Driving to parks a pain?

[dianeschlicht]

In regards to driving to and parking at the parks, there still remains a true best kept secret at wdw which few peolpe know... that secret is having a AAA diamond parking pass. Those with AAA diamond parking passes share a seperate lot with the handicap parking which is located closest to the entrances at each of the parks. This elimnates the long walks (accept at TTC) as well as the need to use the Tram to get to and from your parked vehicle to the gate. Having this is "key" imo, to driving/parking at the parks.

Ever notice the red, blue and green painted lines on the roadways leading into the parking lots just past the booths. If you follow the colored lines, they route around the outer boarders of all of the lots to the front parking lot by the gates entrance. If you follow these, the colored line will bring you to the designated location within the lot which then has signs for each deisgnation accordingly (blue=handicap, red=aaa diamond parking, green =buses and trailers). Handicap parking is always closest and the AAA diamond parking is right next to the handicap.

That's a GREAT tip for AAA members! It almost makes me want to join AAA!

 

[BostonDisneyKid]

Oriiginally posted by BostonDisneyKid:
...a true best kept secret at wdw which few peolpe know... "that secret is having a AAA diamond parking pass. "

Originally posted by: dianeschlicht
That's a GREAT tip for AAA members! It almost makes me want to join AAA!

 

[whitfamily]

That's a GREAT tip for AAA members! It almost makes me want to join AAA!

You can buy them off of eBay for about $10. They are good for an entire year and you park right up front. We just used ours this past trip and it saved alot of time, especially when it came to MK. You're right next to the TTC. For AK we were actually closer than the resort buses.

 

[culli]

You can buy them off of eBay for about $10. They are good for an entire year and you park right up front. We just used ours this past trip and it saved alot of time, especially when it came to MK. You're right next to the TTC. For AK we were actually closer than the resort buses.

Thanks I have this in my BB notes to remember when we go there!

 

[DisneyMim]

W ALWAYS drive everywhere. So much easier. I always laugh when people say it's more of a pain. I guess different strokes for different folks sort of thing. My husband knows the best way to get anywhere in WDW. When we first became member back in 1991 we spent hours just driving around the whole area and found (as many of you know) that the way Disney sends you is not always the fastest way. We like having a car because we can just go from park to park, resort to resort (if we are having dinner), shopping, or (god forbid) leaving WDW to go buy something that we forgot. Also the outlets, I LOVE shopping! Yes the MK is a hard park to drive to, but we usually park at Epcot and take the monorail. Last August my daughter and I did a "girl's only" trip and stayed at the Beach Club. I didn't want to rent a car so we used Disney transportation. I could not believe how bad it was. Terrible. We waited way too long for a bus to MK and AK. We finally walked through Epcot and got the monorail. Way too much walking though. Also the buses were PACKED and we had to stand most of the time. I really missed having a car. We ended up taking a cab a few times as we were going to miss our dinner ressies, and yes I did allow enough time, but to me an hour and half to get from one resort to another is nuts. ANYWAY, as in everything is life everyone is not going to like the same thing and that is how it should be. It's wonderful that Disney has such an extensive transportation system and everyone on property can use it. As for my family, we'll continue to rent a car.

Enjoy The Magic!!

 

[crisi]

It really depends on where you like your frustration.

I don't enjoy driving. So my husband drives. My husband is a car snob - no little $200 a week rental for him - unless I want to listen to him complain all week. I become navigator, which I'm not good at, and then I get to listen to him complain about that every time we take a wrong turn. The those big expanses of dark asphalt get HOT, so the kids whine about that for the trudge to the tram and the wait for the tram.

For our family, taking the bus to the parks involves less whining - it may take longer to take the bus (when we are in a hurry we grab a taxi - or when we don't want to bother with the bus - which is still cheaper than any rental my husband wouldn't whine about). They don't whine about the wait unless it gets really long. The bus stops are usually shaded - at at the hotel have benches, which cuts down on whining. They don't even whine if they have to stand on the bus.)

Now, I imagine there are plenty of families that don't whine about the rental car, about their wife's navigation skills, about have to WALK from the car - that do whine about waiting for and standing on the bus.

ETA: I forgot about the frustration of the rental car counter. We've had the worst luck with rentals in Orlando - the car we reserved not being there, having to wait an extra hour for a car to be ready, no carseats when we needed them (and had them reserved), extra charges showing up on the credit card we didn't agree to.

 

[DebbieB]

That's a GREAT tip for AAA members! It almost makes me want to join AAA!

