OKW-do we really need a car?

[MarBee]

Hello!
We are staying with another family in a 2BR villa at OKW in January. After speaking with a friend of a friend, I was told we should definitely rent a car. My question is- do we really need one? There will be 8 of us, so we would have to rent something huge, and I would rather rely on the buses. How long is average travel to and from the parks?

Side note- my family of 4 stayed at AKV last year. How do the travel times compare?
The other family of 4 going typically stays on monorail, so I'm assuming the wait times will be biggest issue for them.

 

[drusba]

You can go without although many of us believe it is better having one. It is not just an issue of going to the parks but also that distances within the resort can be long such as going from room to store or restaurant, but many do fine without.Those who are used to monorail resorts may be more disappointed with the distance to amenities at the resort rather than travel to parks. You have multiple stops within the resort when going to parks but time to parks is really not that bad. AKV has longer distances to three of the parks but it has the advantage of having only two internal stops so times of travel to parks are comparable and probably not much different (except AKV is very quick to AK).

Note with 8 people, and if you decide to rent, you may be better off renting a couple of low priced vehicles rather than one large one.

 

[Anal Annie]

We haven't stayed at OKW in at least 9 years partly because of the slower buses within the resort there - not due to the distance to the parks. DH and I are going to try OKW again with just the 2 of us for only 4 nights in Sept. for F&W and I'm hoping we have the patience to deal with them. Not looking forward to having to stay there but it's the cheapest points we could find for a quickie trip during F&W. That said, we would never waste money renting a car when DME is free. And on our most recent trip earlier this month to the Poly when we drove down to FL we only used our car on the day we went to the water park because Disney has made those harder to get to. We have found that driving to parks and parking and schleping in from the remote reaches of the parking lots to be as time consuming for the most part as waiting on the buses. And it just involves more schelping.

 

[Nanajo1]

You can take any bus to get to featured pool,restaurants and shops and take any bus back to your villa just like driving a car.

 

[beccasmom]

Don't forget you can always rent on-site once you arrive and decide a car is your best alternative. It's easy to request a shuttle. Also, you can rent at the Dolphin. Check MouseSavers for rate deals.

 

[MarBee]

Thanks all! I appreciate all of this advice!
It says online it takes about 15 mins from OKW to MK by bus. Should I tack on more time for the internal bus loop as well? How much?
Also, do the buses run frequently like they do for most deluxes?

 

[disneynutz]

If you aren't in a rush, using the buses will be fine. They run frequently, just take the time to find out which buses go where and when once you get there.

Bill

 

[bumbershoot]

We always have a rental car, so my answer is that it's nice to hae a rental car. When going with another family, I'd go with two rental cars. With my cousin and her family plus her mom, we ended up with 3 cars, actually. (they live in FL) Made getting around at will very simple and no one ever felt stuck. (except the one night my aunt was annoyed and went to catch the bus from DHS, my husband followed her to keep her company, and it literally took hours...that was a bad transportation night for sure!)

 

[jimmytammy]

If you can get a good deal on a rental, then go for it. Otherwise, dont sweat it. I like having my own car on property, no matter where I am staying, but thats just me. We like to eat at other resorts, tend to not get to parks early, nor stay late. Busses tend to run more frequently at these times, less during middle of day. Thats my reasons. You can manage the busses at OKW, they are no worse or better than any other resort. Its not too far to Epcot, HS or MK. AK is a bit farther, but really, its the same for most other resorts on property.

 

[mystifyny]

We own at AK but we have stayed at OKW a few times. If I were at AK I would take the bus all the time. But our experience at OKW was very different. We stayed in January so it was a slow month all around at Diseny. However each time we took the bus it was 1.5 hours there and 1.5 hours back. The only reason was because of all of the special needs folks who need assistance to get on and off the bus. I believe each bus can hold 2 of the electric scooters and they take about 20 mintutes to load and unload. This process was extremely time consuming for us and we ended up renting a car the last time we were there and we were at the parks in 10 minutes. For us we love OKW because of the size of the rooms but I would never stay there again without a car. We are staying at Saratoga next time and I am assuming the bus situation will be the same as OKW.

 

[MarBee]

We own at AK but we have stayed at OKW a few times. If I were at AK I would take the bus all the time. But our experience at OKW was very different. We stayed in January so it was a slow month all around at Diseny. However each time we took the bus it was 1.5 hours there and 1.5 hours back. The only reason was because of all of the special needs folks who need assistance to get on and off the bus. I believe each bus can hold 2 of the electric scooters and they take about 20 mintutes to load and unload. This process was extremely time consuming for us and we ended up renting a car the last time we were there and we were at the parks in 10 minutes. For us we love OKW because of the size of the rooms but I would never stay there again without a car. We are staying at Saratoga next time and I am assuming the bus situation will be the same as OKW.

