OKW do we need a car?

[Kittina]

Hello all

I am very very new to WDW, I have absolutely no idea what to expect, having only been to DLP and I know that WDW is MUCH bigger than DLP. We are going to be staying in OKW 8-15th April then a villa 15-22nd (renting a car during this time) but I need to know - do we need a car when we are staying on site for that week? How easy is it to get to all the parks, DTD etc?

Thanks you

 

[bookwormde]

If you have a 1, 2, or 3 BR villa at OKW, it is nice to have a car to get groceries, other than that the buses are good to the park and it is easy to take the boat to DTD.

 

[WDGPCFR]

If you don't plan on going off property don't waste your money. The transportation system on Disney property is is very good and it can be confusing to get around. There is also a grocer that will deliver to the hotels. The extra it costs to have food delivered or paying the mark-up at a Disney store will be a lot less than renting a car.

<a href="http://distickers.com/ticker/"><img src="http://distickers.com/ticker/tickers/x7ya8u4sp3j1npnx.png" alt="DIStickers.com Ticker" border="0"/></a>

 

[nancieb]

Our last trip to Disney we drove down, so we had our car with us...it sat in the parking lot of the Beach Club the entire week we were there...never used it. Disney transportation is easy and convenient. I wouldn't waste your money...

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

no car needed.

The bus service at OKW is likely the best in all of WDW, now that doesnt mean there can't be a delay, especailly at park closing. there is also a interal bus loop.

We usually arrive and I let the wife and kids get settled. I take a taxi to a local food store and tell the driver to be back in 1 hour, get a weeks worth and back again........its about $40.00 round trip, tip included. The on site WDW food store.*Goodies* is very expensive!

You can also use the *green Groceor on line service, I have been bee told they are very good but there is a $40.00 minimium.

Enjoy your vacation

AKK

 

[peabody58]

Given your situation, I would not recommend a car. However, we always drive down, and we found having a car at OKW was great for getting to EPCOT, AK and DTD. Saved us a lot of time over the Disney buses. MK however the buses do save time. We always make a grocery/beverage run to Publix and that is part of our 'de-stressing' routine for day 1, so having a car has become important to us.

 

[wide receiver]

No car needed! That is the beauty of staying on property! If you need groceries there are places to call (before you go) that will deliver to your hotel. We have used Garden Grocer, but there are a couple others. We have also used the Disney Dining Plan and LOVE that! Enjoy WDW! When we go I feel like I have walked into a movie!

 

[Babette01]

Disney transportation is very good. But - we have stayed at OKW many times and never without a car. If you are planning to eat all of your meals at the parks or at OKW - you will be fine. Transportation to other resorts is a major pain. BC, YC, BWI, S and D are all within walking distance of many restaurant choices. The monorail resorts share that feature as well. OKW is a little more remote and if you can swing it - I would rent a car.

 

[davedmaine]

We stayed there once and I said, 'never again without a car.' The resort is huge and very spread out. I thought the bus system was awful. Depending on where you stay at the resort, you could have another 15 minutes for the bus to drop you off at your internal stop. No, there isn't one central bus stop, there are several throughout the resort. It didn't happen to us, but some people said they even had to take the bus to get to the pool. Ugh. And if you're on the dining plan, the quick service restaurant is pretty bad with no inside seating..

 

[Kittina]

oh gosh thank you for the responses everyone. im not sure what to do now! it is only another £100 for the car for an extra week, so it's not too bad. is there a charge for parking ? i am so clueless. i think i need the next 10 months to research!!

 

[Babette01]

No charge to park at the resort. Have fun planning - the more you know the more fun you will have!!

 

[CupcakeLisa]

no car needed.

The bus service at OKW is likely the best in all of WDW, now that doesnt mean there can't be a delay, especailly at park closing. there is also a interal bus loop.

We usually arrive and I let the wife and kids get settled. I take a taxi to a local food store and tell the driver to be back in 1 hour, get a weeks worth and back again........its about $40.00 round trip, tip included. The on site WDW food store.*Goodies* is very expensive!

You can also use the *green Groceor on line service, I have been bee told they are very good but there is a $40.00 minimium.

Enjoy your vacation

AKK

We are planning on doing this as have no car - never thought about asking the driver to come back in an hour, thanks for that

 

[drcandon]

We have done WDW both ways with and without a car. Most folks say that if you stay right on the monorail line in one of the deluxes, then a car is a waste of money. If you stay at one of the more remote resorts like AK then you will spend most of your time on the buses...

It is all about how busy the parks are, the times you come and go and the distance to your resort.

So, we stay a lot at AK..this is at least a 30 to 40 min bus ride to MK on most days. If you are in between bus times it is a 10- 30 min wait for the next one. If the parks are really busy or you leave at park closing time and you are not at the front of the line - well you get my drift.

