Question for those of you with cars at WDW

[adamsup]

Hello. For our first vacation we flew. We're planning to drive this second time, which means we will have a car during our stay.

We will be at Wilderness Lodge so will have easy access to MK etc. However, what do you all do to get to Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom? Do you use Disney transportation or drive? What do you think are the pros and cons?

Thanks.

 

[rsimon]

We used to use Disney busses but now we rent a car because I can't stand the Disney transportation delays and inconsistency. We are able to park hop and move from one park to another with ease.

In the time it usually takes just to wait for a bus, we are already at the park with the car. When we are ready to leave, there are no lines to wait in and you always have a seat.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

When I used to stay at WDW ususally we would drive to parks other than MK but use the bus for MK. Also, we tended to eat a lot of our meals in Resorts and not Parks, so having the car was always useful to us.

 

[billybobblockhead]

We've flown multiple times and driven once. Even when we drive, I don't touch my car until we start packing for the trip home. We go WDW transportation system for the entire trip once we get to the resort. I don't really have any pros or cons about the buses; I'm on vacation and I'll get to the park when I get there. For some folks, though, patience in waiting on the buses really helps........

 

[joshsmom]

We just got back yesterday and we drove. We were convinced we were going to leave our car parked and use WDW transportation--until after the first day. The buses were not coming "every 20 minutes or so" and when they DID come, the line of people waiting was so long that the buses were jam packed!!! I gave up my seat on the AM bus to the parks to a lady that was pregnant and then on the way back to a woman carrying a child. It was my choice and I could have remained seated (not complaining about that at all--just illustrating the packed-ness of the buses).

Second day (and every day thereafter) we took our car. The trams ran very regularly and we were able to smoothly transition from resort to car to tram to entrance with no wait time. It was quite wonderful. We got spoiled by using our car!!

I think if we were to drive again, we would definitely use our car to get from one place to the other.

 

[LindaR]

I always rent a car and drive to each park. We park hop alot and I also take a mid-day break every day. It is so quick and so easy to drive and not do the bus thing. We also like to visit places outside the parks.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

My family and I always have our own car while at WDW however we use it for shopping and eating offsite, plus we also use it when driving to Downtown Disney because that's the one bus we don't like to take. However we don't mind taking the buses to Hollywood Studios and the Animal Kingdom.

 

[SelfEmployedDebtFree]

I'm going against the flow. I never EVER EVER drive at Disney. To me half the fun of being at Disney is NOT driving. I like that I can park my van on Sunday, and not touch it again till Sunday of the following week.
I have a slightly different view about the buses. I've been almost 20 times, and I have never stayed anywhere other than Disney value resorts. I have ridden the buses of many other resorts for visiting friends, ressies, and other reasons that i wont admit to, and I can say with a clear conscience that value resort buses are the PITS. HOWEVER, I like the whole (how do I out this into words...) spirit of the people on the buses. It can be 90 degrees, then while everyone is waiting, it can pour down raining, everyone on the bus may be covered in a thin layer of sweat and sticky park stuff that no one can identify. We are all exhausted, worn out, we all have a headache, the rain ruined the last hour of our day, and despite it all, we have a ball on the bus!!!
I'm a talkative person, and I love to listen to people talk about life in "their world" on the other side of the country or other side of the world.

I love the cheering crowd when a bus appears after 20 minutes of not seeing one. You learn to enjoy the little things when you ride the buses. They are an experience.
I once asked a CM driver what he thought of his job hauling pissed off sweaty tired tourists back in a sardine packed bus, and he surprised me by saying "I love it!" He said yeah, you occasionally get a hot one, but most people have enough sense to just accept the transportation system for what it is. He said the good experiences far out weight the bad ones.
Besides, I have roadrage. Theres no way on God's green Earth i'm driving around in those parking lots where people fight you inches from your bumper to push you out of the way. I cringe just watching the whole scenario from the safety of the bus!!!!!

 

[Dan Murphy]

I fly, rent a car at MCO. At Disney, I use Disney transportation, bus, boat, monorail, almost always for the the parks, car for resort hops and Downtown Disney, or a hop to USF/IoA.

 

[Tara]

We always rent a car and we drive ourselves everywhere with very, very few exceptions. Yes, this includes driving to MK. Exceptions are:

• Staying at a monorail resort or WL - we'll take the boat to MK from WL, walk from BLT or monorail from GF
• Staying at an Epcot area resort - we'll walk to Epcot and often walk to Studios, though sometimes take the boat there. THAT SAID, if we have plans somewhere after Epcot or DHS, we'll drive so that we have quick access to our car rather than going back to the resort to get it.
• Staying at SSR, we walk to DTD.

If you have a car, I'd certainly recommend driving to AK and Studios.

And this is coming from someone who used to be a card-carrying member of the WDW Transportation Only brigade!

