Monorail Resorts?

[DG-12]

We are trying to decide where to stay-I think it would be nice to stay on the monorail (and not rent a car) but my dh thinks that we would need a car anyway. We are planning to be there in off-season when parks close early. So, any advice, experiences would be appreciated
Dana

 

[disneyag]

I think this is a personal issue. In all our years of visiting WDW, we have never rented a car. We find that the WDW transportation system works well. I suppose you would want a car if you were planning to eat/shop/etc off site.

The monorail hotels are a real bonus if you have stroller aged kids.

 

[jdads2]

My wife and I went last February as a last minute vacation. We spent 5 days at ASMu which uses Disney busses to get everywhere. February is off peak and the buss system was excellent. We have stayed at the Poly (monorail resort), AKL and Allstars, although the Poly was more convenient, we have never felt the need to get a car, WDW transportation has always been very good.

Even with early closings you will find that the lower attendance levels make it much easier for you to do everything that you want.

 

[crisi]

Cars are nice if:

1) You are going to be doing anything offsite
2) You are going to play golf
3) You are going to do a lot of resort hopping (staying at the Poly, but eating dinner at AKL).
4) You don't like giving over control to the Disney transportation system. (The monorail will only service MK, Epcot and the other monorail hotels - you'll be bussing to AK, MGM and any other activities)
5) You can get a good deal on a rental.

Disney transportation is nice if:

1) Your whole vacation is on site
2) You don't mind waiting for busses (and it won't ruin your vacation if you end up standing on a bus for 20 minutes because its crowded).
3) You don't like driving in strange places and get lost easily (every time we drive, we get lost at least once).
4) If you do the occational resort hopping, you are willing to pay for a cab.
5) You have a party that will split up a lot (traveling with other adults or teenagers)
6) The best deal you can get on a rental makes Disney transportation better on your budget

(I really prefer Disney transportation, although I have had a car as often as not - we tend to leave it parked when we do have it).

The monorail resorts are nice - and the monorail is a definite plus (especially if you are traveling with small children), but bus service from the other hotels we've stayed at has worked fine.

 

[DancingBear]

I agree it's a personal preference issue. We drive, so we always have a car. It's most helpful going from resort to resort where direct WDW transportation is not available. Would be less necessary if you stay at a monorail resort or in the Boardwalk area (inc. Swan and Dolphin) because of all that those places have access to.

You can still take a cab occasionally. On the other hand, renting a compact for a week in FL in the offseason is probably not that expensive.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Originally posted by crisi
Cars are nice if:
2) You are going to play golf

Just a side note... Disney does provide free transportation to our golf courses and spas. Simply visit Guest Services at your resort, and they will arrange for either a courtesy van, or a taxi (paid for by Disney).

 

[dizkidz2]

We have never rented a car for our whole stay at Disney. We did rent one for 1 day when we went to Kennedy Space Center and another time when we went to Sea World. The rent-a-car places will bring you back and forth to your resort so it's not a problem once you get there if you decide you want a car for a day or two.
The only problem I have is getting from one resort to another or from the Boardwalk back.

 

[tampafan]

We live in Tampa, so we always have a car with us, but we RARELY use it. We have stayed in all the All Stars, all the moderates, AKL, Contemporary, Swan, Dolphin, and the Polynesian and have never found the need for a car. The transportation services at the monorail resort are excellent, as well as the Epcot resorts on the boat line. Also, if you pick one of the other resorts, the transportation is really no trouble. If we use our own car it is usually to go to Downtown Disney, unless we are at Port Orleans, in which case we take the boat.

Anyway, you will enjoy yourselves no matter what your decision. Have fun!

 

[CamColt]

We rented a car for our first trip together...we never used it other than round trip to the airport. We then vowed we would never rent a car again.
We have driven down twice so we have had a car with us. Again, we never used it, only when we are transfering to a new hotel and had to move our luggage(even so, we wouldnt NEED it for that).
Who wants to get into a hot car after a day in the parks, instead of an nice cold bus?
BTW, staying on the monorail is wonderful, but that will only get you to MK, or Epcot.

 

[drcmk]

I plan on staying at a monorail resort this fall and am undecided about renting a car. I am sure that it is not totally necessary to have a car to get around, but having a car available does make me feel more secure about unforeseen emergencies. I've had to take an unplanned trip to the hospital emergency room at least once during vacation in the past (in D.C.) and lately I am more prone to worry about crazy stuff--like what would I do if the whole state of Florida was evacuated and I didn't have a car?

For those of you who do not rent cars, what is your plan for dealing with emergencies?

 

[DancingBear]

As for hospital trips--

---You can arrange through the resort for a doctor visit. My wife did this in our December trip for a sinus infection. Worked out well, charge was reasonable, and most of it was paid by insurance.

---You can catch a cab at any resort. I don't know where all of the area hospitals are, but there is a hospital at Celebration just a couple of miles outside WDW.

---There are first aid stations in all of the parks. Obviously, if anything serious, there are emergency vehicles and ambulances at hand.

