Do you drive or take the bus?

[ebtready2go]

Last time we stayed at the Fort we never moved our car (mainly because it was hooked to the RV) and took the buses everywhere. This time we will most likely have a rental car (we could return it early or keep it until the end of our stay) and will have the option of driving.

When is the car most helpful? Sell me paying a little extra money to keep the car the whole stay.

TIA!

 

[sharadoc]

We take the boat to MK and drive everywhere else. It's wonderful to get out of your car at your front door.

 

[Smile&Nod]

We usually stay at an Epcot resort so walk to Epcot, bus to MK, but actually usually drive to Animal Kingdom and Hollywood studios - from the Epcot resorts you either walk to HS or take a boat and they are SO slow so we drive. Same thing to AK - the buses usually stop at Blizzard Beach so we find driving faster. Always drive to DTD.

 

[betmust]

We stay in the cabins for 7 nights every Oct. Always get a car. Do not want to wait for buses at night after a long day. Want to get back and relax. I love Disney but do not want to feel "trapped" for 8 days. We often go out to Buena Vista area to eat or out to Rt. 192 to eat or go to Old Town.
Can't imagine not having a car but I hear plenty of people who don't want any part of a car. They say staying and doing buses gives them a "true Disney feel"...

 

[luckycharm19335]

We use Disney Transportation the entire stay.
With a little planning you can easily miss the 'High Traffic' times.

 

[ToddyLu]

We have only driven to dinner once in our car in the 13 trips we have made. It was April 2004, California Grill for dinner. Two other times we have called a taxi to take us back to AKL after dinner. All other times have been Disney transportation. I am in the "love the buses" group and DH doesn't mind them at all either.

 

[articfox676]

We use the buses. Nice to get on the cool bus rather than a hot closed up car. Do use the car to go to Publix or the outlets on Vineland. We are there to relax and in no hurry.

 

[ebtready2go]

Thanks! If I return the car early, what's your experience with magic express to the airport from the fort?

 

[retired and happy]

We always use the bus to AK and HS, and the boats/monorail/ferry to EPCOT and MK. We also use the busses extensively within the Fort. We also use our golf cart extensivele at the Fort. In our 10-15 years there we have NEVER driven to a Park.

 

[Belleofthehouse]

Glad this question came up. We are driving to WDW/Universal next summer and was wondering if the buses within the Fort were really as bad as people have said. I do not want the expense of renting a golf cart, but did not want to wait for the internal buses for a long time either. Posters have definitely answered my questions.

Thanks!

 

[pooh4me]

We usually stay about 10 to 14 days each trip after flying in and have never had a car at WDW. First of all Magic Express is great both coming and going back, it may take a little longer (about an hour) to Fort Wilderness but its free and comfortable. In 8 trips the most we have waited to board has been about 10 minuets.
The internal Fort buses in the cabin loops run about every 10 minuets and we have not ever not gotten a seat. The bus drivers are fun to talk to.
We have even taken the Lynx bus to both Disney outlets and to Sea World without any problem and very low cost.
Relax and let someone else deal with traffic and directions. We love the buses.

 

[ebtready2go]

I will agree that the buses are not bad at all, in fact we were there at Easter when it should have been very crowded and we never had a problem.

My only issue this time is that we will have a rental car because we're going to visit the grandparents first and we'll be driving up from their house. It's the difference of less than $100 to return the car as soon as we get to Disney or just keep it for another 5 days and return it to the airport. Since we already have it, it seems like it might be worth $100 to have it if we want it and drive ourselves to the airport without being on the driver's schedule.

If we didn't already have the rental from southern Florida, there's no way I'd rent a car.

 

[pigletto]

We used the buses for all of our Disney stays until this last trip. We stayed at AKL and had a rental. We LOVED having a car. It wasn't a busy time of year so the roads were great and it really just got us everywhere much faster and on our schedule. It was nice to not have to build in 90 minutes to make sure we got to our ADR's on time. 30 was more than sufficient.
We're rope drop people so we always got a parking spot close to the front of the park. We'd take the car back for a mid day break. When we returned in the evening we always got another close spot because people had left for the day. It worked perfectly.
The only exception was the MK. You don't really save any time or hassle there because you end up parking at the TTC and needing to take the monorail or ferry over. Doesn't help much.
The fort will be great because we can use the ferry for that one.
Just to note.. we didn't hate the buses at all and didn't think a car would really be a big deal to have. We just ended up getting it because we were going to Unviversal and it wasn't much more to keep it for the week. Now as long as the price is decent I will always get one.

 

[Mcert01]

Last time we stayed at the Fort we never moved our car (mainly because it was hooked to the RV) and took the buses everywhere. This time we will most likely have a rental car (we could return it early or keep it until the end of our stay) and will have the option of driving.

When is the car most helpful? Sell me paying a little extra money to keep the car the whole stay.

TIA!

The best part of taking the car is that is saves time. You don't have to wait for the bus to get you to the Outpost or Settlement to take another bus somewhere else. It provides flexibility and predictability the buses simply cannot provide. You never have multiple transfers, especially getting to another resort.

If you are "park commandos" like we are, you can literally be at the front of the line for rope drop at any park. Also, avoiding the long lines and the jammed buses at the end of a day at the park is very nice as well. I'd rather have to wait 5 minutes for the car to cool down, then wait 30 minutes in line to get on a crowded bus with a lot of aromatic people.

The exception to the rule are MK, where the boat is preferable. Also, if you are park hopping, arriving at Epcot via the monorail is a great way to go. The last two trips we have even been able to catch IIlluminations, then take the monorail to MK in time to see Wishes!

Overall though, having a car just makes things much easier in terms of going where you want, when you want, and not having to wait.

 

[dalspot]

In three trips to Disney (none at the Fort yet tho) we have driven to all the parks EXCEPT the MK. Just too far of a walk from the parking lot and then dealing with the rest of the ride in.

We have always booked via AAA and had the AAA parking pass which gets you a spot in the first rows after the handicap spots.

 

[blessedwithfour]

We were at the Fort last week and did a little of both. Early morning park visits or if we were going to be late, we always took our car. We always take our car to the front at the bus pick up and park in overflow parking so we don't have to wait for another bus to get us back to our site.

 

[DznyRulz]

We take the boat to MK and drive everywhere else. It's wonderful to get out of your car at your front door.

I couldn't agree more.


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[amylevan]

We always take the boat the MK, the boat the ride is just so nice.

Other than that, we've driven when we've needed to be somewhere before park opening (breakfast reservations, segway tour at EP, etc...) or to Blizzard Beach (simply because we had to drag all the clothes changes). We are mostly what I would consider commandos, but it's just so nice to let someone else do the driving. We have to drive the 18ish hours to get to FW, it's kind of nice to not do anymore. We do manage to make rope drop using busses without a problem. And we are off season travelers, so the busses are usually never too crowded.

I have taken ME from the Fort when I was crashing in my parents camper 2 years ago, and didn't find it any longer than from any other of the resorts. They drop off/pick up at the registration building at the outpost and we were on our way to the airport.