IS renting a car worth it? Do you pay to park?

[SweetMissy]

I don't get it. Why rent a car when staying on Disney property. One of the many perks of staying on property is using the bus service. We've always stayed at values but once and the bus rides aren't that long...goes by pretty fast. It's free to park if staying on property.....but I hear it's a PITA when arriving/leaving the parks, plus you have to take a trolley or something after you've parked to the park entrance. We've even driven to Disney 3 times and our van stayed in the same spot the whole time. The bus service is part of the resort experience and I love it.

 

[tina.tina]

We loved the buses. A young man even puked on one late one evening coming back from DTD and that didn't even change my opinion! Most of the time, we never waited for a bus more than 15 minutes. We actually waited longer (45 minutes) for a bus at the Grand Floridian to DTD which would have been ridiculous at Pop.

Some tips:
Think of the bus as your first ride of the day. Look around and enjoy the passing scenery and your fellow passengers! From Pop, I believe it took a little less than 25 minutes to get to MK, around 12 to get to EP and HS, and around 15 to get to AK.

If you are in the parks until closing, wait until the bus rush is over. Why spend your time waiting in line when you can rest on a seat in the parks soaking up the atmosphere?

Everyone likes to pack on the buses and they end up being standing room only. We stood up once to go to MK and I refused to do it again. If a bus was so full that we would have to stand, we waited for the next one. Like I said, most of the time, we never waited for a bus for more than 15 minutes or so.

We even waited for the next monorail car because we didn't want to stand up- especially with 2 strollers already in there. The Cast Members even looked at us like we were nuts but we waited for the next monorail and had a car to ourselves which was much more enjoyable.

 

[FigmentFans]

We always rent a car for several reasons:
- DH prefers to drive (ie be in control )
- we park hop and like the car for that
- we usually eat at least once at another resort and a car is quicker resort to resort
- we have relatives in the area so we sometimes go off Disney property
- I also get a good rental car discount through work; if you work for a company that gets discounts, I would recommending checking it out.

I have tried the buses a few times (when we split up for example) and still prefer the car.

Basically in the end, it comes down to personal preferences and budget.

 

[imthegoose]

I don't get it. Why rent a car when staying on Disney property. One of the many perks of staying on property is using the bus service. We've always stayed at values but once and the bus rides aren't that long...goes by pretty fast. It's free to park if staying on property.....but I hear it's a PITA when arriving/leaving the parks, plus you have to take a trolley or something after you've parked to the park entrance. We've even driven to Disney 3 times and our van stayed in the same spot the whole time. The bus service is part of the resort experience and I love it.

The first trip I took with my DS in 2008, I didn't rent a car. We stayed at PoP and relied solely on the busses. My touring plan however, was very simple. We go to one park a day. We never went offsite to Universal or other attractions. We didn't do any mini golf. Our meals were either at the park we were in or at one of the monorail resorts. We had an amazing trip. We had no need for a car. Great time. We did this on subsequent trips. The one issue that we did have is we went to the HDDR at Fort Wilderness. Getting there was pretty simple b/c we just took the boat from MK. However, getting back to the hotel was a nightmare. AFter the show ended they had busses. We had to wait at least 45 minutes for the bus to leave. Then it stopped at at least 4 other hotels before going back to PoP. My son was just dead weight at this point. (When we did this again years later, having a car was amazing)

A few trips later when my DS was older, I realized there was more I wanted to do. My son having read all the Harry Potter books, had to go to Universal (ok..I wanted to go to. Plus Sitting at the bar at Moe's in Springfield is just all sorts of awesome). A few months prior to this trip we were visiting family in Atlanta and went to the Aquarium and saw the dolphin show where the trainers were in the water with the dolphins. My son tells me that he wants to do that. A quick google search later and Discovery Cove had to be done! So we had a trip where we were going to spend at least 3 days offsite.

Add to the fact that my DS and I are both now foodies, we wanted to go to the other resorts to try the restaurants. To take a bus from Pop to MK, spend a day at the park, then a bus to AKL, to then either have to take a cab back or trek back to a park to get a PoP bus, did not sound at all appealing.

I then went and used a taxi calculator to figure out how much including tips it would cost to go from Pop to my other destinations. It was without a doubt cheaper to rent a car.

