Driving your own car vs buses...

[Angel Ariel]

We always drive. We love the freedom of not having to stand around and wait for the busses. If you have AAA you can pick up a Diamond Star Parking pass (I was able to get one this year since I bought a park ticket from them, but I was also able to get one for my Dad without buying a ticket, it just depends on who is working when you go into your AAA branch to get one) which allows you to park at the front of the lot at the theme parks. Great for the Animal Kingdom and Epcot. We do normally take the bus to the MK.

What was the cost of the parking pass?

 

[Sandi12404]

I'm fine with the busses. I have no problems getting up and moving in the mornings so we don't have to worry about running late. The only time we drove last visit was to dinner at the Wildreness Lodge.

 

[Tigger's ally]

I drive the van there, park it and relax and let Disney do the driving. Patience is one of the few virtues that I was blessed with.

and, I like to partake of a libation or two....

We all pay for transportation one way or another, I elect to use it.

 

[Herfnerd]

I've always used the WDW transportation system and never had a problem - and never had a 60-90 minute ride!

 

[hoffmann2828]

I am a Dis-busser too. I enjoy the ride, I enjoy the people-watching, I enjoy the savings!

Plus, my DD6 thinks its the coolest.

 

[scdak]

2 trips onsite and used Disney transportation exclusively...........just back from 11 days onsite with my own car and I assure you I will never do it with Disney transportation again! Just taking into account getting to and from our dining ressies in other resorts saved us approx 30 hours or more in time, we could leave POFQ 30 minutes before our meal time and still arrive 15 minutes prior to our ADR to check in. We had 26 ADR's over the course of our trip so time was of essense to make those meals on time. I will say that we used valet parking at the deluxe resorts when we went there for meals, and yes, it was $15 but it was money well spent and the parking fee was valid for the entire day so we often went to 2 or even 3 deluxe resorts in a day to dine, shop or walk around.

 

[wdwrich]

I've always used the WDW transportation system and never had a problem - and never had a 60-90 minute ride!

Lucky you! Perhaps you've never had to travel between resort hotels later in the evening when a transfer at DTD is required. 60-90 minutes is not unusual. UGH!

 

[darkwing818]

I enjoy not having to deal with the traffic and sleep on the bus. If we drive down and have our car, we prefer parking it once at the resort and leaving it there.

Totally agree, after driving 11 hours, the last thing I want to do is drive (especially at night) to & from the Park parking lots. We always try to stay at Boardwalk, BCV, or the Yacht club. This way we can either hop a bus to Epcot, & walk to our resort, or just take a bus directly to the resort. Heck, besides EPCOT, we've even walked to the Studios from the Boardwalk.
Honestly, I think the longest we ever waited for a bus, to MK or AK was 30 minutes at most.

 

[W.E.D.]

We stayed at POR last December. Out of a 10 day trip we only had one issue where we waited for close to 45 minutes for a bus to Epcot which we finally gave up on. Other than that, I would say we never waited more than ten minutes.

 

[ItsNotMuchofaTail]

I wll not have a car when I am there next week, but my last 2 trips I had a car and didn't move it from the lot until the day we had to leave.

Different strokes for different folks of course, but I can't think of a situation where I would voluntarily get in my car and fight traffic when I could sit on a bus for "free." A bus that takes me closer to the gate than the parking lot.

I have stayed at ASM and CBR (both in the busy summer season) and used bus transportation over the car I already had there with no regrets. Sure, we waited a few minutes, and the night we stayed at MK for the light parade we waited through 3 rounds of pickups to get on. But I didn't have to find a place to park, find my car again later, and walk to the gate from area 51.

I can relax and chat with my DD on the bus. This time we are flying, but I didn't even consider renting a car. We never waited more than 10 minutes I don't think for a bus, and we had seats more often than not.

The only time we had trouble was traveling from MK to GF when the monorail went down. That wasn't even bus related. It made the lines at the boat launch unbelievably long and slow.

 

[LaurenT]

i doubt that it usually takes that long. It happened to me one time - from the Dolphin. But that was just a one time issue.
It's never taken that long for me from AKL, which is my home resort - so II stay there more often than other places....and that's the one that's supposed to be farthest away from everything...
I don't think it's worth renting a car for me...but if I happened to have one with me, I might use it on some days. You can certainly play it by ear...see how things go on your first day.

 

[LisaTC]

I'll speak to the AAA parking pass. We stayed at POR last Oct near Halloween time. We always took the bus to MK and even to MK to the boat to FW to HDDR and it worked beautifully. One time going to MK in the afternoon we were the ONLY ones on the bus. Coming back from MK in the evenings would entail more of a wait because, well, the Wishes masses entail lots and lots of need for busses, as you can imagine. We drove to Epcot and AK. At AK the AAA diamond parking was right near handicap, close to the front entrance and convenient. However, I will say, we got there before park opening and most parking looked convenient at that point. The AAA parking at EPcot was awesome. We walked in with the CM's...again we parked early because we had and ADR for Akershus. This all said, the AAA diamond parking pass will get you a closer parking space, theoretically. However, if you get to parks early, you can park almost just as close in some of the regular spots. There are a limited number of AAA spaces. The pass comes with a package booked with a AAA agent. Some agencies may give you one even if you didn't book with them. Varies by location.

We fly into Tampa instead of Orlando. It is cheaper for us. We keep the car. Like having it. It was literally a breeze traveling to Epcot and AK in the car. It seemed like 10-15 minutes. We never had any problem driving. It was also a breeze taking the bus to MK from POR. I'd still, however, always get a car. That's just us. I get a great leisure rate as a benefit from work. It is worth it to us.

