How do you get around within WDW?

[craiggers]

I think it just depends on what you like to do. If you are people who go to the parks from sun up til close....WDW transportation is fine. If (like us) you like park hop with a lot of ADR, you need to have your own transportation. If you don't, you will spend your entire trip on Disney buses.

 

[allshookup]

We take ME to & from the airport, we take a cab to the grocery store & we rely completely on WDW transportation & we love it! DH & I both hate to drive so the WDW transportation is a major reason why we love staying there. Sometimes we like to have a few drinks with dinner & we don't have to worry knowing that our family is safely in the hands of Disney. We even park hop, go to other resorts for dinner, etc. & we've never had a problem. We find waiting for a bus, boat or monorail part of the whole experience & we enjoy meeting other people that are waiting right along with us.

 

[DVC-Don]

Mostly drive except for the MK. Although, if "Adult Beverages" are anticipated then it's the bus.

 

[magicmommy]

For us it's Disney transportation as soon as we step off the plane. If Disney had an airline I'm sure we'd use that too!

 

[bangzoom6877]

We drive down so there is not an added expense of renting a car. We did take the bus twice on our July 2008 trip...once to and from MK and once to and from AK. Definitely prefer the car! We have small children and had a double stroller with us so it was a pain on the bus. The only reason we took the bus at those times was because the first day we arrived, we arrived at MK at 1:30 and I knew our parking spot would be far far away enough to take a tram, so I figured just take the bus. The second day at MK was a full day from rope drop, and we drove and loved that. For AK it was an EMH morning and I had read on the transportation board that sometimes they do not start letting cars into their lot until after 8AM and I did not want to miss a second of EMH!!

Now that we are DVC members at BWV, we will be able to walk to 2 theme parks!! We definitely prefer that to a car or Disney transportation!

 

[dnoyes]

DME from the airport to WDW, buses within WDW, and DME back to the airport! Absolutely LOVE it!!!

Same here. The last thing I want to do on vacation is drive a car. I drive 70 miles a day six days a week at home.

Besides we never would have met our new travel friends if we rented a car, met them on a bus in 2006 and have vacationed with them twice since.

 

[rkwier]

We use Disney transporation all the way! DME to and from the airport, buses, monorail and boats within the world. Actually, one of the attractive things about DVC is that we currently can use DME and other transportation. We usually fly, so it is super convenient for us and one less thing to worry about. We have groceries delivered, so that is not an issue for us. For us, part of the fun vacation is being able to eat and shop at places that are different from where you live. The outlet mall has no appeal because I have a great one less than 10 minutes from my house. Many of the restaurants there we also have at home. Once we get tired of the food at the resorts and Giordano's pizza (not likely, that is the best pizza), we may have to consider renting a car.

 

[goofygal1975]

We use Disney Transportation as much as we can. I started using it when I was a single mom and ds and I went all the time. It was GREAT to not have to drive!! There is only a few times where I can remember we drove instead of taken the bus system. One time a All Stars we stood in 90 weather in the blazing sun for over 35 minutes for a bus!! Since we wouldn't even get on the next bus, we got in our car and drove.

Other times we drove because we had a ADR at a resort adn didn't have the time to take the bus and transfer to another form of transportation.

I would NEVER drive to the MK...too much effort! We take the bus every time. But I don't mind driving to HS or Epcot if need be.

 

[lvanleer]

Drive down however rely on Disney transportation within Disney itself.

 

[brianm27]

We have done a few ME trips but mostly have a rental car. When we have a car we use it about half the time to the parks, 100% of the time to DTD and water parks.

 

[DVC Mike]

We drive down and almost always use our car to go everywhere. Driving around WDW feels like driving around home, since I've done it so much. I know how to go everywhere and no longer pay attention to the signs.

 

[JimC]

We live close by so we drive to WDW. On property it is origination and destination specific. Examples: At OKW and AKV we drive. At VWL we boat to MK and drive elsewhere. At BCV we walk or boat to ST, walk to EP, drive or monorail to MK and drive to AK.

We never take bus transportation unless we are forced to for some reason. We use a wheelchair and had too much trouble with the lifts not functioning properly.

 

[liznboys]

...Driving around WDW feels like driving around home, since I've done it so much...

Same here! Well, almost...we do still need to use the signs a bit.

 

[WolfpackFan]

The only time we might drive our car is to go to either DTD or Celebration. Other than that it stays parked.

 

[kristenrice]

I had to vote "Other".

We just bought into DVC and I have made a tentative plan to travel in June, then spring break the next year and then take a year off. When we take our June trips, we should hopefully be able to find reasonable airfare so we will fly and use the DTS exclusively. Now, the spring break trips are a whole different story. That week would probably cost us about $500 more to fly so I am planning on driving for those trips. In that case, we'll have a vehicle so we will probably use it when we are planning on returning to the resort in the middle of the day. It will also come in handy to resort hop for meals.

I like the DTS and I think it runs as efficiently as possible, but I also like the control of being able to drive myself sometimes. I like the fact that we always have the option of NOT getting a rental car when we fly.

 

[kikiq]

Coming from the West Coast, we just don't like to add on the car rental. We use WDW transportation. When we need a car to go to the Space Center, my DH goes to the Swan and rents a car. Otherwise, we loves the boats and buses. Just another "ride".

 

[Mom_of_3_Pirates]

We always use Disney transport to get around. For us it takes the hassle out of having to deal with parking.

 

[Tara]

We drive down and almost always use our car to go everywhere. Driving around WDW feels like driving around home, since I've done it so much. I know how to go everywhere and no longer pay attention to the signs.

This is exactly how I feel. I have a pretty good sense of direction, so driving is a piece of cake. And I almost always do the driving at WDW rather than having my husband drive.

 

[alldiz]

I use WDW transportation everywhere except.....sometimes I will use a cab for resort to resort dining.
Kerri

 

[cogero]

We use Disney Transportation since we hate to drive on vacation.

Also it is a pain traveling with car seats. When we stayed at the Beach Club in July we also walked to DHS so loved that.