Do you have a car while at WDW?

[Richyams]

I know, some people drive, some people rent, some people do neither, I am not asking if you use the car, I know that some people park the car when they arrive and don't look at it again till they leave, I am asking if you have a car at WDW.

 

[jx3smom]

We don't like flying so we drive from NJ. We'll be doing it in Nov. (BCV), March (Vistana) and April (BWV).

 

[joepoe]

We rent a car when at OKW. That way we can hit the outlet malls and explore Orlando, but we don't use it to hit the parks. We do not rent a car when going to BWV.

 

[DebbieB]

I always rent a car since I joined DVC (before that, most of the time). We enjoy being able to pickup and go where we want and not be at the mercy of the bus system. We use the car to go offsite to get groceries, go to the outlets, go to restaurants offsite once or twice a trip. We use it for most park trips, the only exception being MK at night when it's crowded. Even when staying at BWV we rent a car but use the boat or walk to MGM/Epcot. We just don't have the patience for jam packed busses.

 

[yasuern]

We rent a car from national car rental when we arrive at Orlando drive to the super Walmart pickup food, beverages etc. Then we check into our room unpack and the next morning we drop off the car at national car rental location near MK and they drop us off at the destination of choice - Usually MK. At the end of our stay we usually take a van/cab to the airport. However our 1st trip to VB this month we are going to rent a car for the whole week we are there.

 

[KNWVIKING]

"If you willnotice, so far the poll about hving a car at WDW is higher than 70%.

Your insulting statement will look real bad if those numbers keep up."

Maybe the next poll should how many members use the buses at OKW,even if they have a car.

There was no insult or even sarcasim in my comment in another thread you based this poll on. My comment was me just thinking out loud, kind of stating in advance what I knew others would post: People who always have a car and drive to the parks would have no reason to want more bus routes.But I also doubted the result was that simple.

 

[Eeyore2U]

We just started renting a car two trips ago and won't go and not rent again.

 

[Tigger1]

We drive to Florida from Oklahoma in two minivans (6 to 7 of us).
We took one van in 97, the children were much younger and it was still too crowded.

At Disney I am usually the only one that does any driving, to grocery store, outlets and to parks. Most of our party does the buses to the parks. I say everytime that next time I am taking the buses to the parks.

When I do take the bus, I sometimes choose which park to go to by which bus comes first. We do that when we park hop also.

Tigger

 

[AZKathy]

We like having a rental car to go off site for groceries, malls, explore central Florida, beaches, etc. It must be nice for those of you that have the ability to drive rather than fly when visiting WDW. We don't use the rental car to go to MK at all; it is much easier to take the bus and be dropped off by the front. I would say that we use the buses even with a rental car 50% of the time for the other parks.

The prices for rental cars went up dramatically after 9/11. For the same time period and same amount of car, the prices this year were over $200 more. I refused to rent last month because I think these rental companies were taking advantage of the situation and raising their prices.

This past trip was the very first trip I saw any problems with the bus system. We had one bus break down on us and one with no a/c and a very long wait when MK closed. I don't know if cut backs had anything to do with these problems.

I would like to see more boats to Downtown Disney, myself!

 

[PamOKW]

Wherever I stay at WDW I always rent a car and always take the buses. I have begun using the car for resort-to-resort travel in the evening because it is just too much hassle at night getting through a transfer at DD.

 

[DVC1996]

We live in East Tennessee and always drive on long trips. If it is a short stay, then we usually fly and rent a car. EVEN THOUGH we always have a car, we NEVER drive to the parks. We always use the buses. The only exception would be when we park at the BWV and walk to Epcot. We never use the bus to go to DD but drive. We also drive to the grocery store, outlet malls, and other Orlando attractions.

 

[bres@westernMA]

We have had such bad experiences with the WDW bus system that we regularly rent a car. Grocery store visits and trips to other less costly Orlando sites offset the costs.

 

[JulesMom]

We like to eat offsite, shop offsite and drive to the parks.

 

[yesdisneyfool]

Since 2/2001, we've taken our car. We enjoy the ride. We also like the car around when we want to hop to DtD (much faster than busses) and we can unload our treasures without having to carry on the bus (just our preference). We also use the car to grocery shop when needed. Haven't tried to drive to the parks yet - but many do. Maybe we'll try it one of this trips.

 

[DeeP]

I have done both, but most times I prefer not to have to drive. I do enough driving during my normal life I do not like to drive on vacation unless it is a business trip with some vacation days added on the end, which I do quite often. The only time I need a car at WDW is when I stay at a resort that is not in a convenient location.

 

[Regina]

We use a towncar service to get to and from the resorts for 90% of our stays. We do the 30 minute grocery stop, and that's always been enough for what we bring.

We did rent a car when we were there for DIS CON. I needed to get back and forth to the Yacht Club quickly. We've also rented when we've been on different schedules. Myself and my DD needed to get back home before the rest of family.

We never use a car for visiting the parks (and we stay primarily at OKW.) We've also used taxis.

 

[Peggy Sue]

Have never stayed at WDW without renting a car. Even before joining DVC. We like the ability to go off-site to the grocery store etc., or drive to different resorts to have dinner. We drive to all parks, except the MK. A car to us mean freedom to come and go as we please, according to our schedule. We don't mind the bus transportation to the MK, but if they had a convenient parking lot, like the other parks, we'd be driving there too. We always travel off-season, so we've never experienced any traffic problems at WDW, even after fire works etc. The biggest time delays we've hit were at down town disney last May with all the road construction, but I suspect the buses had the same problems we did too!

 

[lizanne]

We always have a car, sometimes two. The only bus my husband has ever used in WDW is the one you take to get to HDD. I think it's a control thing

Once the kids were old enough to go on their own, they used the buses and have no complaints. They would prefer to have use of a car for convenience sake - but don't mind using the buses.

 

[POLLY ANN]

This next trip in January we will be relying on WDW transportation. I really hate being without a car but it's coming down to dollars and sense for us.

I have figured out financially that it's not worth getting a car (note the "financially" part). I priced a minivan and for 10 days at that time of year it's about $500 through National's Emerald Aisle. (More if I only wanted it for 7 days!). Plus our friends (just 3 of them) would need a sedan as well, so that puts them out a couple hundred. I really don't think that we would be spending over $700 in 10 days for groceries. I much prefer spending the money at a restaurant!

Of course, if any one has any better deals out there please let me know!

 

[WolfpackFan]

We were at AKL a couple of weeks ago and this was the first time we've been down there without a car. I had some great air rates though and thought I'd try flying. Never again. I missed my car all week. I don't know if AKL has slow buses or we just have bad luck as far as catching buses (probably the later); but it seemed like we spent alot of time just waiting at bus stops. Especially going to Downtown Disney, which I would usually drive my car to.