Driving to parks

[barbliny]

There are 2 people on the trip who do enjoy drinking. I am not one of them lol never have been able to find a drink I like. If I can even taste a hint of alcohol it's a no go lol the other 2 are 19 & 20 so we will always have at least 3 sober drivers lol

Only the person who rented the car has the legal right to drive the car. Unless, an additional driver is added at the time of rental. If a person not on the rental agreement is driving the car during an accident .....

 

[DisneyOma]

I always drive. I always stay on property. I always drive to the parks--love the free parking. I ESPECIALLY drive to MK. IMO, the ride on the monorail from TTC to MK is my first ride. It has been that way for me since my first trip in 1972. I know there are plenty of people who prefer to ride the bus. I don't see that as an advantage over that monorail ride, but to each his own.

How about when the monorail isn't running? The older it gets, the more it seems like it's not in operation for longer periods of time.

We try to avoid the ferry - those swarms of bugs on them at night, ew!

 

[Mousekakrazy]

Only the person who rented the car has the legal right to drive the car. Unless, an additional driver is added at the time of rental. If a person not on the rental agreement is driving the car during an accident .....

I am 1 of the 3 people in our group that does not drink and I will be the one who is driving from Indiana in the rental. We will have 2 listed drivers on the rental.

 

[isabellea]

We always have a car and I won't use it again to MK for a PPO ADR simply because the last two times we did it, both the ferry and express monorail were not working yet. We had to take the resort monorail and we were almost late once because it stopped for a good 20 minutes. Now we take the bus to MK and drive to the other parks.

 

[KrazeeK120]

We like driving. I'm not such a fan of standing on a bus, packed like sardines with a bunch of sweaty strangers. We've found the directional signage at Disney to be excellent...we've never gotten lost (and I could literally get lost in my own backyard). I like knowing I'll have a seat at the end of the day.
We generally do drive to the MK as I enjoy both the monorail and the ferry. Last trip, though, we stayed at WL and it really wouldn't have made sense to drive from there.

 

[DisneyDeb83]

While we rarely take the bus, (maybe once a trip), I find that I don't have to stand on the buses themselves. Always seems someone gives me their seat. Very nice, but just makes me realize these good people think I'm old! When did that happen?!

 

[DisneyOma]

While we rarely take the bus, (maybe once a trip), I find that I don't have to stand on the buses themselves. Always seems someone gives me their seat. Very nice, but just makes me realize these good people think I'm old! When did that happen?!

This past trip I got offered seats multiple times - I was really sick, and must have looked the part quite well! (Nothing contagious, BTW) But we really didn't have the cram-like-sardines experience ever, and we stayed at Pop Century.

We actually got the sardine squish on the monorail from TTC to MK, after our EPCOT morning. And why is there no AC on the monorail?

 

[MrsDuck]

We drive everywhere but MK.

 

[DVC4US]

Is the three hour rule posted anywhere? Every time we've gone to MK we have made breakfast ADR at the Contemporary, taken the monorail over to MK (purposefully to let our food digest some!), spent the day at MK and then returned to the Contemporary at night. We've never had any issues. Though perhaps we've just been lucky.

You have just been lucky and as a person that generally stays in a hotel near a park this is one of my pet peeves. If I remember correctly, there are signs posted at the guard gate that say something along the lines of: Parking is for resort guests and those using the resort and not to be used for going into a park.(Not the correct wording I'm sure but I don't really pay that much attention to it)

Let me give you a scenario - you are staying at the Contemporary(or Poly, GF, BW, YC or BC) and you return late afternoon/early evening to a full parking lot because people not staying at the resort have done just what you describe above. How would you feel? We usually stay at the BW and this has happened to me several times - this is one of the reasons I don't drive once I park my car at the BW.

 

[tomlinson]

You have just been lucky and as a person that generally stays in a hotel near a park this is one of my pet peeves. If I remember correctly, there are signs posted at the guard gate that say something along the lines of: Parking is for resort guests and those using the resort and not to be used for going into a park.(Not the correct wording I'm sure but I don't really pay that much attention to it)

Let me give you a scenario - you are staying at the Contemporary(or Poly, GF, BW, YC or BC) and you return late afternoon/early evening to a full parking lot because people not staying at the resort have done just what you describe above. How would you feel? We usually stay at the BW and this has happened to me several times - this is one of the reasons I don't drive once I park my car at the BW.

I'm honestly glad I found this thread, because we always stay at the BCV and this is the first time I've heard this sort of thing is a problem. Perhaps it's the time of year we always go where it's a non-issue. I hear you and absolutely sympathize, and quite honestly would be really annoyed if it happened to me. It's genuinely never crossed our minds because until this thread - didn't know it was a problem! The last time we went (2015) we definitely asked the guards at the gate if there was a time limit to be parked at the CR and they definitely told us "no, not at all." So... unfortunately, it's really Disney themselves that cause any problems if it's not something that's going to be enforced and told to guests is a non-issue. Again, it could all be based solely on the time of year or if any events are going on as well. Thank you for your comment though. I've already suggested to my party to not park at CR this year.