 

[GeneralTso]

We always have a car so I can't really speak to the bus situation.
I do know that I loathe the transportation center!!! I do not like that experience of MK to transportation center to tram. Too many hops. Too crowded.

 

[mattsdragon]

We've started driving the last couple trips. We have found there are some advantages. We went to breakfast at Chef Mickey's on our MK day. My wife took the kid to the park on the monorail from there while I took the car to the parking lot.

I didn't have to go through bag check, which was a win for me, but the express monorail line wasn't working yet, so I had to take the ferry, which I really didn't mind anyway, since the wife and daughter went straight to Merida M&G anywho.

Disadvantage was the next day when we went to EPCOT. Long walk back to the car, it was Saturday during F&W and we missed opening that morning, so that was to be expected. But we had an early morning BBB appointment, so we had to drive to DTD before going to the park.

Overall, we are probably going to continue to play the day by ear between the bus or car every morning. We'll have better data after our trip in May.

 

[Rememberingthe70s]

We've sometimes had a car with us, but when we did, it never moved out of the parking lot. (Although we always go during very low crowd weeks, ergo the buses and transportation is never mobbed.) The one time we were there with crowds, we still preferred to let Disney do the driving. We like the down time, being able to chat, being with other folks, playing with our DW apps, etc. I also like the feeling of checking in to the resort and not having to fuss over anything while I'm there, including driving.

 

[ZoZo]

I wll not have a car when I am there next week, but my last 2 trips I had a car and didn't move it from the lot until the day we had to leave.

Different strokes for different folks of course, but I can't think of a situation where I would voluntarily get in my car and fight traffic when I could sit on a bus for "free." A bus that takes me closer to the gate than the parking lot.

I have stayed at ASM and CBR (both in the busy summer season) and used bus transportation over the car I already had there with no regrets. Sure, we waited a few minutes, and the night we stayed at MK for the light parade we waited through 3 rounds of pickups to get on. But I didn't have to find a place to park, find my car again later, and walk to the gate from area 51.

I can relax and chat with my DD on the bus. This time we are flying, but I didn't even consider renting a car. We never waited more than 10 minutes I don't think for a bus, and we had seats more often than not.

The only time we had trouble was traveling from MK to GF when the monorail went down. That wasn't even bus related. It made the lines at the boat launch unbelievably long and slow.

I agree with this. My friends and I have been to WDW six times, and never rented a car. I think it might depend on your circumstances about why you might want one. Do you plan to resort-hop a lot, or go from one of the parks directly to DTD? Then renting a car makes some sense. I guess I'm sort of a "go with the flow" type person. I prefer to hop on a bus and let someone else do the driving. I've never had to wait more than 10 or 15 minutes for a bus.

 

[Bullseye]

Hi! My family is driving to Disney in March and staying at POR. I've been hearing that the bus service from this resort is not always the greatest...and to allow 60-90 minutes of travel time to the parks each morning. Really??? That seems crazy. For our last stay (POFQ), we loved the convenience of not having to drive anywhere during the week. But now I'm wondering, would we be better off taking our own car to the parks each morning?

OP, our first couple of years we stayed at POR and the poor bus service from there as we'll other Bus shortcomings is what made us switch to rental cars seven years ago. We've never looked back because having your own car is so much more convenient and faster than riding the buses. Drive the car everywhere including the MK. Plus don't forget when you have your own car you can purchase room provisions at regular store prices.

 

[gracer9977]

We are planning to rent a car next year. In previous years we rode the busses and I am tired of the wait. I hate having to leave the resort 1 1/2 hours before an ADR in order to make it on time. We were late to a few of them because we tried to leave 45 minutes instead of planning over an hour. Bad planning on our part but I just hate having to leave so early. If you walk up to the bus stop and the bus you need is just pulling away it usually means it will be another 20-30 minutes before the next bus even shows up. It is also tough with a stroller, especially the double stroller we had last time. Having to fold it up and lug it onto the bus was a huge pain, especially when the bus was already packed. We will still probably take the busses on some days but I want the car for the convenience factor.

Plus my DH is planning to meet up with a friend on one of the days so this will make it easier for them to get together.

 

[Planogirl]

We recently stayed at POFQ and we had long waiting times twice, once coming and once going. It took 35 minutes for a bus to arrive at the POFQ bus stop once morning and then of course travel time. We waited at DHS for a bus quite a while once too but I always have bad luck there when it comes to buses.

I dislike the buses personally. I'd much rather have a car and that is true even when we go to MK. I love the ferry boats.

 

[labattblue]

I have relied on WDW buses the last few trips, but next time I will think seriously about renting a car for several reasons...

- Bus service to and from DTD is AWFUL. Let me repeat myself AWFUL. It makes it worse if you are going to DTD several times a trip which we always do.

- Bus rides back to the resort close to or at park closing are ridiculous. Jammed in like sardines, tired kids, tired parents, people angry because they have to stand, etc...

- Waiting for a bus in the blazing sun at value resorts is not fun when temps are warm. The only way this is better than mods or deluxe, is they have the queue versus free for all when bus arrives at mods or deluxes.

- While ME is nice, it is better to have my luggage with me when I get to my resort. The extra time needed to rent a car is negated by having to wait to get to your resort while they drop guests off at other resorts first(how come it always seems like my resort is last?).

These to me are the 4 negatives in terms of relying on bus transporation.

Just my 2 cents.