Rent a car or ME?

[Eyore4Ever149]

I know I could post this on the transportation board, but Im most interested in hearing from others with little kids.
I have been to WDW quite a few times now. My first trip in 2003 the ME was just MEARS and I was not impressed. We waited for at least an hour, first to go on a bus, then a shuttle- and then had to sit there while it drove to all the delux resorts before it dropped us at CBR. Then we had to arrive at the airport about 3 hours before out flight left.

Since then I have done limo service and Emerald aisle car rentals.

But we will be traveling with a 11 month old and 4 year old, and I'd love to cut costs where I can.
We are staying at BWV.

What would you do?

I have so many varying factors- car seats- I know they can be rented, but it's an extra cost and we would have to rent 2.
and of course the ase of getting to DTD or other resorts for meals.

I just can't decide and figured Id come here and see what the rest of you have done and what your thoughts are.

 

[cancer_survivor_06]

We used quick silver car service in dec when we went and they provided a carseat for us when they picked us up. My dd6 is disabled so she has to be in a carseat for long rides and we used disney buses the rest of the time we were there. We did use a cab a couple of nights leaving from a park to go back to our resort.

 

[ilandrazdsw]

We were going to rent a car last year on our first family trip (Dec 23-Jan 2), but decided to cut costs a few weeks before and take ME and Disney Transportation. Our kids were 3 and 5 at the time, so would have had to deal with car seats too and we had a sit & stand stroller. We were there for 10 nights, staying at ASSp.
ME was flawless. Got off the plane, down to the check-in desk (line was long, but moved quickly), waited maybe 5-10 mins to be boarded on the bus and another 5-10 mins before the bus left. We were the first stop on the All Star circuit. I think it took MAYBE 2 hours in total. We checked in, went to DTD on the bus, over to CR for dinner, and our luggage was waiting for us when we got back to the room. Heading back we had to be picked up 3 hours before our flight because it was considered international, but were at the last pick-up before heading to the airport.
Using Disney transportation was acutally a lot better than what we had prepared for. We had early ADRs most every morning and fortunately with the holiday hours buses were running very early. We had little waits at the resort and even between resorts and parks. On and off the bus was easy with me taking the kids and DH taking the stroller. The kids would sit with me and DH would try to find somewhere out of the way with the stroller. If the bus was too full we would wait for the next one...again, with the holidays they may have had more buses on routes so waits were not long.
Basically if you leave enought time to get from point A to point B and have patience it is completely doable! For us (me) that meant getting up 1/2 an hour earlier than I would have liked, but saving the $$$ was so worth it!

 

[Tricia's mom]

I recommend renting a car. Here's why:
I'm not a fan of WDW Bus service, love the monorail and boats BUT the buses stink !! There fine and fun when traveling as adults or older children. When your children are nappers its awful...I don't want to stand in the heat waiting for a bus -did it just leave?? is it on its way??? How much longer ?? Meanwhile your little one has had enough, or a missed opportunity for a nap. ADR-you don't risk getting there to early or late.. Plus the bonus of someone running to the store to pick up diapers or other items.
Its just alot easier with little ones if your not on a monorail hotel.

 

[jasminesmommy1]

Personally I like ME but with children under 1 maybe a car so ur not standing with baby

 

[brymolmom]

If you truly want to keep costs down - go with ME.

I love using Disney transportation and have been using it since the kids were in the under-2 area.

ME - There are good days and bad days in terms of wait. But you usually need to wait in line for a rental...install your car seats...then check it for dents.....then finally leave. I find that while it on average ME takes longer, it isn't a huge difference - and you don't have to worry about where you're going, tolls, etc.

We have only stayed in Bus resorts. I find that if you have reasonable expectations, you won't be disappointed. Now reasonable is not waiting under 10 minutes for every single bus you take....Figure maybe an average of 20 minutes and you'll usually be fine.

Then you don't have to worry about lugging carseats AND it's cheaper. Win/win to me!

 

[cogero]

we always use ME. When I am on vacation I do not want to drive but that is just me.

 

[seashoreCM]

On recent trips I have rented a car -- because I wanted to go off site a lot including for meals.

Otherwise I would have relied on DME and Disney buses.

Disney hints: http://www.cockam.com/disney.htm

 

[amyj1024]

I would do ME and skip the car rental.
We did ME and Disney buses last october, my kids were 5 and 1. I never had a problem getting a seat, many people let me sit when they saw I was holding my son. I also thought the buses were much better than what I had heard. Now I do think that you need to plan for at least an hour travel if you are planning to get somewhere, but we never had trouble catching the first bus that came.

I also didn't want the hassell of knowing how to get around in Disney--maybe it is easy, but just another thing to worry about on vacation. I have also had a bad experience renting car and getting carseats from them. I would never use a rental car seat. We always travel and check our kids car seats if we are going to use them.

It was kind of nice to travel to Disney without any extra's for cars/etc....I liked the buses and will have no issue about doing it again in Feb.

 

[amyj1024]

oh--one other thing... Since you are staying at BWV you will be walking distance to DS and Epcot. So you would only need to use the bus for MK and AK....and if you are going to DTD....

 

[Eyore4Ever149]

The last time we stayed at BWV, and had a car rental.
We used the ferry for Studios and walked to Epcot
the car came in handy for MK and when we hired a sitter and went out on our "whirlwind tour of coaster rides"

Can you use a taxi with little ones??

I feel like i have tried it call, but still can't decide. This is our first trip with 2, the last 2 times we brought her car seat and it made life great. We stayed at our home resort (OKW) and that required a lot of car rides, so I was glad I had it, but I purposely picked BW again because it was soo convenient last time.

Hmm...maybe a town car this time and busses/boat during our stay...?

 

[mjkacmom]

We stayed at the BCV's, and loved ME. You are already within walking distance of 2 of the 4 parks, so less dependent on the busses.