OKW with no car

[skorpie]

We always rent a car on our trips for the convenience of making our own schedules. The price of the car and the gas has made us re-think this expense. This is the first time we will be trying ME and staying at OKW. Are the buses frequent from OKW to the parks? How about within the resort itself? Is the walk to the main area at OKW really long? A friend of mine loves using ME and the transportation system. Should I just calm down and let Disney take us everywhere? Thanks.

 

[bellazachmom]

You are going to LOVE your stay at OKW!!

I think that it is safe to tell you to take a deep breath, "calm down, and let Disney take you everywhere!"

We have stayed there a few times in the past and have always had a car because we drove down from the D.C. area. That being said, the only time we used it was to get groceries the first night. The car did not move again until we packed up and headed home! We were fortunate each time to stay in a villa pretty close to HH and a bus stop, but there are plenty of stops for the bus throughout the property. There are also a couple of pools and a snack bar so you don't always have to head to HH for things like that. We would usually walk to the HH to catch the bus leaving the resort so that we wouldn't have to ride around the entire place, but would hop off the bus right next to our villa on our return.

The only thing I think you have to worry about is the recent reports coming from guests about the new dispatch system for the buses that Disney is trying out ... seems like they have some major issues to resolve. Hopefully this will be taken care of before your trip down and you won't have to worry about a thing. Also, if anyone in your group is golfing, Disney offers complimentary cab rides to the golf courses, just head to bell services and they can take care of it for you.

OKW also has a great boat to take you to DTD, so keep that in mind!

Hope this helps! Jennie

 

[OKW Lover]

Don't worry about the busses at OKW, they will indeed get you where you want to go. They aren't any worse than at any of the other resorts.

 

[skorpie]

Thanks to both of you! I am indeed "a lot calmer" and we'll try the ME and buses this trip. Thanks!

 

[mndisfam]

Except for the first trip we took years ago, we have never had a car and have never used anything but the busses. We love them. It is true you have to occasionally wait 25-30 minutes, but that has always been the exception. This last trip, except for one time, I had less than a 5 minute wait each time.

We love the feeling of absolutely no responsibility for navigation when we are there, and we always meet the nicest people on the bus.

One thing tho: always add in much longer than you think to get to the parks, etc. The vast majority of the time, we get our bus within 10 minutes. Sometimes, tho, it can be 30 minutes. (Rare - but it will happen!!) We always give an hour to get to a park when we have ressies - almost always we end up being way early, but that is not a bad thing!!

Finally - we do use cabs a bit. Its a pain, kind of, to go from a resort to a resort. You have to take two modes of transport. Or, if we had a late dinner at Ohana, eg and the kids are tired. It has never cost us more than $18 for a ride anywhere within the property. This last trip, we used one 3 times, and it was for 6 people!

Interestingly - we have notived no price increase in the cost of cabs, depsite the fuel surge.

Busses are great, blasting a/c, sit back and leave the driving to us. Plus, they drop you off at the front of the park gates!

 

[car55]

We have stayed at OKW twice, and have not have had a problem with the busses. I had a tour at MK before the busses started running. I was easily able to book a cab the night before. Have fun.

 

[buzz5985]

Our last trip to OKW we didn't have a car. We did fine, we used ME, Gardengrocer. We found the buses to be fine. But . . . be alert - we found if there were no seats available the people at the front of the line wouldn't get on the bus. We did get on - we don't mind standing. this happened a couple of times.

Janis

 

[BEASLYBOO]

We always drive in, and most times I park my car and leave it alone till it's time to go! The lenght of your walk to and from HH will depend on where you stay. Some people enjoy a little walking, I happen to be one. One thing for sure, don't miss taking the boat from OKW to DTD, its great fun and they run till 11:30 at night.

OKW is my favorite resort, enjoy your stay!

 

[edk35]

This will be our 14th trip to WDW. Our very first trip we rented a car at the airport and drove it to Dixie Landings and NEVER DROVE IT except to drive back to the airport. We have driven once to CB, CR, Poly and once to SOG and never used the van on those trips either. So......I say WDW TRANSPORTATION ALL THE WAY.

 

[skorpie]

Thank you for all your replys! I am really feeling so much better about not having the car. We actually did stay at OKW when we first rented points in hopes of buying in 2001. Eventually we did buy at VWL and later at BCV. It is interesting that between the 2 resorts at which we own, we almost never stay at BCV! My DD really prefers BWV so I try to get accommodations there. We will be at the WL for the Food and Wine Festival in October (a first for us!)

 

[spiceycat]

my last stay at OKW was w/o car - it wasn't so bad at all.

my wait was around 5 to 15 minutes. even at the parks, which are generally longer. Set my stop watch and the bus appeared.

going in Sept w/o a car - will tell you then.

 

[5 for WDW]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but, my husband and I were at OKW June 2-4th and for those three days the buses were terrible.
There were transportation people at the bus stops at the parks both nights handing out time sheets to each guest walking up. We had to write down the time we arrived on line and the time the bus pulled up. Both nights our wait was 40-45 minutes but, the people in front of us both all had 20+ minutes on us. So, at least a one hour wait before a bus pulled up. One night was at Epcot and the other was at Studios. They said they were there due to the many complaints coming in about certain resorts. We didn't ask what other resorts were having issues.
The buses to the parks were a little better. About a 20 minute wait.

I really hope it was just a bad couple of days for buses. The resort and parks were pretty quiet. I hope you all have much better luck then we did!

 

[drag n' fly]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but, my husband and I were at OKW June 2-4th and for those three days the buses were terrible.
There were transportation people at the bus stops at the parks both nights handing out time sheets to each guest walking up. We had to write down the time we arrived on line and the time the bus pulled up. Both nights our wait was 40-45 minutes but, the people in front of us both all had 20+ minutes on us. So, at least a one hour wait before a bus pulled up. One night was at Epcot and the other was at Studios. They said they were there due to the many complaints coming in about certain resorts. We didn't ask what other resorts were having issues.
The buses to the parks were a little better. About a 20 minute wait.

I really hope it was just a bad couple of days for buses. The resort and parks were pretty quiet. I hope you all have much better luck then we did!

That is how it was for us in April also. We were waiting for a bus at OKW to go to PI. We had a rental but for obvious reasons were not taking it to PI Well we waited and waited and waited and waited a 75 minutes later a bus finally pulled up....I swear I could of crawled there faster. Unless you can get near the HH I would not do OKW without a vehicle.