renting a car vs disney transportation

[ebonyeyes]

OK. Curiosity is killing me. What did you decide? Did we convince you to get a car or not and why?

Hi Bob,
The decision is in..... we have decided to use disney transportation for the most part but we will rent a car for a few days of the trip. Hoping for the best...but then we are going to THE WORLD for the first time since my husband and I were kids. thaking my 6 yr old for the first time. Super excited and feeling very comfortable about the Disney transportation. Thanks again for all the help
Nanette

 

[jcodespoti]

WDW buses/transportation are fine. They run very well from any resort to any park, including downtown disney.

It gets kinda time consuming if you are staying at BWV and what to go to a restaurant at AKV or any other resort, there isn't a direct way to get there.

And as others have said, going anywhere off property is sooooo much easier with a car.

Its all about personal choice there, is no wrong answer.

WE always rent a car, that just what works for us.


Joe in CT

 

[anonymousegirl]

I mostly rent a car in the summer when I use it to get to my morning park and then get back at noon to the hotel. In the evening I use the Disney buses.

This coming trip I am using DME and the buses only (staying at Pop solo), but the January trip (BCV) we have a rental car booked and then the March trip, no rental car.

 

[crisi]

We compromise, but differently than you are....

Any time constrained or difficult trip, we grab a cab. Its much cheaper if we do this a few times a trip than if we have a rental car. This last trip we had "magical" bus transportation - we did grab a car to get from BWV to Whispering Canyon and back for dinner, but it was the only cab we needed the whole trip.

Now, if ME is ever not free, or if we decide we want to go to Universal - we'll probably end up with an inexpensive rental car.....

 

[JW9DVC]

Yes, rent a car. You can get a full size for a weekly rental under $200 an entire week. Its just nice to have this. I would not pick a car up at the airport though. I would pick it up at a local hotel. PM me for ideas if needed. DME works really well, if your in early morning. Go check in at your home, then go and get the car on your terms. Sometimes prices can be cheaper off property so you don't have to pay a concession. JW

 

[Mississippian]

We compromise, but differently than you are....

Any time constrained or difficult trip, we grab a cab. Its much cheaper if we do this a few times a trip than if we have a rental car. This last trip we had "magical" bus transportation - we did grab a car to get from BWV to Whispering Canyon and back for dinner, but it was the only cab we needed the whole trip.

Now, if ME is ever not free, or if we decide we want to go to Universal - we'll probably end up with an inexpensive rental car.....

I think most people probably think of taking cabs are really extravagant, but you are right. It is very cheap, expecially when compared to the cost of renting a car.

Obviously you don't want to cab everywhere. But when pressed for time or going out (or back home) for dinner they sure make things more enjoyable.

 

[southtexasmom]

The first 2 times we visited WDW we used their buses. After one bad experience on a bus, we always rent a car. Its so much easier for us to have a car.

 

[peacefrogdog]

Another vote here for renting a car. Check mousesavers.com for all kids of discount car rental codes. We got a minivan for a week for $199 + tax.

Another perspective is whether or not having a rental car will change your opinion of whether it is worth it to buy into DVC, depending on your vacation habits. Good idea to try a mixture of both, and to see what style of vacationing suits you better.On our last year's trip, we ate in our villa mostly or non-disney restaurants, and were totally dependent on a rental car, but enjoyed that more relaxed pace of vacation. This year, we got the DDP (so ate less in the villa) and felt less dependent on the car but found it more work to make it on time to ADR's etc (we ended up having to leave at least 60-90 min before our ADR times to get there using Disney Transportation).

With young kids, I found having a rental car made a huge difference and was worth the $200-250 for the week. Even if the amount of time saved may not be a lot, I found the kids didn't mind the time walking to and travelling in the rental car, whereas even waiting 20 min for a bus seems like an eternity to them (and to us when we have to hear about it!).

Plus it is so easy to get around WDW and Orlando, I find.

 

[lmgustafson]

I definitely would vote for a car especially if you are going with kids. Here are the pros and cons as I see them to car vs. disney transport.
PRO
1. Biggest advantage with kids is the avoidance of a crammed bus when the kids are tired and fussy anyway. No matter how well you plan, there will come a time when you are trying to get back to your room and the bus is packed so you stand packed with everyone else trying to get back. It doesn't happen often but once with young kids is enough.
2. I always get to parks at rope drop to take advantage of my touring plans before the crowds arrive so a car is very convienient as I usually arrive 40 minutes before opening and can park right at the front of the lot, take a short walk to the park and be in line before the bus even thinks of arriving. If you are not one who gets there at rope drop ignore this point.
3. Definitely increases your flexibility if you decide you want to stock your villa fridge etc.. (that is one of the big advantages of being a DVC member isn't it?) Especially for late night snacks or early morning breakfasts (particularly for those early rope drop days).
4. We can carry alot of stuff with us that is going in the strollers for the kids (yes we bring our own as opposed to paying out the nose for the disney ones). On the buses you have to fold up any stroller and then will have to carry anything that is in them. Again a minor point if you don't have kids of stroller age.
Cons:
1. if you are not careful you can get very turned around driving around Disney. We got lost a good bit the first few times we were down there.
2. IF cost is an issue then DT is cheaper although rentals now are very very cheap.
3. If you are not going to get to the parks at rope drop you will park way back in the lot which neutralizes the time factor as you will wait on a tram just like you would a bus.

