How do YOU get around the parks?

[jgates]

Not to rain on anyone's car rental parade, but just make sure you check rates. They have been AWFUL lately. I have checked periodically for our May trip in case I can get the car for a decent price, however, it is currently ranging from $295.05 to $495 depending on rental codes I use (National). That is NOT worth it by any means to me.

For us we plan on going to the Outlet Mall one evening & Bahama Breeze. That will definitely be under $100 for taxi. So I am willing to do $200 for a car, but no more. Last business trip I only paid $175 for a M-F rental!!! (That's peak price time with no weekend involved). And yet this trip $295 is the lowest I can come up with for them, using discount codes & $35 off a weekly rental code.

I seriously don't mind the busses - at the end of the day we have a habit of using this to our advantage to take pictures of the empty streets, wander through the shops & window shop, etc. So we never encounter the 'streaming masses' waiting to exit. It's a bit more frustrating when you want to get goign in the morning, but we just go down ahead of when we 'want' to leave, so that we 'get' to leave by the time we desire.

I have a tendency to gravitate towards National as the other adult members of my household can drive with no extra charge (or a business trip person going with) & I only have to book mid-size & get to choose from whatever car is in the Emerald Aisle (currently Executive in my case). MAKE SURE that if you consider National you sign up for a free Emerald Aisle membership. You can bypass the counter as long as all your info is on file & grab a car fromt he Emerald Aisle & proceed to the exit window. A couple fo weeks ago in LV the EA had a lot of PT Cruisers, Impalas, etc., but I got a beautiful LuCerne from the Executive Aisle.

 

[badblackpug]

I have 4 kids, 2 in a stroller (a double) and we have never rented a car. We have never had trouble with WDW transport, but we are city people, so maybe bus/train/boat transfers are pretty "normal" to us.

I love, at the end of the day, after walking for miles and being exhausted, sitting back and letting WDW worry about negotiating the traffic. I also can't fathom dragging 2 car seats and a stroller through the airport.

Not to mention, with 4 kids, 2 of whom need car seats, we would need a van, so the cost of renting greatly increases.

We always get a grocery delivery (including diapers) from garden grocer, so there is no need for a market stop.

 

[Melmac]

For all of our WDW trips, except for the last one, we used Magical Express and the Disney buses. It is just DH and I so no kids and no stuff to worry about. The buses were fine and served us well.

Last trip, we were there for over 2 weeks but had a rental car for the first week. That was HEAVEN! We were staying onsite so parking was free. Drive to the parks when we wanted, leave when we wanted, not have to leave 1.5 hours early for a reservation at Boma (how about 15 minutes?), ability to easily go to Target or wherever. I am now totally spoiled by a car that I am not sure I would want to do buses again! We are planning for a trip in November and will probably drive down since airfare + rental car is going to be more than driving down.

However, I would probably still look at the buses if I was going to MK and leaving at closing time - either wait in line for a bus, or wait in line for the monorail/boat.

 

[sk!mom]

We've driven to WDW and had our own car, we've rented a car and used a mix of the car and buses, and we've done 100% Disney transport- Magic Express, buses, monorail. Our favorite is to let Disney handle it once we're off the plane.

Yes, there's a wait for buses but it doesn't seem to take as much time as getting back to the car in the parking lot and dealing with traffic.

We normally eat at Ohana and Chef Mickeys. We plan these for days that we will be going to MK so that transportation is easy. We have been known to take a taxi to a meal if bus transportation is too much trouble.

I do agree that large strollers are a pain on Disney buses. I've never used one but it's a pain to me to wait while others struggle with it. My advice there is - get those kids in shape. I've traveled with 5 different 4-6 year olds- My two and nieces and nephews. In that experience, no one over 5 ever used a stroller. When they got tired, we took a break. Because we knew that even the 4 or 5 year olds wouldn't want a stroller much, we just took an umbrella stroller. They fold quickly and compactly and we didn't have kids who were going to nap in them. We mostly used it to move more quickly through a crowd late a night with a tired child.