Is it faster to get around with your own car?

[Tonka's Skipper]

We always use the Buses......I hate having to park in the lots........wait for trams........and then the reverse on leaving the parks.........

One big problem with getting a rental is not so much just the cost,but insurance..sure your own insurance will cover a accident but it will not cover the time for repairs.....rental car agencies charge you the daily car rate while the car is being repaired.......all the time.and it could take weeks. If you buy their own incurance, which I bleieve is about $30 a day now.....that cover repair day rates.

Is a car faster..most of the times it is faster, but for the minor amount of extra time I don't deal with having a car to worry about,costs......possible accidents.etc.


just my opinion


AKK

 

[leebee]

Check your insurance policy. Mine covers everything, including cost of repairs, towing, rental days lost during repair time, medical costs, etc. It'll even pay up to $15 a day towards the cost of a second rental if the company won't extend the contracted price that was in effect for the injured vehicle, which I think it bizarre but it's how they do it. We have had this policy for years (30? 35?) so this may be a carry-over from days gone by. Just make sure you are covered. My sister had great coverage, but then they paid off their car and changed their policy. Unfortunately because they didn't have "full" coverage, it dropped their rental coverage- and they learned this the hard way, when they had an accident on vacation. It was a minor fender bender, but they were surprised that their insurance didn't cover everything. Fortunately, their credit card provided secondary insurance so they were OK.

 

[brenda1966]

We had just the opposite experience at Magic Kingdom last August; waits for the busses to POP at park closing were WELL over 30 minutes! I would have much preferred spending that time hopefully sitting on the monorail, sitting on the tram to the parking lot, and sitting in my rental car, off my feet and in the air conditioning, than standing in the endless queue for the bus back to POP- and then be packed into the busses like sardines, standing the whole way back to the hotel.

SO YES...YES...YES it's faster to have your own car! Easier, cooler, more restful, and more peaceful, too!

But while you were standing in line waiting for the busses, there were also mobs of people standing in line waiting for the boat, or waiting for the monorail! AT closing, everyone waits because it is a huge mob and the boats and monorail do fill up, just like the buses, so you have to wait for the next one. But once you get off your bus, you're done. Once they get off their monorail or boat, they still have to drive!

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

If that is so then I stand corrected and policies have changed.........I will check with my broker and I suggest everyone does as well.

My Brother in law, 2 years ago got hit with a +/- $2,000 when his rental got hit and almost totaled in a orlando parking lot.

In any case we are still a Disney transportation family

AKK

 

[ccgirl]

If that is so then I stand corrected and policies have changed.........I will check with my broker and I suggest everyone does as well.

My Brother in law, 2 years ago got hit with a +/- $2,000 when his rental got hit and almost totaled in a orlando parking lot.

In any case we are still a Disney transportation family

AKK

Just wanted to say that my car insurance covers loss of use as well on a rental car. I have full coverage. My AMex also provides coverage so I always use that car while renting as well.

 

[Jessica527]

If I have an ADR for breakfast and GF, but am staying at POFQ...Can I leave my car at GF while I go to MK? Or do you have to park it in the MK lot?

Thanks for your answers

 

[Mary T in PA]

We use a car to get around.. if staying at a resort on the Monorail loop, we will drive over to DHS and AK.. if staying at the Epcot resorts, we will drive over to AK.. also we drive over to the DtD area on any trip. We try to avoid the busses at all costs.

We've driven down ourselves, but most of the time, we use rentals as we usually fly. We don't use it much, but sometimes we do drive over to Cocoa beach.

 

[eliza61]

especially faster if you are going resort to resort or from a resort to DTD. A disney bus will easily take up to 1 hour to get you from 1 resort to another.

 

[Lewisc]

Disney provides free transfers to/from MCO. Car rentals are more expensive then a few years ago.

People who are more or less happy with Disney transportation and who have a couple of ADRs that require transportation from their resort to another resort could just spend a few dollars taking a cab.

 

[bumbershoot]

If that is so then I stand corrected and policies have changed.........I will check with my broker and I suggest everyone does as well.

My Brother in law, 2 years ago got hit with a +/- $2,000 when his rental got hit and almost totaled in a orlando parking lot.

In any case we are still a Disney transportation family

AKK

I would have thought that that would be paid for by the policy of the one at fault... But I guess they didn't have the contract with the rental agency, but still, hmm.




We liked the rental car so much we're budgeting for another. We did take Disney transportation 1/4 to 1/3 of the time, and about half of THOSE trips were perfectly decent. However, 100% of the trips we took by car were good. So we're going with the 100% good transportation.

