Do you need a car at OKW?

[mom22boys]

We have just rented a studio at OKW! We are so excited!!!! I can't wait to see this resort! It looks so perfect for us!

I was just wondering if we should rent a car for our stay. Those of you who have stayed there before, what do you think?

Much thanks!

 

[AJKMOM]

Our first trip will be in December, and from what I have read here, if you plan to go to the parks a lot, you will be better off with a car, except to go to MK. Thats what we plan to do; rent a car and drive everywhere.

 

[wbc99]

We stayed at OKW last September and did not have any problems at all with the Disney transportation. We never waited more than 5 minutes for a bus and always got a seat on the bus (i.e. did not have to stand). Of course, if you think you might want to leave Disney property, you should rent a car.

 

[Laurajean1014]

We've been to OKW for over 20 trips in the past 10 years. Most of those trips were without a car. There is no need for one, unless you are going to be off-site for a few days (shopping, etc.)

We go to the outlets for one day, but take a cab or limo.

The only time a car is convenient is when we have ressies at Contemporary or AKL. HOwever, instead of renting, we hop a cab or take a bus from DTD.

It depends on what you are planning to do that should dictate needing a car.

We have not found a car to be a necessity or a great benefit.

 

[DOOGIERUNNER]

Yes, you will need a car at OKW to take you from one end of your room to the other !!! Unlike the BoardWalk where you can stand on your balcony and reach inside the room to the fridge .

 

[mom22boys]

I just love this board! It is so informative. I apologize for this kind of being a double post. I see that my thread "Tell me all about OKW" that I posted yesterday on the resorts forum got moved. Thanks for your patience. I am still relatively new here!

Keep the great info coming!

Much thanks!

 

[jodifla]

mom22boys, how old are your DSs? If they are older, the Disney transportation should be fine. If they are stroller age, having a car is a lot easier, I think.

 

[Caskbill]

If you don't plan on leaving WDW property for something, then you don't need a car, but may want one for convenience.

We drive to WDW when we go, so always have our car with us. We probably use the car for half the trips, but also take Disney transportation quite often. The transportation is good enough that you don't have to have a car.

An awful lot will depend on how you're going to do the parks, etc. If you stay all the way past closing, then the bus lines can get quite long and in those cases a car can get you back a little quicker.

The one big exception of course is never take the car to MK. The bus goes directly to the park. If you drive yourself, first it's a long drive, then parking, then tram, then monorail/boat to the MK. You'll find that busses will be quicker than taking your car. One exception is if you plan to park hop, is go park the car somewhere, then use Disney transportation to hop. We've done this by parking the car at Epcot, but then not going in but taking the Epcot monorail to the TTC and then to MK. MK usually closes earlier than Epcot (at the time of year we normally go), so when MK closes, we monorail back to Epcot for a few more hours.

 

[mom22boys]

DS's are 5 and 2. We will probably be heading back for an afternoon break most days. Do you think having our own car would make our commuting time less, thus giving us more time in the parks and at the resort? We are heading to WDW in November when the parks close earlier. I am already thinking about how the whole schedule is going to work.

Thanks so much!

 

[Doctor P]

I wouldn't worry about having a car. We have had a car for all of our trips to WDW and have only used it once and that was because we had to travel to AKL for dinner followed by a fireworks cruise at WL that left shortly after dinner. If you are just going to and from the parks, the OKW bus system works great and is really hassle free (and drops you right by the entrances of all the parks rather than further out in a parking lot).

 

[dianeschlicht]

DS's are 5 and 2. We will probably be heading back for an afternoon break most days. Do you think having our own car would make our commuting time less, thus giving us more time in the parks and at the resort? We are heading to WDW in November when the parks close earlier. I am already thinking about how the whole schedule is going to work.

Thanks so much!

Unless you are going to Animal Kingdom, I do not think driving your car will make your commute less, but will actually make it longer. The AK bus from OKW stops at Blizzard Beach, so that one take a bit longer, and the bus stops at AK ar3e about as far as the parking lot, so no advantage there either. For all the other parks, we have found taking the bus to be far superior to taking your own car, making the trek in from the lot and in the case of MK from the lot to the TTC to the park. Then when you want to go back, you make that same trek to the parking lot, find your car, and drive. When we have had guests with us who were positive they could make better time with their car, we told them to go ahead. We left the parks at the same time...they drove, we bused. We were always back before them.