Most AAA will only give them to members who booked their travel reservations through them.

That's not a plus in my book....I get enough walking IN the park.

Nothing beats walking to BWV after Illuminations rather than walking to the front of the park and having to catch a bus.

 

[Goofy DVC]

Hey Mouseaholic, I'm a Holiday Inn Priority Culb Member also. I've used my points for car rentals and also AE Lodging Gift Cards. All I do, is charge everything to the room then pay off the charges with my American Express gift cards. I travel alot so I usually will have $750 in AE Lodging Cards. It works great.Sometimes I'm free air, free car, and free fun!!!

 

[culli]

That's not a plus in my book....I get enough walking IN the park.

I look at waiting in line as not a plus.......I get enough waiting and having people annoy me IN the park

 

[dclfun]

We just returned from a week's stay at Jambo concierge. We live locally- in fact it only takes me 7 minutes to get from my doorstep to a park entrance, so normally I like to take the busses to relax when we're staying onsite. NEVER AGAIN! Now that Kidani is open I don't think additional busses were added. We waited a good hour to get one way to any park, plus the busses that stop also at a water park to/from the resort making it even longer. I figure I'm not going to waste two hours of my day going to/from and even using more time on busses if we wanted to come back to the resort for an afternoon rest or to escape the rain. It's much easier and quicker to drive- hands down. If I were staying at SSR or OKW where there are multiple stops, then there's no way I'd take the bus- why spend your vacation time that way?---Kathy

 

[DonnaL]

If we stay at OKW or SSR we pretty much always drive everywhere..if at VWL we also drive everywhere except MK...we take a boat there. If at BCV or BWV we boat to HS and Epcot or walk to either and drive to MK and AK. At AKV we also drive everywhere....even AK. We have found we don't like WDW transportation taking us close to an hour to get somewhere........we always rent a car and have also found the signage at WDW is excellent and if you look at a good property map you can also find much shorter routes (some of which are not always marked in road signage, but, are public roads nonetheless) to most areas of property. We have our favorite shortcuts from everywhere on property and I would say it takes us no more than 10/15 minutes to get to the entrance of any park from any DVC resort.....or from resort to resort as the case may be. Now, keep in mind, we do travel mostly during the less busy seasons.......never in the summer and never over Thanksgiving, Christmas break, or Easter......but, mostly early January, mid May, and sometimes early Fall.

 

[tjkraz]

Is driving faster than busing? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. But what driving does offer is certainty. I KNOW that I can leave SSR or BWV and be at the Poly for breakfast ADRs in about 15 minutes. I KNOW how long it takes to get to a theme park in the morning.

When you rely on bus service you're stuck with their schedule. If you just miss a bus you could be sitting at the stop for 15+ minutes before the next one even arrives. At park closing time you could have to wait for 3-4 buses to pick-up before you can even board one due to the number of guests departing at the same time. If Disney decides to combine routes you could stop at 3-4 separate hotels before arriving at yours.

In my experiences we have never had instances where the bus service was better than driving. On several occasions we have driven to the parks but the kids want to take the bus back to the room. My wife will take kids on the bus while I drive back. On every single occasion I have beaten them back to the resort. That's with us leaving at the same time, me taking the tram, fighting traffic, parking at the resort, etc. Sometimes I'm there a minute before them...sometimes 10 minutes.

The other thing driving provides is flexible transportation. Want to go from Epcot to Blizzard Beach and then to Downtown Disney? Good luck using Disney buses. None of those destinations are connected by direct service.

 

[Straughn]

I always rent a car when I go to WDW. Having seen the lines for Magic Express at MCO, I much prefer dealing with the line at the Alamo counter. Like others, I drive to all the parks except MK. Since I tend to arrive right around park opening time, I don't end up parked so far away from the gate that I consider it a problem. Sometimes I get lucky and I end up at the end of the row near the tram stop; others time I am all the way at the far end and have the longer walk. That doesn't really matter to me. What does matter is having to wait for the bus at the end of the day and then being stuffed on one with a lot of tired, cranky, crying children. I much prefer getting in my car and enjoying the quiet as I drive back to my villa.
Since I generally stay at VWL, I can take the boat to MK which I find a very pleasant experience.

 

[cdtommie]

Most AAA will only give them to members who booked their travel reservations through them.



They gave us the pass when we brought park tickets for BIL's family back in April (we didn't use it anyway since wife wanted us to park next to them). But this was the first time they offered us the pass (we've picked up park tickets at AAA for family members several times) so this is definitely hit or miss.