Overall if you are some one with kids who plans your touring at the parks ahead of time and likes to be at the gate at rope drop I don't think you can beat a car. I can be at any park from almost any resort in less than 15 minutes and then it never takes me more than 5 minutes to wak to the gate. So in the 20 minutes you would wait on a bus and the 20 to 50 minutes you can spend riding on the bus I can be at the park and ahead of about 400 people in line at rope drop. That means no wait for those rides you really want to ride on no matter the time of year. Just my two cents.

 

[DisneyKidds]

I agree that it is hard to beat the convenience of having a car at WDW. In fact, we always used to rent one. We travel between resorts a lot and like to go places within WDW just for meals. We also like to visit the various WDW resorts just to walk around, see the decor. Of course, the biggest downside to WDW Transportation is resort to resort transporation. If you need to go resort to theme park, or theme park to theme park, the transportaion is fairly efficient, even though I hate using a bus. But if you need to get from the BC to the GF for a dinner reservation? That is a logistical exercise and a haul using WDW Transportation. Want to go from the BW to the WL to check out the decorations? Another tough trip. Point A to point B, transfer to another bus or boat, etc., etc. Not ideal. So it is great to have a car. Also, when your young ones are zonked out at the end of a park day, it's nice not to have to take sleeping kids on a bus. Yes, a car is very convenient, depending upon your party and your plans.

BUT.........

The last couple of trips we have done without the car. GASP! Didn't you just extoll the virtues of having a car? Why, yes I did. But things change. The prices for cars have gone up, and our kids have gotten older, and Disney offers free airport transportaion. So, we have done WDW without the car, and will be doing so again next week. Afterall, we can come up with a lot of alternatives for the $400 we would have spent on the rental.

Now we split stays. Part of the trip in an Epcot resort, part in the VWL. We do most of our Epcot and Studios touring from the BWV or BCV. Little need for wheels here when you have the boats, easy walks, and all those Epcot resort area restaurants in walking distance. Then we do the MK form the VWL. No need for wheels over here, again with boat transportation and all the great MK area restaurants. So that leave us with a bus ride to AK, and that isn't so bad. Having saved $400 on the rental minivan, if we have an odd trip here or there to get to a meal at a resort, we can spend the money on a cab. Even with that, we still save $200 or $300, and we don't have to worry about a car.

Having a car is great, but it has gotten expensive and isn't absolutely necessary, depending on your plans.

 

[DisneyKidds]

I wouldn't categorically say rentals are very cheap. Need a midsize in a non-holiday period? Sure. Need a minivan around Thanksgiving? Not so much. With a great corporate rate I'm lucky to get away spending $300 for a week. Emerald Club rates at National were $600 to $700. So a car can be very expensive. We used to get a minivan around the Thanksgiving holiday for $200 a week, but that was years ago.

 

[photobob]

We almost always drive to WDW yet we never use our car to get around. We always rely solely on the WDW bus system and never have any problems. While we've never gone in August, we have gone at other busy times of the year and never experienced very long waits. They tend to put extra buses on the lines when it is busy so it isn't usually a problem. If you aren't planning to go off property (groceries, restaurants, other area attractions) then I'd skip the car.

We are the same way, not driving while at WDW is part of my reality escape. There are occasional waits that are longer than they should be, but that has been more the exception rather than the rule for us. Being DVC members our touring style has become a bit more laid back than before as have our attitudes, so if a bus is behind we try to take it in stride..

 

[Jeremy&Susan]

We almost always rent a car after a few bad incidents with ME where safety and a missed flight decided the situation for us.

We generally only use the car for grocery shopping and going out to eat dinner, either on-site or off-site. Off site dining alone can almost pay for a car rental if you have a good size crew going to eat. Getting groceries for breakfast and a packed lunch also make the car rental decision an easy one.

We have used the car a few times to go to the parks but that was only after waiting for a bus for an extremely long period of time just to have one or two full busses pull up and away. What a buzz kill.

My corporate rate gets an Avis luxury car (Caddy DTS) for just just under$400 / wk and a midsize for about $200 / wk.
We are going next week and the DTS for 9 days is estimated at $460.

 

[jpolak]

We do both. We use the car to stop at the store before checking in and to go from resort to resort. We use WDW transportation when going to the parks.