---In any event, it wouldn't do much good to have a car back at the resort if you get sick/hurt while way across property somewhere.

As for the "crazy stuff":

---Some stuff you just can't worry about.

---You'll be in the same boat with many thousands of other guests. I assume that between WDW itself and the appropriate governmental authorities, someone has thought about this (they do have hurricanes in FL, after all) and there is some sort of
disaster plan. Evacuating huge populations over significant distances in a short time period is not very feasible in any event, so having your own car wouldn't make much difference.

As for staying at a monorail resort, while it is true that you only have monorail transportation to MK and Epcot among the parks, you also have monorail/boat transportation to a variety of activities and restaurants at the other resorts (including WL and FW).

 

[danicaw]

We always rent a car. We like to resort hope, we sometimes do things off property and we usually find ourselves at Goodings at least once each trip.

As to needing a car for emergencies. We have only had to deal with this once - and lucky for us it wasn't serious.
On the morning we checked out Hubby woke up and couldn't move his neck. I called down to the front desk and they connected me to a local walk-in clinic that they work with. Hubby talked to a nurse and they sent a van over to pick him up.
Since we needed to check out and get to the airport I packed us up and checked out. Then drove over and picked him up. The clinic would have brought him back or he could have taken a cab.

Emergencies haven't ever been the drive for us to have a car. Its been more just us enjoying having a car we can use if we wanted.
It is a personal preferrence thing.
Good luck.

 

[gonga]

worrying about "crazy stuff" is just plain crazy!

What if something did happen? OK so you have a car - then what? run for the car and then? Sit in your car in mad crazed traffic jam going no where fast? What if something happens to your car on the way, tranny problems, engine blows up, run out of gas, because you know if the power goes out you cannot pump gas OH NO then what?? Your sitting on the side of the road where you can get hurt or robbed or something....OH NO and then what.

Do you see what I mean?

Why worry, to what end?

 

[MKFan-PR]

We've done both ways. We like to have a car because of the freedom of movement it gives us at night and on non-park days. We can go anywhere we want, when we want. However, for getting to the parks, we use Disney transportation exclusively. There's no way I'm going to go with the throngs to the trams, then endure the exit traffic, all while being tired and/or hauling our sleeping DD.

Although getting to/from the Boardwalk is a challenge (two bus transfers or more), getting everywhere else is quite doable using Disney transportation exclusively. You simply use DD as your 'hub'. Crisi's list is quite good to help you evaluate if you want to have a car, because you don't really need a car.

As for emergencies, well, it's just impossible to plan for everything. Otherwise you'd never go anywhere.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Originally posted by MKFan-PR
Although getting to/from the Boardwalk is a challenge (two bus transfers or more), getting everywhere else is quite doable using Disney transportation exclusively. You simply use DD as your 'hub'. Crisi's list is quite good to help you evaluate if you want to have a car, because you don't really need a car.

As for emergencies, well, it's just impossible to plan for everything. Otherwise you'd never go anywhere.

You should only need one transfer to reach the Boardwalk.


On a side note, for hospital runs... I know a lot of times, most delexe resorts will provide courtesy transportation for such unplanned emergencies. Not sure about Moderate or Value... perhaps it depends on the situation. But I have heard many times when a guest at a Deluxe needed to go to the Hospital, and the resort helped them out.

 

[beattyfamily]

We've done both and once we rented, we never went back.

We stayed at the Contemporary last year and GF the year before but still loved having a car.

We love the freedom it gives. My husband forgot underwear!! Yeah, he only had one pair; the ones he was wearing. So we drove to a Walmart and bought a few.

Another time, I needed diapers. Ran to Walmart to get them too.

We love to use the car for driving to DTD at night and for resort hopping.

We also go to Universal at the end of our trip as well.

You can absolutely survive without one but I like having BOTH options.

We drive to MGM and AK and sometimes even Epcot depending on when we're going and how we're feeling.

Good luck!

 

[MOQ3424]

Alomost every year we drive to WDW but we never use our car when we are there. I think you shouldn't get a car. But if you go offsite it wou;d be nice to have!!!!!!

 

[Micca]

We always get a car. It's one less line to stand in(waiting for a bus/boat/etc.) It is kind of expensive, and if you are mostly going to the parks, it is not absolutely necessary.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Originally posted by Micca
We always get a car. It's one less line to stand in(waiting for a bus/boat/etc.) It is kind of expensive, and if you are mostly going to the parks, it is not absolutely necessary.

Well... not always. You still have to wait in line at the Toll Plaza (even if you are a Disney Resort Guest). Sometimes that line can get pretty long. Then you have to park... walk to the tram... and then take the tram in. At the end of the night, there are often long lines for the tram, and lots of traffic jams exiting the parking lots.

 

[MELSMICE]

I think it's a matter of personal preference. We always rent a car, but have been finding it just as convenient to use Disney transportation in a lot of cases.

We like the car for off-site things. We don't always like to eat dinner on-site & we make a few grocery runs on our trips.