To rent a car or not ro rent, this is my question

[Mike77]

To all,

We have an upcoming 5 day WDW stay at the WL. We are a family of 4 me,wife and 2 kids 3 & 5.

Right now we are signed up for the ME. But rates are really favorable to rent a car. I like the car option because of having the flexability to not to rely on the buses or boats.

Any advice would be helpful.


Thank you in advance for your input.

 

[schoen]

I used to rely on Disney transportation, but then we rented a car for one trip, and I refuse to go back! It is just SO nice to control your own schedule. I also hate the crowds in the park, and enjoy being able to avoid crowds on the bus, and just enjoy the privacy of my own car.

 

[LisaTC]

I guess it depends how many days you will spend at MK. Dis transportation will drop you at the main gate to MK, whereas parking your vehicle and then taking a tram to the gate. If you have ADR's in the evening in DTD or AK, then that is a bit of a haul on buses and a car would be very HANDY! I'm fussing with the same decision. I don't want to add hours on my day just to catch buses, etc. If you can get a deal on a car for your 4-5 days, then I'd take it, but taking a taxi if you got frustrated may even out the same amount of $$.

 

[CheshireKittyKat]

Rent the car! I am mystified why some people call the crowded buses "relaxing" and worry about driving on property. There are signs everywhere, and the buses are stressful to say the least. From the WL I would only take the bus to the MK- the boat is pretty (once), but takes a lot longer.

 

[mickeynut1]

We rent a car when we can get a great deal . We usually use a town car service, but when I find rentals for the same or less money than the car service, I get the car . We don't use the car too much because we enjoy using Disney transportation, but it is nice to know we have it if we want it .

 

[Sue M]

To me part of the vacay is not having to drive, and find parking, try to find my way around, and wait for trams to take me to my parking area.
I find Disney transportation fast & efficient most of the time.

At park closing, you have traffic waits leaving the parking lots too.

For MK, I'd take the boat anyway. To drive to MK, you have to park in the TTC lot, then monorial or boat to MK from TTC.

I feel, I'd rather spend the extra $ elswhere.

 

[DizneyNutz]

Many dont like the thought of driving theirselves around Disney. We however have found that we like having our own personal transportation. It is not difficult to navigate around Disney at all. We always have our own transportation at our disposal in case we want to use it!

 

[AJKMOM]

We also rent a car. It's nice to go off property to get things like water, breakfast items and snacks. The only time we take a bus is to go to the MK, and maybe DTD at night.

 

[Taja]

We've done both--rent a car and use WDW transportion. Sometimes in the same trip! *LOL*

I'm a good driver, but I drive 75 miles a day. When I'm on vacation, I like the option of not driving. My BFF and travel buddy, on the other hand, prefers driving. Or prefers that I drive.

If you rent a car, be sure to remember to take car seats for your young ones. We've never rented them, but others have indicated that they can be less than appealing.

 

[mdsd8700]

We always rent a car. I have only been on a Disney bus once. It definately is a personal preference however we definately prefer to be in the drivers seat so to speak. Will agree the the MK is a pain going to the TTC, don't like that at all and after doing it a couple of times decided to never do it again. So if we are not at a monorail resort we take a cab to the CR and walk over. The last time we did that it was from the YC and it was about $17. Then we rode the monorail back and stopped at Epcot for awhile.

If you have never rented a car before and you can get a decent rate, I would say to give it a try. This way you will know for sure which one you prefer.

Have a Wonderful Vacation!!

 

[kaligal]

Driving is faster and better.

If the money matters to you, you can take the bus. Many a person before you has opted for public transportation because they couldn't afford to drive and many a person after you will, too. It will get you where you're going.

But if the money doesn't matter, rent the car.

eta: Of course, many DISers take public transportation because driving is just so difficult for them. It has nothing to do with money. They really prefer public transportation because it saves them the horror of the automobile. There is another reason to take the bus.

 

[eliza61]

1) When my kids were little getting strollers on and off IMO was a huge pain.
2) I know most folks at disney are nice but sorry a lot of times they are also impatient. Every had to hold up a bus while getting on with a stroller. let me tell you, if looks could kill.
3) allows me to go from resort to resort a heck of a lot easier. Disney transportation, takes at bare min. 30mins, most times it's 45.
4) park closing. can we say mutal of Omahas "wild kingdom". I've been mowed down from folks trying to get on an over packed bus.

