Okay, help me decide if we should rent a car (long sorry)...

[Nicole276]

We leave in just a couple of weeks, the 29th to be exact. As of now, we do not have a car booked and are planning on using ME to take us to POR, and then use the Disney's transportation to get everywhere.

About us: Me (29) DH (36) DD (3), DS (1). This is our first visit.

Here is where we will be going through out our trip. Oh, should probably add we are only staying 4nights/5days.

Sat- DTD ( by boat from POR)
Poly/Ohana for Supper

Sun- MK, but have an early ADR for CRT @ 8:15

Mon- 1900 PF Grand Floridian
Hoop Dee Doo Review Fort Wilderness

Tues- AK, but have an early ADR for Tusker House @ 8:35
DTD ( by boat from POR)

Wed- Chef Mickey's Contemporary (8:40 am)
Flight leaves at 5:30 pm

My pro's for wanting a car.... Making sure we will get to all of ADR's on time, without relying on Disneys Transportation = less stress/waiting/more sleep for us all.

It would give us some freedom to venture off property if we wanted. We are only going to parks two of our 4 days, so we will have some down time.

My con's for not wanting a car.... Technically that is money we don't have to spend.

Trying to imagine us in the airport with two strollers, two car seats, two suitcases, and only two of us and two young kids....UGH!

Just a couple of other questions that would help me decide?

If your staying onsite, do you get free parking at the parks? Also, what would you do about the MK? Is driving there and then getting on the Monrail/ferry still quicker than waiting on a bus?

I priced a midsize with Alamo, and the total came to around $105 with some coupons I had. Seems like a good price. Okay, Im done talking now, but please help, and feel free to list some pro's / con's that I may have not.

 

[pepe of ohio]

My point of view, if someone offers me something for free...I'm going to use it. We've done 44 trips to WDW and never used or rented a car yet. It's part of the experience for us and no one has to drive or watch signs. We plan accordingly, leave ample time and are in no rush...We can watch out the window and not having to pay attention on vacation is great...once of the reasons we go back every year is no car for a week.

Parking is free for guests staying at a Disney resort and as for going to the MK, bus will take you to the park, short walk to bag check....if you drive you head to the TTC and from there have the option of monorail or ferry. Easy anyway you look at it. Others say having a car saves time but you can't prove that by me....

 

[minnierocks]

We usually drive to WDW from Ohio and we still use Disney transportation all week! The car stays parked at the resort and we ride the buses/boats/monorail...my DH likes not having to think about it and lets Disney do the driving. As the pp stated, we leave plenty of time to get from point A to point B...but we have never had an unpleasant experience. We are trying ME for the first time next trip...and didn't even think about renting a car.
I figure by the time you pay for parking, wait for the tram to take you to the front entrance and walk to the gate...you can't be saving that much time over riding the buses, which drop you off pretty close to the entrance...

 

[bumbershoot]

We really liked having the car on our trip. We did it both ways at MK, one morning we drove, one morning we used their transportation, and it didn't really matter one way or the other to us. Then again, we got there really early on the driving day and we were very very close to the path to the monorail in.

We did like being able to get out and about. I would be hard-pressed to go without a car, because it was *always* convenient, while transportation was only *sometimes* convenient.

During our first two days at OKW, we got progressively better and better maps from the CMs there. And then one day we bought a good map (opened it to make sure it was good before buying) to have for the future, because it's SO much better to have a map for me than to rely on GPS. In my opinion.

 

[Ress76]

Given your plans, I would opt for a car. POR to DTD by boat is fine, DTD to Poly by bus is fine, but then you either have to bus it back from teh TTC or bus back to DTD and then boat back to POR. With 2 potentially tired/sleeping kids, I'd rather just pop them in the car and drive back. For your 1900 PF and Hoop-De-Doo, I believe you are looking at PF to MK (boat, then another boat to HDD. On the return, transportion (bus, boat) to one location (MK, TTC, DTD) and then another trip (bus, boat) back to POR. (We drove to HDD, so I may be mistaken on that.)

As I just told someone the other day, Disney Transportation (which I have taken many, many times) is effective...it's not necessarily efficient. When dealing with 2 small children and assorted paraphenalia (strollers, diaper bags etc), I would always opt for a car. I have also found it much more relaxing for early ADRs to know I will be where I need to be with ample time, as opposed to waiting for a bus to get me there. That's just me, YMMV.

Ress

 

[Lewisc]

Are you going to the MK on Wed? A car would let you go from the parking lot directly to MCO. DME would require getting back to your resort for a 2:20 pickup. Probably have to leave the MK by 1. With a car you could probably leave the MK and 2:30.

Otherwise Disney transportation will work fine. I'd save the money. Different answer if you want offsite shopping.

 

[helenk]

Sat- DTD ( by boat from POR)
Poly/Ohana for Supper (take a bus to the MK and then boat or monorail to th Poly, reverse after dinner to get the bus back to your resort.)

Sun- MK, but have an early ADR for CRT @ 8:15 (buses run early for meals and tours, be at the bus stop about 7:30)

Mon- 1900 PF Grand Floridian (bus to the MK, boat or monorail to the GF)
Hoop Dee Doo Review Fort Wilderness (bus to the MK, boat to FW)

Tues- AK, but have an early ADR for Tusker House @ 8:35 (get the AK bus, be at the bus stop around 7:45)
DTD ( by boat from POR)

Wed- Chef Mickey's Contemporary (8:40 am) (bus to the MK, and then walk to the CR or take the monorail)
Flight leaves at 5:30 pm (your ME pick up time will be around 2:30, be back to your resort by 1:45)

I generally rely on WDW transportation, and what you are looking to do should not be that complicated. That said when we went with my grand daughter who was 14 months at the time, we rented a car and found that it really came in handy especially for getting to our ADRs on time. Driving to the Hoop de doo might be a pain though because you'd have to park and then take the internal bus.

 

[luvdisney00]

We have always been very happy with Disney transportaion to get us where we needed to go and have never rented a car. Last year we drove for the first time and still used Disney transport more than half of the time because we just find it more convenient. We did like leaving right from the park on our last day, but honestly I found the roads getting to the parks and other resorts kind of confusing, especially late at night and much prefered the Disney transport system. We like to get to the parks early and take a midday break and then come back, and if you come back in the afternoon, you DO NOT get a good parking space. We were at POR as well. and found the bus service to be great. This trip I was considering renting a car to avoid ME and be able to leave for the airport later on departure day, but I haven't decided yet. if we do rent a car, it will likely sit in the lot most of the week. Don't forget too, that if it's only one or 2 places that you need to get to (like early ADRs) that might not be convenient you can take a cab for usually around $10. We have done that when waiting for a bus was going to take too long or was out of he way.