If you drive from the Ft to the Parks...

[indimom]

I've got a couple questions.

We have always stayed at Pop Century and used the buses to access the parks. On our last trip, we didn't really like the bus rides to the water parks as they seemed to take a lot of time and have really long waits (like 45 minutes once at TL).

I considered using the on-site transportation; but, on this trip, we are only doing four park days (DHS, Epcot, BB and TL), so I don't want to waste a minute of valuable park time on bus transfers. I'm certain that (as much as we love Disney transportation) we would find it frustrating for this trip and would prefer to drive.

So, for those of you who do drive to the parks....

Question ONE:
I looked over MapQuest. Is driving from the Ft to these parks as simple as it looks?? For the most part, it looked like we would only be using about four roads: Epcot Center Drive, World Drive, Vista Blvd and Buena Vista Drive.

Question TWO:
Are there any one-way roads or lacking left turn signals I need to worry about between the Ft. and these four parks??

Question THREE:
If you have a preferred route for any of these locations, please share. It looked like we could use at least two options for one of the water parks, so if one route is better/less congested than another, please let me know.

Question FOUR:
On the off-chance we change our plans from DHS to MK, I assume the internal buses and boat would be as quick and possibly easier than driving to the TTC, yes?

We have a GPS, but I've heard that some Dis-ers have problems with them because they are directed to CM parking lots rather than day parking. I'm hoping we can just navigate by the signs on property.

Any other suggestions or advice greatly appreciated.
Thanks so much!

 

[2goofycampers]

We have driven it's pretty easy. Be sure to get a "map of the world" at check in and use that to navigate. If you go to the MK take a boat over not a bus. The parking at the water parks is minimal just an FYI.

Mousesavers.com has a good section on GPS/POI.

 

[Napria]

I second getting a map upon check in. Disney's road maps are pretty clear and our gps always wants us to take Cast Member only ROADS!

 

[indimom]

Thanks so much, Napria and 2goofycampers! I didn't realize they gave out driving maps. That should work perfectly (Love my Garmin, but I'm still old-school enough to know how to use a map. lol.)

 

[Maggie at the Fort]

Be warned... Our GPS tried to take us on roads in Disney that were not open to the public! I guess it thought we wanted a back stage tour. Mostly if you just follow signs you will be all right. We drive alot from the fort. Waiting for an internal bus and then an external bus with loading and unloading a stroller just doesn't add up for us. We always ride the boat to the MK though and sometimes if we aren't in a hurry, we take a boat to the Contemporary then ride the monorail to the TTC then to Epcot. Not at all efficient but with a toddler, the boat and the monorail are as much fun as the rides in the park!

I do have a pdf copy of a road map of Disney world. If you want to pm me with your email address I would be happy to email it to you I tried to convert to a picture and upload it but it lost all of the useful detail.

 

[indimom]

Be warned... Our GPS tried to take us on roads in Disney that were not open to the public! I guess it thought we wanted a back stage tour. Mostly if you just follow signs you will be all right. We drive alot from the fort. Waiting for an internal bus and then an external bus with loading and unloading a stroller just doesn't add up for us. We always ride the boat to the MK though and sometimes if we aren't in a hurry, we take a boat to the Contemporary then ride the monorail to the TTC then to Epcot. Not at all efficient but with a toddler, the boat and the monorail are as much fun as the rides in the park!

I do have a pdf copy of a road map of Disney world. If you want to pm me with your email address I would be happy to email it to you I tried to convert to a picture and upload it but it lost all of the useful detail.

I see I was not misinformed about the questionable use of GPS on site. lol.
"Two out of three posters agree," lol
Anyway, thank you for the offer. I'll PM you. It will be helpful to go over the driving details before we get there. DH prefers to use the buses and NOT drive at Disney, but I really think this is the trip when we need to make use of our car. I know we'll all get frustrated with the transfers, especially with our limited time frame this year.
I really appreciate it!

 

[super_camper]

I've got a couple questions.

We have always stayed at Pop Century and used the buses to access the parks. On our last trip, we didn't really like the bus rides to the water parks as they seemed to take a lot of time and have really long waits (like 45 minutes once at TL).

I considered using the on-site transportation; but, on this trip, we are only doing four park days (DHS, Epcot, BB and TL), so I don't want to waste a minute of valuable park time on bus transfers. I'm certain that (as much as we love Disney transportation) we would find it frustrating for this trip and would prefer to drive.

So, for those of you who do drive to the parks....

Question ONE:
I looked over MapQuest. Is driving from the Ft to these parks as simple as it looks?? For the most part, it looked like we would only be using about four roads: Epcot Center Drive, World Drive, Vista Blvd and Buena Vista Drive.

Question TWO:
Are there any one-way roads or lacking left turn signals I need to worry about between the Ft. and these four parks??

Question THREE:
If you have a preferred route for any of these locations, please share. It looked like we could use at least two options for one of the water parks, so if one route is better/less congested than another, please let me know.

Question FOUR:
On the off-chance we change our plans from DHS to MK, I assume the internal buses and boat would be as quick and possibly easier than driving to the TTC, yes?

We have a GPS, but I've heard that some Dis-ers have problems with them because they are directed to CM parking lots rather than day parking. I'm hoping we can just navigate by the signs on property.

Any other suggestions or advice greatly appreciated.
Thanks so much!

Disney's road system can be a confusing at times as the major roads are like highways with many exits and overpasses etc. There are some one way roads including world drive itself (near the end) if I recall correctly.

As long as you have a rough idea of where you are going the road signs are the best way to navigate, everything is signed clearly.

We have a Garmin GPS and have loaded Disney POI's and its pretty good on routes except it will not route you down Bonnet Creek Pkwy so some route suggestions are much longer than needed. We have never been routed to the wrong place or to a cast only area.

 

[tlh0726]

We downloaded a GPS file from mousesavers. No problems on any of our trips.

http://www.mousesavers.com/using-auto-gps-at-walt-disney-world/

 

[indimom]

Thank you for the information on the downloads. Looks like DH has a job to do. lol. He's our family tech expert.