 

[YodaGirl]

I'm going against the flow. I never EVER EVER drive at Disney. To me half the fun of being at Disney is NOT driving. I like that I can park my van on Sunday, and not touch it again till Sunday of the following week.
I have a slightly different view about the buses. I've been almost 20 times, and I have never stayed anywhere other than Disney value resorts. I have ridden the buses of many other resorts for visiting friends, ressies, and other reasons that i wont admit to, and I can say with a clear conscience that value resort buses are the PITS. HOWEVER, I like the whole (how do I out this into words...) spirit of the people on the buses. It can be 90 degrees, then while everyone is waiting, it can pour down raining, everyone on the bus may be covered in a thin layer of sweat and sticky park stuff that no one can identify. We are all exhausted, worn out, we all have a headache, the rain ruined the last hour of our day, and despite it all, we have a ball on the bus!!!
I'm a talkative person, and I love to listen to people talk about life in "their world" on the other side of the country or other side of the world.

I love the cheering crowd when a bus appears after 20 minutes of not seeing one. You learn to enjoy the little things when you ride the buses. They are an experience.
I once asked a CM driver what he thought of his job hauling pissed off sweaty tired tourists back in a sardine packed bus, and he surprised me by saying "I love it!" He said yeah, you occasionally get a hot one, but most people have enough sense to just accept the transportation system for what it is. He said the good experiences far out weight the bad ones.
Besides, I have roadrage. Theres no way on God's green Earth i'm driving around in those parking lots where people fight you inches from your bumper to push you out of the way. I cringe just watching the whole scenario from the safety of the bus!!!!!

I completely agree!!

 

[momof1princess]

we always drive to wdw and stay at pop century, and we always drive our car. by the time a bus gets to pop, there are SO many people waiting, that unless you're one of the first 20 or so, you're not going to get on the bus, and if an ECV comes rolling up (which they always seem to do, at least 2 of them, every time a bus pulls up), forget it. don't get me wrong, i have elderly relatives who need ECV's as well, and i understand they can't help it, but after you've waited over an hour and seen at least 4 buses pull off without you on them, it's very frustrating.
we drive everywhere at wdw. i wouldn't do it any other way. IMHO, there are more guests each year, and not enough buses. having our car allows us to come and go as we please, and no waiting for the bus!
by contrast, when DH and i went to wdw on our honeymoon in 1992 and stayed at the caribbean beach resort, we rode the buses EVERYWHERE, we never even cranked our car from the time we arrived, to the time we left for home. we never waited more than 5 minutes for a bus at the resort or at the parks, and it was wonderful.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

If we drive to WDW, we drive to the parks! That way we are dependent on anyone else. Plus, if someone in our party gets sick, or just needs to take a break, they can get back quickly. The rest of the group can take the bus back.

 

[Planogirl]

I love having a car whether we're onsite or off. I drive to all of the parks, Downtown Disney, resorts and offsite. I think that the only mode of transportation we use nowadays is the monorails, ferries and resort launches.

 

[Mr_G3]

We drive all the way to Florida, and then we drive our own car every day to the parks. I realize it may not be as "green" as some people like, but I believe it is faster. We have a 6-year-old, and the crowded bus scenario late at night probably wouldn't be much fun.

I found WDW roads very easy to navigate, and there isn't much traffic. It's much better than driving around in the "real" world.

 

[myhouseofmouse]

We use the car to go everywhere in property...

 

[smidgy]

for years we never touched the car. then we discovered how simple it is to drive to some destinations.
DHS and AK are the easiest. we like to drive in the morning for rope drop. spend some time.. return to the resort for pool time, cocktail hour. then use Disney transportaion to return to the park in the evening. and we can have another cocktail or 2, since we aren't driving!
the water parks are very easy to drive to.

 

[tiggertabi]

we've always flown, but our impromptu trip this year we had to drive. I never saw the appeal of driving, because I always thought that buses/monorail were great (they are!) However, I'm not sure I will ever fly again and use the buses. We LOVED driving into the parks. It made our day much more flexible. We had our 2 year old, so in the afternoon we went back to the parking lot and drove back to the hotel, spent the time resting, and then drove to our other park. We did take the monorail between the MK and EPCOT. I especially loved driving to HS which I find is not that great at bus dropoff (ie it's FAR!)

 

[aceys_h0ney]

We are driving in. We plan on driving most places. I like the idea of using Disney transportation in the evenings. I love having our own van so if we bring extra stuff it can wait in the van or when we are ready to leave we can just go with no waiting. In Sept. for our weekend trip we are staying at a monorail resort and only going to MK so I plan on keeping the car parked until we leave.

 

[Planning fanatic mom]

We've driven twice and pretty much used WDW transportation. I leave it completely up to DH, and he chose to ride the bus.

We've stayed at WL. We loved the boat to MK. Also, we took the boat to the Contemporary and then the Monorail to MK or Epcot.

When going to AK and DHS, you will have to share a bus with either FW or GF. This can add a lot of time. We did drive to AK once and it was easy. (Except we didn't remember where we parked, OOPPSS!!!)

Anyway, my advise. Decide how you feel each day. Play it by ear.