Do I use my car or take the bus around WDW?

[Gumbatman]

Hi,

We have our trip to WDW planned for the end of August and are staying at Old Key West. Some of the reading/research I've been doing suggests that the buses around Old Key West are not so frequent (if I am reading that right). Also, I've seen some horror stories (which I image are rare) of bus rides that take close to an hour getting from some parts of the park to others. However, I imagine that taking my rental car would be a bigger nightmare.

Any suggestions on strategies, things to look for and/or be aware of with the buses to and from Old Key West?

Thank you for the help. I love this board!

[flip.daddy]

I have stayed at Old Key West numerous times, and I LOVED it

Olivia's has AWESOME breakfast!

As far as the buses are concerned, we never really had an issue with them at OKW. The only time we ever had bus issues was at Fort Wilderness (especially later at night).

My suggestion for you concerning your rental car is to take it if you have dinner reservations, tours, etc. or anything else that has a "set" time for your arrival. If you don't "have" to be anywhere at a given time, then the buses are more than adequate.

Hope this helps! Have a GREAT trip!

[Kaler131]

USE YOUR CAR!! I have had a car in the past (either a rental car or my own) and it was great. I decided to save the $$$ this time and not rent a car....BIG mistake!! This is of course my opinion...but I will not ever go and rely only on Disney transportation again....

[catne]

We always use our car now -- gave up on Disney transportation during our Free DIning trip last year...don't know if they cut back a whole lot on busses once the summer vacation rush is over...or maybe there's a bigger number of people riding busses during Free Dining (bargain hunters don't rent cars? Dunno.) But the busses were always jam-packed & waited on average 30 minutes for busses...sometimes as long as an hour.

In January, we stayed 2 nights at the Contemporary & just went to MK & Epcot, so we used the monorail or walked to MK...but no more bus transportation for us. In May we drove everywhere.

[redrosesix]

There is a definite advantage to taking the bus to MK since it takes you right to the front gate -- you don't have to take a tram to the TTC and then monorail to the park. But if you are dining at other resorts, it is just so much better to take your car especially if you're not eating at one of the monorail resorts.

[Wait Watchers]

Don't bother with your car unless you have to be someplace at a given time. There are plenty enough buses (and boats and monorails) to get around from park to park if you're just going to a park. But remember when it comes to getting to a park at rope drop, others are going to be lining up to do the same thing. You may get there for the bus on time but have to wait for the next bus. :-(

[cnjmom]

We stayed at SSR last month, which is just down the street from OKW.

I had read horror stories about the buses, but usually they were pretty frequent at SSR.

With that said, however, if we had a car, we would have used it. We have three young kids and not having to fold and lug two strollers and our backpack onto the bus every time we wanted to travel would have been immensely easier. Even if you aren't traveling with small children, if you are dining at a resort and leaving from OKW, it's much easier to just drive there than have to take the bus to a park and then transfer.

[Gumbatman]

Wow! Thank you all for the great information.

Now I have a follow up... is it worth getting the AAA Diamond Parking? I've seen them listed for a little as $5 on eBay? Or does the Diamond parking only apply to those staying offsite?

[addicted2dizney]

I do a combination of both car and buses. I like to take the bus to the MK since it's just easier access to the park. If you are a resort guest you don't pay for parking in any parks so that's a plus. I used my car to travel to other hotels for dinner ressies and also to jump from Typhoon Lagoon to our hotel. Parking was close and easy at the water parks and I save alot of time. I also used my car at DHS and it was easy there as well.

[catne]

wouldn't buy the AAA parking pass on EBAY, you'll be getting ripped off - they are actually very non-transferable and "void if sold"...the ones they issue now (2009) have both the AAA member's name and resort stay dates printed right on the pass, making it very easy for Disney to police who is using a bogus pass.

[monkeybug]

We loved having our car! We always arrived at rope drop and never had to park far enough where a tram was an issue, it was always an easy walk to the gate. We did try the bus, and it really wasn't bad, but the car seemed much quicker and more convenient. We love coffee and loved that with our car we could swing by the Poly on the way to a park for a "real" coffee, and visiting other resorts for meals or shopping was no big deal. We preferred driving to the MK as well. We would arrive early and take the monorail, and then take the bus back to our hotel for the kids afternoon break (so we didn't lose our up close space), after an evening in the park for fireworks it was nice that we could load sleepy kids into their car seats and not have to wait for a bus or a tram (or take them out of the stroller).

[MelanieC]

After many years of going to WDW and doing everything from staying offsite, staying at SOG and staying at Value and Deluxe we have come to the conclusion that we much prefer having our car with us at the park even for MK. It's just faster and more relaxing to drive ourself back to the park. Also - at POP we park back by our room and it's quick to get to our room.

[TheFlame]

Drive everywhere except MK. Take the bus then monorail or boat to MK because the parking lot at TTC is always so full and you will not save any time driving there. For all other parks and DTD in almost all cases it is faster and nicer, I might add to drive to them. We stay at FW and there is NO WAY I will ever ride another Disney bus at FW if I don't have to!

[SamMac]

We drove to every park. It will be quicker for you to drive to all the parks except MK. Especially if you have kids and a stroller, you have to walk up to the tram, ride it and then take the monorail or boat to the gates.

[monkeybug]

Originally Posted by SamMac

We drove to every park. It will be quicker for you to drive to all the parks except MK. Especially if you have kids and a stroller, you have to walk up to the tram, ride it and then take the monorail or boat to the gates.

Unless you are an early bird! Both times during our trip that we drove to the MK we were early enough that we were able to park with in walking distance (an easy walk) to the monorail. We didn't have to use the tram either time, but after seeing the lines for them after the fireworks I can understand why the bus would be easier if you were parked any deeper in the lot. We obviously still had to wait on the monorail, but that didn't require taking sleepy kids out of the stroller to fold it, so for us it worked out better.