We do not go without one now.

 

[Susiesnowflake]

My husb and I always rent a car when we go. When I have taken a solo trip or girls trips, I have not. I definitely prefer having a car. It just provides for greater convenience and flexibility. We usually stay at the Poly and rely on Disney transportation for getting to the MK and Epcot. We'll use our car for getting to AK, HS, and DTD. The car also allows us to easily and quickly visit the other Disney properties. We always like walking their grounds, getting a bite to eat, and browsing through the shops. We also use the car for market runs and going off-site to eat if we want. There are signs all over the place, and my husb finds all of WDW easy to navigate. We rarely use the trams when self parking. We don't mind walking to the park entrances and usually get there before the trams anyway. If considering a car rental, I'd say go for it. It gives you more options and you and your little ones will not have to wait and deal with crowded buses.

 

[roydavid7771]

We had the best of both worlds last time down. We took ME back and forth from the airport, but we rented a car over at Shades of Green. We did primarily so my fiancee could visit her sister in Orlando while we were down there. Once we had it though, we drove to pretty much every park! The only one we didn't drive to was to MK since we were staying at the Wilderness Lodge at the time, so we took the boat.

Pretty much anything we could have done to avoid buses, we did!

 

[Swan4Me]

Where are you staying? If you are at a deluxe-no car is needed IMO

We stayed at the Swan-had our own car-and never used itOnly rode bus to 2 parks-boat to other 2 which we LOVE

 

[CathieArms]

To all,

We have an upcoming 5 day WDW stay at the WL. We are a family of 4 me,wife and 2 kids 3 & 5.

Right now we are signed up for the ME. But rates are really favorable to rent a car. I like the car option because of having the flexability to not to rely on the buses or boats.

Any advice would be helpful.


Thank you in advance for your input.

The last two times we were at WDW, we did not use a vehicle the entire time we were there and it was absolutely no problem. In fact, the last time, we drove and had a car at our disposal, but it never once left the parking lot after we checked in. This time, we *may* use the vehicle once or twice because I've booked a couple of places for meals that are a bit out of the way and it would just be more time-efficent to drive. But, we'd be perfectly fine just taking the Disney transportation.

 

[sharona]

With 2 young children, I would definitely get the car. Standing in line for 30 minutes at the end of the night then getting on a very crowded bus to stand for another 20-30 minutes holding a sleeping child and juggling a stroller is not fun.

Rates are great right now. Check out mousesavers for some of the coupons that are out there. There are also a couple of threads on the Transportation board with some very good tips for getting the best rate.

Good luck!

 

[Lillian Gracey]

Driving is faster and better.

If the money matters to you, you can take the bus. Many a person before you has opted for public transportation because they couldn't afford to drive and many a person after you will, too. It will get you where you're going.

But if the money doesn't matter, rent the car.

eta: Of course, many DISers take public transportation because driving is just so difficult for them. It has nothing to do with money. They really prefer public transportation because it saves them the horror of the automobile. There is another reason to take the bus.

How rude. Was that really necessary?

 

[pepe of ohio]

We've done 44 trips to WDW and stayed at WL over 10 times and have never used or rented a car.....no need.....buses and boats are fine....much easier than the resort parking lot walk and same at the parks....parking lots are huge, bus stops close.....we never go peak times.....or hoildays....always value season.....boat from WL to the MK is why we pick the Lodge.....boat to CR and use the monorail to EPCOT.......we're at Disney to relax and have fun.....time is not an issue....

 

[Sandisw]

We always rent a car but have found that taking ME to the resort and then picking the car up the next day at the Dolphin was much cheaper. We also return it the day before we leave and then take ME back to the airport.

For our August trip, we are paying only $200 for a minivan instead of the $600 it would have cost me to get it from the airport.

We love the option of driving to DTD and AK. We usually stay in the Epcot area for the first part of the trip and then BLT for the second part so we can walk to 3 of the 4 parks, but the car makes it nice for other adventures.

Good luck!