't been to MCO in over a decade and we've never rented a car there.

We are going to WDW next month. Right now, we are booked with Mears. But I'm still contemplating a car rental instead.

One of our biggest concerns when traveling is our son. He is autistic and has a lot of struggles with various things. So we try to pick the easiest options for him. Last time we went to Disneyland, instead of renting a car, we used a car service. Getting him into a unfamiliar car driven by someone else was tough! So that's why we booked Mears...he normally is fine on a bus. But we're concerned that we'll likely end up in a van for the drive back to the airport.

So I decided to start looking at car rentals to see what the prices would be. And...they are kind of all over the place!

I'm thinking in-terminal would obviously be the easiest. But can someone tell me if getting to the car rental counter/pick up is a lot more complicated than getting to the Mears bus? I literally have only rented a car at 1 airport before - John Wayne/Santa Ana - and it's such a tiny/easy place compared to MCO! I'm wondering if trying to get to a rental car at MCO is massively more annoying than just going down to the Mears bus area.

Are there vastly different in-terminal areas based on which car rental company you use or are they all in the same basic place?

They’re all in the same place, as long as they’re on airport grounds. From baggage claim you’ll go down one more to ground level. Then you’ll most likely need to go to the rental agency’s counter in the terminal to check in, and finally across the roadway to the garage to whatever level your rental company’s cars are on.

The car rental agencies’ counters are in all terminals - the A Side and B side of the original terminal, and the new C terminal. Your airline will determine which one you use.

The Mears busses are on the B side of the main terminal but also pick up on the C terminal. They’re at ground level, same as the car rental checkin counters, but only on B side of the original terminal.

Any help would be great. I just don't know what we want to do at this point! Our trip is just over a month away.

Oh...and we're flying Southwest if that makes a difference at all.

Southwest comes into the A side of the original terminal. So you would pick up a rental car on that same side. If you have checked luggage, you’ll arrive at A side, go down one level to baggage claim, get luggage, then down 1 level to rental cars.

If you book Mears Connect, you’ll come in on A side, go down one level to bag claim, back up one level, across the terminal to B side, down two levels to Mears Connect.

Have you seen the MCO website? They have an app too. Might help clarify all this A side and B side stuff. https://orlandoairports.net/

Edited to correct errors in which side Mears Connect is on! Mears operates taxis and private cars that pick up on A,B and C!

 

[EACarlson]

Getting to the car rentals of the 10 companies that have cars on site at MCO when flying SW is easier than getting to the Mears pick up area.
I'd recommend using one of the companies that has a skip the counter option, even if you aren't eligible, the lines are generally much less. Those companies are Avis, Enterprise, National, Alamo, Hertz and Sixt. There are some reports that Budget has restarted their skip the counter service but I did not find that to be true when I was at MCO in October.

 

[Capt_BJ]

I recently stood on line for over an hour trying to pickup a rental from DOLLAR at MCO ..... just sayin'

 

[ClaraOswald]

Oof. that sounds horrible. My son would lose his mind probably. (Which reminds me...I'm just a couple weeks away from requesting DAS!)

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

I recently stood on line for over an hour trying to pickup a rental from DOLLAR at MCO ..... just sayin'

This is hit or miss. I've walked straight to the counter and also had long lines. Haven't been able to figure out a reason for it as we usually fly in around the same time each trip.

 

[tobikaye]

I used National in June and plan to use them in January. I have a corporate account so the price is very good. I did not have to stop at the counter, just walked out to the row, picked a car and drove to the exit booth where I officially checked out the car. There are a few companies that do this. It was great because I picked the vehicle that fit my mom’s EVC plus our luggage best.

For next month, I am currently doing one way with a drop the next morning at the car care center location for $60. If I decide to do a one way back, it would be about $40. If I book the entire trip, it is about $315. I plan to drink a bit more this trip so Will not need a car after the first day really. I just have an offsite run I need to do that first day to make it more needed than taxi/lyft…

 

[Herding_Cats]

If your son has difficulty waiting in lines, DEFINITELY use one of the on-site companies that we KNOW have skip-the-counter when you put in your DL information in ahead of time. Will you probably pay more for the car? Yes. (At least that's been my experience.) Thrifty/Dollar/Budget are notorious for long lines (we waited 90min for Budget 2 years ago.)

If you book on points through a rewards CC (such as Chase), make sure you do charge a couple of dollars to the card instead of paying for it ALL with points, so you don't have to stop to put a card on file.

 

[EACarlson]

If your son has difficulty waiting in lines, DEFINITELY use one of the on-site companies that we KNOW have skip-the-counter when you put in your DL information in ahead of time. Will you probably pay more for the car? Yes. (At least that's been my experience.) Thrifty/Dollar/Budget are notorious for long lines (we waited 90min for Budget 2 years ago.)

If you book on points through a rewards CC (such as Chase), make sure you do charge a couple of dollars to the card instead of paying for it ALL with points, so you don't have to stop to put a card on file.

Agree with the first part paragraph, but the second, if you book through a CC portal, you won't be able to use the skip the counter. There is no place to enter your loyalty number with any of the portals I'm aware of.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Agree with the first part paragraph, but the second, if you book through a CC portal, you won't be able to use the skip the counter. There is no place to enter your loyalty number with any of the portals I'm aware of.

you absolutely can with Chase. It's on the 2nd page after you've selected your rental. Page 1 is where you decide to pay with points or cash (or both) and page 2 is where you put in the driver information and your loyalty ID if you have one. One time I paid with all points, and had to stop at the office in the garage to put a card on file (even though I had done everything through the app) but with all subsequent rentals, I just pay with points, minus about a dollar that I charge to the card and have had no issues.

