Driving around Disney World---questions from a clueless newbie.

[Notso]

Howdy! In a little over a month I'll be heading down I-95 with my mom, hubby, two daughters and in-laws towards Orlando. We chose to drive over flying so we could more easily bring the strollers, food, gear, etc. needed for our 9 month old. We'll be caravanning in two cars, but once in WDW, the plan is to drive anywhere we need to go in our van.

We'll be staying at the Tree House Villas. I know the buses are supposed to be a pain there (especially with two strollers to lug, so I want to drive to the parks every day. I haven't been to WDW since we honeymooned there in 2003, and we stayed at GF then and didn't even rent a car. Soooo... I have a lot of questions:

1. What is the best way to learn the lay of the land ahead of time? Google mapping has confused me as I can't really see the exits for each park or if any roads are forbidden to non-buses, etc.

2. It looks like THV are very close to Epcot and HS. Is it possible to just drive to Epcot and take the monorail to the MK from there or is that a stupid idea?

3. Anyway to get a decent idea of how long it will take to drive between parks? I've seen the bus time estimate online, but I'd assume driving ourselves would vary from that.

4. This is a tangential transport question, so feel free to ignore, but if you arrive at the parks early on the day you check in, do you just leave your luggage in the car in the park parking lot? Is that safe?

Thanks for putting up with all my silly questions!

 

[vicki_c]

Not generally a good idea to drive to Epcot to take the monorail. You'd have to park in the lot, walk to the monorail, take it to the TTC. To get to the Magic Kingdom, you would have to change monorails or take a boat.

TTC = parking for the Magic Kingdom and the monorail to Magic Kingdom.

I'm not sure, but I thought each Treehouse Villa only had one parking spot. Someone on the DVC boards could probably answer that for sure, if no one here does. If so, the other car will have to be left elsewhere within the resort.

Disney roads are well-marked with signs for the parks, resorts, areas, etc. Most mapping software doesn't do a great job on Disney property.

 

[Notso]

Thanks for the response! I think you are right about each THV having one parking spot. I was figuring the other car would be parked at SSR. The whole party fits in one car (just not with all our gear). So, after the initial unloading, only having one car won't be a big deal

 

[Tink3815]

After many long waits for buses,my husband said no more Disney unless we rent a car. We have learned to navigate quite well. We found our stand by map quest would not work correctly because not all the streets are listed. Disney uses alot of cloverleafs to move traffic which are not picked up by computer programs. Also here may be an exit from a highway but not an entrance. The book they give at check in will have a map which we have found to be the best reference for finding things. They key is to follow the signs to get where you want to be. I beleive your resort will be a Downtown Disney resort. When you leave the resort follow the signs to the park of your choice. Same thing when leaving the park to head back to the resort. You will want to head towards Downtown Disney resorts. I usually navigate while my husband drives. You really have to pay attention to read the signs but they work.
Good luck..

 

[bumbershoot]

Our GPS didn't work.


When you are checking in, also go to the tickets/etc information area in the lobby (I assume they are also in the lobby b/c they were at OKW and Jambo and I believe CBR (oh wait, at CBR the desk was at Old Port Royale)) and ask for a really good map of the area. It was on our third trip (1 at CBR, 2 more at OKW) that the CM gave us a really really good map.

But overall, just know what area you are in (MK area, DTD area, Epcot area, etc etc) and know where you are going, and follow the signs. Have the good navigator (the one that can communicate clearly and QUICKLY, and who can regroup if a turn is missed) do the navigating, and the one that can follow directions quickly and simply do the driving. We found that a missed turn can be relatively easily overcome if you keep your head.


Driving from point to point was basically simple and quick, we found.

 

[Happy Mom2]

We just got back from our first trip to Disney, and we drove everywhere. DH downloaded a free GPS of Disney onto our phones (Samsung Blackjack). I think it was from mousesavers.com. We used it to get everywhere...parks, other resorts, etc. We drove to every park, and I was so thankful we did. We didn't have to fold up the stoller getting on and off the buses. It was so nice having our vehicle. The GPS got us everywhere perfectly. I can't recommend it enough. It was truly a Godsend. At times the GPS said to go opposite of what the signs did, but it always got us where we wanted to be pretty quickly.

We stayed at the POP, and we gave ourselves 30 minutes to get from our hotel room to the parks... some only took 10 minutes driving time, but we had 8am ADRs every morning at each park. Then another 20 to 30 minutes to get from the parking lot to the restaurant.... we walked slowly and took tons a pictures!!

If you need help finding the GPS download or if have any questions, PM me, and I'll ask DH.

