Rental Or Disney Bus To The Parks

[NANCYGATOR]

I am going to DW on May 13, 2006. We are staying at Old Key West for a week. My ? is . . . should I rent a car to get to the parks or use Disney transportation. I want to get to the parks as early as possible. My husband says use Disney. . . I'm unsure. Since staying off-site so many years we rented. Now I am staying at a place that looks so far from the parks. I need suggestions. THANKS.

 

[wdwgoofeeee]

Hi and welcome to the DIS!
You will get tons of votes for Disney transportation and tons for renting a car. We have not rented a car at WDW in many years. Disney does a great job in getting people to and from the parks. We always get to every park before opening. One thing most agree on is that it makes no sense to drive to the Magic Kingdom. Only Disney buses are allowed near the entrance. If you drive you have to park at the TTC and then walk or tram to the boat or monorail over to the MK.
One bit of advice I can give and have used ourselves.....Don't try to leave any park right at park closing. If you take your time the bus station will be quiet. Last June after Wishes we sat on a bench across from the castle for about 15-20 minutes while the throngs poured down Main Street to the exits. Then we slowly walked down a quiet Main Street and out to a peaceful bus station.
Personally I cannot imagine trying to drive out with hundreds (or more) people at any park at closing time. Relax, take your time, you will be on vacation. WDW transportation will take you anyplace you need to go.

ps...if you want to get to another resort always use the nearest theme park......saves a lot of time since there is no resort to resort transportation.

 

[pumpkinboy]

I am a big fan of Disney Transportation, and we personally take it everywhere, only rarely getting a car. That being said, staying at OKW you are going to have parking right outside your door, so it will be incredibly convenient to use a car for grocery shopping, resort to resort transport and even some of the parks (esp. AK, and some might say MGM and Epcot). But always, always use Disney trasport for going to Magic Kingdom. It's just more difficult to get to MK from the parking lot (park, then tram, then monorail or ferryboat) than using one direct bus from your resort right to the gates of MK. My family would simply use Disney buses (or the boat when going to Downtown Disney - a lovely ride from OKW, by the way), but you may find that a car really comes in handy there.

I think you're going to love staying on-site at OKW, so much so that you may want to investigate DVC resale contracts there. Enjoy!

 

[NANCYGATOR]

Thank you, I will take your advise. The rental car will be rented for the one day we plan on going out of Disney. I can't wait