Rent a car or Disney transportation?

[mom2bros]

We are going late October/early November with a 3 year old and 6 year old. Is spending money on a car rental worth it? What is the cheapest you've seen car rentals go for? Looking online and I can't find anything cheaper than around $215.

 

[disney world dreamer]

well $215 sounds like a good price assuming its for several days.

if purely doing disney world i don't think renting a car is at all worth it.
i find that disney's transportation is just fine.
you just hop on and you're taken to the front gate.
no worrying about how to get to a park or how far away you have to park.
its stress free and you can lose touch with reality and just enjoy your vacation.

 

[Mazz83]

I would rent a car (given you think you'll use it enough) and then track the prices through autoslash.com. I had a full size car booked for 1 week with Alamo that started out at $250. It is now down to $167 bc autoslash alerted me to better pricing. Same company, same type of car. Awesome website!

 

[Alesia]

I wouldn't bother. We've driven before, but we prefer WDW transportation. Although It might also depend on where we were staying. If we were staying at a deluxe resort, I'd probably go ahead and get a car. If we were staying at AOA or Pop, I'd take the buses.

 

[rblucy]

We like using Disney transportation. It's nice not to worry about directions and now with DS no worries about car seats! On top of renting a car, you would also have to either bring your car seat or rent one to add to the aggravation.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

My vote is for rental car. We like it better than the Magical Express from the airport and waiting in long lines for buses. I will point out that we use the rental car to get to ADR's and for all the parks except MK. We never had a problem parking and we find it easier the WDW transportation. The best price I got was for 10 days for $178, and that was over Easter break.

 

[mom2AidanAndEli]

Have never driven at all on Disney property and I LOVE it! No worrying about directions, unfamiliar roads, traffic, etc. Sit back and relax and let them take you wherever you want to go! Also love getting onto an air-conditioned bus at the end of a hot August day at the park--much better than that car that's been sitting in the sun all day!

 

[sharona]

Where are you staying and what parks are you going to? That could make a difference in what advice you'll get. Everyone has their own idea about which is better and it really is a choice based on what works for you.

We've done both and will never go without a car again - it was so much easier to just get in and go. IMO, the younger the kids the more you need the car unless you are at a monorail resort. Nothing worse than waking an exhausted sleeping child out of the stroller to stand on a crowded bus.

You don't need "directions" to get around WDW, it is simple and there are lots of signs. The bus system is many things but relaxing is not really one of them. And while the bus people are waiting in the hot sun for that bus, you can get your car running, blast the ac and be long gone before they wait for that 2nd ecv to load .

 

[powellrj]

I am one of "those" people who use an ECV when we go. I own mine because I use it in my everyday life and its much easier to drive our own car than to endure the sighs and eyerolls.

I will never go without our own car. Keep an eye out on rentals because the one you have seems high.

 

[Mousemommy1]

One of the things we love about our Disney vacations is that we don't have to drive!

We've only had a few frustrating moments over our many visits but overall we love the Disney transportation.

 

[Julylady]

I think it depends a lot on how much patience you have for waiting for a bus. And, how tolerant you are of other people. Other people can cut in line in front of you to board, can chant/sing during the ride, have offensive body odor, and put their shopping bags on a seat forcing you to stand. It's also not fun to rush to get ready and out to the bus stop in the morning to find you just missed the bus and need to wai 20 plus minutes for the next one. Or to have to wait in line for a bus at the end of a long day with tired cranky kids (and parents).

 

[maxiesmom]

I think it depends a lot on how much patience you have for waiting for a bus. And, how tolerant you are of other people. Other people can cut in line in front of you to board, can chant/sing during the ride, have offensive body odor, and put their shopping bags on a seat forcing you to stand. It's also not fun to rush to get ready and out to the bus stop in the morning to find you just missed the bus and need to wai 20 plus minutes for the next one. Or to have to wait in line for a bus at the end of a long day with tired cranky kids (and parents).

I've used more Disney buses than I can even begin to count, and I have never had a group of people chatting or singing on the bus. Not that it can't happen, but I think it is very rare. I also think you would need more tolerance driving than waiting for a bus. Orlando roads have a massive amount of people driving on them that are unfamiliar with them. They stop short, make crazy turns out of the wrong lanes.

I use Disney transportation however I also keep some cash on me just for taxis, for those nights I'm in a hurry or cranky.

 

[Teacup53]

I think it depends a lot on how much patience you have for waiting for a bus. And, how tolerant you are of other people. Other people can cut in line in front of you to board, can chant/sing during the ride, have offensive body odor, and put their shopping bags on a seat forcing you to stand. It's also not fun to rush to get ready and out to the bus stop in the morning to find you just missed the bus and need to wai 20 plus minutes for the next one. Or to have to wait in line for a bus at the end of a long day with tired cranky kids (and parents).

I agree it depends on how you feel about Public Transportation (which I consider the free Disney transports because it is for the Public in this case). I always rent a car - I take public transportation everyday (trains, subway, etc) and therefore if I am on vacation I want to be able to go where and when I want to go. Plus it comes in handy to run to a store offsite if we want to pick up supplies or if we forgot to pack something. Good luck in car rental shopping - I would book the lowest quote you get and then keep checking. Also check the mousesavers website for the discount codes/coupons.

 

[wdwchamp]

I have done both. If you are going strictly between the parks and your hotel, I would use Disney Transportation. If you are doing one or two ADR at another resort hotel, I would still use Disney transportation and pay for a taxi to get me to/from the resort restaurant unless you want to spend up to hour to get to the resort via Disney transportation It is much cheaper than a car rental. However if you are doing a lot of ADR at different resorts, a car rental is the only way to go.

 

[msmama]

I personally would rather have that $215 for other stuff than a rental car. I've done solo trips with one child starting at age 4 and have never had any issues with disney transport. But I'm patient and prepared to stand and/or wait if travelling at busy times.

 

[Polishnavy]

It really depends on your touring style. We go in September for the low crowds and prefer our own car - not having people waiting for us to fold our big stroller and drag three kids onto transportation is our preference. DH is directionally blessed so navigating the resort is not an issue. Most days we parked close enough to just walk in and skip the tram. We felt that the buses took longer. The car felt more efficient and private for our family with young children who were just 'done' at the end of the park day.

 

[limpy]

Two young kids (1 and 4) and a double stroller plus the rest of our gear = rental car, in my book. We never had to wait for any transportation and parked close enough to walk to the parks. You can probably get away with renting or bringing one car seat on the plane and using an inexpensive, inflatable travel booster seat for your 6 year old. The convenience is totally worth it.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

most of the parks you can walk from car to gate but not at MK. there you will need to take either the ferry or the monorail from the TTC to the main gate, you can not walk from parking lot or just take the parking lot tram

 

[5kidsmommy]

Even though we drive down to Disney we don't move our car once it's parked until it's time to go home. I go to relax so I'm not impatient, I'd rather just sit back and let someone else do the driving and enjoy the sites. Plus that $215 could go towards something fun or uber special.

 

[purrpletulips]

We've always rented a car but like the option of being able to stop at a store for some supplies on the way from the airport but also just the flexibility of setting our own schedule vs relying on transportation schedule. Don't forget that based on your kids ages you'll need to either bring with you or rent booster/car seats.