Driving between parks--Time? vs buses?

[jsgrand0]

Ok, we are probably going to rent a car while we are at Disney (8d/7n)
Oct 1-8. My question is, I know you should allow 60 minutes for travel by bus in Disney, but what are travel times if you are driving your own car? And I've been warned not to drive to MK, as the parking is so far from the entrance, true? Anywhere else I shouldn't drive to? (and we will ride monorail and ferry for fun!) Will we save a TON of time by driving/parking/ and getting to the park entrance?

I KNOW some of you gurus out there can probably rattle this off for me pretty quickly! The distance between park to park driving? and from the All-Stars to the parks?

Thanks so much!

 

[YodaGirl]

If you're wanting mileage, you could probably use Google Maps.

I don't know exactly how long it takes, but under normal circumstances, it is significantly quicker to drive yourself.

Until our last trip, I was a major proponent of using Disney transportation because I'm not a fan of driving on vacation. That said, we'll be driving to AK, DTD, and DHS from now on. We'll also probably drive to Epcot.

We stay at Ft Wilderness, so it's easier/quicker to take the boat to MK.

 

[jcriket]

I don't pay a lot of attention to actual time, especially when I'm at Disney. I like to think time stops there. I would say I can drive pretty much drive anywhere in less than 20 minutes. The longest drive for you might be MK to All Stars, but your taking a bus. If you count parking and getting to the gate figure about 20 - 30 minutes for Epcot and DS. AK is close to All Stars maybe 10 minutes. I don't like driving DTD either parking is a hassle there, especially on the week end.

 

[jsgrand0]

Not everything shows up on mapquest..but I put in ASSports to MK ...11 minute drive! Sounds good to me if that is our longest drive! But will probably take bus to MK from what I've heard about getting to gate from parking...I'm not too worried about time, but we do plan on hopping and have several ADRs not at the parks we will be at (at resorts) so just don't want to have to allow like 3 hours a day for transportation! (from resort to park, to adr to another park...blah blah blah) Seems as though car rental rates are pretty reasonable...I've seen many posts where people book a mid-size car for a week for well under $200 (know you have gas to pay for too, but still, I think to add $200 to a several thousand dollar trip is not a big deal!)


4 months and 1 week!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, I know it shows on my counter...but SOOO excited!! I actually cried when I booked and got the confirmation screen!

 

[cam&phoebsmom]

Last trip we stayed at CBR and it was the 1st time with a car. I know it took under 15 minutes for us to get from our parked car to parked in the lot. One morning I specifically wayched and in 7 minutes we went from starting our car to pulling in and parking at DHS.

We valet parked some days for MK to avoid the TTC, or we took the bus, but we did not drive there b/c it does not save any time.

 

[jsgrand0]

Last trip we stayed at CBR and it was the 1st time with a car. I know it took under 15 minutes for us to get from our parked car to parked in the lot. One morning I specifically wayched and in 7 minutes we went from starting our car to pulling in and parking at DHS.

We valet parked some days for MK to avoid the TTC, or we took the bus, but we did not drive there b/c it does not save any time.

There is valet parking at MK? Where do you go for that, and how much is it? Thanks!

 

[lborne]

Much faster than taking the bus. If you leave early you can park very close to the gate at the parks, excepting MK, and won't have to take a tram.

Yes, its a hassle to get the rental and drop it off, and then many people don't like driving. But for us, the bus is much more hassle and a waste of time.

Nice thing about a car is if you want, you can go outside of the parks. Just don't mention this to any cast members or they may cut the spark plug wires or brake lines to keep you from going to Universal.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

There is valet parking at MK? Where do you go for that, and how much is it? Thanks!

There is no valet parking at the MK, what they did was valet parking at one of the monorail resorts..

 

[sheila <3 WDW]

There is a transportation wizard on Our Laughing Place travels website (somewhere near the bottom) that I used both trips we've taken to determine the quickest way to get from point A to B. I can't remember where I read about it, but apparently they are really experienced in Disney stuff. It usually gives you a car time, bus, boat if available, and walking if available.

 

[cam&phoebsmom]

There is valet parking at MK? Where do you go for that, and how much is it? Thanks!

I am sorry-we did not valet at MK, we used the valet service at another resort with monorail access and paid for it (if you are on-site guest parking is free, but we paid to use the valet that day).

