tpg
Waiting on ROFR
Posts: 15
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Post by tpg on Oct 25, 2023 22:04:16 GMT -5
Anyone else do this??? My family flies into MCO where I rent a car for a day (Dollar Car Rental for this example) and drive to Saratoga Springs. I drop the family off, then go food shopping. When I am ready to return the car, rather than go back to the airport, I take it to a hotel on Hotel Plaza Blvd that has a Dollar rental kiosk in it and return it there. To date, I have never been stung by this. Every single time I have done this they are glad, dare I say over-joyed, to have an unexpected car returned to them so they can rent it out. Last time I did this, the clerk was thrilled because she was dealing with some angry dude who was upset that his rental car was not available. I explained my situation, the clerk closed out my rental, took my keys and handed them to the now happy dude, who then drove me back to the resort.
I do this for three reasons. First, getting groceries is easy and not rushed. Second, it saves a ton of time by not waiting for transportation MCO to SSR, as well as not having to drive back to MCO, then get a ride back to SSR. Lastly, it saves a few bucks since rental companies charge more if the pick-up and drop-off are not the same location. I looked ahead to my 2024 vacation, and for a one day rental, to drop the car off at a different site, the price more than doubled!
Has anyone else done this before? And as I get more cautious in my advanced years, I wonder if it would be more prudent to do this with the Disney Car Care Center.
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Post by helenabear on Oct 25, 2023 22:22:58 GMT -5
Nope, I keep the car the whole time. Very few trips have I not needed it at some point. I do agree the time saved is great. My friend did a drop off one trip and it was fine but honestly a bit more work than I'd like. She did the car care shuttle near MK. It took some time. Disney Springs hotels are a decent option as well but again extra time.
8 days has consistently been about $450 with national. No decent brand has beat National lately outside of a rare Alamo. I sill say in Florida one way rentals seem not to be hit too bad with fees. In fact I've had one way rentals cost less than round trip.
We are trying to decide on that or a car service like with Tiffany Towncar since that would save may e $170 ir so. Definitely almost a wash for spring break. Car services might be worth looking into as they allow grocery stops.
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Post by johnb on Oct 26, 2023 8:01:47 GMT -5
Nope, I keep the car the whole time. Very few trips have I not needed it at some point. I do agree the time saved is great. My friend did a drop off one trip and it was fine but honestly a bit more work than I'd like. She did the car care shuttle near MK. It took some time. Disney Springs hotels are a decent option as well but again extra time. 8 days has consistently been about $450 with national. No decent brand has beat National lately outside of a rare Alamo. I sill say in Florida one way rentals seem not to be hit too bad with fees. In fact I've had one way rentals cost less than round trip. We are trying to decide on that or a car service like with Tiffany Towncar since that would save may e $170 ir so. Definitely almost a wash for spring break. Car services might be worth looking into as they allow grocery stops. Over the last few years, I've switched from "use WDW transportation" to "team rental car." It's easier than waiting for a bus. It's saved us time and aggravation. We do our grocery shopping on the way from MCO to our resort. Often, we stop at the Speedway by the BW, because we just need water, iced tea and snacks. If we are doing a split WDW/Vero trip, we use a car service from MCO to WDW and a rental car from WDW to Vero. I Uber/Lyft to MCO to get the rental so we aren't paying the "drop off at another location" fee on our departure day. |
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Post by helenabear on Oct 26, 2023 8:55:54 GMT -5
Nope, I keep the car the whole time. Very few trips have I not needed it at some point. I do agree the time saved is great. My friend did a drop off one trip and it was fine but honestly a bit more work than I'd like. She did the car care shuttle near MK. It took some time. Disney Springs hotels are a decent option as well but again extra time. 8 days has consistently been about $450 with national. No decent brand has beat National lately outside of a rare Alamo. I sill say in Florida one way rentals seem not to be hit too bad with fees. In fact I've had one way rentals cost less than round trip. We are trying to decide on that or a car service like with Tiffany Towncar since that would save may e $170 ir so. Definitely almost a wash for spring break. Car services might be worth looking into as they allow