I think the car/no car issue is all about what you plan to do with it. If you just plan on waking up, going to a park and then going back to the hotel, then you have no reason to need a car. However, if your plan includes going off site or bouncing around. Then you do.

 

[finny1981]

The first time we went we drove down and stayed off site so we used the van obviously. The next time we drove down and stayed on site, we parked when we arrived and the van never moved the whole time we were there. We only used Disney transportation. We liked it so much that we flew down next time and did not even consider renting a car. When I went down with just DS and DD we rented a car because we were there for a competition and I missed the bus system. This time we are flying down and again not renting a car. It's part of the fun for us, vacation wouldn't be vacation if we had to deal with the driving and parking.

 

[MomBird]

We've done it both ways - with a car and without. Even with the car, we hardly ever drive to an actual park and use the car only for late night/early morning ADRs or the occasional off-property trip to Target. I like Disney transportation and hopping all over the place not having to worry about where we left the car.

Our location, though, tends to dominate our plans. If we're staying at BCV, then almost every evening we're having dinner at EPCOT plus a trip to DTD. If we're staying at SSR, then we're at DDT a lot more often for dinners.

We're staying at AKV next time, and we will definitely use the car more, because the ONLY source of transportation from there is a bus - rather than boat/bus/monorail/walk like you have at other resorts.

 

[Lupeix]

If you have kids under 5, I will recommend renting a car (unless you are staying in a monorail resort). It is faster and little ones don't handle waiting well. Plus if your kid is having a meltdown, which can happen at the end of the day, you will spare the rest of the bus passengers. It is also easier transporting a sleeping kid from a stroller to a car seat without waking them up, it is also easier to transport said stroller in a car. The only park that is a pain for parking is MK. You can avoid the pain however, by parking valet at the contemporary instead of the regular parking lot.

 

[WMorganS]

The previous posters have it right. Get a car if you're staying AKV or have little kids.

But if you don't have a car, remember that getting to breakfast can be a pain via bus. Buses don't go from hotel to hotel, and waiting for a 7:00 AM bus in December is not fun!

 

[MandiC]

We'll get a car next time unless we stay at a monorail resort. #1, we get a significant discount through dh's work and #2, we just had awful luck with the buses during our visit. It was the only thing about our trip that was disappointing to me. Even if we get one and decide to not use it I will like having the *option* to.

 

[akl432]

You guys have convinced me NOT to rent the car! Especially since from what I'm reading it won't save us much time really. I'm such a type A that i'm trying not to control every aspect of this vacation, which is what I'm sure my thinking was behind the rental. I just need to sit back and go with the flow!

In our experience, renting a car saved significant time, especially when coming back from the parks at night. Leaving Epcot or MK after park close, we waited upwards of 25-30 minutes in the bus line. Then once on the bus, we were packed in like sardines, standing up for the entire ride back to the resort. Not fun when you're exhausted, have very sore feet, and just want to sit down.

Don't underestimate the value of having your own car -- it might be the best $200 you spend on your trip.

Have fun!

 

[Oakenshield]

In our experience, renting a car saved significant time, especially when coming back from the parks at night. Leaving Epcot or MK after park close, we waited upwards of 25-30 minutes in the bus line. Then once on the bus, we were packed in like sardines, standing up for the entire ride back to the resort. Not fun when you're exhausted, have very sore feet, and just want to sit down.

Don't underestimate the value of having your own car -- it might be the best $200 you spend on your trip.

Have fun!

Chances of us shutting down the parks with a 2 year old is slim, so I was thinking we probably won't be waiting for the last buses with big crowds.

 

[Lupeix]

Chances of us shutting down the parks with a 2 year old is slim, so I was thinking we probably won't be waiting for the last buses with big crowds.

Consider the fact that if you have a good sleeping stroller you may have some nice time for yourself and your significant other at the end of the day. You may be able to stroll around the world showcase and even watch the fireworks (depending of how sound your kid sleeps). All while your kid is sleeping in the stroller. You definitely need a car for this.

When DS was that age, DH and I had several (non-disney) vacations in which we did our own stuff on late evenings while DS snoozed away. It was great! Just an idea