 

[YodaGirl]

I am sorry-we did not valet at MK, we used the valet service at another resort with monorail access and paid for it (if you are on-site guest parking is free, but we paid to use the valet that day).

Well, technically, you're only supposed to park at a resort for up to 3 hours to visit that resort. Technically, you're supposed to use the park parking lot if you're visiting the park, which is free. That's another thread, entirely, though...

That is, unless there are separate rules for valet parking that I'm not aware of. We're not ones to pay to have our car parked, so I don't know.

 

[cam&phoebsmom]

Well, technically, you're only supposed to park at a resort for up to 3 hours to visit that resort. Technically, you're supposed to use the park parking lot if you're visiting the park, which is free. That's another thread, entirely, though...

That is, unless there are separate rules for valet parking that I'm not aware of. We're not ones to pay to have our car parked, so I don't know.

you may park for free with a dining reservation for a limited amount of time (when we did a dinner we had a specific tag with our hours) and that is free. When you valet (with a payment of course) there is not a time limit.

We did check before we parked to make sure we were following the rules

 

[The_Alice]

We found it much quicker to drive and arrive at every park, except MK. Since the buses go right up to the gate practically that is considerably quicker.

One thing to take into account though if you are calculating your drive time is the stop lights which can be numerable especially on the main drag from DTD up through DHS and the Epcot Resort area.

 

[YodaGirl]

you may park for free with a dining reservation for a limited amount of time (when we did a dinner we had a specific tag with our hours) and that is free. When you valet (with a payment of course) there is not a time limit.

We did check before we parked to make sure we were following the rules

I was still thinking that, despite the time limit, resort parking was intended for visitors of the resort.

Not questioning you, just confused.

 

[Danibelle]

I was still thinking that, despite the time limit, resort parking was intended for visitors of the resort.

Not questioning you, just confused.

Resort parking is intended for resort visitors. Nothing to be confused about!

 

[sharona]

Re driving to MK - definitely not worth the trouble. However, we did enjoy the ferry ride the one time we used it since DD had never been on it and I had not been on in over 20 years. We kept saying we were going to take the monorail at least once but never made it.

All the other parks, driving/parking was fine.

Having done both, I found it was about even car vs. bus. There is no big advantage to either unless you're planning on going outside the World and must have the car. The buses can be crowded and sometimes the waiting stinks. Sometimes you have good timing and it's a quick and convenient experience. For driving, once you add in navigating around WDW (felt like we were always going in circles), being directed to the most inconvenient, furthest from the trams parking spot at least half the time and waiting for/taking the parking trams - it really is not that big of a time saver. The advantage to having the car, IMO, is getting to the WPs, DTD, CVS etc. and not having to deal w/ a big crush at park closing.

A great tip I read here was to take a picture of the end of your row where the parking lot name and row number are written on the ground. It really helped as after a day or two, all of the parking lots blend together and you'll be wandering the lot pushing your car remote trying to distinguish your rental car's beep from everyone else's.

 

[jsgrand0]

There is a transportation wizard on Our Laughing Place travels website (somewhere near the bottom) that I used both trips we've taken to determine the quickest way to get from point A to B. I can't remember where I read about it, but apparently they are really experienced in Disney stuff. It usually gives you a car time, bus, boat if available, and walking if available.

This sounds GREAT!! I'll check it out! Thanks!

 

[cam&phoebsmom]

I was still thinking that, despite the time limit, resort parking was intended for visitors of the resort.

Not questioning you, just confused.

I checked before we parked because I did not want to break the rules and end up getting my car towed!
We went in the afternoon, went to Valet and asked if we had a time limit or if we could go to the parks. They said with a valet there was no time limit and no limits on where we could go once we left our car with the valet service.

Had we just been visiting the resort (as we did for dinner our 1st night) then we would have had a time limit (we did and made sure we were out of there in time).

 

[jaysmom4285]

Another source for driving times vs. bus times is the Unofficial Guide. They have a chart in there of estimated travel times among all the resorts and parks.

 

[lync]

Not sure on the times but we prefer to drive our own car simply b/c at the end of the day, we are all tired and it's much easier to put our girls in our own car and not fight the crowds for the shuttles and then have to stand while holding at least one sleeping girl (while a teenage boy SITS and watches me...another topic for another post LOL).