If you want to come back to the resort for some down time in the afternoon then double the bus time - when you go back.

Going for ADR`s at another resort can be really bad - especially if you have to transfer bus to bus...

That is the side in favour of the car...

Now on the other side..parking on busy days and waiting in the parking line-ups can be a very annoying experience..folks are jockying for position like formula car racers on the first lap - and some are going as fast. Then racing to the car parking area and realising you are a mile from the front gates and face a 15 minute walk or a 15 minute tram wait. And of course if you don`t stay on site, the cost of parking is not cheap either. Then at the end of the day when you are tired - and come back the lot and face the fact that along with the 4000 to 5000 other folks leaving you can`t remember if you were in Mickey 1 or Pluto 25. Of course rentals are not cheap either and if you don`t watch the contract, the little "extras" like all you can eat gas and insurance you don't need add up to a small fortune....

So those are some of the goods and bads...

oh and yes - we always rent- mainly because I rode buses for every day of my life as a kid and most of it in the adult work world and loath the bus...

 

[chalee94]

No charge to park at the resort.

this is true.

also, no charge for parking at the parks since you are staying onsite.

i've never had a problem with the buses, but it's nice to have a car if you want to go off-property - for universal or an offsite restaurant.

 

[pigby]

oh gosh thank you for the responses everyone. im not sure what to do now! it is only another £100 for the car for an extra week, so it's not too bad. is there a charge for parking ? i am so clueless. i think i need the next 10 months to research!!

That might make a difference for the convenience but to be honest we only rented a car once and it stayed on the car park most of the time - we have always stayed on site. We are going to Orlando in 3 days - we are at Unievrsal Studios first and then staying at OKW ourselves (for the second time) - dont feel we need a car there.

P.S. Say hello to Sequoia Lodge for me.

 

[wide receiver]

That does change things a little. If its only 100 for a rental for a week I might use a car at WDW. We have driven to WDW a couple of times.

I find the Disney buses very easy to use and never a time problem, but when we have our car I do choose to drive to all the park except MK. Self Park is included with your hotel reservation (if you valet there is a charge). You can park at any hotel, MK, Epcot, AK, HS or water parks for no charge. Its nice to be able to get to the other hotels for dinner, you can use buses but the buses do not run from hotel to hotel.

Either way will be fine, just check your budget and decided what most important.

 

[bumbershoot]

We are planning on doing this as have no car - never thought about asking the driver to come back in an hour, thanks for that

Be *sure* they understand this. A wonderful trip-report-writer here, marivaid, wrote about her experience once with a taxi thinking they wanted him to WAIT while they shopped. The amount they had to pay was absolutely awful.



I like a car! We travel from WA state, and we don't want to only stay there at WDW. We want to eat at Sweet Tomatoes, we want to shop for food/etc whenever we wish to, and on the last evening of our last trip we discovered the kitschy wonder that is GiftWorld!

We do sometimes use Disney transportation. I imagine it's around 50/50 good to not so good.

Our car experiences have been 100% good.

We like having the car.


But you have to make sure you are totally comfortable driving in the States, comfortable having gas budgeted, and know if you need the insurance, and if so how much it will be.

 

[mlittig]

I have stayed at Old Key West several times, always without a car, and found the buses at OKW to be some of the best on property I can't wait to go back there in August

 

[ExpatDisneyLover]

It would definitely be possible to enjoy your stay without a car - as Disney Transport is very good IMO - but you will have to rely on Disney Transport. I think Disney Transport at WDW is very good - more frequent than say the shuttles that go from the Dream Castle or Explorers to DLP from my experience. The groceries available at OKW would probably be fine for me most of the time - a little pricier but not outrageous by any means.

But the big difference is the size/distances at WDW - you could easily drive 20-30 minutes through Disney property to get from one place to another depending on where you were going. OKW is large and if you don't like the idea of using internal buses to get around, walking, taking the ferry to DTD, taking the provided buses to the Parks -or buying groceries onsite/ordering from a grocery service you may be better served with the car.

In a lot of ways I find it more relaxing just to let Disney do the driving/ then balance that with having the freedom to go where you want when you want with a car. SO now that is clear as mud - ! I guess only you can answer that for yourself. I do find driving on Disney property very relaxing.

Enjoy your stay - whatever you decide!

 

[msp2mco]

There are a lot of good comments on here, but I would rent a car if the additional cost wasn't burdensome. It gives you options.

If you haven't been to WDW before, realize that it does take awhile to travel between parks and resorts. With a car, you can do it on your own time, but with a bus, you are at the mercy of Disney's schedule. On our last trip in March, we vowed never again to not get a car, even though we stay onsite. Time is money, and we didn't want to waste our precious vacation time waiting for buses. Perhaps we had a few bad experiences with the buses on that trip, but some of the magic was lost when we saw multiple buses pass us by that were going to other resorts and ours took up to 50 minutes.