Hire car or public transport?

[kevin harrison]

Interested to read a lot of threads where people are having to make specific plans to get to places involving taxis etc, which to me takes a chunk out of your day and all the spontaneity out of the holiday. I haven't been on a bus in 15 years in England and have no plans to do so ever again.

So the question is, Hire car or public transport to get around and why?

 

[PudseyChancer]

Interested to read a lot of threads where people are having to make specific plans to get to places involving taxis etc, which to me takes a chunk out of your day and all the spontaneity out of the holiday. I haven't been on a bus in 15 years in England and have no plans to do so ever again.

So the question is, Hire car or public transport to get around and why?

Only had a car on one of my four Orlando trips so far, and won't be having a car this time either. Have stayed on i-drive and used free buses in the past, using the i-ride trolley to go up and down International Drive, the Disney buses whilst at WDW, used the Busch Gardens coach from Seaworld to get to Busch Gardens. Makes me laugh when people suggest an Orlando holiday isn't do-able without a car.

I guess the only spontaneity that I've missed out on is not being able to have an alcoholic drink whenever I've wanted because I'm the designated driver!

 

[Tink2312]

Definitely hire car as so much more flexible. However, since we've been staying onsite we have been impressed by the Disney bus service, but I don't think we would ever plan a whole holiday without a hire car.

 

[luke]

Hire car definitely!! Couldn't be without the freedom and flexibility a car gives.
Having always stayed offsite we've relied on a car to get everywhere, tho this year I plan to sometimes use Disney transport, for epcot days in particular so we can have a few drinks around the world

 

[2Tiggies]

I go with no car. However I will give my objective point of view.

• It depends where you stay vs where you want to be going during your trip
• It depends how much you want to get out and about and whether it is possible or even practical to rely on public transport
• Cost is an issue for many. For some, the savings of having a car are greater than not having one, simply based on whether they will be buying their own food for the duration of their stay and also getting around quite a lot.
• The size of your party. It is easier(cheaper) for a family of 3 or 4 to get a taxi than a party of 8.
• It depends on the needs of your family/party. If you have very small children, someone with a disability or who generally struggles with standing and waiting or walking, it makes sense to have your own car.
• Likewise, if you have someone in your group with special needs, a car can be essential.

It is not cost effective for me and neither is it necessary as we stay onsite and only venture offsite once or twice in our visit. But I accept that this suits MY needs. I can fully see how it could be absolutely impractical for someone else.

 

[wayneg]

Only 15 years Kevin, 27 years for me. unless you count the minibus from the carpark to the airport

So many places we visit that would be difficult or expensive to get to without a car, Day trip to Savannah in Georgia, Day in Clearwater, Cocoa Beach, Port Canaveral, St Augustine, Daytona etc.
We like to eat out at Hunters Creek for many meals, Manny's Haines City, Cheesecake factory Mall @ Millenia.
Evenings we like to goto Celebration or Old Town.
Visit friends houses.
Be able to goto and leave when we want (Busch bus way too limited)
Our hobby is Geocaching, almost impossible without a car, caches are hidden
everywhere in Florida, rarely on a bus route.
Plus we totally dislike buses, even the Disney ones so its a car for us, easy choice but I love driving over there(hate it here) & I rarely drink alcohol with food, prefer a drink in the room at the end of the day.
I am sure public transport works for some but not for us.

 

[irisheyes123]

Hire car we stay off site so make life a lot easy for us but have used the lynx bus service for one day and found it very easy to use we even hire a car when staying in NYC love the freedom we have

 

[mcarthur205]

Hire car without a doubt. We use the Disney buses a lot while staying onsite, but we need a car for shopping offsite and visiting other parts of Florida - Gulf Coast, Key West etc. We haven't used public transport at home for years, so we're not going to start on holiday.

 

[skelfbsfb]

Fisrt year we went we used public transport, never again, so car hire for us always now.

 

[Netty]

Car hire for us everytime, very convenient , come and go as you please, no hanging around for buses etc
as the kids no longer come with us to Florida every time we go we drive further afield now and explore more of the real Florida

 

[BethEJo]

Only had a car on one of my four Orlando trips so far, and won't be having a car this time either. Have stayed on i-drive and used free buses in the past, using the i-ride trolley to go up and down International Drive, the Disney buses whilst at WDW, used the Busch Gardens coach from Seaworld to get to Busch Gardens. Makes me laugh when people suggest an Orlando holiday isn't do-able without a car.

I agree

Have never had a car while in Orlando, so I couldn't really choose "hire car"...

It does sound appealing, having more flexibility and all that, but it wouldnt be top priority.
We've never struggled while we've been there without a car, so I can't see us hiring one whenever we get to go again. But who knows

 

[PJB71]

Definately car hire for us

Id never be able to get all my shopping on a bus

 

[Elise79]

Hire car for us!

WE love the freedom it brings and I LOVE driving out there. It is nice just to say I want to go to ... and get it the car and go - no planning required. Same coming home again just get in the car and leave when we are ready.

The more we go the more we use the car. Last time we went on the Disney buses once and that was only because we both wanted a drink with dinner but didn't really enjoy it.

 

[stephensmum]

We don't hire a car, always think about it & decide the pro's against outweigh the ones for. That's mainly due to us always staying at Disney with a 1 or 2 night trip to RPR, so only one return taxi & no parking charges. This year as we are going for longer, we are going to try the bus to Seaworld & Florida Mall. I kinda like the Disney buses, especially, the first morning. (getting excited now, just thinking about it).

 

[Tinks1984]

Hire car for us too from now on.

Myself and DF went to Disney in 2008 and we didn't have a hire car. We got by okay without one, still managed to get to where we wanted too etc, but since going back this May and having a car available, I don't think I could go again without one.

We do like to venture off Disney property, so having the car is much easier to do this. To be honest though, we stay on property and use the Disney buses also whenever we're going to the parks.

 

[paul_toria96]

Go with a car everytime

 

[dixonsontour]

Car for us but DH is the driver.

He likes driving over there and trying different cars.

Last trip we tried without a trip for part.

We did 4 days offsite with a car. Returned car to MCO then magical express to Disney. Then 4 days onsite using the buses then hired a car for the weekend from car care cente. Then back to using Disney transport.

This trip we are just having a car for the duration.

Plan was partly to save money but also to try and persuade DH to relax and enjoy disney.

Buses were fine for the parks but for dining reservations at other hotels a car made it so much easier.

We did enjoy the boat trip to WCC from MK.

A car meant we had more rest time eg for an 8 am adr we had to be at the bus stop 7.15am. In the car we could leave 7.40am.

 

[kieras nana]

car hire for us definately
couldn't imagine going shopping & lugging it all around,on a bus
i like the fact we go shopping,hubby nips it,back to the car,then we shop some more.i really dislike,being laden down with bags,when you are trying to shop!
also we love,to just get in the car & go,wherever we fancy.
roll on october
tracy

 

[wideeyes]

I don't hire a car because I don't drive, so it is not even an option for me. We stay onsite always and we uses Mears to get around if we want to go off site. I don't mind using Disney buses, it is apart of the holiday for me.

 

[Lizzybear]

I've done both and while a car is very convenient i'm not sure i'd bother for a Disney only trip again, I found the buses fine last trip and i'm sure a few taxis wouldn't have added up to the £160 plus fuel that the hire car cost. if I was staying offsite or making lots of trips offsite then I definitely would still hire a car.