grocery stops. Over the last few years, I've switched from "use WDW transportation" to "team rental car." It's easier than waiting for a bus. It's saved us time and aggravation. We do our grocery shopping on the way from MCO to our resort. Often, we stop at the Speedway by the BW, because we just need water, iced tea and snacks. If we are doing a split WDW/Vero trip, we use a car service from MCO to WDW and a rental car from WDW to Vero. I Uber/Lyft to MCO to get the rental so we aren't paying the "drop off at another location" fee on our departure day. Admittedly one horrible experience with DME when my kid was 5 months old, we swapped to either rental car or car service. Even my tight spender spouse, said never again to buses (huge horrible wait upon arrival and AC was broken - took over 3 hours to arrive). If I go shopping, I actually wait until I know our room is ready and head to a store not too far away depending on where we stay. I have used our car quite a lot to get to parks especially in the evening time. There have been some mornings that bus lines were long and we opted to drive too so it comes in handy to have one. But we're just as happy to uber around as well as needed. |
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Post by Adelard of Bath on Oct 26, 2023 9:30:40 GMT -5
When I am ready to return the car, rather than go back to the airport, I take it to a hotel on Hotel Plaza Blvd that has a Dollar rental kiosk in it and return it there. Never done this, but thought about it. But one question: When you rent the car, you indicate that you are going to bring it back to MCO, but then just kinda "change your mind" during the trip and bring it back to the hotel? I'm too much of a scaredy-cat to do this! Only because in my mind, I don't want to show up at the hotel counter and be told "nope, you have to bring it back to MCO" and then I go "oh, okay, alright" and then I'm somewhat in an unfortunate situation. I realize you said it hasn't gotten you yet. I just figure it would happen to me. |
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Post by brp on Oct 26, 2023 9:32:49 GMT -5
When I am ready to return the car, rather than go back to the airport, I take it to a hotel on Hotel Plaza Blvd that has a Dollar rental kiosk in it and return it there. Never done this, but thought about it. But one question: When you rent the car, you indicate that you are going to bring it back to MCO, but then just kinda "change your mind" during the trip and bring it back to the hotel? I'm too much of a scaredy-cat to do this! Only because in my mind, I don't want to show up at the hotel counter and be told "nope, you have to bring it back to MCO" and then I go "oh, okay, alright" and then I'm somewhat in an unfortunate situation. I realize you said it hasn't gotten you yet. I just figure it would happen to me. Of course, one could set this up as a one way at rental time. That takes the risk of things.
We just return to MCO as this is easier overall. And Avis has a way to pay like $15.99 for gas if driving under 75 miles, so we don't even have to fill.
Cheers.
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Post by Adelard of Bath on Oct 26, 2023 9:36:38 GMT -5
Of course, one could set this up as a one way at rental time. That takes the risk of things. Last time, we ended up just keeping the car the whole time; I said "by the time I'm paying this much, I might as well pay a little more and not have to worry about" We ended up using it a few times during the trip so now it's a new expense. I blame it completely on the loss of MDE but now I save on grocery delivery, so who can say. But, at the same time, I have to spend time shopping instead of paying for delivery, so you just can't win. But the shopping was kind of fun  |
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tpg
Waiting on ROFR
Posts: 15
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Post by tpg on Oct 26, 2023 18:51:21 GMT -5
Never done this, but thought about it. But one question: When you rent the car, you indicate that you are going to bring it back to MCO, but then just kinda "change your mind" during the trip and bring it back to the hotel? I'm too much of a scaredy-cat to do this! Only because in my mind, I don't want to show up at the hotel counter and be told "nope, you have to bring it back to MCO" and then I go "oh, okay, alright" and then I'm somewhat in an unfortunate situation. I realize you said it hasn't gotten you yet. I just figure it would happen to me. I set up the rental as a return to the airport and simply return it to the local hotel. But as you pointed out, it is an extremely nerve-racking experience until they actually take the car, at which point I practically soil myself in relief. That's why this year I am considering just doing it the legit way, pay extra for the different drop off and not have to worry about sneaking one by the car rental agency.
