Drive yourself to the parks or take the hotel bus?

[elliejane]

I'm new to the boards so please forgive me if this has been discussed. I tried a search and found nothing so here goes......

We've been to Disney More times than I can count we even lived there for a short while and had season passes years and years ago.... But

I want to know what your thoughts on Driving your own vehicle to the parks vs. taking a hotel bus.

We've only stayed on property once and used the bus system and it seemed like a hassle. When we drive it's always been a smooth trip.

For some reason when we come down this time in September My husband thinks we should give the hotel bus (from the Pop Century) a try.
I think we should just drive ourselves to the parks.

I need some ammo to toss at him

Any thoughts on the subject?
Thanks
Carey

 

[goofy4tink]

to the DIS! Lots of info here for you.
Now, as far as using the buses go.....my dh is not a bus person normally. However, once he gets to WDW, he is quite happy to hop on the Disney buses. We have never considered renting a car in order to get to the parks more easily. Of course, if you already have your car with you, that could be different. I would never drive to MK. You have to park in that parking lot at the TTC, then take a tram to the main area from your car. Then, hop on the monorail or the ferry to get to MK. With the bus, you just pull right up outside the entrance to MK..no trams, no monorail or ferry.
For the other parks, it's not such a big deal. If you want to go to AK early though, you could have an issue if you drive. The parking lot, from what I understand, does not open until just before 9, so if you are trying to get in for an ADR or EMH, via your car, you may not be able to.
We have stayed at POP and found the bus service to be quite good. Yes, the buses were crowded at the end of the day, but that's the only drawback for me.

 

[CleveRocks]

I think it's all a matter of mindset, or personal preference, and hence there's no "right" answer.

To me, part of the specialness of a WDW vacation is that I don't have to drive for a week. I love taking the buses, but I can understand why others don't. But to me, I'd feel like I was missing out on some of the WDW magic if I had to drive to the parks.

I see it as relaxing, others see it as a giving up of control and a loss of privacy. To each's own.

 

[daisyduck123]

We always drive ourselves & it works perfectly for us. We keep our beach bag with towels/bathing suits etc. in the car in case we want to head over to a water park after one of the other parks.

 

[elliejane]

Of course, if you already have your car with you, that could be different. I would never drive to MK. You have to park in that parking lot at the TTC, then take a tram to the main area from your car. Then, hop on the monorail or the ferry to get to MK. With the bus, you just pull right up outside the entrance to MK..no trams, no monorail or ferry.

Oh, this one thing our 8 year old daughter is most looking forward to!
She can't wait to drive the ferry over!

carey

 

[Puffy2]

In all honesty, if you are staying ONSITE at Disney (a Disney resort) I can't imagine why anyone would want to take their own car. Disney's transportation is very good.

If you are staying OFF SITE and are considering the hotel shuttle, you might want your own car because some of the shuttles have limited times for transport.

 

[Laz]

The best thing about the Disney buses are the drivers, I hate everything else. Hot and smelly, always slow and crowded, and you wait in long lines in the heat.

 

[ryanally]

We stay onsite(DVC) and use our rental car most of the time for 2 reasons. First, with little kids, the stroller and diaper bag, its nice to leave the park when you want to and not have to shove onto a crowded bus. Secondly, DVC buses tend to be less frequent than other resorts, and we can't stand wasting 30+ minutes waiting to go somewhere. We jump in the car and we are there. We do use the MK bus so as to get dropped right at the park entrance. Most mornings we get such an early start that we are in the first row or two of parked cars at Epcot and MGM.

 

[goofy4tink]

We stay onsite(DVC) and use our rental car most of the time for 2 reasons. First, with little kids, the stroller and diaper bag, its nice to leave the park when you want to and not have to shove onto a crowded bus. Secondly, DVC buses tend to be less frequent than other resorts, and we can't stand wasting 30+ minutes waiting to go somewhere. We jump in the car and we are there. We do use the MK bus so as to get dropped right at the park entrance. Most mornings we get such an early start that we are in the first row or two of parked cars at Epcot and MGM.

I have to ask.....why do you think that 'DVC' buses tend to be less frequent than other resorts? SSR and OKW are the only DVC only resorts. The others are all part of a 'regular' WDW deluxe resort. The buses have always been on a par with the other deluxe buses, at least in my experience. Of course, most of the deluxe resorts seem to have slightly slower bus service since each resort has it's own nearby park that you can walk to/monorail to/boat to, so the buses to those other parks can be a bit slower.
Now, if you want to get to DTD, take a car!!! That is the only bus ride/bus wait I truly hate.

