Rental Car vs WDW Transportation

[MMDRMMBL]

Should I rent a car to travel throughout wdw or rely on wdw transportation. I'm staying at Pop Century I know they have busses and there is the monorail but will I waste a lot of time waiting for over crowded busses. Once I figure in the cost of a shuttle to and from WDW from the airport the car rental will only be $100 but it would be worth it if it sames me time and hassle. Any help? Thanks

 

[SyracuseWolvrine]

A lot of people like rental cars for the flexibility they offer, espicially if you'd like to get off-property for an evening or something like that.

I believe that if you're a guest at a Disney resort, you can park for free at the disney parks. Not 100% sure of this though.

 

[gigi1313]

yep, if you stay on-site you can park at the parks for free...

i think whether or not you rent a car is a personal choice... do you think you will use it? do you have special circumstances where getting from point a to point b is going to be difficult by bus? do you hate waiting and like to be the master of your own destiny? do you plan to go off-site? if so, then yes, get a car...

or... are you patient? do you find wdw transport to be part of the "experience?" do you have a lot of time to relax and take things as they come? if so, skip the car...

or, as a last alternative, maybe do a combo... both alamo and national have rental car desks at the dolphin and car care center... we rent a car when leaving the airport (we start our vacation by visiting my elderly aunt who lives 45 mins from wdw) and use it to check in to our hotel, drop off luggage, stop at the grocery, etc... then we just drive to the dolphin and turn it in w/the valet parking attendant... take disney transport to our next destination and all is right in the world!

for getting back to the airport we've always just taken a taxi (we have always had early morning flights)... because we have a late afternoon flight, this trip we are considering going back to the dolphin (maybe after breakfast at epcot) and picking up a car, going to our hotel, packing up and heading to the airport... if we have add'l time, we'll visit a tourist trap or two along the way!

so... once you figure out what your needs are, then i think the question will answer itself

 

[DisneyConvert]

Gigi1313 makes some great points. Here's our(my) perspective:

We generally prefer the rental car, especially if we consider the cost (and hassle?) of getting to/from the Airport . . .

Mostly, it's about flexibility and time.

We figure we spend ~$90/day per person for WDW resort and park admission. At the typical off-peak schedule of 9~6 PM, that's approx. $10/park-access hour. x 3 (folks in our family) => we're "investing" ~$30/hour to access WDW "fun".

Or a savings of $10 of our time (~20 mins savings door-to-door), every time we take the bus to/from resort-park-resort-park-DTD-resort. . . .

Many caveats in this analyis:
Bigger families have bigger paybacks.
Time savings are much smaller to/from MK since the buses go to the gate and cars must park at TTC.
Bus service at some resorts can vary (All-Star & PopCentury is supposedly very good; while Boardwalk is/was notoriously bad)
Rental car rates vary.
The bus system is consistent and helpful, but not always set up for your or my convenience.
Towncars will stop for groceries & supplies ONCE on way from the airport while Mears does not -- with a rental car, you're not "stuck."

If you stay on the Monorail, all bets are off. We had the most fabulous stay ever last year at the Poly -- and we did not rent a car! We walked 50 yds to the TTC and took the Ferry to MK and the monorail to Epcot.

We took the bus a few times to AK and DMGM. It was generally ok, but the more one rides, the more one is likely to have one of those 25+ minute waits in the sun on the bus queue (tick, tick, tick).

So go figure!?

 

[gapere]

I will always rent a car when I go to WDW. The DW and I always go to Universal for a day and we have to stop at the outlets for shopping. The way I see it, you are actually at WDW for such a precious short period of time and before you know it, it's over. I don't want to waste any time waiting for a bus. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I have rented a car each trip there. It is great for resort hopping visits, trips to DTD, Universal, and once in awhile, when you are 'just running late'.

 

[pumpkinboy]

Contrary to the car renters here, I find it more of a waste of time waiting for the tram in the parking lot than waiting for a bus to drop me directly at the gate. We are DVC members at BWV, with notoriously slow buses, but will still take the buses over driving to the parks most of the time.

The value resorts have great and very frequent bus service, and the buses will drop you right at the park gates. Even at BWV we have rarely waited more than 15 mins for ANY bus, usually more like 5-10 mins. Plus, you are getting on to an air-conditioned bus, rather than schlepping out to your hot car, driving it, parking a mile or so from the park entrance and waiting for a tram to take you to there; then you sit in traffic waiting to get out of the parking lot. No Thanks!

That being said, we will be renting a minivan the next few times we are down, as this will get us airport transportation, plus allow us to go grocery shopping when we want to, and provide us with an option for going resort to resort (for dining at AKL, for example). But most of the time the rental will be sitting unused in the BWV parking lot.

 

[CindyAnn]

We love having a rental car when we're at WDW. We tend to visit several other resorts for dinner and WDW transportation tends to be much better for resort --> park transportation than it is for resort --> resort transportation. We also like to stay at a few different resorts on one trip, so the car facilitates that, too. I will say that when we're at the Polynesian, though, the monorail is so handy that the car doesn't get much of a work-out.

As stated earlier, parking is free for on-site guests, and even over heavy periods like Christmas-New Years, we've never waited in a line to get out of the parking lot, even when Fantasmic or Illuminations has just finished. That's when I'd be unwilling to wait for several buses to go by until there was a relatively uncrowded one to return to the resort.

 

[andriade]

We are renting a car this trip. Last trip we did also b/c we drove from Tampa after a family visit. It was never used after WDW arrival! This trip I am pregnant and staying at Fort Wilderness. I heard you have to take a bunch of buses to get anywhere so I tought a car is a better option.

Last year we had the rental car there even at Christmas break and we still didn't touch it. We did come very close to not getting on certain buses due to large crowds. DH barely made it on one time and gave me a heart attack!

I think it depends on where you are staying and how patient you are and WHEN you go.

 

[crisi]

We combine a towncar with Disney tranportation and cabs. For us, it isn't a cost thing (although that's a factor, we'd really want a decent sized car and the towncar/cab combo runs less unless there is a really good deal).

We don't like to drive. We are the people convinced there are three Tower of Terror signs between WL and Epcot - because we've passed the same sign three times trying to get to Epcot. Driving isn't any faster when you have a lousy sense of direction and can't read a map!

For resort to resort travel (or when we can't stand the idea of waiting and then getting on a crowded bus or are running late), we take a cab.

If we plan on going offsite, we will rent a car.

 

[CindyAnn]

Crisi - You cracked me up with your "three Tower of Terror signs". Even though WDW has reasonable signage most of the time, we've had a few of those excursions, too, where the scenery whizzing by looks suspiciously familiar. On our last trip, in desperation while looking for Pop Century, we turned in at the MK parking lot figuring at least there would be humans to ask. We had to keep telling the attendant "Yes, we KNOW we're not at Pop Century. No really, we GET that, and we KNOW this is the Magic Kingdom, but could you PLEASE help us get back on the right track." In the end he was very helpful once he understood that we weren't trying to park.

 

[simzac]

Just my two cents worth. I drive for a living, I'm a courier. So when I'm on vacation, the last thing I want to do is drive. The towncar from the airport and back is great. And being inconvienced a few minutes because a bus isn't there when I wanted it is not the end of the world. After all, I'm on vacation, what's the big hurry? We enjoyed riding the buses last year as much as any other part of our trip. Also rode the monorail and the boats.