As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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So you've made the decision to rent a car while at Walt Disney World, or perhaps you are considering renting a car but don't know where to begin? Hopefully this thread will be of some help for those who wish to have a set of wheels while in the House of the Mouse.
There are many types and sizes of cars to rent. When choosing a car class you should keep in mind how many people are in your party and how many pieces of luggage you will have. Here are some car classes, plus an estimate of how many people the car will seat, as well as luggage storage:
Economy/Subcompact:
Chevrolet Spark, Kia Rio, Hyundai Accent, or similar
4 passengers/2 pieces of luggage (1 large, 1 small)
Compact:
Chevrolet Cavalier, Ford Escort, Nissan Versa Sedan, or similar
4 passengers/3 pieces of luggage (1 large, 2 small)
Mid-size/Intermediate:
Nissan Sentra, Chevrolet Cruze, Toyota Corolla, or similar
5 passengers/3-4 pieces of luggage (1 or 2 large, 2 small)
Standard:
Chrysler 200, Volkswagen Jetta, or similar
5 passengers/3-4 pieces of luggage (1 or 2 large, 2 small)
Full Size:
Chevy Impala, Ford Fusion, Hyundai Sonata, or similar
5 passengers/4-5 pieces of luggage (2 large, 2-3 small)
Premium:
Chrysler 300, Nissan Maxima, or similar
5 passengers/4-5 pieces of luggage (3 large, 2 small)
Luxury:
Lincoln MKS, Cadillac ATS, or similar
5 passengers/4-5 pieces of luggage (3 large, 2 small)
Convertibles:
Ford Mustang, or similar
4 passengers/2 pieces of luggage
SUV: Note that when reserving an SUV, ask for the passenger capacity as some SUVs seat 5, while others seat 8. The luggage capacity will also vary depending on the size of the SUV.
"Standard"
Ford Edge, Hyundai Santa Fe, Chevrolet Equinox, Jeep Grand Cherokee, or similar
5 passengers/3 pieces of luggage (1 large, 2 small)
"Mid-Size/Intermediate"
Ford Escape, Toyota RAV4, or similar
5 passengers/3-4 pieces of luggage (2 large, 1-2 small)
"Full Size"
Chevy Tahoe, Toyota Highlander, or similar
5-7 passengers/4 pieces of luggage (4 large)
Minivans: Like the SUVs, the make and model of the minivan will determine how many passengers and pieces of luggage you will be able to fit comfortably.
Dodge Caravan, or similar
7 passengers/4 pieces of luggage
Two things to keep in mind when deciding what size vehicle to rent: 1) Will the passangers fit safely; and 2) is the luggage stored safely so that it doesn't block views or will not hit anyone if the breaks are slammed.
Different rental companies offer different makes and models. This is a great chance to test drive a car if you are in the market for purchasing a new vehicle.
Last edited by aliceinwdw; 03-25-2015 at 07:45 PM..
Reason: updating car types
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This section will allow you to find a rental company located at MCO, Sanford International Airport, the WDW Car Care Center, the Swan and Dolphin Resorts, and the Downtown Disney Resorts.
There are quite a few companies available (see the airport car rental companies link above); however, keep in mind that you will need to use their free shuttle bus transportation to get to their offsite rental locations.
Many people only need a car for a few days for those off-Disney property excursions. There are many places located on or near Walt Disney World in which to rent from. The following is a list of what company is located where. Also included, if available, the rental location code. Please note that you should always double-check the rental codes when reserving the car!
These rental locations can be easily reached by: 1) A short cab ride from your resort; 2) free shuttle from your resort to the Car Care Center; or 3) a Disney bus to Downtown Disney and a short walk or even another shuttle from Downtown Disney to the Downtown Resort Hotel that houses the rental company.
Last edited by aliceinwdw; 09-08-2017 at 12:20 AM..
Reason: updating information and links
I used them last November - but Sanford hasn't updated it's site yet! Still lists just Alamo.
I don't remember the location code - but if you enter in Orlando as the City - it does come up as a location. They share space with Alamo - but separate counters - just like at MCO.
