Should we use our car?

[staceychev]

We are taking the AutoTrain down, arriving in Sanford on Oct 30. We will be staying at the Swan for several days. Is there any benefit to driving our car when we go to MK and AK, or should we just keep it parked until we leave for southern FL on the 3rd? (Assuming that there's really no reason to use our car from the Swan to DHS and Epcot!)

 

[OKW Lover]

I'd definitely take your car when going to AK. Well, actually maybe just taking the Swan bus would work OK there too as it might be a shorter walk to the park entrance than where you might be parked. But on the other hand, you have to wait for the bus to come while your car is ready when you are.

As far as the MK goes, neither choice is great. If you drive you have to park in the main lot and walk over to the monorail/ferry to get to the MK. If you take the Swan bus you get dropped at the TTC a bit closer to the monorail/ferry.

 

[DJFan88]

We do Autotrain as well, and just park our car and use Disney transportation. Not sure how it goes for the Swan but never had a problem from there before. The only time we use the car is going to another resort for an ADR and if we do something like mini golf. Also, when staying at Dolphin, so a Swan bus, I did notice remarkably that the busses were great to Disney Springs, unlike some of the other resorts we’ve stayed at, maybe since it’s so close

 

[crzy4dsny]

Park the car and let them do the driving, you are on vacation! In most cases driving will take just as long, if not longer than taking the bus. The only time driving your own car is beneficial is when going from resort to resort.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

We are taking the AutoTrain down, arriving in Sanford on Oct 30. We will be staying at the Swan for several days. Is there any benefit to driving our car when we go to MK and AK, or should we just keep it parked until we leave for southern FL on the 3rd? (Assuming that there's really no reason to use our car from the Swan to DHS and Epcot!)

one thing to think about with driving to parks is no parking lot trams esp at end of day it can be very tiring walk to your car. at MK you will have to take either ferry or monorail.

 

[staceychev]

Park the car and let them do the driving, you are on vacation! In most cases driving will take just as long, if not longer than taking your car. The only time driving your own car is beneficial is when going from resort to resort.

Oooh! I never thought about going resort to resort. I didn't make ADRs, but I wonder if we should just so we can check out another resort!

 

[DJFan88]

Oooh! I never thought about going resort to resort. I didn't make ADRs, but I wonder if we should just so we can check out another resort!

This provides one of my favorite forms of entertainment at Disney! Also, if you don’t want to make an ADR and try the QS it really is easy to get around on Disney transportation. Especially at Swan. Here’s an example from one of our trip:
At MK in the morning, I was missing POR since love it there but not staying this time, so :
From MK morning, bussed around lunch to POR, walk around eat QS.
Bus to HS, boat or walk to Swan (except we were at Dolphin).
We also did that for an impromptu lunch from a park when I saw Olivias available.
For fun the 4 of us also tried when at DS and no Swan bus coming to see who could get back first by bus roulette. 2 of us took the first bus that came to MK and then they bussed to Swan. The other 2 (me) waited for HS and then boated back. We lost! They took a picture from our room of us getting off the boat, but it was fun,
You just never know how transportation will go but if you keep your options open and go with the flow it’ll be all good.

 

[loves to dive]

We drive down from Georgia and always park our car and never get in it again until we leave. That includes going to other resorts. We use Disney transportation 80% of the time. We walk to both Epcot and HS but if the boat happens to be at the dock when we are going to HS, we will hop on it. We have taken Uber twice. Both time were for late ADRs at Resorts. One for V&A and we were dressed up so didn't want to take a bus to MK then monorail or boat to GF. The other time was for a late ADR at CG, we did walk over from MK but took an Uber back to Dolphin since it was past times buses were running.

As far as the buses to AK and MK. The buses at Swan/Dolphin are Mears buses, which means covered seats instead of the uncovered ones Disney has and usually the ones facing forward. They drop you off where the other shuttles and taxis do. There is a covered waiting area. It is closer than the two times we have driven to AK (on split stay move mornings). I was there in April and early Sept. and both times, was the only one on the bus to AK going and coming back there was only one other family. The bus to MK drops you off at TTC, which is where you park as well. We just walked over to YC and caught a bus there. Coming back we knew we were going to Epcot so just hopped the monorail but it's easy enough to catch the YC or BW bus back. There is some debate as to whether the walk to/from YC/BW is longer than the walk from TTC to where the bus would pick you up but I'm not sure as I've never done it.

 

[staceychev]

This provides one of my favorite forms of entertainment at Disney! Also, if you don’t want to make an ADR and try the QS it really is easy to get around on Disney transportation. Especially at Swan. Here’s an example from one of our trip:
At MK in the morning, I was missing POR since love it there but not staying this time, so :
From MK morning, bussed around lunch to POR, walk around eat QS.
Bus to HS, boat or walk to Swan (except we were at Dolphin).
We also did that for an impromptu lunch from a park when I saw Olivias available.
For fun the 4 of us also tried when at DS and no Swan bus coming to see who could get back first by bus roulette. 2 of us took the first bus that came to MK and then they bussed to Swan. The other 2 (me) waited for HS and then boated back. We lost! They took a picture from our room of us getting off the boat, but it was fun,
You just never know how transportation will go but if you keep your options open and go with the flow it’ll be all good.

Can you still do this even with Covid protocols in place?

 

[staceychev]

As far as the buses to AK and MK. The buses at Swan/Dolphin are Mears buses, which means covered seats instead of the uncovered ones Disney has and usually the ones facing forward.

What do you mean by 'covered seats?' Like, upholstered, where Disney's are those hard plastic like city busses?

 

[loves to dive]

What do you mean by 'covered seats?' Like, upholstered, where Disney's are those hard plastic like city busses?

Yes, covered cloth cushioned.

 

[DJFan88]

Can you still do this even with Covid protocols in place?

If your using Disney transportation you can ride it wherever you like

 

[georgina]

We are taking the AutoTrain down, arriving in Sanford on Oct 30. We will be staying at the Swan for several days. Is there any benefit to driving our car when we go to MK and AK, or should we just keep it parked until we leave for southern FL on the 3rd? (Assuming that there's really no reason to use our car from the Swan to DHS and Epcot!)

I will be the voice of dissent. Staying at the Swan now. Drove to AK this morning for early entry. Worked great. Drove to TTC for MK yesterday. Arrived at parking toll booth at 7:56, parked at 7:59, very short walk to security, on monorail by 8:05. We even drove to HS for EE on Monday, through parking booth by 8:00 and parked really close. I will add that crowds are really low now and wait times are low for most things. We like to drive, and parking at the parks is free for Swan guests.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

I will be the voice of dissent. Staying at the Swan now. Drove to AK this morning for early entry. Worked great. Drove to TTC for MK yesterday. Arrived at parking toll booth at 7:56, parked at 7:59, very short walk to security, on monorail by 8:05. We even drove to HS for EE on Monday, through parking booth by 8:00 and parked really close. I will add that crowds are really low now and wait times are low for most things. We like to drive, and parking at the parks is free for Swan guests.

I like driving as well... the bus lines can be crazy long. We also have been known to go to the car mid day for some AC and a short break...

 

[staceychev]

parking at the parks is free for Swan guests.

This is really good to know!