Are there any other crazy people like us who rent a car for their stay?

[JandD Mom]

Hi everyone! This is another in my series of "am I crazy" threads. In my last thread about cleaning I was suprised to find there are other crazy people who clean their villa like me. So I am hoping some others will be like me on this and help me avoid therapy.

DH insists we rent a car during our stay. I have tried to talk him into ME, but he is against it for a few reasons. Mainly, he does not want to wait around on a bus while it makes 3-4 stops, and he does not want to wait hours for our luggage to show up, if indeed it does show up. He also insists he likes the convenience of being able to drive hotel to hotel, and to the parks if we want.

However, the last time we rented a car at Disney, I don't think we even put 100 miles on it.

We started this practice a few years ago after discovering that renting a car for a shorter stay is less money and more convenient than a towncar.

Any other opinions?

 

[DisneyHumbug]

I rent a car all the time. My DD has medical problems and just knowing I have a car at my disposal makes me feel better.

 

[RweTHEREyet]

We rent for every trip, and we make 3-4 a year. We like being able to go where we want when we want and we usually put 200-300 miles a trip on a rental. Since we use National Emerald Aisle, it is always fun to see what kinds of vehicles are waiting for us when we arrive. We have gotten to test out many fun cars, like the PT Cruiser and the new Pontiac G6 with remote start. Iam sure we could survive without a rental, but that never comes up in discussions in planning our trips.

 

[mom23boys]

My DH always want to rent a car, we use it occasionaly, but not enough to warrent the expense. He drives so much for work, you would think he would want to just relax.

This trip, He is taking our older two DS to Kennedy for the day.

But we are crazy people along with you.

 

[minster22]

Another one who always rents a car....I do a lot of resort hopping for dinners and shopping....just not fun without a car. I can get groceries whenever I want and go to Starbucks for a decent cup of coffee. I am actually getting to know my way around even ouside the "World". Makes me really feel like it is my "home away from home".

 

[juju]

We go for two weeks in the fall and always rent a car. We only use it to go to Downtown, water parks and the grocery store, but husband insists on it. I wanted to use ME this time, but we leave so early on the return that I was outvoted. Plus my husband agreed that we could take my folks only if we rented a car for the entire trip. He drives a hard bargain!

 

[1000th happy haunt]

We've rented a car for our past two trips and it's proven very helpful. In fact, on both those trips we took a quick visit to MGM before heading to the airport to catch our flight.

I like the freedom it offers.

 

[Deep-Thots]

We always rent a car, because you just never know...

* When you're going to have to make that necessary beer or wine or specific brand of tummy medicine run...
* When you're going to want to drive to the Cali Grill instead of wait for the bus, then walk or wait for the monorail, then do the reverse when it's time to leave...
* When you have to make that emergency run to CentraCare (gulp!)...
* When you totally destroy a pair of sneakers and need to make a quick run to the outlets to buy a new pair... aw:
* Etc., etc., etc.

But that's just us!!

 

[the kabuki]

Rented a car for the first time on our last trip and will never be without one again.

Loved having freedom to go when i want, where i want.
No standing in lines
No standing room only buses
No carrying packages and sleeping children while balancing a folded up stroller
Can listen to my own music
Eat anywhere for cheaper
Can Stop at walmart's and load up on drinks/snacks
Can stop at the "cheapy" souvenier places, the kids' spending money (and mine) go a lot further there

 

[wdwfan1]

Rent a car every trip. Use Emerald Aisle and just keep going.

 

[ColoradoBelle1]

I need to have a car too. I don't even use it all that much, but it makes getting around so much easier. Maybe we are all control freaks! When you can get a decent car for $15 a day, it hardly makes sense to deal with the hassle of getting to/from the airport...besided, I like cutting it pretty close when leaving and could never deal with being ready to take ME 3 hours before a flight!

 

[mark&sue]

Tried it once without renting a car and hated it. We take a fly drive holiday so it is included. When we go with our friends we get an eight seater. We drink in the evening but would not be without it during the day.


Susan

 

[bobbiwoz]

We always rent a car, even for just WDW trips, this one is to VB as well. In fact for my girlfriend trip, I'm renting one, the rest are using ME. I do use it for church on Sunday.

We even rent one to/from the cruise. Budget has great 1-way rental prices, with shuttle to/from ship and we like the independence.

Bobbi

 

[WolfpackFan]

We usually drive down (10 hours door to door), but the few times we've flown we haven't rented a car. Both times I missed not having a car. Mainly we would use the car in the evenings to go to DTD or for some reason I've found it faster to drive to MGM and AK, but faster to take the buses or monorails to Epcot and MK. Anyway, since I'm almost ready to retire (9 months ), from now on we will be driving. We will be breaking the drive up into several days and sitesee along the way.

 

[dianeschlicht]

WE always rent a car too. We use it for to and from airport and groceries plus errands and if we go to another resort for dinner etc. We NEVER use it to go to the parks, as it is much more time efficient to use the buses than to muck around getting in from the parking lots. The only place we will sometimes use the car for getting to a park is at Animal Kingdom, because the buses to there stop at the water park from OKW, so it take a bit long.

 

[LSchrow]

add us to the "always rent a car" group.
we like the flexibility of eating off-site & an easy drive to dine at other resorts, hitting the outlets, stocking up on groceries (we drink a LOT of bottled water! ).
this trip will be just DD & self, and we're using ME to/fro BWV, then picking up at National (Dolphin).

side note: our saturday (yup, THIS saturday ) "intermediate" pick-up, thurs drop off is $114 inc tax/fees, using AMEX code & ENT coupon.
figured we wouldn't need the car for for the entire time, lobbed off days (worked it many diff ways), tried diff car catagory, & our price went up about $150 (to $267 or more!!).
the saturday stay & weekly rates (5 days count as a week) REALLY are important!!

 

[JimMIA]

We just drive up from Miami, so we don't face any rental car expense (although with today's gas prices and the tolls, we probably pay about the same). Because of taking some extra people, a wheelchair and ECV, etc, we may rent a large van for our December trip.

But we love having a car at WDW, and we drive just about everywhere. Although people complain about parking and tramming, we find driving more convenient, especially if we are returning to the resort mid-day for swimming/nap downtime. Two bus trips are bad enough, four would be way too much for us.

We neither eat off-site nor grocery shop much, but if we did, that would be another big plus for having a car. Even with a car in December, we'll probably just use wegoshop.com for groceries.

 

[CarolMN]

I like having a car - even though we stay at the BWV, which is very conveniently located.

We use the car to go back and forth to the airport, get groceries, to go to AK, DD and the MK resorts (if we have dinner reservations for one of their restaurants).

When it's just the two of us, the car actually costs about the same as a towncar - this next trip, the estimate for 8 days (without gas) is $118. Hopefully gas won't break the bank, LOL!

We always bus to the MK, and walk to MGM and EPCOT.

Best wishes-

 

[wtpclc]

I swore I'd never have a rental car. I love teh magic of just being taken where I want to go. Well, with the awesome airfare deal I got to fly to SFB (? airport on the other side of WDW), I had to rent a car or take a taxi. We knew we would need a car fro one other day too. Well, the car plus the airfare, plus one extra nights accomodations was still $150 less than any other airfare alone. Guess we'll have a car for first trip to DVC. I'll have to see how much I use it.

 

[DVC-Don]

We have rented a vehicle for all but one trip. Of course that trip DD wound up having to make a visit to a medical clinic so that was a hassle. We generally go offsite for grocery shopping, US or Sea World or Kennedy Space Center. Sometimes we drive over to Celebration. We hate being confined to just WDW.