Do you drive to the parks if you have a car? Staying at ASMo

[ogreenlee]

There will be six of us. We all have park hoppers. Two 4yr olds in tow.

We'll only be there three nights and three days in the parks.

Should we drive to the parks or use the bus?

We'll definitely be park hopping as two of our dinner ADRs are at Epcot, but we'll only spend a short time at Epcot otherwise.

 

[goofy4tink]

Most people that drive to the parks take the bus to MK. The parking lot area is pretty far removed from MK itself. The resort buses drop you so much closer that I have heard most will leave their car at the resort and take the bus to MK. But the other parks work for driving your car to.

 

[wings91]

DRIVE!! We stopped taking the busses last time, it was awesome. We put a cooler in the car with drinks so we could refresh. It's so much nicer then being jamed in a bus. Sometimes the waits for the busses are long, we just stroll to the car and have a relaxing ride back to the hotel. Roads are so well mapped, its nearly impossible to get lost.

 

[gigireese]

I would drive also. It is so annoying waiting for the busses. This time we are flying and I am thinking of renting a car so we don't have to bother with the buses.

 

[Epcot242]

I agree with the other posters - drive! It's a lot easier getting to and from the parks, there's no hassle with waiting in line for the bus or the monorail or a boat, you just head right to the parking lot and you're on your way. The MK is a little different since you still need to take a monorail to get there, but even with that, we still drive. Have a good time!

 

[ogreenlee]

THANKS!!

 

[Whamo]

It comes down to personal preference. When my girls were that age they thought of the bus as another ride and begged to go everywhere on it. It is definately nice to park the car and let someone else drive. There have been times however the wait times have been 30 minutes plus and there is little to entertain a 4 year old in the bus lines past 15 minutes. During peak times Disney does a pretty good job but sometimes when we have park hopped a bus from MK to MGM has been 40 minutes on top of having to go to the TTC via Monorail or Ferry. I will have to say that overall the times are usually about the same by the time I get on a tram to the parking lot walk to the car, get the kids situated, etc. Therefore it comes down to what the kids can best handle. Little patience it is best to use the car because there is less line waiting for the bus, though you will have to wait for the tram and Monorail at MK. Kid are excited by then and can handle that wait better plus the line moves faster. I like the bus because I can spend that time talking with the family and it's different. Either way it's Disney and your having a great time!

 

[LilBlackSheep]

Once we arrive, we don't see our vehicle again till we leave for home.

We've only had one disney experience so far and had no problems whatsoever with taking the bus everywhere. Our wait was never longer than 6-7 minutes. The kids loved riding the bus because it was something different.

 

[ffugitive]

We always drive too, for the reasons above. The only exception is when we go to Epcot because we generally have a few drinks there so we take the bus to play it safe. Also, I disagree with one poster - we always take the car to the MK parking lot because we like to take the monorail - part of the experience for us. The bus skips that.

 

[antmaril]

We always drive to the parks. I'm not interested in riding a bus, but that's me.

 

[ogreenlee]

If you drive to MK, do you park at TTC then hop the monorail? Is that how parking works?

We stayed at SOG last year and walked to the Polynesian to hop the monorail except the last night we took the SOG bus.

 

[ffugitive]

If you drive to MK, do you park at TTC then hop the monorail? Is that how parking works?

YES

 

[bryon]

If you are flying into Orlando, I see no reason to even rent a car if your just going to do Disney and nothing else.

 

[beattyfamily]

DRIVE!

The only place I would take the bus is MK.

My DH likes driving everywhere and sometimes I'm like let's just take the bus but he always convinces me to drive.

Then I went to Disney without DH and I wasn't always crazy about driving so a few times we took the bus. Every single time I regretted it. We stayed at ASMov and at least twice we waited 40 minutes for the bus to come. Then another day we waited almost an hour for a bus when leaving MGM.

I much prefer driving now even if my DH isn't with us!

 

[tblmom]

Wow- I'm surprised that so many people drive. We leave the car parked and bus it everywhere. I've never really even considered driving - maybe we'll have to give it some thought next time.

 

[Beejie]

If you stay at the resorts and drive to the parks instead of taking the bus, do you have to pay for parking? If not, what do you use to show you're staying at the resort?

The reason for my ? is....
We're driving up for Labor Day weekend. On Monday we go home and I have to check out of the POR in the morning. Can I use something from the hotel to show I'm a resort guest in order to AVOID paying the parking fee at the park we are attending that day?

Thanks!

 

[LilBlackSheep]

On Monday we go home and I have to check out of the POR in the morning. Can I use something from the hotel to show I'm a resort guest in order to AVOID paying the parking fee at the park we are attending that day?

Thanks!

On our stay we were leaving on Wednesday. We checked out of the resort, took the bus to AK and when it was time to leave, we took the bus back to the resort, got in our vehicle and left.

 

[beattyfamily]

If you stay at the resorts and drive to the parks instead of taking the bus, do you have to pay for parking? If not, what do you use to show you're staying at the resort?

The reason for my ? is....
We're driving up for Labor Day weekend. On Monday we go home and I have to check out of the POR in the morning. Can I use something from the hotel to show I'm a resort guest in order to AVOID paying the parking fee at the park we are attending that day?

Thanks!

Yes, you can. Your free parking permit pass that they give you for your stay is good till Midnight on check out day. Just keep it in your car window!

 

[Beejie]

For helping me save the $11 parking fee (or whatever it is now). I figured you could, but I just wanted to be sure.

So, you just go up to the entrance, show them your parking pass for the resort and they let you in at no charge?

Thanks!

 

[beattyfamily]

For helping me save the $11 parking fee (or whatever it is now). I figured you could, but I just wanted to be sure.

So, you just go up to the entrance, show them your parking pass for the resort and they let you in at no charge?

Thanks!

Yes, at each place you go; resorts, parks, the guard will look at your parking permit and see that you are staying onsite and he will also look at the exparation date and then he will just wave you through. Just keep it on your dashboard.