who is glad they rented a car?

[lisaanddenny]

we went for free dining in late sept of 2005, the extra magic hours in eve left the bus transportation a nightmare.....we stayed at POFQ and the lines were so long....thinking of renting a car this time.....people with cars were zipping right bye the buses back to their resorts.........opinions? I found a good deal for less than $100 through Sam's Club!

 

[DisneyWalkerGirl]

We always rent a car 'cause we love how much extra time it seems to give us. Staying on site you don't have to pay to park and we find it really easy to park hop and take breaks.

 

[jenseib]

We rented a car becuase we came from Sanford Airport, and Disney doesn't provide transportation from there. I liked having it, but we MOSTLY used the Disney transportation to and from the parks. We drove to the Contemporary one morning for Breakfast and we drove to DTD and my DH drove over to see the race track one morning as well.
We only did one day of EMH and the bus stop was empty when we left, but it was after 1 in the morning , and MK was opened till two that day. The buses were always crowded though for the most part going to the parks and sometimes coming back. (this was in March) But I did some research and driving really doesn't get you back much faster either. You have to go to the parking lot and get to your car, and figure your way back (for those who are familiar with the area) The buses took the best routes, so the ywere faster on time than us driving. But if you don't want to wait in line or be on a crowded bus then driving is the way to go. But driving to the MK is still MUCH slower than the buses. I was glad we had a car, but we really didn't need it. I think it really is a personal thing for everyone.

Also my 2 YO thought riding on the bus was one of the funnest things we did there. LOL!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

We were also really glad to have a car at our disposal. We used it to get everywhere except for the MK. So much faster than the busses. Bonus is that you don't have to stand crammed in a bus with a bunch of smelly sweaty strangers at the end of the day!

 

[Creekermom]

We too are considering renting a car... it is a 13 hr drive and with unlimited miles, we cant beat it!

I will have to check the SAMS club out...
Do you have a link or details you can share... I guess it be considered how far one is away in order for the price comparisons.

Thanks

Minnie Mouse

Take this quiz!

 

[lisaanddenny]

we are flying......sams club site and look under travel.....cheapest rates without discounts I have found. I think you can still use discount coupons too....just gotta try it......my hubby hated the bus system in 2005, it WAS VERY CROWDED FOR POFQ, waited an hour one time after fantasmic!!!!!!! it was insane! we have reservations @ whispering canyon one night @ 8:20, driving will be easier than taking two buses etc.....plus I can run to the grocery store for beer/wine and breakfast items, we don't go out and eat breakfast daily....to filling and were doing the water parks a few days in the am, so we wanna get up and go!!! Ecomony car was $90 for 5 full days, cant beat that!

 

[tommymac5]

My wife and I always rent a car. We love to Visit and eat meals at the different resorts. A rental car makes the trip much faster. As stated earlier parking is free at the parks for Disney Resort Guests. In the event I don't feel like driving for the day we use the buses, but that only happens one or two days in a week. We almost always use dollar rent a car. use codes from mousesavers to find good deals.

 

[karibritt01]

Staying on site you don't have to pay to park and we find it really easy to park hop and take breaks.

We found it longer to the parks when we drove. By the time you park and walk to the gate (Monorail or ferry in MK) the buses have dropped everyone off at the gate and gone.

Perhaps 1 reason you had such a bad time with crowded buses is that you were at POFQ, which shares a bus with POR. We stayed at CSR in July last year (just before the 4th) and in June this year, and never had a problem. We only had to stand twice in 7 days. We drive our car, and only took it out of the parking lot twice.

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

when we went in May we didnt rent a car b/c we were paying a lot to stay at WL and thought we'd save money and just take DME even tho we have ALWAYS had a rental car on other WDW trips. I think that we were being punished then b/c we had horrible bus luck the whole time. At one point i thought my dad was going to walk to Alamo to get a rental car lol.

needless to say we will get a rental car next time no matter what the price is b/c we wasted so much time on buses from there to there. We only made it to DTD twice for an hr or two b/c the buses took FOREVER. Its nice you get to park for free too and we always somehow get close parking spots as well.

 

[byoung]

We never have a car unless staying offsite. I'm find with the Disney transportation, to us it's part of the majic.

