1st time WDW visitor needs advice on getting around

[gpaint]

Hi, I'm a 1st time poster. My wife and I along with our 17-year old daughter will be visiting WDW for the 1st time in August. We'll be staying at Marriott Courtyard at Lake Buena Vista.

I was seeking advice as to what the best way of getting around was. I phoned the hotel and they say that they have shuttles taking hotel patrons to the various theme parks every 2 hours starting at 7:30 AM and their last trip back to the hotel is usually when the respective parks close.

We picked the hotel because we were on a budget. On the maps that I have seen, it looks that it is well situated and within a mile of Downtown Disney on Palm Parkway & Vineland.

I read on Expedia that a cab ride to a WDW attraction was usually a flat $20. I was wondering for those of you that have done WDW if the hotel shuttles were pretty prompt with their service or were they unreliable, forcing you to take a cab, or other modes of transportation.

On another note, would renting a car make more sense. I don't think that parking is free at the theme parks, and because we are located relatively close to all the parks, that renting wouldn't make sense, since we would be spending our entire stay visiting the various theme parks of WDW.

This site is Fabulous! Thanks in advance to those who reply

 

[wdwguide]

Hi, I'm a 1st time poster. My wife and I along with our 17-year old daughter will be visiting WDW for the 1st time in August. We'll be staying at Marriott Courtyard at Lake Buena Vista.

I was seeking advice as to what the best way of getting around was. I phoned the hotel and they say that they have shuttles taking hotel patrons to the various theme parks every 2 hours starting at 7:30 AM and their last trip back to the hotel is usually when the respective parks close.

We picked the hotel because we were on a budget. On the maps that I have seen, it looks that it is well situated and within a mile of Downtown Disney on Palm Parkway & Vineland.

I read on Expedia that a cab ride to a WDW attraction was usually a flat $20. I was wondering for those of you that have done WDW if the hotel shuttles were pretty prompt with their service or were they unreliable, forcing you to take a cab, or other modes of transportation.

On another note, would renting a car make more sense. I don't think that parking is free at the theme parks, and because we are located relatively close to all the parks, that renting wouldn't make sense, since we would be spending our entire stay visiting the various theme parks of WDW.

This site is Fabulous! Thanks in advance to those who reply

I personally wouldn't want to rely on hotel shuttles when staying off-property. You are bound by their schedules, and it is very easy to mistime how long it takes you to get from whereever you are back to the park exit. If you miss it, you're stuck for another couple of hours. They can be a pain if you get tired and decide you want to return to the hotel for a quick nap or swim in the pool, but find that the next shuttle is still an hour and a half away...

I can manage without a car while staying on-property, but always use one when staying off property.

 

[Mom to Will and Finn]

Parking is free to on-site guests, only. I can't remember what it is for off-site guests, but I do know it adds up quickly. Is there any way you can stay on-site in a value resort?

 

[BYC]

Is it really cheaper to stay at the Marriot than to stay at a Value Resort in Disney?? I would check into staying onsite. No taxi fares, no worries about shuttles, and you can enjoy the magic so much more!

 

[BYC]

Also, it may be even cheaper for you if you get the free dining package. I would investigate a liitle more!

 

[lowie]

Hi, I'm a 1st time poster. My wife and I along with our 17-year old daughter will be visiting WDW for the 1st time in August. We'll be staying at Marriott Courtyard at Lake Buena Vista.

I was seeking advice as to what the best way of getting around was. I phoned the hotel and they say that they have shuttles taking hotel patrons to the various theme parks every 2 hours starting at 7:30 AM and their last trip back to the hotel is usually when the respective parks close.

We picked the hotel because we were on a budget. On the maps that I have seen, it looks that it is well situated and within a mile of Downtown Disney on Palm Parkway & Vineland.

I read on Expedia that a cab ride to a WDW attraction was usually a flat $20. I was wondering for those of you that have done WDW if the hotel shuttles were pretty prompt with their service or were they unreliable, forcing you to take a cab, or other modes of transportation.

On another note, would renting a car make more sense. I don't think that parking is free at the theme parks, and because we are located relatively close to all the parks, that renting wouldn't make sense, since we would be spending our entire stay visiting the various theme parks of WDW.

