If you stay onsite, and choose not to use the buses but drive to the parks yourself..

[marshallandcartersmo]

I'm assuming you still have to pay for parking at the parks??

We're just so used to staying offsite and having our own car, not having to wait for buses to take us to our room

 

[n2mm]

Parking is free for onsite guest. We always rent a car and drive to the parks. We are not bus people. When you check in you'll be given a parking pass to put in your car window.....it's all good.

 

[sandymcclinton]

You do not have to pay for parking. Your resort will give you a parking pass to park in your resort lot and that will get you into the parks with no charge. We use our car all the time. Rarely use their buses.

 

[francie57]

As the others have said, you will be given a parking pass that will give you free parking at the parks. The only park that you may want to consider the bus for would be MK since if you drive you have to park and take the monorail or ferry. If you bus the bus will drop you off right by the entrance to the park.

 

[Planogirl]

Definitely keep on driving. I want nothing to do with buses myself so I can understand.

 

[Singinglizzie]

Don't know how long you are planning to visit, but one "trick" we have used several times is to only rent a car for a few days, over the weekend - so we get weekend rates. I've done this when trying to save a few $$ and still want to use the DME going to and from airport. You rent from Alamo or National using the CCC center, which will pick you up from onsite Disney hotel. Note that to do this, you must pick up on a Thurs, or Fri and return either Sun or Mon. by 12:00 noon i.e keep on Sat. night. I then schedule all the hard to get to ADR's during that time frame, to maximize use of the car. I'm not a fan of the bus, and this is one way to do a combination of the two. Hope this was useful.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

As the others have said, you will be given a parking pass that will give you free parking at the parks. The only park that you may want to consider the bus for would be MK since if you drive you have to park and take the monorail or ferry. If you bus the bus will drop you off right by the entrance to the park.

EPCOT is a great park to take Disney transportation to because of all the wonderous drinks offered in World Showcase.

 

[francie57]

jlewisinsyr - agree with all the great drinks in Epcot but since we only stay at the Epcot resorts transportation isn't a problem for us since it is a 5 min. walk. One of the best reasons for the Epcot resorts is the easy access to Epcot and the Studios. We basically spend every night in Epcot for dinner and a leisurely walk after our meal and then its only a short trip back to the resort.

 

[kjbean]

If we want to drive to MK on a morning EMH day, would the trams at the parking lot) and ferry/monorail be operating that much earlier in the morning for us to get there earlier than normal park hours? And would we be able to park that early without much trouble since the EMH are intended for resort guests who would normally just take the bus, bypassing the TTC?

There are a few personal reasons we'd even be considering doing this and part has to do with my husband's health and want to avoid using a bus if possible. And another part is to have a chance for my kids to ride on a monorail at some point during the trip.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Yes the trams will be running early for EMH.

 

[marshallandcartersmo]

That is wonderful news!! Sure makes scheduling easier for me.
We plan on arriving either sat. or sun., & just staying till thrs., not sure about car rental deals for then.. We can't use ME (flying into Sanford) so we'll need to rent a car (makes more sense for us rather than Mears).

Thank you!

 

[marshallandcartersmo]

And thanks for the MK info. We'd want to be sure & drive our own car our MK day if the buses drop you off at the gate... Sounds silly, but we like riding the monorail, is kind of a tradition for us. It's been a LONG time since we stayed onsite, we would have been weirdly disappointed if we would have been dropped off at the front, lol.

 

[bumbershoot]

IAnd would we be able to park that early without much trouble since the EMH are intended for resort guests who would normally just take the bus, bypassing the TTC?

They know that plenty of people stay onsite AND drive. It's why the resorts have such big parking lots. You won't be an oddball. I promise.

 

[disneymarie]

As the others have said, you will be given a parking pass that will give you free parking at the parks. The only park that you may want to consider the bus for would be MK since if you drive you have to park and take the monorail or ferry. If you bus the bus will drop you off right by the entrance to the park.

I always had this thought until our recent trip. It ended up with the car at the room, and we were waiting for almost 2 hrs from leaving the park to arrive at the room. The mass of people leaving is tough, but we switched to the last one leaving that day, had the car. Early leaving was not the same issue,
Much easier to grab the bus then to headed out to TTA and parking lot.

I waited to go on the Ferry because the incline with my walker is a killer. I went in the wheel chair stroller line,. as I moved forward there was a mass of pushing bodies from the left that ran me over and shooved to get onto the ferry that was loading.
I could not believe that people would run and push like that, grown adults, not teens.

So any park, we drove to if it would be a late night closing day, THe family that left earlier would take the bus. Last one at least had a ride, not endless line.

 

[sharadoc]

We used to drive everywhere but MK. Last trip we drove to MK every time, too. It's easy to hop a monorail or ferry, since they run pretty continuously, definitely more often than the bus. The tram is usually right there when you park, and they run very often back to the parking lot at the TTC. We've gotten stuck waiting for a bus over 45 minutes. I have arthritis and that standing in line killed me. Plus standing on the bus is harder than standing on the monorail or ferry for me.

The walk to the monorail or ferry from the front entrance of MK is actually shorter than the walk to the bus, especially if you're at the further bus stops.

I know the mantra has always been to bus to MK, but we went against that philosophy and prefer it. Next trip we'll be at Fort Wilderness, so we'll use the boat. No decision necessary!!

 

[andreadoiron]

EPCOT is a great park to take Disney transportation to because of all the wonderous drinks offered in World Showcase.

that's where we will be on easter sunday and was our thought process for not driving!

 

[andreadoiron]

how is the parking lot at Animal Kingdom? is it worth it to drive? how about blizzard beach? we always rent a car so we can visit grandparents but we never use it onsite. i'd like to drive this time since april break will be very crowded but def need advice