Rented A Car Last Week In Disney And Glad We Did!!!

[gosox24]

Like most people I was skeptical about renting a car since disney transportation is free and never had any major problems in the past but.....you have a limited about of time on your vacation and it really does go by so fast that renting a car is something we wanted to try. And let me tell you it was worth it.
We got a week rental for only $140 at National and it was so easy to book, pick the car up at the airport then bring it back. There are a lot of misconceptions about a rental car being a hassle but after experiencing it for myself I was pleasenly surprised.
The wife and I stayed at the AKL and could get to any spot in disney in 15 minutes or less. The signs on the roads are amazing. We brought 3 maps and didn't use one.
The longest ride we took was back and forth to the airport which is also easy to find because of all the signs and was only a 20 minute ride.
No waiting for any buses and being on our own schedule saved us so much time. We didn't have to revolve our plans around the bus system and that was nice for a change.
For example, one day we ate breakfast around 9am were done by 945 and were in MGM studios by 10. This would never happen if we had to wait for a bus. Also, we resort hopped for eating purposes and for using the monerail and it didn't take long at all.
We had PS reservations at a couple restaurants and not waiting at a muggy busstop was fine with us. We left the resort about 15 minutes before our PS's and we were often there was a couple minutes to spare.
The resorts do give you a 3 hour parking pass, but they're rearly checked and don't really know what they could possibly do to your car. A few times we put the pink parking pass under the seat so no one could see it and we parked at resorts all day. Yeah, I know it's wrong but oh well.
If anyone is even have thoughts of renting a car in Disney, DO IT. You know what they say"once you rent, you never go back to disney Transportation"

 

[beattyfamily]

I agree! We've used the Disney buses and then rented and renting is SO convenient especially with little ones.

I don't know if we can ever go back either!

 

[rsalvi]

We are leaning towards renting a car too. My concern is the parking at the parks themselves. I have read about the huge parking lots. I can imagine coming out of the park late, being tired, trying to find our car and walking out to it. I realize there is a tram or something to take you to your car. What are your experiences with this? Did you have a problem in parking and walking through a big parking lot? We have been to Six Flags in Texas lots of times and I could only imagine what the parking lots are like at WDW. We have 3 kids, ages 11, 8, and 6. Thanks for your input.

 

[Kermit]

Rsalvi, I always take the bus because I hate the parking lots. If you do decide to try driving, don't do it at MK. You have to catch either a monorail or ferry to the parking lot, and then you have to catch a tram to your car.

 

[iloveokw]

Just a hint when renting a car. I got a $.97 smiley antenna ball from Wal Mart and keep it in our travel bag. All of those cars look the same so we put it on and find our car quickly.

 

[pdzabe]

I think if the price is right, it's a real plus to rent a car. Friends of ours stayed at the Grand Floridian with no car while we were able to get from place to place with our car in no time. They had extensive waits from non-monorail locations, one time l l/2 hrs! We found it was no sweat going to MK either. The trams from the parking lots run like a clock, so it's really not a big deal to have to get the tram, then either monorail or boat to MK, but I preferred the monorail.

For those worried about parking, each lot has a name that's easy to remember such as Sleepy, Dopey, etc., and a row number, both very easy to remember. Only once did we have to walk all the way down the row to get back to our car. The parking lots are much better organized than Six Flags in my opinion.

 

[DebbieB]

We just returned last night from a week at WDW, staying at OKW. I rented a car at the airport (see EA report) and only used the bus once. We decided to take the bus to MK on Saturday night for Spectromagic because I figured the lot would be crowded and lots of people would be leaving at the same time. The rest of the time we used the car. We had an afternoon break everyday, so having the car to go back and forth was great! Plus we went to Walmart to get groceries and went to the Premier and Belz Outlets.

 

[Wonderlandmom]

How long did you have to wait for a bus after Spectromagic?

 

[DebbieB]

We saw the 9:00 Spectromagic and the 10:00 fireworks. We watched the fireworks from the beginning of Main Street (train station end) and then got out quick. We waited 10 or 15 minutes for an OKW bus.

 

[TwoOldPoohs]

We are also recent converts, having rented a car during our last two trips. I think the impetus for us was having to wait over an hour to return to our resort (ASMu) after MVMCP last December. As others have said, we found having a car makes it very easy and saves considerable time when resort hopping and park hopping.

We did run into a slight snag in our plans last time, though. We had PS at Kona Cafe in the Polynesian for a late lunch, and arrived there early. We intended to leave the car, hop on the monorail to the Magic Kingdom, and then return for lunch. We were not allowed to do so, since it would have meant leaving our car there longer than 3 hours. I suppose I could have lied about the time of our PS, but I didn't think of it at the time. I wonder if they're cracking down on that sort of thing ... parking at the monorail resorts to gain easier access to MK or Epcot.

 

[joe.hurley]

I've read much here about these "3-hour parking passes" now being handed out at the resorts, in an effort to prevent people not staying at the resort from using their parking lots as closer-in parking to the MK.

Here's the thing.

They're totally, completely, and utterly unenforceable.

Here's why.

1. Only police can give tickets. There are no police at WDW. I know, there are "security" but until WDW gets its own courts, that's just like me giving you a ticket. And, last I checked, WDW has no courts. So a security officer giving you a ticket is like me giving you one -- no power to enforce them. Only municipalities, counties, state governments, and the federal government (at a base, e.g.) cangive parking tickets that are enforceable through the courts. Otherwise, they are not enforceable. (Colleges can only enforce their tickets by the threat of withholding diplomas, other than state colleges, which can refer them to the DMV.)

Why does this matter: "nor shall any person be deprived of life, liberty, OR PROPERTY without due process of law." (US Constitution, 14th Amendment and 5th amendment) Which means, if they wanted to give tickets with fines, they'd have to allow you some way to contest the fines . . . in a court. Which, as noted above, they have none.

For this reason, all traffic signs in any private place are unenforceable. (Exception: handicapped parking spaces, which have special laws providing for their enforceability on private property.) But things like "speed limit 10" etc. are unenforceable.

This, by the way, is why colleges have special "traffic appeals boards" (I served on one) because you have to have some forum to contest the ticket.

2. Even assuming, for the sake of discussion, that they COULD give you a ticket. How exactly do they know WHO you are? Unless you have your own car there, they have no way of pursuing you once you go home and, again, no way to collect on this ticket.

And do you think the rental car agencies will be dumb enough to pay some ticket issued by a nongovernment with no real power to collect? What is Disney going to do if National doesn't pay their "ticket" -- bar all National car rental vehicles from entering Disney property? Preposterous.

So I really don't think this should worry anyone. These "passes" are paper tigers. Or, as Marvin the Martian once said to Bugs Bunny "You are hardly in a position to enforce your wishes."

Regards,

Joe Hurley

PS Free advice from a lawyer -- fight all traffic tickets!

 

[Lewisc]

Joe--if you park on private property the owner can have you towed and charge you for the towing (and storage). Parking lots near popular bars have done this for years.
Disney has been reported (not frequently) to have towed cars that were parked where they weren't supposed to.

 

[beattyfamily]

Whether the 3 hour pass is enforceable or not, it's just not right to park at a monorail resort and then go to a park all day.

It's common courtesy to the people who are staying at those hotels.

I stayed at the Contemporary in December and we rented a car as well. At least 2 times, we couldn't find a parking space because people were parking there to go to MK for MVMCP.

It was frustrating to say the least.