Do we need a rental car? Are there stores in walkable distance?

[Disneyluv111]

I wanted to know for the 9 days we are there, do we need a rental car? Are there grocery stores in walkable distance to purchase food? Thank you so much!

We will be staying at the Art of Animation resort.

 

[taylor3297]

I wanted to know for the 9 days we are there, do we need a rental car? Are there grocery stores in walkable distance to purchase food? Thank you so much!

We will be staying at the Art of Animation resort.

No stores within walking distance. We order from Garden Grocer and have it delivered to our resort. That way we don't have to take time out to shop. It will be delivered to bell services.

Other folks like to use WeGoShop.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

You'll get many pro rental car and many against a rental car. For our family, we always use a rental car. We're DVC members and stop on way to WDW at a Costco or Target for groceries and anything we may have forgotten to pack. Another reason we went a car is to avoid the Magical Express and the WDW transportation in the parks. My husband doesn't want to wait in lines. When he's ready to leave a park, he just wants to go. I'm not familiar with Art of Animation, but I don't think there is a grocery store nearby. Hopefully some other people will chime in.

 

[Disneyluv111]

When he's ready to leave a park, he just wants to go. I'm not familiar with Art of Animation, but I don't think there is a grocery store nearby. Hopefully some other people will chime in.

Thank you so much everyone! Really helps!
Are the transportation (provided by WDW) always full and have lines?

 

[kmb584]

Thank you so much everyone! Really helps!
Are the transportation (provided by WDW) always full and have lines?

Do you mean the buses to and from the parks? There's almost always a line and almost always full. You could luck out and get a seat, it could be standing room only, or you may be required to wait for the next bus. It really depends on the time of day with mornings and nights being the most hectic.

 

[Dano13]

We were just there two weeks and stayed at the Boardwalk Inn which is pretty close to AoA and we rented a car from the Dolphin Hotel. We checked in and walked to the Dolphin (took Magical Express from the airport) and got the car. We then shot over to Target to get water, cereal, milk, etc. great move.

This is the first time I had a car for the full stay and I will never go without one again. Over 8 days we must have saved 10-12 hours on buses. Plus it allowed us to go to other hotels easily for meals. We took a bus once on this trip and it took 45 minutes to get back to the hotel on an overfilled bus that made 4 stops. Horrible. The rental car was a Godsend.

 

[Dano13]

Do you mean the buses to and from the parks? There's almost always a line and almost always full. You could luck out and get a seat, it could be standing room only, or you may be required to wait for the next bus. It really depends on the time of day with mornings and nights being the most hectic.

and if you are there peak season and stay to see Wishes, Illuminations, Fantasmic, etc ..... Good luck getting on the first bus.

 

[Disneyluv111]

Do you mean the buses to and from the parks? There's almost always a line and almost always full. You could luck out and get a seat, it could be standing room only, or you may be required to wait for the next bus. It really depends on the time of day with mornings and nights being the most hectic.

Thank you! That really helps. Is it common to go without a rental car?
We've never been so I have a lot of questions. Sorry!

 

[Pooh bear 39]

If you are staying on disney property, it is common not to have a car. I hate driving, so waiting for a bus is not a big deal to us.

 

[wdwjeffc37]

We have driven in the past but we never get a car now. I hated driving so much on vacation and if we left the park in the middle of the day the car was so hot. We like to visit with the people on the buses and the bus stops. We have met some really interesting families. I much prefer to "leave the driving to us(Disney)." YMMV. Have fun!

 

[Disneyluv111]

We have driven in the past but we never get a car now. I hated driving so much on vacation and if we left the park in the middle of the day the car was so hot. We like to visit with the people on the buses and the bus stops. We have met some really interesting families. I much prefer to "leave the driving to us(Disney)." YMMV. Have fun!

Thank you Jeff! I am the same way with visiting people and not having to drive. And we could always leave extra early to go see fireworks and things like that. Just thinking about getting a rental sounds like a pain. I was on Dad's guide to WDW and spoke with the blogger, he said that the time I am going won't be bad. It's the end of the month that will get crazy busy.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I wanted to know for the 9 days we are there, do we need a rental car? Are there grocery stores in walkable distance to purchase food? Thank you so much!

We will be staying at the Art of Animation resort.

None walkable.

The only one feasible is Goodings, but it would be an extremely long walk from DTD.

There are grocery delivery services if you wish to avoid car rental. Pretty sure the service charge is less than the cost of a rental car.

I prefer a car at Disney for convenience. While we hardly ever leave properly once on, the on time we used ME was nice...but the lack of a car was rather weird. We love the busses but enjoy having the option to skip them.

 

[Raenstoirm]

You'll get many pro rental car and many against a rental car. For our family, we always use a rental car. We're DVC members and stop on way to WDW at a Costco or Target for groceries and anything we may have forgotten to pack. Another reason we went a car is to avoid the Magical Express and the WDW transportation in the parks. My husband doesn't want to wait in lines. When he's ready to leave a park, he just wants to go. I'm not familiar with Art of Animation, but I don't think there is a grocery store nearby. Hopefully some other people will chime in.

This is the first time I had a car for the full stay and I will never go without one again. Over 8 days we must have saved 10-12 hours on buses. Plus it allowed us to go to other hotels easily for meals. We took a bus once on this trip and it took 45 minutes to get back to the hotel on an overfilled bus that made 4 stops. Horrible. The rental car was a Godsend.

It really is personal preference. We had a rental car for the first time since the 90s this past May. We were coming from a RCCL cruise and found it cheaper to get to Mk via a rental and since we were staying at S&D we kept the car to get back to MCO (no magical express from S&D). We did use the car to get to the parks some days and vowed we will NEVER again have a car. It was miserable for us. The car was hot after sitting in the sun all day and the lines to get in and out of the parking lot were long and then you have to take the tram and then the monorail. Ugh!
That said, we always stay deluxe so the busses aren't quite as crazy as the value busses (less people) and the ride is shorter since deluxes are closer to the parks. And we travel during slower times of the year (May, September, early December). I honestly don't see us ever renting a car again.

 

[MommyMK]

Thank you so much everyone! Really helps!
Are the transportation (provided by WDW) always full and have lines?

No and no. We have ridden on many a less than half empty bus. It really depends on when you are going to and from the parks. At closing? Long lines and full buses. Other times of the day are a crapshoot.

 

[MrsMinease]

To your question, there are no stores in walking distance. Garden Grocer is a great option, as is a cab ride to the store of your choice.

For us, we prefer the rental car route. We're another family who don't want to deal with tired guests at the end of the day and much prefer to have a car to crawl in to. It allows us multiple trips to the store (and the Outlets!) and we really enjoy the convenience of last minute changes in plans... last trip, one of our coolest adventures was a detour to Epcot for fireworks after DS fell asleep in the car. We were able to load him in the stroller and enjoy the show while he slept away.

 

[msmama]

I don't know what kind of food you're looking to purchase but all of the resorts have cafeteria like restaurants with food (and drinks) and the gift shops (in the resorts) usually have snack-y like things.

It's going to be more expensive than a grocery store, but there are things you can get without leaving the property (I usually get a bag of pretzels and some graham cracker snacks or something for the room).

I've never rented a car at WDW and I don't think it's necessary.