Disney Trip #2 with Park Hopper- Car vs Bus

[MoreThanThis]

Hi everyone! I would love your advice.

Heading out to Disney World Dec 3-7 and staying at Coronado Springs.
This will be our second visit and the main purpose is the Christmas Party.
We decided to get park hopper tickets to go revisit some favorite attractions.
During our first trip, we stayed at the Fort Wilderness cabins and drove to the parks. So I never used Disney’s transportation system. I known park hopping will eat at my schedule but I want to know how to be efficient with it.

My question is: on the days I’ve planned to park hop, should we consider driving, Uber, or bus? Which would you consider to take less time?

I can’t wait to hear from y’all! Thank you!

 

[hllb]

If you have a car and are on property, I’d drive myself. Mostly because I’m cheap lol. Uber would be the most efficient but relying solely on that to park hop could get expensive. So I’d drive. Now, if you’d have to rent a car, then I’d uber.

 

[Robo]

Toss-up.
Advantages and disadvantages can be found in any mode of transportation.
Pick one, or mix it up.

 

[amylevan]

Any hopping that involves the magic kingdom I lean towards using disney transportation to avoid the extra stop at the TTC. (We'd walk to/from the Contemporary and use the buses from there.)

Going between EP and DS, we'd use the boat.

Other than that, driving would probably save you the most time.

 

[BriLovesDisney]

I always take the bus. It's easier for us.

 

[ForMyBoys]

I think you could do it either way. We like breaks during the middle of our day so we would take transport back to our resort then head out to a different park after a refresh. If you want to go, go, go however it would be more efficient to drive or Uber between certain parks. I felt like moving between Epcot, MK and HS was easiest. Hopping to AK seems to take the longest. We have non-expiring hopper tickets. On our last trip we did HS, Epcot and MK in one day with a pool break using only Disney transport. Hours were long, 8am-11pm, tiring but it was a great day. We stayed at the beach club so we were close to those parks and it made it more time efficient for a break.

 

[srwarden1928]

I always drive to the parks. I find it to be especially efficient when hopping, with one exception. I like to hop between MK and Epcot (either direction) with the monorail. Other than that, hopping is VERY efficient with the car. (It probably would be more efficient with the car even then, but I just really like the monorail.

 

[whiporee]

This may sound like hyperbole, but I think the quickest and surest way to destroy a WDW vacation is to rely on WDW transportation. the hottest tempers I've seen and I've had have been waiting for crowded busses. Waiting for the bus is a lousy way to start a day and a horrible way to end one.

I'd drive and pay the preferred parking. It's more money for the trip, I know, but I honestly believe you end up happier.

The only exception to this is if you stay at one of the monorail resorts, and you can use the park ferry to MK. Otherwise you're better off driving and using preferred parking.

 

[DisneyOma]

This may sound like hyperbole, but I think the quickest and surest way to destroy a WDW vacation is to rely on WDW transportation. the hottest tempers I've seen and I've had have been waiting for crowded busses. Waiting for the bus is a lousy way to start a day and a horrible way to end one.

I'd drive and pay the preferred parking. It's more money for the trip, I know, but I honestly believe you end up happier.

The only exception to this is if you stay at one of the monorail resorts, and you can use the park ferry to MK. Otherwise you're better off driving and using preferred parking.

We love waiting for the bus in the morning - talking to the other people in line is fun. Never seen anyone with a hot temper at the bus stop. Some of the best memories we have are waiting for the next bus, chatting with the CMs working the bus queues at MK. They are a special breed of patient CM, that's for certain, and they have some wicked senses of humor!

 

[cgattis]

Same here; we've never seen bad behavior at bus stops (although I'm sure it occurs there, as everywhere). But to someone with an hour eachvway daily commute, I love the buses. We rarely drive on-property unless we are going somewhere off-property right afterwards or to the waterparks.

 

[Donalyn]

I was wondering the same thing. We will be on-site this trip and have a car, which is a combo I've never experienced in the past. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[whiporee]

We love waiting for the bus in the morning - talking to the other people in line is fun. Never seen anyone with a hot temper at the bus stop. Some of the best memories we have are waiting for the next bus, chatting with the CMs working the bus queues at MK. They are a special breed of patient CM, that's for certain, and they have some wicked senses of humor!

I'm sure that has happened, but have you ever had to wait for the third bus to get to one of the parties? Enough to take a bit of the shine off the whole evening.

And then trying to get back afterwards? Yuck.

But I'm glad my experiences haven't been universal.

 

[maxiesmom]

I'm sure that has happened, but have you ever had to wait for the third bus to get to one of the parties? Enough to take a bit of the shine off the whole evening.

And then trying to get back afterwards? Yuck.

But I'm glad my experiences haven't been universal.

Have you ever had to wait for the 3rd tram to pick you up from the parking lot in the rain? That is no fun either.

Both ways of transportation have their pluses and minuses. We had a car my last trip because we had my dad along and I don't want him standing on a bus. And we had someone who didn't mind driving. But other than this most recent trip I have used Disney transportation for years.