Offsite without rental car

[mike&amy1508]

Where would you stay offsite if you didn't have a rental car? The hotel needs to be under $100 (that includes tax and any other extra fees). This is for a 13 night stay next January. We will be spending most of our time at wdw, but also will be spending 4-5 days at other parks (universal/ioa, seaworld, discovery cove).
Thanks for any ideas!

 

[brightspark]

Hi I stayed offsite with my sister a few years ago and we had a great time! But it was tiring! Our hotel ran a complimentary bus service to all of the Orlando parks and that's how we got around. We also managed to use the local bus service to do a little shopping (Florida Mall).

We had great fun on the complimentary buses as the drivers seemed to have an unwritten competition as to being the best entertainment to their passengers. Our bus driver regularly made balloon animals for his guests whilst transporting us (I received a beautiful pluto balloon) whilst another had a live rabbit for his guest to pet!!!

The downside to the buses was the hours that they ran! There was one bus at about 8am to the WDW parks and one to Universal etc (not sure of the time of this) and then we had a choice of being collected between 5 and 7 (I don't remember exactly) or after the fireworks at about 10-11pm (again approximate). This made for very long days. You could be collected at any park, and the pick ups were at different times... you just had to make it onto one of the buses - there was no booking or anything like that. If you left the parks at 5pm then there was no way to get back for the fireworks... and you couldn't go home for a rest in the middle of the day as you would if staying on site.

This trip (going tomorrow) we are hiring a car for a week so we can get to vero beach and it is costing us a fortune... (we didn't realise how much it would be when we booked the hotel or we may not have done it). IT's almost equivelent to one of our airfares... (we are coming from the UK)

Anyway back to your origonal question... should you get a car? If you don't mind the long hours the bus service from hotels (I think they all have them, but check before you book) is perfectly adequate, but if you have kids, and are going to want to rest during the day, and can afford the rental, I would say - get a car!

Hope this helps.

 

[meryll83]

Look through brochures and find a hotel that has free scheduled transport to the various parks....

 

[kilee]

That's a tough call. Just be prepared to work a few taxi's into your schedule just to be safe. Like another poster said, many of the hotel shuttle's are not the most reliable thing.

We did the shuttle thing once, and 1/2 way through the trip we gave up. The hotel we were at had 2 shuttles to WDW and 2 back. None to SW or Universal. The nice part they were free. The downside, we were the 3rd hotel they picked up from and often times they were near capacity. The one morning they allowed 6 people on, and there was close to 20 waiting. They turned them away because there was no more room. It was the last run of the morning too, and they weren't doing another. So, these people were all stuck w/ finding their own way to the parks. Also, the times were weird, and in no way corresponded w/ the park hours. So, just food for thought.

 

[Brian Noble]

If my budget were that tight, I'd rather get the rental car and skip discovery cove. Personally, I'd be a lot happier. I've yet to hear anyone say anything good about offsite shuttles, and poor shuttle service would make for a consistently frustrating vacation.

 

[maggiew]

I would probably stay at one of the DTD hotels. They have more regular bus service to the parks than other offsite hotels. When we stayed at (what used to be) the Courtyard Marriott, I believe they were every hour. And if need be, you could easily walk over to DTD and use their buses to get to a park (via an onsite hotel).

I'm not sure how to get to Universal from there, however?? Check out the city bus system.

Could you possibly stay at Pop or AllStar? I think you could probably get them for around $100 in January???

Maggie

 

[Lewisc]

I'd budget a rental car. Alternatively book a Disney value. The money you save with the free airport transfers (DME) can be used to rent a car for a few days to cover your Universal days.

 

[spiceycat]

you might be able to stay at OKW on WDW property for that amount - might be a little more.

you would be renting from a person - not Disney. if there is a problem if it between you and the owner.

now this is only if you arrive at OKW on Sunday - stay 12 nights or less. If you really want to go to the other parks less.

this is at $10 a point - you might pay more like $11 or $12 per point (depends upon who you rent from)
sun-thurs - 40 points so around $400
fri/sat - 40 points so around $400 (this once would be gone)
sun-thurs - 40 points so around $400

what I would do is go Sun-thurs - then leave on Fri - find a cheaper hotel near US or SW (which do you want the most) - stay for 3 days - then come back to OKW the next week starting on Monday - then either go home on Friday.

now Disney transportation will work for you until you leave on Fri - I would just get a taxi to take you to the other hotel.

you will need walking distance - from seaworld I might try HGVC. now you might have to listen to their sales pitch.
www.hgvc.com

back to OKW - okay you need to rent a reservations - points won't do you any good.

read all the FAQ at the top of the page before you decide to go this route. If you do you need to find an owner this month - so they can make the reservations for you next month. too many people though they could wait for January and are very disappointed. Don't know why DVC resorts are so much more popular - okay maybe it is the cheaper point cost.

http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=29

no housekeeping with DVC resorts. but they do have a studio with a kitchennett.

any more questions
http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=89 - this is about DVC only

for US/IOA and SW questions
http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=8

 

[Darcy03231]

I've stayed both on-site and off-site and personally, I wouldn't do off-site without a car. I found the times the shuttles ran weren't always convenient and its gets really expensive to keep taking a taxi. I would definintely budget in a rental car. You can get some pretty good deals using the codes at mousesavers.