Park transportation or driving ourselves?

[crashbb]

I think you have a 3 hour limit to park there. I think when we had O'hana dinner reservations, we parked at TTC (we were able to get a spot close to the Poly), walked to Poly, ate dinner and then took the monorail to MK.

How do all of you know all of this stuff? Is there some super-secret-magic part of the Disney website that I don't know about?

How do people visit WDW without Disboards?

Is the walk from TTC to Poly obvious? For that matter, is the walk from YC to MGM obvoius?

 

[kaytieeldr]

The Trams at the parks run much more frequently than the buses do at the resorts,

Of course they do. On the other hand,
Bus to Magic Kingdom = get on bus at resort, get off bus at MK, walk to entrance; return to bus stop at end of day, board bus (may involve a wait), be driven to your resort, get off bus, you're done.
Drive to Magic Kingdom = get in car, drive to park, find parking space, walk or take tram to TTC (may involve wait), board monorail (many be a line) or ferry (may be a wait for it to depart), get out at MK, enter park; end of day, board ferry (may be a wait for it to depart) or get in line for next ferry (may be a wait), or take monorail to TTC (most likely WILL be a line, longer if park just closed), exit at TTC, wait for tram (very likely will be a line), board tram, get out in correct area, locate car, enter car, drive back to resort or to other destination of your choice.

Does it cost $10.00 per day to park in the theme parks, if you are staying at Disney. I seriously don't know the answer.

Who asked the question? Anyway, no - if you're staying onsite, parking is free at the parks.

How do all of you know all of this stuff? Is there some super-secret-magic part of the Disney website that I don't know about? How do people visit WDW without Disboards?

Is the walk from TTC to Poly obvious? For that matter, is the walk from YC to MGM obvoius?

We just.... "know"....
Nope, no magic part of the Disney website - just hours and hours of research, reading guide books, exploring unofficial websites, asking questions, retaining knowledge... I actually had a CM ask me if I work there. She's fairly new and is amazed that I know more than she does
Never tried the TTC-to-Poly walk, but I'd think it's apparent; Epcot-area resorts to MGM is very obvious.

 

[Ed J]

Why would anyone want to ride a bus / rail when you have a rental car which can be a fun ride in and on to it's self

They call me "hangtime"

 

[sotoalf]

How do all of you know all of this stuff? Is there some super-secret-magic part of the Disney website that I don't know about?

How do people visit WDW without Disboards?

Is the walk from TTC to Poly obvious? For that matter, is the walk from YC to MGM obvoius?

This info is related upon check-in. Or reading guidebooks. Years before the DIS Boards I relied on both.

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

WE take a car. It's convenient, private and so nice when you don't want to make connections just to get from one resort to another or from one park to another.

For kicks, we tried using the bus to MK instead of driving. So much easier, bus riders on the DIS say. We got in line for a bus at our resort. There was a bus loading at the time, but we were nowhere near the front of the line. No Biggie. No shade and 90 degrees. We wait for next bus. Next bus arrives and lo and behold, they filll up the bus about 6 people ahead of us in line. At this point, we realize (while sweating in the sun) that we could have driven to MK, parked and walked to the monorail by then. We wait for the next bus. Next bus arrives and before we are loaded they have to load someone in a scooter. A few minutes go by, and we know by this time we'd be walking up to the counter in Adventureland for our dole whips if we'd driven. We board the bus and head to the back where we can find 3 seats together. We get in our seats (after waiting in the sun for 25 minutes) and they start packing the bus like sardines. It was so packed that even if you did have a seat, you were less than a foot from someone's rear or crotch at eye level the entire ride. Kids weren't so patient after standing in line and then being packed like sardines, so I heard more than a few whines.

My kids were asking, "Mom, why is it we're taking the bus again?" and I replied, "Just to see if what they say on the DIS is true!" I got a collective, "Oh brother!" for that reply.

To be fair, the bus ride back was much more pleasant... but it was the middle of the day, not near park closing and we still had to wait 20 minutes for the bus (under shade.)

My empirical research complete... we remain car renters! Your mileage may vary!

 

[sotoalf]

Expirateshopgirl:

You haven't mentioned the time of year in which you visited or at what time you were at the bus stop.

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

Expirateshopgirl:

You haven't mentioned the time of year in which you visited or at what time you were at the bus stop.

This was on Saturday... 3 days ago... about 11 am. Park opened at 9 or 10 and was open until midnight. We went back to the resort about 4 or 5 pm.

Does that help?

 

[Uncleromulus]

We always use our car everywhere in WDW. So many more options that way.
CrashBB:
The TTC/POly walk-way is well marked and isn't long at all. Once you finish the meal at Kona, just take the Monorail (or the small boat) over to the MK.

 

[sotoalf]

This was on Saturday... 3 days ago... about 11 am. Park opened at 9 or 10 and was open until midnight. We went back to the resort about 4 or 5 pm.

Does that help?

I mentioned it because travel to the parks between 9 am and 11 am is usually dreadful.

 

[SpecialK]

We've taken one trip with a car and one without. Definitely preferred having a car. We like to be able to come and go on our schedule. Didn't like waiting for buses and being squeezed in when they did arrive. The car made for a much more relaxing trip for us.

 

[TyGuy]

So, we're staying at the Beach Club. I was planning on

driving to Animal Kingdom
bus to Magic Kingdom
boat to MGM
drive to Poly (for Ohana)

Am I wrong? Should we drive to MK or MGM?

IMHO, the bus is much better to MK then driving. For MGM you can ride the boat or walk. It's about a 15 - 20 minute walk.

Whenever we have had a car, I've only used it for going off site, for DTD or for going between Resorts. To me the buses always seem to be a pain at DTD but the rides to the parks seem to work pretty well.