Bus Transportation vs. Rental Car

[Diane D]

I have read several posts from people saying they prefer rental cars over the Disney bus transportation because it's faster than the buses. We debate over whether or not to rent a car on every trip. We did rent a car a couple of times but then wound up leaving it sit in the parking lot pretty much most of the time because we were kind of leary about dealing with all the traffic coming back to the resort at the end of the day. Isn't it more difficult to get back to the resort when the parks close driving yourself than it is on the buses??

 

[Beverly Lynn]

nope never had any kind of problem. Plus I use the vehicle a lot to go to DTD and to the outlets and such.

 

[AlisonB]

Hi,

We had a rental car and we were SO grateful! We had planned on using the busses from CBR a few times (mainly for MK days so we could bypass TTC and the transfer on the ferry/monorail - that adds so much time!) but we tried that just once! We got to the bus stop at 7.05am and didn't get to MK until 8am!!
We always used our car after that!

We never had to queue to get out of the car parks at all.

Alison

 

[eyeores mom]

i'm also wondering about rental vs. WDW trans. we will be at the poly for 4 nights and only need the car to go to AK and MGM, possibly Typhoon lagoon. the price difference between TTC and rental is $100 and i cant decide if its worth it. Any opinions?

 

[js]

If we stay on-site or off, we rent a car. With 2 children and a stroller, it is the only way to go. If it were just my dh and I, we would still rent a car. We leave our stroller and change of clothes in the car along with a sweater for the evenings, if need be. We leave our room, get in the car and drive to the parks. We always end our evenings in Epcot so once the park closes, we get to avoid the heavy crowds of people waiting for the bus (or busses if the first ones get full) and just hop in our car and head back to the hotel. For 8 days, I am renting rom National EA for $144. A $144 is well worth the convenience for my family. If it's in your budget for the car, I would say do it

 

[imgoingtodisney]

Husband and MIL are driving down from Mass to MILs winter home in FL a few days before 9yr son and I fly down. Husband said he refuses to budge the car out of Wilderness Lodge parking lot after driving that distance. We'll see what he says after the first few days. They will have a few days at MILs before getting us at Orlando airport.

 

[NoodlesTheRabbit]

Contrary to most other posters, we have never and will never rent a car at WDW. Why??
1. We don't want to spend the $ when we can use wdw transportation.

2. We love TTC! It's nice to not have to worry about directions and picking up the car, paperwork and where to return the car, and where to park at the parks, and walking from the lot to the tram to the entrance, etc.

3. My boyfriend drives an hour to and from work every day. Neither he nor I want to spend our time driving and navigating around Florida.

4. I am on vacation and don't mind relaxing while waiting for bus, monorail, or boat. It's fun to people-watch and take in the sights. We really like this "relaxing" time.

5. We spend almost all of our time on WDW property. When we go to Universal or SeaWorld, we hop a Mears bus. Inexpensive, and no worries about navigating, parking, etc.

6. No children make it easy for us too. We don't have to lug strollers, etc. around with us.

Have a fun trip!

 

[hobogary]

We always drive down and hardly ever drive on site. Disney transport is great for us. I would not rent a car , unless I was going off site, and then I might take a cab. The only place we might drive is downtown Disney. we tried driving to the parks, but by the time you park, walk to the tram, ride the tram, walk to the park, (or monorail, or ferry), well, it a lot more hassle.Plus the bus drivers can be entertaining and informative.

 

[Disneydenise]

I think it is a personal issue. Do you hate to wait or hate to drive. DH hates to wait so we rent a car. It does save time. We go in the summer and even at the delux resorts the trans. is not always that great if you are going to the market place,or AK. We also like to go to different hotels for meals and it is much easier to get around for us. Our children are practically adults and we still like the convience of having our own vehicle.

 

[d.kurz]

We love to have a car at WDW. We do not like busses, which
probably has alot to do with the fact that we grew up in
Philadelphia and used public transportation alot. Mass
transit has absolutely no redeeming qualities for us!

 

[NoodlesTheRabbit]

oops...I almost forgot. Another we like is talking to our fellow WDW vacationers! We have met so many people just by sitting next to them on the bus or on the monorail. I really enjoy meeting new people, so this is another thing we enjoy about not renting a car.

 

[Loan]

We had TTC booked for months and at the last minute decided to rent a car. I booked through Priceline at a good rate. I ended up with Alamo that was offsite with a shuttle. After I was locked in, I read many negative posts, but I appear to have lucked out. We arrived 6/3, Sunday, and we were off the plane, retrieved luggage, got on the bus, rented the car and was at ASMu in 90 minutes total. I thought that was excellent. Their service on both ends was great. Anyway, I had this gut feeling I would prefer to be on my schedule and not Disney's. I found that the tram to the gates from the parking lots was quick and we were out of there in a flash, and we left parks at closing time all 4 nights. Only one evening did we use the busses and that was to the MK. On the way home, my sister became nauseous. She said it was a combination of the rough ride, people being jammed in like sardines, and the smell of sweaty bodies (no offense, ourselves included!). No more busses for us! That proved to me that the extra 100.00
was worth every penny !