AKL: To rent a car or not?

[mrsp1030]

We are going to Disney the first week in Decemeber and staying at AKL Villas and debating on renting a car or not. We have two small children (ages 4,2) and just debating on distance between resorts and how reliable the transportation system will be with the kids being so young, etc...

 

[skiingfast]

Unless you are planning to leave WDW I would not even consider it. DME is really easy to use going to and from MCO, much better than picking up backage and having to get return a car.

On porperty the Disney transport system runs very well if you do a very simple thing. Don't leave the parks right after a parade or fireworks.

Using the, get on get off, buses will be better than taking a stroller out to the tram and then to your car in the giant parking lots.

 

[Jaymie]

I would agree with skiingfast. Unless you plan to leave WDW, you won't have any trouble depending on the disney transportation. We rented a car for the first time in Nov 09 when we stayed at AKL and used the car to get to MK and it took over an hour to drive there, park, unload, load onto the tram, unloading, then loading onto the ferry/monorail to finally arrive at the gate. On the WDW bus, you walk to the bus stop, get on the bus, ride to the park, get off the bus at the gate and walk in. Much easier, especially with little kids.

 

[dacky041208]

We stayed at AKL last summer and had no issues with the bus system. Yeah AKL is a little further out, so instead of a 12-15 minute ride, it was more like 15-20 minutes to get to MK, not a big deal to us. Just follow skiingfast's advice about not hopping on the bus at bad times and I think you'll be fine.

 

[ljcrochet]

I stayed at AKL and BLT last August without a car. I actually found it easier to get to most of the parks from AKL then BLT (with the exception of MK)

 

[Uncleromulus]

If the OP meant the distance between the resort and the parks, the bus should be OK. But if they really meant the distance between the actual RESORTS (ie the hotels) then they will be in big trouble. Disney's own literature suggests allowing up to an HOUR and a HALF to get from one resort to another.
THat's a LONG time----

 

[Brian Noble]

If you have access to an Unofficial Guide, you can compare their measured times to get from resort to park turnstile using either a car or the buses. From AKL/AKV, the difference isn't usually too great to the four main parks.

I nearly always rent a car, but that's because I just like the flexibility of having a car---we often duck offsite to a grocery or pharmacy, we have resort-to-resort trips (painful on Disney transportation), there are infrequently some longer waits, and it *is* a few minutes faster to drive even to most theme parks other than MK. But, you can certainly get by just fine without one if you'd rather let someone else do the driving.