Rental vs Disney transportation

[jamounger]

We are travelling next week and the rates are coming down at National. We had planned on Disney transportation and we are staying at the Boardwalk so Epcot and MGM are easy. Would you bother with a car to get to the other places(in other words is it worth 145.00 not to ride the bus with a 2 yr old)? Also is parking free at the parks for resort guests.

 

[WillCAD]

Parking at the theme parks is free for on-site Guests.

Personally, I use my rental car to go everywhere on-site and off-site, and I don't have any kids. Having a car means complete freedom to go where I want, when I want, without ever waiting for a bus. It also means that I always get a seat and never have to stand up, never have to get jostled by cranky, sweaty, smelly Guests, and the only B.O. I smell is my own.

 

[Disneyjosh229]

Parking at the theme parks is free for on-site Guests.

Personally, I use my rental car to go everywhere on-site and off-site, and I don't have any kids. Having a car means complete freedom to go where I want, when I want, without ever waiting for a bus. It also means that I always get a seat and never have to stand up, never have to get jostled by cranky, sweaty, smelly Guests, and the only B.O. I smell is my own.

Haha gotta love it...same here

 

[antmaril]

We ALWAYS rent a car while at WDW. I want the freedom to come and go as I please. I have no interest in riding a bus while on vacation.

 

[bgirl29]

We have done it both with and without a rental in the past. Even with a car we still use Disney transportation to the Magic Kingdom to avoid the extra step of the ferry or the monorail from the parking lot. If you plan on eating at several hotels other than your own or want to get out of Disney it may be worth it, otherwise I don't think you really need it. We are going in October and plan on using all Disney transportation. Hope this helps.

 

[justplaingoofy]

We usually do rent a car, but when we stayed at Boardwalk we did not.

Even when we have a car we do NOT drive to Magic Kingdom. Find it too much of a hassle.
option:
take the bus which drops you off at the entrance.
drive the car to the ticket transportation center, then take the monorail or boat to the MK.

would it be a hassle with a two yr old to bring the car seats?

 

[PortieOwner]

With a 2 year old it will help if you don't have to mess with buses too much. We had one last year and if the kid got cranky we could head to the car and be back at the hotel (CSR) in 5-10 minutes. The once exception is the MK where parking in the lot can mean a tram ride plus ferry/monorail so we used the bus to the MK but we did not really love the bus service. A couple of time we waited 20-30 mins. for buses, and the bus is not a great solution if you have a character breakfast at the GF at 11am, but want to tour MK first. That means a bus ride to MK, then at some point leave and take a monorail/boat to GF, then after the meal either a monorail/boat back to MK and bus back to home resport, or a GF bus to someplace like MGM then another bus backj to CSR. Ouch. My wife was not pleased with all those bus rides.

So I like having a rental car. Time is money at WDW.

Portie

 

[jamounger]

We are going for the car but not picking it up until next morning at the Dolphin(we have a character breakfast at the Cape May then so will be easy) I was looking forward to not struggling with luggage so I still have the advantage of ME but not the hassle of waiting for buses to the Boardwalk late at night. I got an intermediate from National 8/13-8/19 for 119

 

[DemoBri1]

I am a car renter. It is really nice to be able to get out to your car and have the freedom of going off-property if necessary. Plus...you're not relegated to bus schedules and where the busses run to.

Definitely spend the $$ for the car.

 

[tmt martins]

We also use both ME down and internal when we want if we really want to get to something or offsight we jump in the car. It works for the midday trips to the waterparks.

 

[donmil723]

We have always rented a car but I think we'll use ME in October as I couldn't find good car rental rates for our dates this year. The only time we use the rental car is to go to and from the airport, to the grocery store on our first day, shopping at the Premium outlet mall, dinner at one of the other Disney resorts, and sometimes to Downtown Disney. The rest of the vacation it stays parked.

With using ME, we have also decided to use gardengrocer.com for our groceries and a taxi to the outlet mall if we decide to go there this time. Since the only resort dinner we are doing, besides around the BW/BC/YC area, is at the Poly, we didn't think it would be too much trouble to take a bus to the MK and get on the monorail.

I hope it works out ok. I'm excited about trying ME!

Donna

 

[CleveRocks]

We ALWAYS rent a car while at WDW. I want the freedom to come and go as I please. I have no interest in riding a bus while on vacation.

I'm exactly the opposite.

We ALWAYS use Disney Transport while at WDW. I want the freedom to NOT DRIVE, to relax and let someone else worry about that while I relax. I have no interest in driving while on vacation.

 

[PortieOwner]

I'm exactly the opposite.

We ALWAYS use Disney Transport while at WDW. I want the freedom to NOT DRIVE, to relax and let someone else worry about that while I relax. I have no interest in driving while on vacation.

I have a short commute (thru some of the worst traffic in the DC area) and drive tired old cars. Vacation in Orlando is a great chance for me to drive a nice new car and enjoy the efficient smooth and relatively traffic-free roads of Orlando and Disneyworld.

 

[schlepsnort]

This is our first trip and originally we were all psyched up about not driving, using ME and Disney Trans.
Then we thought about it.
3 kids, 2 strollers, Bags for the stuff the kids need, bags of the stuff we bought that the kids wanted...
Maybe not having a seat to sit in (I have RA that is of major concern for me).
B.O. (that is a concern for everybody!)

So we checked out a few rental places and got a minivan from Dollar for $148 for the weekend using a code.

It's worth it, and now we DEFINITELY will take a mid-day break for everyone to go cool off in the pool and quiet down in a dark hotel room.
If anything else it will help me feel better and give the kids a time to chill and THAT in itself is worth the price!