help! car needed at AKL?

[jds]

I need some help/advice!

DH, DD (14) & I are planning a short visit to AKL over the Columbus Day weekend. We arrive LATE (almost midnight) on Thursday and will be leaving the hotel around 9 am on Monday. We would like to keep this vacation pretty relaxing (no trying to hit 3 parks in one day!), so will probably spend most of our time at AKL, the Animal Kingdom park (which is new since the last time we visited WDW, obviously many moons ago), and Disney/MGM Studios. DD probably will also want to spend some time at Downtown Disney, since she's a world-class shopper...

So... can we do without a rental car? Since we're arriving so late at night, I'd really rather not deal with a rental car desk, driving, etc. Has anyone had any good/bad experiences with any of the town car services (FL Tours, Happy Limo)? How long will we REALLY have to wait for busses from AKL to AK, Disney/MGM, DowntownDisney?

On past trips, we've always rented a car and enjoyed zipping around the property and parking at various resorts as short-cuts to the parks (i.e., staying at the Beach Club and parking at the Polynesian to ride the monorail to the Magic Kingdom, or staying at the Polynesian and parking at the Beach Club to walk to Epcot), but I understand that they've cracked down on this and you can now only park at the resort where you're staying, or where you have PS at a restaurant. Is this true? If so, I guess that's one more reason NOT to get a car... can you tell which direction I'm leaning here?

 

[Mom of 5]

Our family of 7 (me, DH, DS-15, DS-11, DD-9, DS-3, and DD-almost 2 at the time) went in January. We split our stay - 2 nights at AKL and 4 nights at the Poly. We did not rent a car, and did not regret the decision.

We used Tiffany Towncar, and were very pleased with their service. They were very prompt at the airport, and at the Poly to head back to the airport. We had not complaints, and would use thier service again. We used a coupon for $7 off the cost of a round-trip transfer (we got this with our Passporter). We had a van because of the size of our family.

We had a great experience with the bus system at AKL. We never waited more than 5 minutes for a bus at AKL, or at the parks. I think you'll be just fine without a car !

Have a great vacation...AKL is a beautiful resort!

 

[hallie]

We stayed at the AKL for 2 weeks this past April. We drove down and never used our car. The bus system was great we never waited more then 10 minutes for a bus and we always had a seat. Plus AKL has it's own busses(no resort sharing) which is really nice.

Have a great trip!!! We loved the AKL, it was wonderful!

 

[susy]

Stayed there Labor Day Weekend. We had our car and arrived at 4pm on Fri. We did not get our car again until we checked out on Monday. Went to all four parks and DTD. Great bus service. We even took mid day breaks and went back in the evening. And that was a holiday weekend, too!!! Saw airport shuttles, cabs etc at all times of day and night. I wouldn't worry about that at all.


AKL is breathtaking!!!!!

 

[MScott1851]

Okay, now I'm worried! We will be at AKL from Sept. 22-27, Portofino Bay from Sept 27-29, and plan on renting a car at the airport when we arrive....

I thought we would use it for dinner off-site, to the waterparks so we could keep a change of dry clothes and a cooler, to the Boardwalk for dinner, etc, etc. Also for the move to Universal on Friday and back to the airport on Sunday.. Are we just fooling ourselves that we will need it? We got a really good rate ($180 for a standard through Dollar) and just couldn't pass it up...

 

[jds]

Thanks to everyone for all the great advice. I'm now comfortable that the three of us will be able to get around fine for three days without a car. (And grateful that I won't have to be driving from the airport to AKL when we arrive after midnight!)

MScott, if I were staying as long as you are, planning on dining off site, going to water parks, and also going to Universal, I'd definitely want to have a car, so I think you've made the right choice! It'll give you all the flexibility you'll want (and need) for a week+ vacation. Enjoy!

 

[susy]

is $180 for the whole time? I think that's pretty good! Just add up what it would cost for a ride to and from the airport and over to PB. You probably won't even have to use it much at AKL -the bus service is very good, but if you want to go over to the boardwalk in the evening, it will be nice to have. Valet service at AKL is wonderful. We checked out at a very busy time- almost the whole hotel was checking out (labor day morning) and I called down to bell services to come get our luggage. They also let the valet know to get our car for us. By the time we got downstairs, our car was waiting.

 

[MauraAndIainsDad]

Looks like I may be the lone dissenter here. We are staying at AKL for the first time Columbus Day weekend as well and I have read here on these boards that AKL transportation is good. However, with such a tight schedule, do you really want to waste the precious time you have waiting on buses, even if the transportation is good? We gave up on Disney transportation several trips ago and plan to rent a car again this time.

 

[MScott1851]

Yes, the total was $178.80 for a car from Sept. 22-29 through Dollar. I used a code (not sure if I can post it, but if so, it was ENTERTAIN) that has since been removed from Mousesavers.com...It was almost 40% off the regular rate. I feel a little better now...I was just afraid we would be wasting money, although now I see that it will be worth it, especially when towncar service alone is $80!

I also like to be able to go where I want, when I want...Instant gratification and all that. Besides...how else can I go get a mountain dew and white chocolate covered pretzels at 3am without having to pay $10 for it if I can't leave Disney property when I want?!?

 

[joyful1nh]

I'll add another voice in favor of a car. We stayed at AKL two nights in Feb without one and that was no big deal (since we stayed seven more nights at WL). But for our Veteran's Day weekend stay in Nov (similar to your schedule) we are renting. Too tight a schedule to waste time waiting for a bus -- plus holiday weekends tend to be busy...

 

[snowwhitemom]

During past visits to AKL we have not found it worth the time or $$ for it...especially since you are not on a die hard mission. I prefer to use YRT , ask for Rabitt..he is the best. Have a great trip, I love this resort, it is my favorite.

 

[GinaDice]

We just returned from AKL for 7 days...we did not rent a car and found no reason to miss it.

Disney Transportation was great. Even if you have to wait a few minutes for the bus...you are going door to door service. No need to park way out in the parking lot and then have to walk to the gate entrance.

On a holiday the wait may be a bit longer for a bus...because of the crowds ...but then the parking lot will be that much fuller!

We also used Tiffany Towne Car. They were wonderful. Very prompt ...and our flight was 40 minutes early in arriving. They were still there.

Have a wonderful vacation.

 

[travelanne]

Sorry everyone to post here, but


MScott1851....Misty I'm trying to email you a reminder for the cruise, but your email keeps bouncing. Drop me a note if you see this posting!

Thanks,
Anne

 

[Kellyh123]

We were there in June and had great bus service. We're going back this June and plan on using the buses again