Disney Transportation vs. my car

[twinsman]

Hi,

I will be staying at PO Riverside June 24 to July 1. We will drive our van there. Should we drive to the parks or take the transportation provided by disney? If you can be specific to each park it would be great. We will have 6 small children with us so waiting for a bus may be a pain. Also, is there a convenient place for you to pick up the rest of your party at the parks if you go to get the van to save them the walk through the lot? Thanks much. -Mike

 

[hercamore]

Hello to another Rochester resident! You are driving with six kids from Rochester to Orlando. Wow. I have stayed at Dixie-Port Orleans, and the bus service is great. I think your kids will really enjoy riding the nice disney buses, too.

Driving to the MK is a pain. I would definitely take the bus which lets you off right at the park entrance, as opposed to driving to the TTC parking lot and then taking the boat over to MK.

Be sure to take the boat down to DT Disney from your resort..

 

[krec]

Disney transportation is excellent. The drivers are helpful as well. We just returned May 14th and the longest wait time was 20 min. for downtown disney. If you took the car , you'd have to take the shuttle from the lot. Disney transportation is almost to the gate. Have nothing but praise for disney transportation. The wait is probably shorter than tram wait or hoofing to the car. You may choose to try both since parking is free if you stay on prperty. I still think disney bus is better . Happy Mickey Vacation. krec

 

[Wes]

As a resort guest, you will be able to use the early entry days. This is one time when you may want to use the car and not the WDW transportation. If you rely on the tranpsortation, you must get out to the bus stop early enough to make sure you do not miss the bus. They do not run extra busses for the park that has early entry. So if you miss a bus, you are going to be sitting there at the bus stop as your early entry times fades away.

For most other purposes, the WDW transportation is the way to go.

 

[djanssen]

I think this one is individual choice. You see conflicting opinions regarding the Disney bus service. I think the bus service is excellent, but also generally still prefer to drive. If speed in getting there is the primary concern I think your car will almost always be quicker. The only exception would be if you arrive at the bus stop exactly when the bus does - and you are at the last stop on the route. You also do have the "tram" time from the parking lot, but I don't think the "wait" for a tram is ever very long - contrary to krec's comment my experience is that any wait for a tram is certainly on average much shorter than the wait at the bus stops. Personally if you don't mind driving I would take the car except for maybe to the MK, where the buses bypass the TTC. Of course, riding the monorail or ferry from the TTC to MK can be fun also - much more so than riding the bus. (I don't get disney magic from riding a disney bus, it is really just like any other bus ride).

As far as pick-up points, most of the time you will take a tram from the park exit to your car which eliminates the walk, depending upon how close you park to the tram drop off. I have had my family wait at the tram drop-off point while I went and got the car if the kids are tired - and you don't want to carry them. Also, I have parked at the Boardwalk and exited EPCOT through the international gateway after illuminations. That gives you a chance to enjoy the Boardwalk area either on the way in or the way out and I then had my family wait at the entrance to the Boardwalk Inn while I went to get the car.

Finally, I echo the point about taking the boat from PO-Riverside to Downtown Disney. Not the quickest way to get there but it is a nice boat ride for the family.

They also have boats that just go back and forth from PO-Riverside to PO-French Quarter. We did that just to check out the FQ "dragon" pool. (Don't bother - the Riverside pool and slide is actually much better).