Rent a car? Or no?

[lhart]

I've traveled to WDW many times and have always rented a car. This time we were hoping to rely on the transportation system, but I'm still unsure.

We are staying at WL, which will make travel to/from MK simple, but I'm concerned about travel to/from TL, BW and DTD.

Advice please!

 

[etail]

To the parks, with a little patience, things are generally fine. I've done both and it depends upon the budget and our likely activities.

The difficulty comes if you want to visit other resorts (perhaps other than MK resorts...). I also prefer a car for rope drop at the water parks.

 

[Brian Noble]

I generally prefer having a car, but have done without from time to time. Would you rather spend a little extra money, or would you rather spend a little extra time?

 

[beccasmom]

We usually don't rent, but a car can certainly come in handy. For ADRs at other resorts - which would require a change of buses, for example - a car makes the commute much less stressful. And if you were staying off-site, I would absolutely say yes, rent the car. Do you have little ones that might make having a car available easier for you - i.e., strollers, etc. Do you want to go off-site at all? Again, a car makes it much simpler. On the other hand, WDW transporation is generally prety good; it does require some patience and flexibility, but what doesn't these days?

My suggestion - run the numbers and decide if you want the flexibility (and expense) of a car or if you would rather spend that money in a different way. If you get an awesome price, that might be your dealbreaker.

 

[ancestry]

What are the ages of the people in your group?

If you are traveling with younger children, I would say to get the car. If everyone is older or are adults then save the money and relay on Disney's transportation

 

[silmarg]

I've traveled to WDW many times and have always rented a car. This time we were hoping to rely on the transportation system, but I'm still unsure.

We are staying at WL, which will make travel to/from MK simple, but I'm concerned about travel to/from TL, BW and DTD.

Advice please!

I am in the same boat at you. I have always rented too. Last time I was not going to rent, but I got a great last minute deal. W used the busses for every day and it was fine. When we go in August, I WILL NOT RENT!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

If you haven't already reserved a car, you may want to skip it. Rates just jumped astronomically in the past 2 days. I wish I booked last month when I 1st started looking. Back then I was seeing around $300 for our 9 nt. trip in August. I thought that was outrageous as we never pay more than $150 for a week. I figured another $60 for the extra 2 days.
Now it's around $400-500! For a midsize!!!

 

[pepe of ohio]

I've traveled to WDW many times and have always rented a car. This time we were hoping to rely on the transportation system, but I'm still unsure.

We are staying at WL, which will make travel to/from MK simple, but I'm concerned about travel to/from TL, BW and DTD.

Advice please!

We've never rented nor used a car on vacation at WDW and have had very few problems. Forty-two trips and relied on Disney's transportation always. We consider it part of the vacation, an excursion. We plan ahead, basically know how long travel may take and leave alittle leeway in our plans. We have plenty of time in our vacations so there's no rush to get anywhere, and we use all the different means available. We have taken the boat from WL to CR, hopped the monorail to TTC and got on the EPCOT one for a change. If we're headed to DTD, we'll include a stop at POFQ by taking the boat from WL to the MK, getting on the POFQ bus, have a meatball sub there and take the boat out from there to DTD. All in all the travel is great, we see some of Disneys scenery, no traffic to contend with and no rental fee. But if you must rent a car, by all means do so but transportation from WL has never been an issue with all our stays.

 

[dopeynme]

You could rely on Disney transportation and just keep in mind that there are cabs available....so if you have 1 event that will be challenging or time consuming with the WDW transport, you could use a cab just for that. Much cheaper than renting a car for the whole trip. We once used a cab from Epcot to POFQ because we did not allow enough time to wait for the bus (went on Soarin' instead!) and we needed to get back to catch our ME bus. It was around $10 I think.

DH and I have done with and without a car. Usually WDW transport is good but we have had problems (long waits for buses, huge crowds, etc). I get impatient after awhile and get tired of standing on the bus at the end of a long day with all the other sweaty people..... so we get the car most of the time now. But it is definitely possible to have a great trip without one.

 

[lhart]

Thanks to all for the great advice. I think we'll skip the car and rely on WDW transit.

 

[Uncleromulus]

If all you are going to do is go from your resort to a park and back--Disney transportation may be adequate.
Otherwise-----

 

[MAYNARDS99]

If you use a car to get around at home, then rent a car.

If you use public transportation, use Disney's buses, boats, etc.