 

[mperez41]

We've always taken our own vehicle but found much easier to just to take the Disney buses, traffic at times is sometimes very congested especially around the Downtown Disney on the weekends.

 

[Disney_Queen34]

Just got back and my advice:

You need a car if: you are planning on resort hopping (it is very long and tedious to transfer busses from resort to resort), you are going outside the world, your room is very far away from the Hospitality house.

Otherwise, if you are going to be spending most of your days at the parks and eating your meals there I wouldn't bother with a car.

 

[Daggett]

I drive to OKW from Atlanta, park the Surburban, and don't get back in the truck until it's time to head home. The buses are fine, they run about every 20 minutes. Be sure and take the boat to DTD. The new boats aren't as cool as the old party pontoon boats with Capt'n Eddie at the helm, but it still a hoot to ride down those water ways at night.

Forget the car, forget about driving, let the Mouse do the work for you.

Daggett----

 

[Disney Doll]

OKW has bus service, just like the rest of the resorts, so oyu don't have to rent a car.

That being said, it also depends on how you like to vacation. DH & I like to eat at many of the restaurants that are in the hotels. In that case, having a car to drive right to the hotel is nice. Otherwise you have to take the bus to a park or DTD, change busses...it's a bit of a hassle. Or you can take a cab, but that gets expensive if you do it twice a day (to and from the other hotel). We also sometimes to go to the golf courses, to see if they have any nice shirts for DH, we like to go to the outlets out on I Drive, as there are a couple of Disney outlets.

We kind of justify it by saying that since we no longer have to come up with the big "chunk of change" all at once for our hotel (we pay the smaller monthly payment instead, which makes it seem less daunting). we rent a car as a luxury.

We use National. DH joined their Emerald Aisle, which makes it quick and easy to get a car.

 

[mom22boys]

I think this board might have just saved me over $200. I am really starting to lean towards not renting a car. We do not plan to leave Disney property or resort hop for meals, and it sounds like Disney transportation works well in getting to the parks and around OKW.

Thanks for all of the help!

 

[flexsmom]

We just stayed at OKW for the first time with DS2 and DD6. I'm glad we had a car and DH said if we ever stay there again, he wants a car, primarily because our building was out in the boonies. We drove to the main pool! They kids adored the slide/castle and wanted no part of the quiet pool closer to us - I cannot imagine waiting for transportation to the main pool, and the walk would have been a bit much for DS2. That said, we hit that pool 3 times during the week so the car was well-used, between that and some other off-Disney obligations.

 

[jmminarik]

I think this board might have just saved me over $200. I am really starting to lean towards not renting a car. We do not plan to leave Disney property or resort hop for meals, and it sounds like Disney transportation works well in getting to the parks and around OKW.

Disney Transportation works probably as well as it can. Getting Home from the parks is a little tougher as you can have masses of people waiting to board and it really annoys me when they turn out the lights at night, but it works. Given the Magical Express, there's even more compelling financial reasons to not rent.

However, actually living in a major city, I find that diesel powered buses are just too much like going to work, so other than going to the Magic Kingdom, I'd rather have a car for the other parks.

-Joe

 

[3DisneyKids]

My two cents is that I would not consider staying at OKW without a car. We have stroller-age kids, so maybe that is why I have such a strong opinion on this.

We stayed at OKW in Sept., 2004 and would have been LOST w/out a car. Our villa was as far away as possible from Olivia's, the main pool, etc. And, since WDW was recovering from hurricane issues, the bus situation was miserable. The one day we tried to take a bus, we saw two buses for every other resort come and go (and 3 for some) before even one OKW bus showed up. Don't know if this was due to storms or if that is always that way it is at OKW.

IF you go w/out a car, you MUST request a room near the Hospitality House, etc.

Otherewise, your triip should be GREAT! Have fun!