Of course, when some of the companies took away the skip the counter option (Dollar/Thrifty and Budget, although they may have reinstated theirs per some reports) it didn't matter if we put in our loyalty number or not.

It's the only way we've booked our cars for all our trips (except one time we booked through UT and ended up in a 90min Budget line, but it saved us $400, so it was "worth it")

 

[Lewisc]

Agree with the first part paragraph, but the second, if you book through a CC portal, you won't be able to use the skip the counter. There is no place to enter your loyalty number with any of the portals I'm aware of.

Using a credit card portal to use reward points generally results in a reservation prepaid by a third party. You probably can't use counter skip programs.

PP said using your points to only pay for part of your reservation, offering a credit card for the balance, allows you to use counter skip options

 

[bumbershoot]

Oof. that sounds horrible. My son would lose his mind probably. (Which reminds me...I'm just a couple weeks away from requesting DAS!)

IF there are at least 2 adults, consider booking the car in the name of the adult he can be away from more easily, and divide and conquer. The adult driving the car goes and stands in line if needed. The other adult spends time with your kidlet, maybe shops or browses if your son is good with that, or look at the fountain or marvel at the hotel inside the airport...

For luggage, get a porter if that makes it easier.

There is no place to enter your loyalty number with any of the portals I'm aware of.

At least with Costco, you can put the reservation number into the rental agency's loyalty program site. I think I've only tried this with alamo, but it links the reservations.

 

[ain0004]

Alamo has online check and you can walk to the garage and bypass the line. You also can pick out your car. They tend to be my go to anymore...

 

[Bullseye]

Just bear in mind that any rental company that has skip the line still requires you to go to the counter on your first rental with them so they can photocopy your drivers license. You could be proactive and see if you could take care of that locally at a branch near you and have them complete your skip the line while your there.

 

[MICKIMINI]

If you can afford it, the best option IMO would be to get a private car from Mears. Even though we had a rental car and our son offered to drive us to/from the Paul McCartney concert from BWV last year, we got a private driver. It was very expensive, but our driver waited for us through the entire concert and even went in to help us back to the car. I can't say enough about how wonderful he was and not having to worry about being out on the street at midnight was priceless. He got a $200 tip.

We do get a rental car and the older we get the crazier drivers seem to be and it can be stressful getting to/from WDW and expensive. At least give Mears a call and see what they charge. Having a driver was priceless as they say! Happy travels!

 

[EACarlson]

Just bear in mind that any rental company that has skip the line still requires you to go to the counter on your first rental with them so they can photocopy your drivers license. You could be proactive and see if you could take care of that locally at a branch near you and have them complete your skip the line while your there.

That's not entirely true and there seems to be no rhyme or reason as to which ones. Some people have signed up for the programs and been able to use the skip the counter on their first rental. Whether that is from previous rentals, rentals with an affiliated brand or something else, it does happen. Rarely do I hear about doc verification working at local branches. It does happen occasionally but most of the time people are told no, there is no incentive for the local branch to perform the extra work.

 

[Bullseye]

That's not entirely true and there seems to be no rhyme or reason as to which ones. Some people have signed up for the programs and been able to use the skip the counter on their first rental. Whether that is from previous rentals, rentals with an affiliated brand or something else, it does happen. Rarely do I hear about doc verification working at local branches. It does happen occasionally but most of the time people are told no, there is no incentive for the local branch to perform the extra work.

That's great if they can. I generally use National, Alamo, and Budget and I know with all three of those I had to check in the first time. But after the initial rental for years now that straight to the car service is great. Regarding the local branch I've never heard of that either...just trying to brainstorm for the op. It would only take a phone call to find out.

 

[tobikaye]

That's great if they can. I generally use National, Alamo, and Budget and I know with all three of those I had to check in the first time. But after the initial rental for years now that straight to the car service is great. Regarding the local branch I've never heard of that either...just trying to brainstorm for the op. It would only take a phone call to find out.

I do not remember ever renting from National before June. At MCO, when I stopped at the booth to exit the garage was when I needed to provide my license and go through what I normally would have had to do at a counter before. It took all of 5 minutes to do all that and be off.

 

[Bullseye]

I do not remember ever renting from National before June. At MCO, when I stopped at the booth to exit the garage was when I needed to provide my license and go through what I normally would have had to do at a counter before. It took all of 5 minutes to do all that and be off.

Yes I had the same experience at National. All I was getting at is you can't just go straight to your car on very first rental. I was able to go to the booth in the garage not the counter. If you jumped into a car and drove straight to the exit booth they probably accommodated you because there were vehicles behind you.

 

[tobikaye]

Yes I had the same experience at National. All I was getting at is you can't just go straight to your car on very first rental. I was able to go to the booth in the garage not the counter. If you jumped into a car and drove straight to the exit booth they probably accommodated you because there were vehicles behind you.

No, no other vehicles and I never had anything in my booking or emails indicating to stop before heading to pick my car. I triple checked all documents I had received to make sure. Attendant at booth never alluded to me having missed a step.