Wow! 90 minutes one way?! Each time?! Maybe I should rent some vehicles!

 

[Sammie]

The advantage of having a car, to me personally is not about going to the parks as I find the transportation to the parks as good as any including the monorail which constantly breaks down. Having a car makes it easier to dine at other resorts, and go off Disney property. If your only concern is getting the parks, then I see no need for it.

If you plan to visit all 4 parks, then overall travel times will be no worse than any other resort and actually better to some of the parks.

OKW and SSR are the most centrally located resorts to all parks.

 

[Sammie]

We own at AK but we have stayed at OKW a few times. If I were at AK I would take the bus all the time. But our experience at OKW was very different. We stayed in January so it was a slow month all around at Diseny. However each time we took the bus it was 1.5 hours there and 1.5 hours back. The only reason was because of all of the special needs folks who need assistance to get on and off the bus. I believe each bus can hold 2 of the electric scooters and they take about 20 mintutes to load and unload. This process was extremely time consuming for us and we ended up renting a car the last time we were there and we were at the parks in 10 minutes. For us we love OKW because of the size of the rooms but I would never stay there again without a car. We are staying at Saratoga next time and I am assuming the bus situation will be the same as OKW.

That could happen at any resort and at any time, it was simply a case of who is getting on the bus at the same time as you and not reflective of any particular resort.

 

[disneynutz]

Wow! 90 minutes one way?! Each time?! Maybe I should rent some vehicles!

Remember Disney cuts back on park hours and transportation during the lower attendance periods. That can make for longer waits to get from place to place.

Bill

 

[DebbieB]

Anytime I've stayed at OKW I got a car. It's nice to just hop in the car right outside your building. Go grocery shopping, restaurants onsite or off, outlets, parks. We sometimes took the bus to MK. It seemed to take so long.

 

[Granny]

I think it depends on what your group's touring style will be. If you are planning on a lot of activities, ADRs, etc then a rental car might be a good idea. If you plan on a leisurely pace through the parks then it's not as big of a deal. We have stayed at OKW a few times and found the buses to be plenty adequate...no better or worse than any other resort. We certainly have not had the experience of 1.5 hours to get any where from OKW.

 

[Dean]

Hello!
We are staying with another family in a 2BR villa at OKW in January. After speaking with a friend of a friend, I was told we should definitely rent a car. My question is- do we really need one? There will be 8 of us, so we would have to rent something huge, and I would rather rely on the buses. How long is average travel to and from the parks?

Side note- my family of 4 stayed at AKV last year. How do the travel times compare?
The other family of 4 going typically stays on monorail, so I'm assuming the wait times will be biggest issue for them.

I think it depends on what your tour plans are. Generally I would not stay at OKW without a car. Maybe just get a cheap small car to give options or even 2 cheap cars. Historically rental cars are a good deal in Orlando but from the indirect info I've seen, that has not been the case routinely of late. Just look at the options (? costco) and see what you find. Or possibly change locations if possible.

 

[zavandor]

Another option is to get a Uber just when you need it. If you drive to a park you still need to wait for the tram to go from the parking stop to the entrance and at MK there is no great advantage anyway since you park at the TTC. But going from a resort to another resort is a nightmare. Probably using Uber just a few times for that is going to be cheaper and less stressful than renting a car.

 

[DenLo]

You don't need a car. The parking at the Hospitality House is always packed and you might have problems finding a parking space or have to wait until someone moves their car. But the worse part is the buses often block access to the parking lot when three or more are at the HH bus stop.

But like others said you might prefer the ability to drive somewhere when you want too and not be dependent on Disney Transport, personally most of the time I prefer to leave the driving to Disney. Especially when going to MK as have to park at the TTC and take Disney transportation to MK. It is quicker to walk from the bus loop versus into MK IMO, so we usually bus to MK even when we have a car.

Although this is not really related to OKW, we were at WDW a 10 days ago and stayed at BLT and the monorails were not offline during our week stay, despite rainy days. No repair work appeared to be going on during our stay for the monorails either.

 

[mystifyny]

That could happen at any resort and at any time, it was simply a case of who is getting on the bus at the same time as you and not reflective of any particular resort.

I have to disagree. OKW has at least 5 bus stops. AKL has only 2 so the amount of stops is tripled at OKW adding in that time as well. And at OKW this happened the whole week we were there. So it was not a fluke as you suggested. I could see it happening here and there but each time each day. Maybe more scooter bound people travel in January? But that was my experience. So ever since we rent a car.