Question for those of you with cars at WDW

[amzking]

Last time we were at WL it was Christmas 09 and the bus service was wonderful. We kept our car parked the whole time. I think it is much easier to leave the park after a long day when your feet are tired and just head over to the busses. Much easier than waiting for a tram and searching for your car.

Also, remember that with staying at WL you will have to go through the main parking ticketing gait and show your hotel parking pass every time you return to your hotel. If you are going during a busy time that will slow you down. We were blissfully unaware of the LOADS of traffic during that week, until we saw the HUGE backup of cars at the parking ticketing gate on the way out of WDW! We were so glad we used the busses then, they just skip all that.

 

[glocon]

We are staying at AKL and I had contemplated taking the disney transportation to MK, but after reading this thread, I think we will drive.

 

[christinec68]

We drive anyplace we do not have direct access to. When we stay the WL we'll take the boat to the MK but drive to all the other parks. When we stay at the BW, we walk to Epcot & Disney Studios and drive to the MK, MK, water parks, DTD.

Driving ourselves is a real time saver and much more comfortable. I take public transportation to work every day so it's the last thing I want to do on vacation. Plus I hate buses and avoid them as much as possible.

Pros of Driving:
MUCH easier to dine at other resorts
guaranteed seat & working AC
No long waits for buses
Can go off property for groceries, other meals, shopping


Cons to Driving
walking to the parking lot
you may need a designated driver

 

[Cee]

A rental car is great when going to resorts for ADRs and DTD. We found that it's better to take the bus to the parks because they drop you off right at the entrance. We were there in Sept. and it was blasted hot walking from the far-reaching parking lots or waiting in the hot sun for the trams to finally come and pick us up.

 

[ChristaDeVil]

We drive to WDW and then drive everywhere. This time, we're going to try taking a bus to MK, just so we don't have to deal with the T&TC. We'll drive everywhere else, I'm sure. We like the freedom of having our car so we can go at our own pace and drive offsite for groceries, beer, etc. if we need to.

 

[kerri0616]

We drive to Florida, but tend to take the buses to the parks. We love not feeling stressed about driving in traffic around other distracted drivers. My husband spends a lot of time driving for his job and then driving 17 hours to The World. It is wonderful to let someone else take the reins...

But the absolute BEST reason to take the buses...in July...The A/C! There is nothing better that leaving a park and hopping a bus with its A/C on high! Have you ever gotten in your car that's been sitting in the Florida sun for 8 hours? It takes our car forever to cool off and we end up getting back to our resort before the car cools off.

We love the A/C on those buses. And we have had some awesome drivers who really enjoy their jobs. Just part of the magic.

Kerri

 

[MelissathePooh]

We usually take provided Disney transportation to MK, but drive to the other parks. Its just faster and easier and half the time the walk back to your car isn't any farther than the walk to the bus stop.

 

[ToddQuevedo]

But I find it worth to use your car instead of hiring one,although the difference is not that big

 

[disneychick0412]

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........

To some, the WDW bus system is a pain. To me, driving myself around is a pain. I love my "vacation" from driving!!!

 

[MarieTheCat24]

But the absolute BEST reason to take the buses...in July...The A/C! There is nothing better that leaving a park and hopping a bus with its A/C on high! Have you ever gotten in your car that's been sitting in the Florida sun for 8 hours? It takes our car forever to cool off and we end up getting back to our resort before the car cools off.

Co-signed!

Getting into a car that's been sitting in the hot Florida sun all day is MISERABLE. I don't mind waiting a few minutes if it means I don't have to deal with a seat belt that feels as if it's going to burn my skin, and a car that's so full of hot air it's as if I can't breathe.

 

[florep1]

We drive to WDW, park our car, then use Disney transportation. We don't want the hassle of trying to find our way, missing our exit, driving around trying to find a parking spot, walking to the park entrance, walking back to a hot car, then driving around finding a parking spot at our resort. It doesn't matter which resort we stay at, this is our MO. We have yet to stay at a monorail resort but at BCV, we walked to EPCOT and rode the boat to DHS in December. At Swan/Dolphin, we waited for the boat to both parks. It's too hot to walk in the summer!

 

[alwaysmom]

Drive it and park it. We don't drive it again until we leave. One thing to remind people that do this. Bring an ant spray and spray along the bottom edge of your car, I even open the doors and spray along the inside edge. Avoid parking by the grass or sand lots, like they have around some of the light posts. The little buggers got into our car once. I'm sure they ate well with the crumbs left behind from the kids eating, but it sure was a pain. We ended up having to stop and vacuum the car out on the way home. Weather this works or its a coincidence I'm not sure, but we've never had a problem again.

 

[Uncleromulus]

We have a car and we drive everywhere. You should drive to all the other parks. There are no "pros" to using the Disney bus system!!

 

[ugadog99]

We live in Georgia, so we always drive. For MK and all big holidays (July 4th, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve/Day, etc), we use Disney transportation. All other times we drive to all parks and DTD. The parking issues at MK are not worth driving, though.

 

[rbenn81]

We drive to the WORLD when we go. After parking the van after check in we don't use it again until it's time to leave. I'm on vacation and I just don't want the hassle of having to drive everywhere and deal with parking. IMO it's just easier to hop on a bus and be let out near the entry gate to the park we're going to.

 

[itchin2go]

We have typically used Disney transportation to and from parks, but use our car to and from other resorts.

I have read that driving to most parks is easy as pie, but with the MK/TTC situation, it's better to use Disney transportation to MK.

 

[mauigal]

I always rent a car....It's usually cheap in MCO!
You get to park free at the parks and it's nice to be able to tool around....go to "I" drive and Sweet Tomatoes for lunch
I just like having the freedom!

 

[Silver Queen]

We've always taken advantage of Disney transportation on our trips and we have no desire to rent a car. The Magical Express works well for us and we have not had any issues with transportation on the property. We just leave time to make connections if we are going to another resort for dinner. For us it's part of the fun. As one of the previous posters said, we've met some really nice and interesting people on the bus or at the bus stop. We also like the freedom of having a bottle of wine with dinner or a cocktail or two and then letting Disney do the driving.

 

[Praying Colonel]

We drive everywhere now. We used to drive to every park except MK but take the bus to MK because it lets you out at the front gate. However, we dislike the evening buses after park closure so much that we now drive to MK, too.

IMHO the WDW bus system does as good a job as possible with moving large masses of people in a fairly orderly manner, but it's just more than we want to deal with, especially at the end of a long park day. Driving helps us avoid that.

 

[maxsmom]

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.

This is what we do also. We don't even use the tram b/c I don't break down my stroller in our car. I just side it in and keep it half loaded. Then I pull it out and load it and don't want to have to worry about what to do w/ all the stuff to get on the tram. We have timed walking against the tram and walking has always won. So car and walking has been the quickest and easiest for us. Well that is unless we use the monorail.