Car vs no car - opinions/cost

[Julia Ann]

So just thinking (again) about our next trip in 2015. Car or no car is the question.

Staying off site at IDrive - free shuttle to Universal and Sea World

will want many days at Disney/HS/AK/water parks plus some evenings maybe most (14 nights) at DDD....so what would be better value?

Taxi's to Disney areas? plus transfers from possibly Sanford airport
or car hire+insurance+car parking (what is it these days $10?)

we have always had a car when just me and DH but now we have DD not sure if the convenience of the car will be favourable, but we will be on a tight budget so just putting the feelers out.

 

[bex7583]

are you set on a certain accomodation , if you go with the no car route would you be better looking for one that has either free or payable shuttles to disney also ??

im just the same though and on such a tight budget its so hard to know wheres good to try save , the car parking is i think from when i asked $15 a day !!

i love your count down !!

 

[queendisney]

tbh if you are set on I-drive and you are planning lots of time in WDW then its got tobe a car. Or as pp said cannot you not find a hotel with free transport (or a small fee) to WDW? Even then I would be very wary of doing that with a small child as you will be trapped in the parks all day. The off site shuttles often only have a couple of pick up times in the evening and sometimes these are before the park closes so you may miss the fireworks. What about a split stay instead, I'drive for when you are going todo US/IOA and Seaworld and maybe stay in the LBV area for WDW. At least their shuttles are free and frequent.
If you are set on not having a car then personally there is no way I'd stay down I-drive when doing lots of days/evenings at WDW.

 

[chmurf]

I wouldn't do that without a car.

Now, about that parking fee issue that was raised.
If you get those 14 days ultimate tickets from Disney UK, you might try to do the maths to see if it's worth it upgrading one ticket to AP to get free parking at Disney. Of course that's if you ain't too much set on water parks, or you'd need the PAP wich comes at a much more expensive price and defeats the whole purpose.

but, you see, there are ways to tweak things in order to accomodate for a tight budget

now, how old is your daughter ? EDIT : just saw she'll be 7
No more stroller to crash in after the long day at the parks, especially at night. I wouldn't want to have to have my kid stand up waiting for a crowded bus for a possibly large amount of time, to then have to ride standing a whole 45 minutes to the hotel, and then walk back to the room.
I'd take the short hike to the tram, then to the car, and then to the hotel room in a heartbeat

Anyway, a taxi fare from I-drive (universal boulevard) to DTD is $25
mears would maybe work cheaper ($19 per trip IIRC)

get a quote for a car for a week, and try to imagine all of the routes/trips you would take on that week. And see what gets cheaper.
But IMHO it doesn't get any better than with a car when you stay offsite., especially if you want a lot of that Disney stuff

 

[wilma-bride]

We have done both - stayed offsite without a car and with. We have stayed at hotels that don't provide shuttles to Disney and those that do. Even staying at a hotel where all shuttles were provided, it was pretty inconvenient as far as timing. We had taken two trips before we got to see any fireworks or night-time shows/parades. Most shuttles leave before the parks close whcih generally means missing the fireworks. We were lucky one year and stayed at a hotel where they pretty much provided shuttles 'on demand' but, even there, the last shuttle from Disney was at 9pm so no good for Wishes or Illuminations.

I always used to disagree vehemently with those people who said you couldn't manage without a car. I still think you CAN manage but a car makes life a lot easier, particularly when staying offsite. With a young child, I wouldn't even contemplate staying offsite and trying to visit Disney with no car.

chmurf has a good point about whether it might save you money to upgrade a 14-day ticket to an AP. An even cheaper way to do it might be to buy a disocunted MYW ticket and upgrade that (you would have to do the maths but there are plenty of posts around that give an indication of costs).

ETA: It might be wroth considering a split stay - 1 week onsite at WDW and 1 week on I-Drive. That way you would get the best of both worlds and not have to incur parking costs.

 

[zippy99]

How much is your hotel on i-drive?
How much would your car hire be + parking?
How much would you spend on public transport?

If you are intending to do 'a lot' of Disney it may be worth staying at one of their onsite resorts. Whilst it may cost a bit more the travel/parking costs could offset the additional cost of staying onsite. Plus if you fly into MCO - you can get the free disney transport to the hotel.

Worth considering this too.

 

[torsie24]

I know people do stay on I Drive with no car. But it's definitely not something I'd ever do unless I was only planning on going to Universal and Seaworld etc.

I just think it's a false economy. You'll have spent a lot on your trip, even if you do it all budget. And you'll be wasting hours each day getting back and forth to WDW.

Even if you can't stretch to onsite (which aren't that ££ when you factor in the free transportation, extra hours etc) I think you'll be better staying in a resort near DTD for the Disney part of your trip.

 

[Kath2003]

Have done both; we use the buses now. For us, the cost of the car is too high for how much we'd use it, plus parking, plus the fact that we actually like not to drive on holiday and have a few drinks. Never had a problem with the buses and it doesn't hold us back - we go everywhere we want, whenever we want. We quite like strolling around and not worrying about traffic etc.

If you want the raw math, a 7-day pass is $16, so for the two of us it's $32. This gets us everywhere, including to and frm the airport (MCO though, not Sanford). Conversely, the parking alone for 7 days would be $84. That's already a $52/£35 saving. We don't mind using the buses one bit - and indeed it's preferable as we enjoy the odd cocktail - and we save money. The savings probably pay for every forth trip we take.

 

[bazzanoid]

I agree - car for definite. If you're prepared to take the i-trolley to seaworld, then the lynx to disney, and back again, and be watchful of the evening buses as they don't run as often or as late as you want, then good luck, we did it once, decided never again as you always have one eye on the watch near the end of the day and it's not fun, especially if you've got a tired one with you who won't appreciate the hour journey by public transport back at the end each day!

Just out of curiosity, and apologies for threadjacking, what's the cost of upgrading a 14-day ultimate to an AP these days?

 

[jtlover]

If it was me I would do a split stay to use free buses, so I would choose a hotel near to Disney

 

[Julia Ann]

Thanks so much for your replies very interesting....it's worth me taking the time to do the math....blimey imagine what i'm gonna be like on this forum nearer to the time of booking i still got 3 years of planning (and saving) ahead of myself yet, but trying to get head around the prices so I know how much i need to save. We don't need to stop on ID, would love Disney on site, which we have never done, but always thought the cost would be too expensive.

 

[queendisney]

Thanks so much for your replies very interesting....it's worth me taking the time to do the math....blimey imagine what i'm gonna be like on this forum nearer to the time of booking i still got 3 years of planning (and saving) ahead of myself yet, but trying to get head around the prices so I know how much i need to save. We don't need to stop on ID, would love Disney on site, which we have never done, but always thought the cost would be too expensive.

On site is expensive but you could stay off site very close by. Lake Buena Vista area hotels all do (well most of them) the free shuttle bus frequently through out the day. Personally we don't hire a car because like a pp said its just not worth our while. We spend nearly all our time in WDW itself and use their transport. For Seaworld and the Malls we use the Lynx bus very quick and very cheap and for US/IOA we grab a Mears shuttle.

We stayed at the Wyndham LBV in Feb last year and that is 5 mins walk away from DTD..perfect location. You maybe able to find a room there at a reasonable price. They Lynx bus stop is right outside it as well and the Mears shuttle picks up from that hotel. It also has a free shuttle to LBV factory outlets (they aren't the best but it has some ok stores). If you way up the cost of your car hire staying on I-drive plus parking, gas etc..it will more then likely cost the same to stay in the LBV area without a car.