Should I rent a car?

[DisneyWorldWisher]

We're going to Disney September 25, staying at POFQ.
We don't know if we'll be going to anything outside Disney, but I don't think we are. Should I rent a car to prevent waiting for buses or anything?
Is it hard driving around Disney?

 

[goofy4tink]

I'll let you know in 3 weeks how hard it is driving around Disney!! We're renting a car for the first time in 2 weeks so that we can drive down/over to Tampa to visit my ds. We may use it around WDW just to see how it goes, but since we'll only have it for 2 days of our WDW I'm not sure how feasible it will be.
I never rent a car if we're planning on being in WDW only. My dh is not a 'bus person' but he has little to no interest in driving around the area on his own because he says 'I'm on vacation...let Disney do the driving'. We have always, well almost always, been happy with the bus transportation on WDW property.

 

[CleveRocks]

My FAVORITE part of my Disney World vacation is leaving my car key in the room safe for a week. I have to drive everywhere all the time, so my week in WDW is truly different. I LOVE not having to think about how to get from A to B. I love getting into an air conditioned vehicle. I love finishing a long walking day by sitting and relaxing and maybe even closing my eyes while the bus driver does all the work.

I also have no desire to leave WDW property -- I enjoy being in the Disney cocoon.

 

[MikeJ]

We love the freedom and flexibility you have with a car. We drive to all the parks (except MK) and find that it's almost always faster than the bus. If we want to resort hop (e.g. for dining) it's so much easier with your own vehicle. We are DVC owners so we often make trips to Winn-Dixie or Publix during our stays and the car makes that much more convenient.

I have the opposite opinion to other posters - "we're on vacation and I don't want to waste it waiting for a stupid bus..."

 

[pennyplanner]

We both drive too much at home. We love using Disney transportation!

Sit back, relax and enjoy the ride. Not even thinking about how to get where is a joy! We stay at WL and find no fault with the transportation.

But if you can't stand catching public transportation, by all means, rent a car and drive yourself around.

--penny

 

[drogerstn]

We’ve always had a car when visiting WDW. We have driven down and we have flown and rented. In the past, the cost of renting was negligible when compared to ground transportation between MCO and WDW. Now, with WDW providing free transportation with ME, it’s a little different. We will rent a car on our next visit, but we will be going places outside of WDW.

I agree with what MikeJ just posted. We can eat offsite on occasion and easily visit the grocery store and/or Wal-Mart. We LOVE using a car for the majority of our transportation. It’s so nice to be able to get into our air-conditioned car when leaving a park where not only do we all have a seat, we have seats near each other. We have a cooler with drinks and snacks and can go directly to our next destination.

As long as we could get a “good deal” on a rental car, we would rent even if staying at WDW only. WDW maps and signage are excellent and driving around is easy and relaxing. I don’t know how much of a factor the cost of a rental car is for you or how long you will be staying at WDW. Many people are happy without a car, but I know we wouldn’t be.

 

[DisneyWorldWisher]

We'll be staying for 7 nights, 8 days, if the car rental cost is under 200, I think I will rent one.

 

[rsschneck]

I think it depends on your plans

Our October trip we are renting a car. We are staying 2 nights, driving to Port Canaveral for a 4 night cruise and then 2 more nights @ WDW. We plan to do at least 1 water park and would rather not get on a bus after the water park. Will probably use Disney transportation for everything else.

Our December trip we will use ME and all Disney transportation.

I prefer not to rent if we are just doing WDW, etc. The hassle and expense of driving and parking is not worth it IMO. We love not having to drive while on vacation.