Driving vs. shuttles

[kykatt2]

We always "rent" a car in Orlando. Just driving 3-5 exits around WDW is not so bad. The "Magical Express" can be a hassle when you want to get to YOUR resort as you arrive... and having to leave as early as you sometimes have to do to catch a bus back to the Airport is no fun either. Then you sit with kids and WAIT.

The "Park Shuttles" ..... We like using the MK bus as parking at MK can be overwhelming. ( Park.. take a tram to the boat or the Monorail... wait for it... ) BUT.....The MK buses take longer coming back to the Value Resorts.and I have heard they do at some of the Moderates
For the other Parks, the Shuttles are better than driving EXCEPT when you are TRYING to catch a BUS and LEAVE when it is CLOSING TIME.

We like the "Cheaper" options for eating outside the parks, and cheaper Souveniers.Options for us are best.

 

[Jchance]

We love the buses. Like stated above, They are clearly marked, they run every 15-20 min.(more during peak hours) and saves the expense and headache of gas, directions, parking, parking fees, forgeting where you parked, etc....

 

[sha_lyn]

One of our favorite things about WDW is once we park at the resort, we don't go near the car until time to go home. There is no way I would go through the hassel of driving around WDW when I can take WDW transportation instead.

 

[Goofyz3girls]

Every stay at WDW we have rented a car.BEST thing you can DO!I still can't see how people would want to use the bus system when you could get in your car and go where you want when you want rather then being on a schedule.Your on vacation you shouldn't have to be on a bus schedule...This is for all the bus riders that say it's so great to use WDW shuttle to get around.What happens if you get on a bus to go somewhere (say back to the resort) and then while on the bus decide to go somewhere else how do you do it?......I.......just turn the steering wheel of the car and head that way. What do you have to do?

 

[Eganclan]

Well, having just returned I will post my two-cents. Because we were staying off-site and doing a few non-disney things renting a car was a must this trip.

I got a great rate through Alamo used their kiosk check-in and walked out and picked out a car. Navigating around Orlando and Disney is easy and traffic was never too bad.

We did however never make it to a park opening even though we were about 7 miles from WDW. While we had a wonderful trip we all came home saying that we missed staying on-site and using the bus. Stepping off the plane and onto a ME bus is great and puts us immediatly in vacation mode. We have never had any problems using Disney transportation and love the conversations with fellow passengers and Disney drivers. In the event that we are tired and cranky we hop in a cab and at the most it has cost us maybe $10.

Hope this helps. Have fun.

 

[Dimaline312000]

I much prefer using the transportation service around WDW than just driving to the parks myself. It feels like you get there faster. You don't have to waste your gas (which is a big issue now) you don't have to wait in the line in your car. It gives you a chance to relax instead of worring about traffic and everything there.

 

[crazytp93]

I love taking the bus. In the 2 times we have went to Disney never rented a car. Taking the bus....you feel like you never "leave the magic." Plus it's fun to meet and talk to new people on the bus.

 

[Step]

Every stay at WDW we have rented a car.BEST thing you can DO!I still can't see how people would want to use the bus system when you could get in your car and go where you want when you want rather then being on a schedule.Your on vacation you shouldn't have to be on a bus schedule...This is for all the bus riders that say it's so great to use WDW shuttle to get around.What happens if you get on a bus to go somewhere (say back to the resort) and then while on the bus decide to go somewhere else how do you do it?......I.......just turn the steering wheel of the car and head that way. What do you have to do?

The uh, bus driver turns around if he goes the wrong way? If you got on the wrong bus... well, that would be your own fault, lol.

Why would I want to drive myself around when I can be chauffeured? I love the idea of being bussed to where I have to go. If you aren't used to buses I guess you wouldn't realize that the bus system at Disney is superb compared to most city bus systems. Since I don't drive anyway, the buses are ideal.

 

[RussellDisney]

We've done both, but actually prefer driving ourselves. We stayed off site in December and to be honest, I was a little nervous before the trip about driving, parking, etc. In reality, it couldn't have been easier! If you can't find the Disney exits on I-4 you are blind and need not drive ANYWHERE!! As others have said, on Disney property there are plenty of signs pointing you in the right direction. After the first day we didn't sweat our location in the parking lot, as the trams are wonderful. As to the "traffic" pp have mentioned, I must say "WHAT traffic???" We never waited in ANY congestion, at ANY time of day, at ANY park! Summer or Christmas Day may very well be a different story, but we saw no traffic at all.

As to Disney transportation, I have many of the same gripes as others: ME is a great concept, but spending an hour and a half on the bus getting to your resort is not very magical - Orlando International Airport is only 20-25 minutes away. Leaving your hotel at 8:30 a.m. for a noon flight is just silly. As to the park busses, I never had any long waits for them but they were crowded and I stood almost every time. To be fair, the kids were smaller then and we had a stroller to contend with. Still, we like the flexibility a car provides.

Our perfect trip would be staying on site with our own car.

 

[azgal81]

I think the disney bus transportation system is great. I have been really happy with it and I wouldn't even consider renting a car.

 

[sha_lyn]

right direction. After the first day we didn't sweat our location in the parking lot, as the trams are wonderful. As to the "traffic" pp have mentioned, I must say "WHAT traffic???" We never waited in ANY congestion, at ANY time of day, at ANY park! Summer or Christmas Day may very well be a different story, but we saw no traffic at all.

Spring Break 2000
1st day 1st trip we are on the bus to MGM for EE. Pass the huge crowd waiting to get onto WDW property and the huge line to get into MGM parking,
DH looks at me and tells me he's so glad I insisted we stay onsite and take the bus to the park. and this was after we stood forever waiting for a bus because our driver overslept (he forgot to set his clock ahead an hr for DLS).

2002...going from CR(or might have been another resort. We stayed at CR but dined at Poly and GF during the trip) to DTD just as MK was closing. Driver starts driving toward FtW. Several start complaining including my sister "oh he doesn't know wehere we are going", "hey he's not suppose to pick up at other resorts" etc. I said Mmmm look out at all the traffic leaving TTC. I think our driver might just know how to avoid all that. You could see him smile ear to ear when I spoke up. Yep sure enough he took back and access roads and got us to DTD without 1 bit of traffic.
Same trip we were at AK until it closed and took the bus over the AKL to eat at Boma. MK had closed about 30 min before we finished dinner.
My plan was to take a DTD or Epcot bus then transfer to a CR bus.
The first bus to pull up was an MK bus. We start to jump on and the driver says MK is closed. I told he we were staying at CR and was going to walk or monorail over to CR once we got to MK. He tells us to hop on. He gets on the radio and gets permission to drop us at CR.

ETA...1st trip we drove to TL because we thought it would be eaiser considering we had towels, change of clothes etc. Driving wasn't worth it. The busses were already nice and cool when we got on them. The car however was unbearably hot leaving the resort and TL. Didn't cool off to a comfortable temp during the drive either.