Getting around the parks...

[tinkerbell6]

We are staying off-site for our first family visit to WDW, I haven't been since I was 8 or so, hubby and daughter have never been. We got a good deal on our accomodations, so off we go, but.....

do we need to rent a car to get around between the resort and WDW and Downtown Disney? The resort has a shuttle to the parks, but is it really more convenient to just rent a car? We were going to use a towncar to the airport and back (so $100 or so with tip), and renting a car would be a few hundred for a week. Would we save enough in travel time to make it worthwhile? WDW is so much larger than DL that I'm getting concerned we'd be spending hours and hours on busses getting around. It says that the Disney busses between the parks are for resort guests, so does that mean we couldn't use them? We would like to be able to take a break mid-day if necessary and go back to the resort. I'm wondering what kind of travel time that would involve, especially when getting to/from the MK involves monorail or boat.

Next time we're staying on-site!!!

Lisa

 

[tjkraz]

I'd start by asking around the Resorts board to see if people can comment on the quality of transportation at your resort. Last thing you want to do is find out that the shuttle service is poor AFTER you arrive.

Then you might want to check out mousesavers.com for any rental car discounts in Orlando. Reputable companies like Budget have been known to run $199 weekly rental specials on minivans. That's quite a deal, and should be more than enough room for your family and luggage.

If you take advantage of the rental car, I suspect you may even save a few dollars. At risk of turning this into the Budget Board, you can really save a bundle just by purchasing things like bottled water and/or soda outside of the parks and taking it with you. Many people will also get things like bagels, fruit and snacks to keep in the hotel room.

If you plan on purchasing any souvenirs, get directions to the Disney outlet stores in Orlando. One is at the Prime outlets (about 5 min from DD) and they have two stores at the Belz outlets (about 20 min from WDW). The outlets sell legitimate WDW closeout merchandise at a fraction of the Disney cost. Sometimes you will even find items that are still being sold in the parks. Two years ago we bought our son a "My first trip to Disney World" shirt at the outlet for $4. The very next day we saw the same shirt for sale in the Magic Kingdom for $12.

 

[DisneyJules]

To get between the parks, you ride the monorail which take barely any time at all. As for shuttles, it depends on which hotel you're staying at but I know a lot of offsite hotels actually offer shuttles to and from Walt Disney World, Downtown Disney, Universal and Sea World. Renting a car will enable you to come and go from the parks and gives you more options in terms of where you can eat. I know in the past we've always stayed off site to cuts costs, rented a car and came and went as we pleased, it worked rather well.

 

[Baloo]

If you're wanting to take mid day breaks to go back to your off site resort I think renting a car would be your best bet.Sometimes shuttles from off site resorts only run a few times a day.You'd have to check the place your staying on how they do it.I personally like to have my own car,I hate relying on someone else!

As far as riding WDW transportation...if you have a pass to the parks you can ride any of the modes of transportation throughout the WDW property.