 

[DVC4US]

I'm honestly glad I found this thread, because we always stay at the BCV and this is the first time I've heard this sort of thing is a problem. Perhaps it's the time of year we always go where it's a non-issue. I hear you and absolutely sympathize, and quite honestly would be really annoyed if it happened to me. It's genuinely never crossed our minds because until this thread - didn't know it was a problem! The last time we went (2015) we definitely asked the guards at the gate if there was a time limit to be parked at the CR and they definitely told us "no, not at all." So... unfortunately, it's really Disney themselves that cause any problems if it's not something that's going to be enforced and told to guests is a non-issue. Again, it could all be based solely on the time of year or if any events are going on as well. Thank you for your comment though. I've already suggested to my party to park at CR this year.

I am surprised the guard told you this since CR is one of the resorts that is usually more strict and makes sure you have an ADR before parking there. Did you tell him you were parking and going to MK or just ask if there was a time limit? But you are correct in the fact that not all the guard follow Disney policy and that is a pet peeve of mine too.

I will be at BW next weekend and again in Oct and being that it is F&W time it will be interesting to see how they handle the parking lot.

 

[Mousekakrazy]

So is everybody's recommendation to drive to all parks EXCEPT MK? Does anybody know how the buses from AoA to MK usually are? Also we will have a handicap placard (for my mother). Is there better parking at MK for handicap?

 

[Disco_Punk]

Having a car and staying on property is my preferred way to stay. No bus schedules to keep up with, no screaming kids on the bus at the end of the night. Increases the magic of my day by at least 20%.

 

[srwarden1928]

How about when the monorail isn't running? The older it gets, the more it seems like it's not in operation for longer periods of time.

Honestly, in all the years I have been going to WDW, I only experienced that ONCE. I really didn't mind taking the ferry that one time. If I ran into problems with the monorails alot, I might change my mind, but I still think of the monorail as part of the magic. After all, where else do you get to ride one?

 

[evilqueenmindy]

I am not a big fan of driving in general, in my real life, I have a long daily commute. So for me, Disney transportation is part of the vacation. We only use a car to go from resort to resort for dinners and such, because that can be a big headache. The rest of it. . .give me a boat, a monorail or even a bus, I'll take it.

 

[rotlex]

We drive from PA to Disney every year. We drive everywhere on property with the exception of the Magic Kingdom. Just too much of a hassle between the lot, ttc, etc. While there are many opinions on Disney transportation, my take is this. It works, it's free, and that's about it. We hate the bus and avoid it at all costs. Especially the late evening ride, or stand, back. Once we experienced the freedom of having a car on property, we never looked back.

 

[vinotinto]

We have a car and when the kids were little we usually drove. It was just easier. But recently, we've been taking the bus more frequently. My question is, what if you arrive later at a park? Wouldn't you park so far away that you would be better off taking the bus and not driving?

 

[Mousekakrazy]

We have a car and when the kids were little we usually drove. It was just easier. But recently, we've been taking the bus more frequently. My question is, what if you arrive later at a park? Wouldn't you park so far away that you would be better off taking the bus and not driving?

I'm not sure about that. We plan on RD pretty much everyday and have ADR for PPO breakfasts as well. We also have a handicap placard for my mom so hopefully that will also help.

Does anybody know where to find a map on the boards that has handicap parking?

 

[evilqueenmindy]

We have a car and when the kids were little we usually drove. It was just easier. But recently, we've been taking the bus more frequently. My question is, what if you arrive later at a park? Wouldn't you park so far away that you would be better off taking the bus and not driving?

Where you will park is a total gamble. I've arrived at the parks for a day trip and in the afternoon, and due to the way they were directing cars, had a decent spot, and I've arrived in the morning and been pretty far away. But, I will say, if you are willing to skip the tram and walk, you'll be at the front of the park much faster. Even the back 40 at the TTC lot (the biggest lot), you can make it to the TTC in about 5-6 minutes, the other parks have smaller parking lots, it's never taken more than 5 min or so to get to the front gate. IMO, it's not a deciding factor in the bus/drive debate.

 

[Delirium]

We are from Indiana as well. And, we always rent a car and drive. That said, we used to always drive to the parks, but that was when we had AAA Diamond parking. But, the last couple of times we've been, we've ridden the buses/boats.

My recommendations are as follows:

• If you hop, use Disney transportation. Monorail from Epcot to MK or boat from HS to Epcot is much nicer than finding decent parking (especially mid-day).
• If you're not hopping and doing rope drop, then I would recommend driving to all of the parks except MK. Going to the Transportation Center is never a good option, in my opinion.