 

[DizneyNutz]

We have always either driven or flown and rented a car. We have driven and not used our personal vehicle from arrival to departure. But when we have flown we still have always rented a car. That being said, it is more of a comfort for us to know that we are in control of our transportation options. We have waited on a bus to take us to a park from CSR for about 45 minutes (the buses only service CSR so why the wait?) and drove ourselves to everywhere after that because we could rely on it. We did the Candleloght Processional one night and made our own reservations for dining. We wouldhave been running to to bus stop because of our late dining reservation being after closing at Epcot. We drove however and casually walked to the exit and went to our vehicle and drove back to the resort. It takes a lot of planning and stress off our trips to have a vehicle at our disposal and we will not be caught there without having our own transportation at our disposal. Sometimes Disney transpotation works and sometimes it doesn't, but we can always rely on our own transportation.

 

[MisunderstoodLilo]

We prefer a car, but there is nothing wrong w/ Disney transportation at all. It's seems easier to use a bus for DTD and MK and a car for everything else.

 

[MagiKitty]

We always rent a car for our vacation. But we also tend to go during the off peak season, when the parks close earlier. We then spend the day at the parks then go offsite to eat dinner, or to do some shopping. We just like the availability and flexibility of having our own transportation.

 

[cathydwin]

We have always rented a car too. Just enjoy a trip off to the Disney outlets and other dinning places whne the park closes early. From New England so may need to go to Dunkin Dounts at least 2 times during the trip!!!

 

[RJD]

We've rented and not rented. Looks like I'm in the minority here but I think if you're staying onsite, you don't really need a car, unless of course, you want to visit other spots in Orlando (there's other places to see in Orlando??) I've always found the Disney transportation fine. Maybe I've just been lucky.

 

[SGMCO]

The more people who rent cars, the more room
there will be on the Busses!

 

[sportsmom9]

We prefer to be able to come and go as we please without waiting for others. We've discovered that we are just not bus people. We'd rather spend the waiting time riding rides.

 

[FutureCinderella88]

We always rent a car.... mainly because my mom likes having the power of having her own transportation.... and we hate to wait in any more lines than we have to (we get annoyed and cranky waiting for the disney buses after a full HOT day at the parks lol) and with free parking when you stay onsite, why not?

 

[Michele]

We won't go anymore without renting.

We've done it both ways and love the freedom it gives us to get places on our own time. Inevitably we were the people who showed up at the bus stop right after the bus to the place we wanted to go had just pulled away. And it irritated me to no end having to stop off somewhere else (waterparks, etc) before continuing on to the park we wanted to go to. We also like being free to travel to other resorts for dining, visiting etc.

There is nothing worse than a crowded wait and ride on the Disney bus after a long day at the parks, so much nicer and more relaxing to climb into our own car and head straight back to our room.

Orlando has some of the cheapest car rental rates going, so why not take advantage, we rented for 8 days in April 2007.....$137.20.

 

[Dizneydaz]

We too have always flown and rented a vehicle. The only time we've used Disney Trans. is when we rode back from HDDR to WL parking lot. I keep thinking we should try the bus to MK but haven't done it yet.

The reasons we rent are the same as PP have mentioned, as well as others:
1. We like to be in control of our schedule.
2. We eat at alot of resort restaurants and they tell you to allow 1-1/2 hours if you are using the busses.
3. We like to explore other parts of Florida (actually my DM insists on this!)
4. We can shop for souvenirs and food (mostly breakfast and snacks) off site (We love Sam's Club and Super Walmart) I've even gone off-site to have my digital pix transferred to a disc (before I bought a bigger card) and had a relaxing pizza combo at Sam's, while waiting the hour. This was substantially cheaper than doing it at WDW. They wanted, I think, about $13 for 200 pictures. I got close to 400, at Sam's for less than $3.
5. We visit with my DM's uncle, who is in his eighties, and was at Pearl Harbor. He lives in Orlando.
6. We like to drop into DTD. With our own car, it's a quick trip.
7. We like to explore all the resorts.
8. We don't have to leave too early for the airport by taking ME. More time to say goodbye to WDW ('til next time!)

On a recent trip with 5 adults and 1 kid, we even rented 2 vehicles. This way part of our group could do something different. This worked well when my DM and DSis visited Cape Kennedy and the rest of us visited the parks. Also worked well when my DSis, and I, had a little blow up (we don't travel well together in a car-too close in age, I guess! )

We currently have a standard SUV ,for 11 days from Alamo, for just under $260 (inc. all fees) We used the code from Walmart (#430710) for free additional driver and coupon from Entertainment for $25 off. Still hoping rates will drop further, or the rates on the minivans will finally come down. We've rented minivans, in the past, for about $225-250 for 10 days. I love Alamo because you get to pick your own vehicle. Everytime we've picked a mini van we've always been able to get one with all the bells and whistles (and built-in DVD player)

ADDED-I just checked Sam's Club and they are $367 for the same vehicle. Over $100 more. I've never found Sams to be very low on rentals.

HTH