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Hi Robin- The family and I are going to visit Mom and Dad for three days in Ocala before visiting the World for two weeks. So I found this info handy:
National has a counter at both MCO and the Auto Center in WDW. Soooo, we can drive straight from M&D to Disney and drop off the car there instead of driving it back to the airport.
Also, this way, we only need a one-way limo ride instead of round-trip when we depart.
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AAA told us the only closest car rental place was Hertz. They told us that there was no car rental place inside Disney nor in Downtown Disney. AAA has office space inside Tomorrowland. I told them what I was told and they told me Hertz was the only one who was closest to us that could get us a car by the time we are requesting. The only draw back is this folks. If you need car seats for your children? Expect to pay at least $10 each a day for it. We are bringing ours. I refuse to pay for something that will end up costing us the same amount as if we bought it. Check your sources and then rent. Hertz has turned out to be better for our luck. They told us we can keep the car until Monday morning by x time and we won't be charged xtra.
Good luck.
Hmmmm. Could it be that they were referring to the closest 'AAA Program Member' or some such other affiliation? Below is a 'cut and paste' from my reservation. You can go online to http://www.nationalcar.com then choose 'Locations' and enter 'Orlando' as the city. You will see six locations and the Car Care Center is the fourth one...
*********
If you need to make adjustments to this reservation,
please use your reservation number as a reference.
Rental Information
Rental Location: ORLANDO INTL ARPT
ORLANDO
ORLANDO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Rental Time: 4-FEBRUARY-2005 3:30 PM
Return Location: ORLANDO- WALT DISNEY CAR CARE CNTR.
1000 CAR CARE DRIVE
[ QUOTE ]
AAA told us the only closest car rental place was Hertz. They told us that there was no car rental place inside Disney nor in Downtown Disney. AAA has office space inside Tomorrowland. I told them what I was told and they told me Hertz was the only one who was closest to us that could get us a car by the time we are requesting. The only draw back is this folks. If you need car seats for your children? Expect to pay at least $10 each a day for it. We are bringing ours. I refuse to pay for something that will end up costing us the same amount as if we bought it. Check your sources and then rent. Hertz has turned out to be better for our luck. They told us we can keep the car until Monday morning by x time and we won't be charged xtra.
Good luck.
[/ QUOTE ]
Arielrocks, there are car rental agencies in several Downtown Disney Hotels as well as The Swan/Dolphin Resort and the Car Care Center. The Car Care Center has both Alamo and National.
Hertz may not have a rental desk on-property but Alamo, National, Dollar, Avis, and Budget do.
I may give AAA another call on Monday. But I did tell them that there was. I'm now interested to know why they wouldn't know this. Everyone takes AAA. Don't they? Thanks for the heads up. I think the cancellation though may kill us in the long run.
We booked through AAA and are getting an Alamo rental at the airport and returning it to the Car Care Center. My question is: Is there Disney transportation running from there back to our resort or to a park? Thanks!
Hertz is AAA's preferred car rental partner, so that's probably why they told you there weren't any other options. I'd go ahead and explore the other options as I've always found Hertz to be one of the most expensive options out there! Good luck...DU
1. If renting at airport and returning at a location in Lake Buena Vista, I would ask (many times) the people renting you the car to verify that there will NOT be a "drop charge," which is customarily charged if you return the car to a different location than where you rented it. (I got hit with one of these once when I rented a car at Dulles Airport and returned it to the agency's office at Union station in DC.)
2. The best comparison website I've found for rental cars is breezenet, www.bnm.com. You can put in your dates, and they'll display for you what each company will charge, both as a daily rate and the net total including all the add-ons. Very useful for comparison purposes between car sizes, agencies, etc.
Hope this helps! By the way, I've rented from thrifty on the previous trips, and had an excellent experience with them even though they're off-airport. In fact, I left my sunglasses in the car when returning and one of their employees found them and tracked me down at the airport to return them to me. Very good service.
I was wondering if anyone has ever heard of or used Holiday Car Rental? If so, what was your experience with them. Right now they are the best deal I can get. Thanks
There is a great section on car rentals at www.mousesavers.com
i havent read this whole thread but i bet you know that
i use alamo or national usually and we are quicksilver and emerald club members. We have gotten good service and had no issues with qwuick service. This dec we dropped off our rental at the Dolphin and it was awesome so easy!!
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