This site is Fabulous! Thanks in advance to those who reply

the absolute best way to get around is disney transportation, hands down! you may be better off trying to call disney and see if their rates are comparable/lower than your existing reservation. first go to www.mousesavers.com and look for deal/codes there.
but if you stick with your original plan i'd try to find more reviews on the shuttle by doing a google search. if you rent a car parking is (i think) $9 per day in disney. so then a cab may be better for using your time well.
have fun!

 

[boomhauer]

I would look at staying at a Disney Value Resort. If you stay offsite, every 2 hours for shuttles is an eternity, compared to Disney's shuttle service. Plus, you'll get dropped off in the parking areas, and have a long way to go from there.

If you rent a car, being an off-property visitor, you'll spend $8 a day to park at the parks. If you stay on property, parking is free. Of course, if you stay on property, you don't need a rental car.

I don't know - Having stayed both on and off property, I simply can't imagine ever staying off property again.

 

[Boncho]

I would look at staying at a value resort on Disney. Last year when I was planning our trip to Disney I thought it might be cheaper to stay off property and get a rental car (when staying off property, you need a rental car or you are spending waaaay too much time waiting for shuttles). After I compared the costs, it was cheaper to stay at a value resort and take advantage of the Disney shuttles ( which run about every 5 - 7 minutes) than it was to stay off property and rent a car and it was definitely more convenient.
This year we are planning to also go to Seaworld during our vacation. We still don't need a rental car because all you have to do is go to the ticket and trans. center at MK and catch the #50 Lynx bus for about $1.50 a person.
Have a great trip, after all, you'll be at Disney!!

 

[SnackyStacky]

Rent a car.

As someone else mentioned, it's difficult to depend on those shuttles.

Parking will be $9/day. (Not $9 per park, it's $9/day. If you park hop, or leave and come back, simply show your receipt again)

Besides giving you much more freedom to come and go to the parks as you please, you can make trips to the grocery store and stock your room, and visit off-property restaurants every once and a while to save some money. Not to mention, we always end up going to Walgreen's for some item that we may have forgotten and would pay an arm and a leg for at Disney's convenience stores.

 

[Quinn222]

If you stay off property I'd get a car. However, you'll have to pay for the car and the parking. Add that up and add up the cost of your room. Then check out staying on Disney property with the free dining and see which is better. I suspect you'd do better on property with free dining.

 

[bopper]

I stayed off site at Disneyland one time, and used the shuttles. They were fine going to the park, but when coming back you were supposed to call them and tell them when you were coming back so that they would make sure there was enough room on the bus. I didn't like having to plan my departure like that (even though I am a planner). I am not sure if your hotel would be like that. But I would either rent a car, or I would stay at a Disney Resort and use the transportation.

 

[excitedfordisney7]

I agree with the rest. When you add up all the parking money, rental car price, and time wasted (it is always very valuable on vacation!)....your best bet is to stay on Disney property. Disney even offers transportation between the airport free! Too many perks to give up.....

 

[gpaint]

Thank you for all your replies and advice. I can't go into detail, but I did compare staying onsite versus off and I could not pass this deal up.

I'll give this hotel the benefit of the doubt and try their shuttle system going there. We plan on staying at 1 theme park per day and maybe go back to the ones we really like during our 7-day visit. We'll probably stay till closing every night, so if we can make arrangements with the hotel shuttle for pickup, fine. If not, then we can always cab it back to the hotel.

For our next trip back, and believe me, there will be one, we will definitely stay onsite

 

[tjmw2727]

I would check back and see if you can get a schedule so you can be clear on the timing. When they say a shuttle to a theme park every two hours they could mean just that! For example, when we stayed offsite at the Omni the brochure read, shuttles to Disney every hour so I thought great since DH was in meetings. Well that is exactly what it was, 8am a shuttle to MK (TTC), 9am to MGM 10am to AK and 11am to Epcot, same thing with the return time so in reality a shuttle from the resort to the MK was every 4 hours rather than the every hour they claimed. You could of course take the next shuttle and then use WDW transportation to get to your park of choice but that takes alot of time. Same thing on the return trips so we ended up taking a cab most of the time.

If your set on the offsite resort I would recommend checking for an inexpensive rental, you have to get to the resort from MCO anyway. Otherwise have some $$ put aside $$ for cabfare at least for the return trips.

Have Fun
TJ