Drive or take buses?

[amy-momofthree]

We are going Jan 1-7, staying at the POP. We will be driving and will have our car there. Do you think it would be better to drive to the parks each morning or take the Disney buses?

Most of the days, we will be staying at the parks for dinner except for one day we have ADRs at Whispering Canyon Cafe and another day we have ADRS for Trex cafe at DTD. I am figuring that we should drive this morning cause it will be easier to get to DTD after we leave the parks?

Is it fairly easy to find parking spaces at the parks? Would it save that much time driving ourserlves?


Thanks!

 

[McIntoshTx]

We are going Jan 1-7, staying at the POP. We will be driving and will have our car there. Do you think it would be better to drive to the parks each morning or take the Disney buses?

Most of the days, we will be staying at the parks for dinner except for one day we have ADRs at Whispering Canyon Cafe and another day we have ADRS for Trex cafe at DTD. I am figuring that we should drive this morning cause it will be easier to get to DTD after we leave the parks?

Is it fairly easy to find parking spaces at the parks? Would it save that much time driving ourserlves?


Thanks!

We are driving as well and will have a personal vehicle next trip. I plan to drive each day to the parks. With parking being free since I am staying on property why not have the freedom to not have to worry about the bus schedule if we want to go somewhere on a whim.

 

[creativeamanda]

This is the rule of thumb I go by: I drive unless I plan to park hop and not go back to the room in the middle or I'm going to Magic Kingdom.

The reason I mention the Magic Kingdom is because unless you get a great spot--ie, you don't wait for the tram, you have to take Disney transport anyway. So you might as well ride the bus, which drops you off closer.

 

[peg2001]

There's no clear answer to this question as it is mostly personal preference. Some folks (like us) prefer to park the car and ride the buses. Others prefer total control over the timing and drive.

Definitely drive if you will be headed to DTD. For some reason, that seems to take a long long time on the buses.

The commonly given advice is that driving will save time at Animal Kingdom, Disney Studios, and Epcot but the buses will save time at Magic Kingdom.

I'd suggest trying both ways and seeing what YOU prefer.

Peg

 

[creativeamanda]

The only problem with driving to DTD is the park is atrocious there. I have driven around for 30 minutes before around dinnertime looking for a parking space. When I say looking, for one, I wasn't looking for one close up. I was looking for any space!

 

[turtlechick6]

I personally always take Disney Transportation just because it is my vacation and I drove 10 hours down there so I don't want to drive more. The buses can be a HUGE drag though when they are late or mostly right after a big fireworks show or Fantasmic because you have to stand and wait in line for 3 or 4 buses. Not fun. So it depends.

You just have to kinda go and try it out and see what works best for you.

 

[danny1649]

There's no clear answer to this question as it is mostly personal preference. Some folks (like us) prefer to park the car and ride the buses. Others prefer total control over the timing and drive.

Definitely drive if you will be headed to DTD. For some reason, that seems to take a long long time on the buses.

The commonly given advice is that driving will save time at Animal Kingdom, Disney Studios, and Epcot but the buses will save time at Magic Kingdom.

I'd suggest trying both ways and seeing what YOU prefer.

Peg

are the same

 

[kermit116]

If you're planning to stay in one park all day, it's probably just as easy to take Disney transport. That being said, I've become a fan of driving my own car to the parks if I get there first thing in the morning & can get a good parking spot. It allows a little more flexibility in terms of keeping extra items in the car (water bottles, sweaters, etc.). Plus, if you suddenly decide you want to park hop it can be nice to have a car.

 

[dodukes]

I always drive. I can't stand the bus system for various reasons. Driving allows me to go where I want when I want. I'm pretty familiar with the area so its faster. YOu area also not tied down with hundreds of others waiting for a bus and you can relax when you get in and mainly sit down at the end of the day. My mom OTOH loves the busses so when I go with her and she drives, we have to take busses....its horrible.

 

[Scraper]

We have our car every trip. There are times we have used but for the most part we use disney transportation.

 

[walkdmc]

Drive.

Do it for one day and you'll never go back to buses.

We drove down to WDW on our last trip and after 1 day of waiting for buses and being late for ADRs and rope drop, we started driving. It was like doing WDW on a whole different (and IMO, better) level. We got to most parks at opening, so our parking spot was always close to the turnstiles. We never had to wait in line for a bus and stress out over getting a seat, or even getting on the bus. We could do a lot more park hopping and enjoy DTD so much more in a car.

 

[walkdmc]

We arrived at DTD around 4:30 for a 5:30 T-Rex reservation, on a week day. We got 2nd row parking, just across from the movie theater. When we left DTD around 8pm, there were at least 10 open parking spots around our car.

I have no experience driving in WDW prior to 2010 but have heard that since Pleasure Island/Adventurers Club closed, parking in DTD has been easy (too easy

 

[amy-momofthree]

Thanks for the advice! So, if we drive, how long should we give ourselves to get to the parks, park, and get to the entrances? We are staying at the POP and are going in January.

 

[dodukes]

Thanks for the advice! So, if we drive, how long should we give ourselves to get to the parks, park, and get to the entrances? We are staying at the POP and are going in January.

Pop is the best, I find it very centrally located you can get to each park in about 10 minutes or less and its right next door to mgm.

 

[whacked]

I really hate to say it, but both.

It really depends on what you are doing and where you are going.

If we get to a park early and stay until closing, we ALWAYS drive. You'll park up front, and be able to walk to your car (If coming from the MK you can take any transport to the TTC, we usually take the boat) and get out of the parks without a big line.

If we are going to the parks early (as we always do) and then going back to the room for a nap/swim, etc. we also always drive. Again, we get to park up front.

If we go back in to the parks in the afternoon, we may or may not drive depending on the crowds. In the off season with AAA diamond parking, we drive.

When it's crowded, and we are going back to a park in the afternoon, we often take the busses because parking is a hassel after opening.

 

[MichelleVW]

I used to be pro bus, but I drove one time and found it to be WAY faster!! We even drove to the MK last trip, but we had an 8 am Crystal Palace breakfast and I didn't want to risk the buses being late. We had the best parking lot!! That day we took the bus back to the resort for our afternoon break and left the car in the parking lot, it took us FOREVER to get back to the resort on the bus, plus we then had to walk what seemed like a mile back to our hotel room. Our car was steps away from our hotel room, it was so nice.

 

[CruznLexi]

In 15 trips we have never driven to the parks. We are not die hards who have to get to the rope drop or make breakfast at early am. We have never waited more than 10 min at a park to get on the bus and 15 at the resort to get on. We generally now stay at AKV which only hars 1 other resort for pick up.
Lexi

 

[Dan Murphy]

Drive to DtD and the resorts, and MCO, bus or boat everywhere else.

 

[momtotaryn]

This thread will be very helpful for us too. We're trying to decide if we should rent a car or just use Disney's transportation options. It looks like it may be better to rent a car.

 

[Planogirl]

It really depends on your own preferences so you may want to experiment a bit. I much prefer to drive even to the Magic Kingdom. I love riding the ferry in the morning though. We also like to get to the parks early and can usually park pretty close to the front.

In the case of Downtown Disney, you might have to park somewhere in the lot by the old Pleasure Island area if it's crowded. We've always been able to find somewhere to park over there if nothing else. Either way riding the bus to Downtown Disney is usually a major time killer.