Rent a Car vs Disney Transportation

[corpcomp]

We always fly from NY to Ft Lauderdale to visit my mom and then rent a car from Ft Laudersdale to Disney World. We immediately turn in the car and rely totally on DT for our time there. If we take a day at Universal, Mears picks us up in from of the Beach Club.

When leaving for MCO we take the ME and never have a problem.

PS: my 12 year old DS loves riding the buses and watching the crowds!! We have no buses in our town except the dreaded yellow ones.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

I voted rental car, as that's the closest choice.

We really use a variety:
We pick up a rental car at the airport. If we stay at VWL we use a boat for MK, drive the rental car to the other parks, and cab for dinner & PI (when drinking).

MG

 

[BWV Dreamin]

We always fly from NY to Ft Lauderdale to visit my mom and then rent a car from Ft Laudersdale to Disney World. We immediately turn in the car and rely totally on DT for our time there. If we take a day at Universal, Mears picks us up in from of the Beach Club.

When leaving for MCO we take the ME and never have a problem.

PS: my 12 year old DS loves riding the buses and watching the crowds!! We have no buses in our town except the dreaded yellow ones.

Was the Mears expensive? Why did you choose them over a cab? I would just need transportation for a day at Universal.

 

[Mike]

We will never be without a car. If we drive from Massachusetts we obviously have our car. If we fly, we rent. Earlier this month we just paid $107 total for a full size for a week - worth every penny.

We drive pretty much everywhere except MK. We go offsite a lot to eat and we make a few trips to the Super Walmart. This past trip we did a lot of resort hopping to check out the Christmas decorations (virtually impossible without a car). When we were there in July, we drove to Tampa Bay on a whim to catch a Red Sox game

To me, the buses are too much aggravation. I love the freedom of having my own car.

 

[mamatojon]

I like to have a rental car, we will never make the drive from WA state, LOL. My husband likes using the disney transportation, as he is the one who would be driving said rental car. He agreed that we could get a rental car next time we go but he still wants to take the bus to MK since it drops you off right in front. I don't mind waiting for buses, but I HATE standing on one with kids.

 

[Uncleromulus]

We always drive a car at WDW. And for all the same reasons as expressed by JimMIA

 

[tjcj]

We have been doing large family trips and have hit the grocery and COSTCO on the way in for supplies. Use DT for most parks but normally drive to AK.
Like to drive to DTD for shopping, even when we are at SSR.
Next trip we are considering taking the AMTRAK car train with our own car. The price is not bad considering the price of plane tixs and a rental car. Also we stay offiste our 1st night, so with the train we get on Sat at 4pm, and get down there 9a.m. ish on Sunday, no need for a room on Sat night. We will try it and see if it fits in with our goal of making every WDW trip something special...

 

[tjcj]

We have been doing large family trips and have hit the grocery and COSTCO on the way in for supplies. Use DT for most parks but normally drive to AK.
Like to drive to DTD for shopping, even when we are at SSR.
Next trip we are considering taking the AMTRAK car train with our own car. The price is not bad considering the price of plane tixs and a rental car. Also we stay offiste our 1st night, so with the train we get on Sat at 4pm, and get down there 9a.m. ish on Sunday, no need for a room on Sat night. We will try it and see if it fits in with our goal of making every WDW trip something special...

 

[DVC Sadie]

When traveling with my dh we get a rental car so we can do more things offsite. Golfing, dining and shopping just to name a few.

If I am traveling solo I hire a car service to and from the airport. I use Disney transportation to go to the different parks but at the end of the evening I take a taxi back to the resort.

 

[Donald is #1]

I fly down and normally rent a car. I use the car to get to my resort, go shopping for groceries/snacks and to travel to other resorts if I make a dinner reservation there. I use WDW buses to go from my resort to the parks.

 

[DebbieB]

I always rent a car. If you go at a non-peak time, rental cars are not expensive at MCO, probably due to the competition. For my Dec 1 to 7 trip, I used Emerald Aisle with a $30 coupon, my total was $99 including taxes. My trip earlier this year, April 21 to 27, was $106.

I just don't want to be a slave to the Disney transportation system. If I want to go to the grocery store or the outlets, I have the car. When staying at BWV, I usually use the car to Animal Kingdom, Downtown Disney and sometimes to MK (if I'm going in the morning). I walk to Epcot, usually boat to MGM. I usually take the bus if I'm at MK at night because it's easier coming out with the crowds at the end of the night. If I'm staying at OKW, I usually drive everywhere except MK at night. I've found it very easy driving around WDW.

 

[drakethib]

Mostly DT, but ME has gotten to be a paid here lately.

Been hitting the cars service.

 

[mjy]

Generally, I use all Disney transportation. From the time I land at the airport until Disney takes me back, I'm pretty much in their hands.

The only exception (since I almost always stay at the Boardwalk) is if I have a dinner reservation at Animal Kingdom Lodge (either Boma or Jiko.)

At those times, I'll just snag a taxi at the Boardwalk for the trip to the restaurant.

 

[AKV707]

We uae a town car service from MCO to WDW and back. We use Disney transportation once at the reesort, Part of the joyh for us is to not have to worry about driving when we are at our favorite vacation location.

 

[jarestel]

We pretty much always rent a car, but some trips it serves simply as airport transportation while on others we use it a bit more extensively. Lately off-site dining and trips to the supermarket have played a larger role in our vacation plans than they used to, so the car has had more of a workout.

For generic resort-to-park transportation we still usually take Disney transportation since quick/efficient travel isn't our primary concern in that situation. For trips to DTD - or resort-to-resort journeys - we find the car to be very handy though.

We tried going without a car on a couple of trips, substituting ME, taxi, & Disney transportation, and decided this wasn't for us, so we're now back to renting a car for every trip. The convenience is well worth the expense, IMO. I know my way around WDW well enough that getting lost isn't an issue (any longer) and it is nice not to have to leave our resort 1 to 1-1/2 hours early just to make an ADR time at another resort.

 

[PEANUT1]

I'm enjoying hearing everyone's reasoning behind this! Every trip DH and I say we're going to just use ME, and every trip we end up getting a rental. We currently plan on being without a car in February, but that gives me 53 days to change my mind

that sounds like us exactlly..we always rent but for our upcoming trip we are trying ME and all disney transportation. We are staying at the Beach Club Villas so we figure 2 out of the 4 parks we can either walk or boat to. We are also leaving the 1 year old home with granny so I think it will make the buses easier. This all being said....I still could change my mind and end up renting a car.

 

[UP Disney]

One of the reasons we enjoy Disney is that we don't have to drive anywhere. That eliminates a lot of stress from our vacation. No worries about finding our way, how busy traffic is, etc. As long as we leave ourselves an hour to get to the parks, we have never had a problem.

 

[couponlover]

If you want to drive around but worries about your budget, there are car rental coupons you can get online that can give you great discounts when renting a car.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

We only use Disney transportation when we are at the world.

 

[ont/ohana]

I agree no rental for us in years. The whole idea is not having to drive and let Disney take care of that for us. We look at it "we are on holidays and we will be back soon enough, whats the rush?"