In-Disney Transport from CB - Rental or Bus?

[ILoveMK2008]

Hi everyone! My dbf and i are planning a trip to CBR @ Disney for early May and were debating on whether we should rent a car to drive around in or just ride the buses around to the parks.

We've stayed at the CBR before and felt that the bus trips and waits were a bit lengthy and we've heard that it has gotten worse in the past couple years. So, we're thinking of renting a car to drive around in. Does anyone have an opinion or any experience with the rental service at Disney?

Thanks

 

[patsfan101]

We have never rented a car, but have driven down and had our own car with us. It is really nice to have a car at your disposal when you're staying at a resort with only bus service. Price out the difference between renting a car and staying at CB vs. staying at a monorail resort. Just a thought. We were at CB without a car last year, and we did miss the convienence.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

Just went to CBR 8/30-9/6 and the bus transportation was fantastic. Now, I do have to say that it was extremely quiet while we were there. However, the longest I ever waited for a bus was once, about 15-20 minutes. Most of the time we were running to get the bus because it was already waiting at the bus stop. LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the transportation this year. Last year we stayed at ASMO and, on averaged, waited about 15-20 minutes each time, which is exactly what they tell you about the transportation. However, one day we waited 1 hour and 15 minutes for a bus to AK. That was crazy!

 

[bradisgoofy]

You can see in my signature line that we have visited many times, we never drive between our resort and the parks. Even in the busiest times of the year we have found the buses do the job just fine. BTW, we have found the bus service has gotten better the last couple of years.

 

[Michael623]

This is a very polarizing topic that has been discussed about a million times. It seems that there are 2 schools of thought: The buses are great and not having to drive adds to the relaxation of my vacation or, I want to get places quickly and don't want to have to rely on someone else to get me there. I personally would stay home before I would go without a car. I'm not attacking PrincessKsmom but to say the bus transportation is fantastic in the same post where you mention a 75-minute wait for an AK bus is absolutely insane. If I had to sit at a bus stop for 75 minutes I honestly think my head would explode. I don't need to go to Disneyworld to sit at a bus stop. I don't want to tell you how to plan your vacation but I can tell you this, at the beginning and end of a long theme park day I always have a seat back to my resort (usually OKW, but always on-site) with no waiting.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

This is a very polarizing topic that has been discussed about a million times. It seems that there are 2 schools of thought: The buses are great and not having to drive adds to the relaxation of my vacation or, I want to get places quickly and don't want to have to rely on someone else to get me there. I personally would stay home before I would go without a car. I'm not attacking PrincessKsmom but to say the bus transportation is fantastic in the same post where you mention a 75-minute wait for an AK bus is absolutely insane. If I had to sit at a bus stop for 75 minutes I honestly think my head would explode. I don't need to go to Disneyworld to sit at a bus stop. I don't want to tell you how to plan your vacation but I can tell you this, at the beginning and end of a long theme park day I always have a seat back to my resort (usually OKW, but always on-site) with no waiting.

Of course, to each his own. However, I thought I should point out that the 75 minute wait occurred last year, at a different resort. That resort also shares buses with two other resorts. I have also stayed at CBR in the past, where the average wait was a little longer than this trip, approx. 10-15 minutes, which is well within the 20 minutes the tell you it could take between buses. Also, the extra 10 minutes or so that you would save by having your own car, should be added on to the other end of your trip, i.e., walking/ferry/monorail/tram time from your spot in the parking lot to the front gate of each park. Of course, you are correct that you will always have a seat, where I might not, but that slight inconvenience is well worth the money I would save, at least for me. I agree that the 75 minute wait was extreme, and I was VERY unhappy, but it only happened once. One last thing to consider, CBR is MUCH closer to the parks than ASMo, where I stayed last year, which probably adds to the waits at other resorts. We timed it this year -- from the time the bus pulled out at DHS, until the time we pulled in the back gate at CBR was 3 minutes. Animal Kingdom was approximately 7 minutes. MK was approximately 12 minutes.