 

[vicki_c]

Yes that POI file for GPS can be found on mousesavers and has just been updated in the last month. The creator of it posted here to let folks know. It works very well. Sorry I didn't mention it, the OP didn't mention a GPS so I didn't think of it.

 

[fla4fun]

Another thing to keep in mind with the signage, is that sometimes it's split. For example, you're driving along and pass a sign for Magic Kingdom. You weren't totally paying attention, so you're not 100% sure it said Magic Kingdom, but you figure the information must be repeated on that next sign you see a few feet away. But that sign may only reference the MK resorts (by name). So if you don't know that Poly and CR and GF are close to MK, you may not realize you're headed in the right direction.

Also, be very careful if you need to cross lanes quickly to make a turnoff. It may be better to go to the next "exit" and circle around. I've actually been forced off of World Drive by people cutting across lanes of traffic without looking to see who's there! Since you can get to any part of WDW property from any other part of WDW property, if you miss one turnoff, the next one will get you headed in the right direction again.

 

[kwdw]

The map they give you at Check-In really is good enough and it's not that big of an area to navigate. I used Google before I arrived, mainly to get the lay of the land in general. It's good to know which parks/resorts are where and to understand the basic layout of WDW. I also did map out the directions from the resort to the grocery store I picked in advance and took that print-out with me.

I think knowing the tiny details about the roads around there might actually make it HARDER. The signage is great - as long as you understand the general layout (ie - this resort is closest to Epcot).

I was a first time driver at Disney in October. Hadn't been to Disney in a LONG, LONG time. I was solo (most of time) - and made only two mistakes the entire 10 days I was driving - both times when I had co-workers in the car because they were distracting and I missed the sign I needed to read.

Driving to get to DTD from whereever I was always seemed to be the longest drive - lots of stop lights. But to the parks - you are probably looking at 10-20 minutes of drive time. Now - that's not including loading and unloading a van full of people! I didn't find crazy drivers around there, so even nervous me in a rental car always had enough time to change lanes if I was in the wrong one.

Definitely drive to MK - don't monorail from EPCOT - too much extra time.

I'm headed back tomorrow - no car this time. After having no car on a brief visit in Dec. - I am wishing I had rented one for this trip - but it just adds more to the cost and I'm trying to go many times this year..... (bought an AP!)

Oh - I did leave my stuff in the car on check-out/check-in day when I didn't have a room. Now - everything fit in the trunk - so I didn't think my car would look like the one to break into..... I think Disney is pretty safe, but I'm not sure I'd leave everything in the car in a lot all day.

Have fun!

 

[DebbieB]

Study a map. There are 4 main roads in WDW and they form a square. If you know those 4, you can get almost anywhere. They are:

North/South: World Drive & Bonnet Creek Parkway
East/West: Buena Vista Drive and Vista Blvd

http://www.tripadvisor.com/LocalMap...|-81.53306,mz:-14,nameContains:S,sa:-1,map:-1

 

[Goofygirl17]

We prefer to use a car over the buses although we took the bus to MK or when we had a very early ADR.

Our GPS (Garmin) was pretty accurate and actually showed us a short-cut from SSR to MK. It also, however, sent us through the Animal Kingdom parking lot to get to McDonalds

Have fun!

 

[chamonix]

Here's one of the good Wdw road maps that's printable. Same one they will give you at your resort (we always ask the valet for one). I'm sure it's available online elsewhere, this was just the first one of these I found with a quick google for "wdw road map" that was the one I was looking for.
http://kingdommagictravel.com/disneyworld/pdf/wdw_roadmap.pdf

Actual drive times are pretty short, 10-15 minutes depending on traffic, but you have to add in the time for parking in a huge lot, taking the tram or walking to the park entrance, etc (you have to park at the TTC and take a monorail or ferryboat to the park entrance at MK) so figure at least about 30 minutes, maybe a bit more for the MK.

Don't bother parking at epcot to save any time if you're going to MK, once you are driving you won't save any time taking the monorail from there--in fact would take longer! just go straight to the TTC/MK parking lot and monorail or boat from there.

We love having a car (we fly so always have to rent a car) and can't imagine wasting time waiting around for a bus...but then, we don't drive in our usual daily lives (no long commutes, dh bikes to work every day and dd's school is walking distance) so we don't have to "get away" from the car on vacation......for those that do, I totally get that! But, not a concern for us.

It's easy to get around at WDW, we don't use gps and manage fine. The rare missed exit/turn is just part of the fun.

 

[Notso]

Thank you all so much for the info! My mom has a GPS that will work with the mousesavers POI, so we'll get that. I've already printed and reviewed the paper map. I'm feeling much more in control about driving now! I think it will be better for us than the buses. Thanks again!