The morning we went to MK before opening we drove, and parked one row away from the very front of the lot, and it was most excellent. Sure there's still more to go, but it wasn't bad at all, and we left at a time when it wasn't difficult to get out of the lot. Actually, we didn't have a bad time getting out of *any* lots...then again, it was early to mid December.

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

A car is faster 99.999% of the time. We've test the 'buses are faster to MK' myth 3 times... and each time the car won. We like the way we can change our plans at a moment's notice with a car. And frankly, driving in WDW is like the Autopia. Rarely is it congested. There's always plenty of parking. No hanging on to poles or sitting in seats just previously vacated by god knows who.

Worth. Every. Penny.

 

[Jaymie]

I like having a car for DTD, the waterparks & ADR at other resorts. Otherwise, I like Disney Transportation, especially for the time when I might want a glass of wine or 3 like LaurenT.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Depending on the length of your trip if you start adding up all of the time you will spend waiting on Disney transportation it can eat up precious vacation time.
Having a car gives you so much more flexiblity to get around and gives to a chance to go off property to eat which can gave $$$$. Plus if you need to run to a store to get some thing you can.
I vote for a car.

Wanted to mention a money saving tip. If you have a car and go to MK there is a Hess gas station close to the car care center that is worth a stop at lunch time. We- me and DH- stopped had lunch and spent $7.35 total which bought us 4 hotdogs, bag of combo's, & two Cokes. Same meal inside MK at Casey which has one jumbo hotdog, fries and a drink would have cost us $14.00 total.
The pizza at Hess is good too. You can get it by the slice or a whole pizza. The whole pizza runs roughly $8 to $10. There is an open seating area inside this Hess.

 

[bicker]

The pay-back from having a rental car doesn't happen for us until we're there over a week. Rental cars are just too expensive, as compared to using Disney Magical Express.

 

[Brian Noble]

We will be park hopping and have early breakfast ADR most days. Is it faster to get around with our own car than taking the buses?

Yes. To anywhere but MK, it is no contest. On average, the bus system to/from MK is a *few* minutes faster. But, the car is *much* more predictable. Often, it's much better to know how long it will take.

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

For us the payback begins when we finish checking in at the resort without the company of 10 other families getting off the ME bus with us and head to Wal-mart to pick up snacks, water, sunblock and sundry items. Then stop off at Giordano's and grab a pizza to take back to the resort where we chow and unpack our suitcases. We used to do Chef Mickey's the first night, but the pizza/wal-mart run has been our ritual for several years now.

The pay-back from having a rental car doesn't happen for us until we're there over a week. Rental cars are just too expensive, as compared to using Disney Magical Express.

 

[Lewisc]

Not having a rental car means you're not tempted to take a trip to the outlet malls or Wal-Mart for stuff you probably don't need. Pack your "fun food" and just get an (overpriced) bottle of milk at your resort.

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

Depending on the length of your trip if you start adding up all of the time you will spend waiting on Disney transportation it can eat up precious vacation time.
Having a car gives you so much more flexiblity to get around and gives to a chance to go off property to eat which can gave $$$$. Plus if you need to run to a store to get some thing you can.
I vote for a car.

Wanted to mention a money saving tip. If you have a car and go to MK there is a Hess gas station close to the car care center that is worth a stop at lunch time. We- me and DH- stopped had lunch and spent $7.35 total which bought us 4 hotdogs, bag of combo's, & two Cokes. Same meal inside MK at Casey which has one jumbo hotdog, fries and a drink would have cost us $14.00 total.
The pizza at Hess is good too. You can get it by the slice or a whole pizza. The whole pizza runs roughly $8 to $10. There is an open seating area inside this Hess.

yes, but you have to offset all this savings with the cost of the rental car, which doens't exist when use Disney transportation.

We like to use Disney transportation and supplement with a few cab rides for ADRs at other resorts (especially the breakfasts).

 

[mickey2000]

The pay-back from having a rental car doesn't happen for us until we're there over a week. Rental cars are just too expensive, as compared to using Disney Magical Express.

I don't want to be trapped on property. I enjoy freedom.
I have a car this August from Dollar for 11 days all taxes and fees mid size $257 total $118 per week with no codes. City special!
I would NEVER be without a car. In a matter of minutes I can be anywhere.
No waisted time and love the outlets off property with the ease of going to church
99.9% faster !!!!
Tried the bus thing and it was horrible ...........

 

[ahoff]

We always would rent a car. But lately we have gone with ME. Going to MK in a car is no savings, by the time you park and get the tram to the monorail or the ferry, the bus drops you pretty close to the entrance. It also depends where you stay. We stay at BW most of the time, and you can walk to two parks faster than any other transportation. I will say that it probably will be faster to DTD and maybe AK, but overall I am perfectly happy with just using the ME and Disney transport.