Do you drive to the parks when staying on site?

[sheilafri]

I'll be staying on site for the first time--just me and DS12--4 nights at CSR and 3 nights at POFQ or AKL. Is it quicker and/or less hassle to just drive my own car or to take Disney transportation? Does park hopping affect whether you drive?

 

[HopperFan]

Depends on which hotel we are at, which park we are going to, and if we are hopping.

MK is always faster using Disney transportation so you can be delivered right to the front gate. Water parks and DTD - we always drive. If park hopping we found that driving is much faster and better use of our time, especially if we want to stop in a hotel.

 

[Tinkerbelle739]

In 10/03 we drove to WDW. We only used our car 2 times in 10 days. Once to go to Typhoon Lagoon, we did not want to ride back in our wet clothes. The second time was to get a sneek peak at the NEW wishes display, we were there for the media event, but of course had no entry and security was SUPER tight that night. We ended up watching from the beach at the wedding pavillion. PERFECT!

You really dont need to use your car unless you feel it may be more convenient, for example our taking it to go to TL.

 

[GEM]

Nope. Never. We find it much more of a hassles to get out to the car, get in the steaming hot car, drive to the parks, park, take the tram to the gate, etc. We have always found Disney transportation to be great - and we've stayed all over the place. For us, waiting a few minutes for a bus is much better than driving. We took our first trip with our little one in May and stayed at the AKL. We figured we might end up driving most places since we would have the stroller, etc. The busses worked out great, though, and we never moved the car. We have, on past trips, sometimes used the car for the waterparks, mini golf courses, getting to other resorts for dinner, and Downtown Disney. That's pretty much all we ever use the car for, though. We would never drive to the parks.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Is it quicker and/or less hassle to just drive my own car or to take Disney transportation?

We rent a car and drive it to most places. We don't find it difficult at all. Kids tend to rest and/or nap when they would never on a bus. We just keep driving around for a while. We also like to keep a cooler of ice cold drinks in the trunk. It also gives us more options for cheap eats and grocery shopping, etc...

Does park hopping affect whether you drive?

We usually do two parks per day with a rest/nap/swim in between. Seems fairly easy to us.

 

[LisaSt]

No why waste gas when they have a great transit system that picks you up right at the resort.

 

[Leota]

Never even considered it. I like letting someone else do the driving (cooking, cleaning, working etc....) when I'm on vacation.

 

[Mercy]

CSR had great bus service, so I would definitely use their busses. My DH was very happy to park the car and let Disney do the driving that week. We never waited long either at the resort or the parks for a bus. The only place we drove our car was to Dowtown Disney, and when we went to another resort for dinner.

 

[EdDome]

We do both depending on where we're staying vs where we're going. While the WDW transportation is fine, I don't find it a hassle to drive especially if I know the busses will be packed. Like others have said, I don't drive to the MK since it's a journey in itself to get from the lot to the park.

 

[VAN]

We stay at Ft. Wilderness ...

We always take the boat to MK and the monorail resorts

We always drive if going to Boardwalk, DTD

We usually drive if visiting other resorts

Depends on our day as to whether or not we take the bus or drive to AK, Epcot or Studios; however, I do find that we are driving ourselves more and more because we like to go back to the campsite in between the parks.

 

[PamNC]

We usually drive down because it's only 8.5 to 9 hours for us. We drive to the parks versus taking a bus. Much less "pedestrian" and less of a hassle in my opinion. The buses in many cases stop 2-3 times before your destination and I hate waiting for a bus. Plus, what if you're tired and your feet hurt and it's standing room only? Not pleasant at all. We usually stay on the monorail line or at an Epcot resort. That way, we only have to drive a little bit. Animal Kingdom always requires our car.

PamNC

 

[Celestine]

When we said at ASMu in '99 we had to use our car as getting onto the bus was nigh on impossible because of all the cheerleaders. For some reason it also seemed to take forever to get anywhere, so we used our car. As we're from UK our rental car came with a full tank & you could return it empty so in effect it wasn't costing us any more

 

[Tikiman]

Many people don't want to spend the money to rent a car especially when they are not leaving Disney Property, and Disney does have some of the best transportation you will ever see, but I have found it much easier and a big time saver to have a rental car for some destinations. If you have ever made reservations and you were running late the car will save you. Also when visiting parks and don't want to pack everything you think you may need on your back, you can leave it in the car. Many times I have been able to run to the car to get something or change after a water ride and I did not have to cary all of it around the park. There is no way I could go back to the resort for it.

We also go from many different destinations that busses will just no go. We will go to the water park in the morning and than off to a park or mini golf or downtown disney. You can survive without a car but it makes life easier and your time from one place to another faster. Remember as a Disney Resort guest you have free parking at all Disney locations.

We only took the bus once last trip. The whole 11 days only used not even a 1/4 tank of gas with all the driving we did and all the different places within Disney we went it would have taken us 3 times as long to hop all the busses we would need to get from one to another and wait for the buses.

 

[Bstanley]

Generally speaking when going from any resort to any park or getting back the Disney transportation system is more convenient and often quicker than driving yourself.

Going from resort to resort or resort/park to DTD is where having a car can save you some serious time. Our worst case experience was trying to get from the Contemporary to POR one evening - it took at least 45 minutes to an hour longer to take the bus than it would have taken to drive it ourselves because of the routes and delays involved.

 

[madalex]

When we stay at YC, we drive to AK, because the bus ride just seems to take too long. We use Disney transportation for the other parks.

When we stay at AKL, we do use the buses to go to all the parks.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Many people don't want to spend the money to rent a car

In my estimation renting a car costs little more than Mears round trip for our family so it doesn't make sense NOT to.

Tikiman, your website was very helpful before our Poly stay - thank you!

 

[Tikiman]

That is a good point Linda. I am glad my site was helpful.

I will never go to WDW with out a car. I have never been in a situation where the car was not quicker than a bus. Also many times we are driving back from somewhere and we change our minds on where we are going or we stop by another resort to shop or eat. Try telling the bus driver you want to go to a different stop.

Aloha

Steve

 

[Blondie]

9 onsite visits and we've never driven to the parks. We always rely on Disney transportation! DH has to travel a good distance daily to get to work, so the last thing he wants to do on vacation is drive!

That being said, we always have a rental when we fly to Orlando. Even if we only drive it twice, it's peace of mind knowing a car is available when/if it's needed.

 

[DisneyWisher]

For MK we always take the bus. Its just easier then parking, waiting for the tram, then walking to the monorail, and waiting for that before finally getting to MK. Though to me it doesn't seem to matter which resort I am staying at ours is always the furthest stop. LOL
For Epcot, MGM , and AK we take our car.

One time we had rainchecks for Fantasmic, so we drove over early parked the car (they've change the parking lot since then, you could walk from car to MGM, now its where the buses park) and then hopped the bus to AK. Went back to the room and rested then hopped a bus to Epcot. We finally went back to MGM to watch Fantasmic, walking back to the car was so much easier then waiting for a bus. We loved it.

Shirley

 

[ahoff]

We usually rent a car for the trip from the airport and back. Rarely use it after that. Maybe for DTD or another resort, but for the parks the Disney transportation is the best. Especially at MK. It would be impossible to 'run to the car' at MK and get back in less than a half hour. You have to either take the Monorail or ferry to the TTC, then a tram to the car. The bus drops you off right near the gate.