rental car or not???? First time to Disney!!

[golfgal]

We are going end of May/first week in June. It will be dh, me, ds12, dd10, ds10. The plans are to stay at AKL May 30-June 4. Checking out June 4 we will go to MGM for the day if they have StarWars going on, if not, either a waterpark or one of the other parks. At the end of the day on the 4th we are planning on driving to Cocoa Beach for some swimming in the ocean/Kennedy Space Center visit. The question is, do we rent a car or not? I don't anticipate eating off site at all as this is a first trip for the kids and I am sure they will want to be on property always. No planned trips to SeaWorld or other non-Disney parks.

Options I have considered are:

renting a car for the entire trip-having the car at our disposal for park-hopping/getting back to the resort. What is it like to park at the parks? Is it worth taking a car or is it best to use Disney transportation? The ability to come and go, especially getting groceries is a big plus. We are considering going to Typhoon Lagoon one day in the morning and hitting Blizzard Beach in the afternoon. I could see us using a car for that day as an example.

Taking a town-car to the property and then picking up a rental on June 4th. Is the Dolphin the only place to pick up a rental car?

All you seasoned Disney personel, what do you think? Is it worth having a rental car the entire week even if it sits in the lot for a day or two or more or should we just pick it up on the 4th?

 

[leebee]

RENT THE CAR!!! I personally hate Disney transportation. Think of how much fun it will be, after a long day in the sun at the parks, to wait in line for awhile for a bus back to your resort...and you'll probably get to stand on the bus, too! Last June (25th-30th) it took us two and a half hours to get back to POFQ using Disney transport after Fantasmic at MGM. Took 1.5 hours on 6/26 to take bus from POFQ-MK, then monorail to Poly for our anniversary dinner. Join National's Emerald Aisle club (info on free membership at mousesavers.com), use the priceless discount code and any coupons you can find (check mousesavers and search here for codes), and rent the vehicle. For our last trip we rented intermediate, emerald aisle, and ended up with a minivan for $109 for the week. No guarantee that you will get anything larger than an intermediate, but get the car! Even if you book a full size thru National, if you use the codes it'll be cheap. How much is a shuttle/towncar for roundtrip transportation from/to the airport? How much is the one day rental to go to KSC (which, but the way, is SOOOOO worth it!)? If you are a resort guest, parking is free. The CM's guide you to a space, you take a tram to the park, take a tram back to your car after the park closes. Trams run all the time, you'll never wait as long for a tram as for a bus. RENT THE CAR!!! I bet with codes a car for a week won't cost any more than rt airport transportation and a one day rental to go to KSC. (Last June I ended up paying $115 per week for a car...fortunately we had it while staying at POFQ, so we WEREN'T dependent on Disney transport!)