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Post by Adelard of Bath on Oct 26, 2023 20:23:29 GMT -5
That's why this year I am considering just doing it the legit way, pay extra for the different drop off and not have to worry So how much price difference do you usually see? You are talking a single day, right? Which leads me to another thought: What do you do on the last day? Uber maybe. |
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Post by Ludwig Von Chuck on Oct 26, 2023 20:28:53 GMT -5
Anyone else do this??? My family flies into MCO where I rent a car for a day (Dollar Car Rental for this example) and drive to Saratoga Springs. I drop the family off, then go food shopping. When I am ready to return the car, rather than go back to the airport, I take it to a hotel on Hotel Plaza Blvd that has a Dollar rental kiosk in it and return it there. This was my SOP when I used to fly to WDW from MN. The major car companies that I've used considered MCO and WDW within the same area, so they didn't charge a one-way rental fee. I've dropped cars off at the Car Care Center (a free shuttle can get to or from your Disney hotel), Shades of Green, and Hilton Buena Vista Plaza (convenient to buses at DS). I've never paid an additional fee. |
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tpg
Waiting on ROFR
Posts: 15
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Post by tpg on Oct 27, 2023 7:58:43 GMT -5
That's why this year I am considering just doing it the legit way, pay extra for the different drop off and not have to worry So how much price difference do you usually see? You are talking a single day, right? Which leads me to another thought: What do you do on the last day? Uber maybe. Using Expedia, one day rental and only going with major car rental companies (Alamo, Avis, Dollar...) Same pick up and return location: $47 Different pick up and return location (Hotel Blvd): $125 Our last trip was 2019 and at that time the Magic Express was available, so we would use that. This year I will probably utilize Mears to get to the airport. Uber or Lyft is an option, but don't laugh... I have never used a ride share and doing so would probably create more anxiety than my car rental hack! |
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Post by Adelard of Bath on Oct 27, 2023 11:16:06 GMT -5
Same pick up and return location: $47 Different pick up and return location (Hotel Blvd): $125 Our last trip was 2019 and at that time the Magic Express was available, so we would use that. This year I will probably utilize Mears to get to the airport. Uber or Lyft is an option, but don't laugh... I have never used a ride share and doing so would probably create more anxiety than my car rental hack! I had no idea it would be that much extra to return elsewhere. I figured it would be $20 or less. I'm not a fan of Uber and Lyft, used them but prefer not to. Just something to keep in mind - How long is your trip, how much would it cost to keep the car the whole time...then compare that to the cost of doing the weird return thing (and maybe / maybe not the associated stress and/or time) plus the cost of Mears to return to airport (and maybe / maybe not the associated stress and/or time) PLUS if you thought you might want to get a ride to some restaurant offsite one day. For our last trip (first time with a car since Magic Express went away) it was only a couple hundred bucks more to keep the car the whole time. I didn't have to call for any rides, I didn't have to wait on busses on either end of the trip, we used it a couple times during the trip to run to the store. So in my mind it was worth it, to make the vacation easier. |
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tpg
Waiting on ROFR
Posts: 15
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Post by tpg on Oct 27, 2023 14:37:40 GMT -5
I had no idea it would be that much extra to return elsewhere. I figured it would be $20 or less. I'm not a fan of Uber and Lyft, used them but prefer not to. Just something to keep in mind - How long is your trip, how much would it cost to keep the car the whole time...then compare that to the cost of doing the weird return thing (and maybe / maybe not the associated stress and/or time) plus the cost of Mears to return to airport (and maybe / maybe not the associated stress and/or time) PLUS if you thought you might want to get a ride to some restaurant offsite one day. For our last trip (first time with a car since Magic Express went away) it was only a couple hundred bucks more to keep the car the whole time. I didn't have to call for any rides, I didn't have to wait on busses on either end of the trip, we used it a couple times during the trip to run to the store. So in my mind it was worth it, to make the vacation easier. Thought of that as well. Keeping the car for eight nights would be $500. One way Mears to MCO for three adults is approximately $50. As these vacations get more and more expensive, I am always looking for ways to cut unnecessary spending and a rental car for a week, based on our vacation habits, definitely falls into this category. Still, after five years away, can't wait to be there!!!! |
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