 

[Snowysmom]

We use the buses for MK, Epcot, and AK. For MGM, Downtown Disney, and the water parks, we drive. It just seemed like we were having problems with the buses to and from MGM, Typhoon Lagoon, and DTD so we drive to those. We rent a car because we go off site too.

 

[JoeCathyAngelina]

If you're staying onsite, take the bus to MK and drive everywhere else. Parking for you will be free. Except for MK driving everywhere is easier and faster than waiting for the bus and dealing with the crowds.

 

[emmabelle]

We got a car this time staying at Beach Club, we will definately bus it to MK and AK. We will drive to the water parks. We also made ADR's for Boma, Kona Cafe and 1900 Park Fare, it would be a hassle to get to those places without a car.

 

[drogerstn]

I'm in agreement with using the resort transportation for the MK, but not as strongly as I once was. During our visit in June, we were at the Magnolia Golf Course twice with our car, so we parked at TTC for afternoon/evening visits to the MK. The monorail runs every few minutes and the parking lot shuttles run every few minutes; so, our wait time didn't seem any worse, maybe even better, than when we waited for the bus on other days. We parked once close enough to not need the parking lot shuttle.

We have experienced long waits for the bus at the resort to go to the parks and for the bus at the parks to return to the resort. You take a chance of 2 "long" wait times versus 4 "short" wait times.

We stayed at Port Orleans-Riverside and the bus to the AK also stopped coming and going at Blizzard Beach. We normally drive to the AK but we rode the bus for our early breakfast.

 

[airhead]

....drive yourself to the parks and save lots of time and sometimes aggrevation!

 

[ryanally]

I have to ask.....why do you think that 'DVC' buses tend to be less frequent than other resorts? SSR and OKW are the only DVC only resorts. The others are all part of a 'regular' WDW deluxe resort. The buses have always been on a par with the other deluxe buses, at least in my experience. Of course, most of the deluxe resorts seem to have slightly slower bus service since each resort has it's own nearby park that you can walk to/monorail to/boat to, so the buses to those other parks can be a bit slower.
Now, if you want to get to DTD, take a car!!! That is the only bus ride/bus wait I truly hate.

Guess I should've qualified that statement a little. OKW is known for its less than stellar service. I think its even listed in the Unofficial guide as being bus challenged. At least it was in the last guide I have(probably 2000). This November will be our first stay at SSR and from what I have been reading here, its more of the same. Have even seen reports of offsite guests walking from DTD to use the SSr bus. BWV and BCV, if I remember correctly stop at 4 resorts. WL seemed to be okay but we only used the transportation to MK.

 

[OKWMom]

We have also found the bus service at OKW to be slow. We drive to every park, including MK. I knew it was quicker to drive to MGM, EP, and AK, but we were not sure about MK. So, we decided to try it for ourselves on our last trip. For the three days we planned to go to MK, I would leave our villa, drive to TTC with at least two of the kids, and take the monorail in. He would take the Disney bus. I beat him there on two mornings and the third morning, he and I were walking up at approximately the same time.

 

[DebbieB]

The only bus I take is to MK at night when we'll be leaving after the fireworks. When we stay at BWV, we do take the boats or walk to Epcot, boat to MGM. Otherwise, drive. I can't stand the crowded busses, especially at the end of a long day.

Everyone thinks driving to MK is a hassle, in June we left BWV at 8:25, parked at MK, took the monorail and were at the front gate for the 9:00 opening. Considering you have to wait for the bus, it stops at Swan & Dolphin, I don't think it would have been quicker.

 

[Uncleromulus]

We always drive ourselves. Can't stand waiting for a bus, and then maybe not even getting a seat!!
And has been said, you have the easy option of going somewhere else (movies, water parks, shopping, etc) rather than just heading back to your home resort.

 

[vellamint]

We really dont like the buses....although once a trip is nice just for the "experience".

They are hot, crowded and sometimes cranky. LOL

The one trip that we did not rent a car in order to fully enjoy the Disney Experience....we kept saying to each other "I cant believe we didn't rent a car".

 

[Donald - my hero]

....drive yourself to the parks and save lots of time and sometimes aggrevation!

I totally agree! Gives us much more freedom when we drive a car -- even if that means renting when we arrive.

Oh and the fact that it is a long way from where you can park for MK here is what we do. We park at Epcot early in morning and that way we get close to front of parking lot. Then we hop on monorail and go on what we consider one of the best quiet rides. The loop over to MK & since it is quiet going TO MK you can often ride up front