Biking as Transportation

[Gizerd]

I know bringing and riding bikes has been recommended as a great activity to do at the campground, but is it a good way to speed up your transit to the parks?

I read that there are bike racks at the beach, at the entrance and at The Wilderness Lodge. Is it relatively safe to ride your bike to the ferry and lock it up for the morning while you're at the park?

Do you hear of stolen bikes very often?

Thanks

-e

 

[wdwrroad]

We have ridden our bikes to bothe the marina and the outpost and left them there. At times we have locked them up and at other times we just left them unsecured. Never had anyone mess with them.

 

[tiggerdad]

We were in 400 loop, so we could walk to marina fairly quickly. I had no issues with anyone messing with my bikes and never used locks. We did use bikes for pool and going to the Meadows.

 

[John VN]

Funny thing is a bicycle never needs to be locked up until it decides to wander off by itself.

We lock our helmets along with the bikes.

 

[2goofycampers]

It definitely speeds up things. I'd also definitely lock them up.

 

[Gizerd]

Ok cool. I was a little worried about leaving them locked up for 5-6 hours while we were in the parks--your information makes me feel a bit better.

As a side note: if you rent a golf cart, do you leave it parked at the marina while you're at the park?

 

[2goofycampers]

As a side note: if you rent a golf cart, do you leave it parked at the marina while you're at the park?

Yes, there is parking at both marina and up front bus stop.

 

[tinman694]

It helps to have a couple of trailers for the bikes too. One for the sleepy young ones and one for all the gear.
It helps to have a headlight and tail light for the bikes when going at night. We have the ones with solar panels to charge the batteries while they are hanging out at the bike racks...

The fort is a great place to ride the bikes--we look forward to it every year we go!

 

[Mmketeer]

Yes their are bike racks everywhere at the Fort and even over at the Wilderness Lodge near their bike rental place on the beach.

We always bring our bikes, it's good exercise and entertainment. We ride them at the Fort more than we ever ride them at home I am sad to say. If your just running into the Meadows Trading Post you shouldn't have to lock them, however if you are gonna be gone for any length of time you should lock them up. It doesn't happen often, but once in awhile a bike goes missing from the sites too.

Also remember to ride at night at the Fort you should have a working bike headlight and reflectors. We have a flashy thing on the back of the seats of ours as well. The campground is VERY dark at night, their are no street lights.

 

[Gizerd]

Thank you for all the information. I wouldn't have thought about lights for the bikes and then we would have been out of luck coming home from the parks at night.

 

[SunshineCamper]

LOCK your bikes! I had mine stolen from the bike rack. Security suggested to us that kids come back from the parks tired and want to get back quick so they steal bikes. They then ditch them in the canals.
I don't care WHY they steal them-they shouldn't steal them period. I never found my bike.
They removed my helmet from my bike and placed it on my ds's bike seat. Lucky me-
Lesson learned-lock all bikes even though it's Disney-the happiest place on earth!

 

[TheRustyScupper]

. . .Is it relatively safe to ride your bike to the ferry and lock it up for the morning while you're at the park? . . . Do you hear of stolen bikes very often?

1) It is safe to ride bikes at The Fort.
. . . always watch for vehicle traffic, just in case
. . . ride near the Right edge of the road
. . . have reflectors and lights on front & back of bike
2) And, yes, bikes are purloined at The Fort.
. . . always lock the bike when not in use
. . . whether bike is 25-speed-all-carbon-fiber, or balloon-tire relic
. . . sometimes bikes are ripped-off, and sometimes just "borrowed" *

* Frequently, bikes are found unattended at various locations at The Fort,
by those who borrowed the bike for quick transport, then dumped it.

 

[Sarah_Rose]

How safe is a child bike trailer on the roads? We use ours at home on quiet roads and roads with bike lanes, and have rear lights, reflectors, and a big orange flag.

We are leaving for the Fort tomorrow, and I just packed the trailer into the van (it's also our double stroller) and threw the bikes on the hitch bike rack, so clearly I am asking this question too late. My big plan is to ride the bikes to the boat docks, lock them up there for the day, and pop the strolling wheels on to the stroller (the stroller is large, but is within Disney's stroller size limits and fits through a single door) and head to the MK.

 

[CantWaitToGoAgain]

Sarah Rose do you have a Burley? Or something similar? If so how did it work for you? More so as a stroller. I was hoping on a future trip to the World to take ours and our bikes and use it as our stroller. However I'm worried about its size (the feature I love the most).
Thanks,
Denise

 

[Sarah_Rose]

Sarah Rose do you have a Burley? Or something similar? If so how did it work for you? More so as a stroller. I was hoping on a future trip to the World to take ours and our bikes and use it as our stroller. However I'm worried about its size (the feature I love the most).
Thanks,
Denise

We have a double Chariot (the CX-2 model) - we just got back last night and it worked AWESOME! :thumbsup The stroller was large, but it worked just fine for pushing around the parks. The only time we had any trouble was when we took it into the Emporium around 8:30 at night, and it was TIGHT. Also, we had to fold it to take it on the boat during busy times. During slow times, they let us push it on and it fit just fine at the front of the boat.

The bike to stroller conversion worked really well. It's so easy with the Chariot. Just pop off the wheels (they clip back on upside down when you're not using them so you don't have to worry about carrying them) and click it on to the bike. Don't even have to take the kids out. We even did it with both kids asleep one night, and got their helmets on without waking them up.



So yeah, a double bike trailer/stroller combo is big, but it isn't too big for the parks as long as you're not trying to navigate a store during peak times. We had no trouble, and it was great to have such a big stroller for the kids to stretch out in, and to carry all our stuff!

 

[CantWaitToGoAgain]

We have a double Chariot (the CX-2 model) - we just got back last night and it worked AWESOME! :thumbsup The stroller was large, but it worked just fine for pushing around the parks. The only time we had any trouble was when we took it into the Emporium around 8:30 at night, and it was TIGHT. Also, we had to fold it to take it on the boat during busy times. During slow times, they let us push it on and it fit just fine at the front of the boat.

The bike to stroller conversion worked really well. It's so easy with the Chariot. Just pop off the wheels (they clip back on upside down when you're not using them so you don't have to worry about carrying them) and click it on to the bike. Don't even have to take the kids out. We even did it with both kids asleep one night, and got their helmets on without waking them up.



So yeah, a double bike trailer/stroller combo is big, but it isn't too big for the parks as long as you're not trying to navigate a store during peak times. We had no trouble, and it was great to have such a big stroller for the kids to stretch out in, and to carry all our stuff!

Sarah thanks for the reply. Love that pic of the sleeping kids!
Now if I could only get a trip planned, oh yeah and a camper too!
Still dreaming and living vicariously through these boards!!!