One way car rental

[valskate86]

hi!
A couple of us are staying at Pop for a few nights before everyone else joint us for a cruise on Fantasy leaving on Saturday (4 total). The two of us that are already in Florida will take Magical express to Pop when we arrive and will be in charge of getting the rental and picking the others up at MCO. We have rented one way before when we all arrived at MCO on the same flight.
My original thought was to take magical express back to MCO and rent one way to port canaveral from there.
Is it better/easier/etc to rent from the car care center on property? The price seems to be about the same. Does national offer a shuttle to get us from Pop to the car care center like enterprise does?

Does anyone have any insight or other thoughts?
Thanks in advance!

 

[OKW Lover]

My original thought was to take magical express back to MCO and rent one way to port canaveral from there.
Is it better/easier/etc to rent from the car care center on property?

Rental prices vary considerably. About the only thing you can do (which apparently you've already done) is to price them out for your exact dates/times and see which is better. FWIW, I'd do the on-property agency route so you don't have to transfer luggage from bus to car at the airport.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Yes, National/Alamo have an on-site shuttle. Call at least an hour before you want to be picked up - but longer is even better.

 

[bumbershoot]

Yes, National/Alamo have an on-site shuttle. Call at least an hour before you want to be picked up - but longer is even better.

Last two times longer was definitely necessary, not just better.

I still love the service but next time I’m making more solid plans and scheduling it hours before.

 

[writerguyfl]

FYI: There are also rental car desks at some of the Disney Springs Hotels. You can take Disney Transportation to Disney Springs and walk to the hotel. The closest locations are Avis at the Hilton Lake Buena Vista and Alamo/National at the Hilton Buena Vista Palace. Both of those hotels are across the street from the Marketplace Section of Disney Springs. Hertz is a little further at the Holiday Inn Disney Springs.

Even if you stick with Alamo/National, it might make sense to pick up the car at that Disney Springs location because you don't have to deal with calling the shuttle.

Alamo/National is also located at the Walt Disney World Dolphin. In my experience renting/checking prices for multiple one-way trips to/from Disney World each year, the price is always the same for all three on-property Alamo/National locations. (They are run by the same people.) If you happen to be in Epcot or even Disney's Hollywood Studios on the day you'll need the car, it might make sense to choose the Walt Disney World Dolphin location.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Hertz is a little further at the Holiday Inn Disney Springs.

"A little further north" = the next resort on the outbound side of HPB. Absolutely walkable.

 

[a1tinkfans]

I use one way rentals rather frequently, though not specifically at Disney. Use Costco site which has saved us time, money and aggravation repeatedly. Ive used Enterprise and there “we ll pick u up” option for both getting to the rental location and to get back “home” after using it. Gotten Alamo, Avis and Budget.. all great prices.
Happy and safe travels to you.

 

[valskate86]

This all super helpful information!! Thank you! I’m hoping to stick with enterprise or national as I get a corporate rate through work. I hadn’t thought about the Disney springs locations. My original plan was MCO because we have to pick others up there; but sounds like one of the on property sites might work just as well.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

This all super helpful information!! Thank you! I’m hoping to stick with enterprise or national as I get a corporate rate through work. I hadn’t thought about the Disney springs locations. My original plan was MCO because we have to pick others up there; but sounds like one of the on property sites might work just as well.

Although I have picked up many rental cars at the Dolphin and a couple at other WDW sites (using either National or Alamo), one advatage of taking DME back to MCO and picking up the rental car there is the ability to use Emerald Choice (to select a car class) or Emerald Aisle (for a midsize rental). When you pick-up at the on-site locations, you are assigned a car. Heading to the port with associated luggage may make you wish for a different car than the one you were assigned.

A number of years ago, I had an experience with National where I was given a large GMC SUV despite having reserved a midsize sedan with my Emerald Club membership. The claim was that nothing else was available at that time. I really prefer driving sedans and found the driving experience in that vehicle a real pain, not to mention the gas bill (we were heading to a beach week with time on both coasts, so a lot of miles).