Shuttle or drive?

[cfrith5]

I guess it might depend on the hotel...but trying to decide if it'll be better to drive to DLR or use the shuttle/ART?

ETA: We don't know which hotel yet.

 

[PigletSeeker]

I guess it might depend on the hotel...but trying to decide if it'll be better to drive to DLR or use the shuttle/ART?

ETA: We don't know which hotel yet.

We've had varied experiences with the shuttles. If you're coming and going at non-peak times, they're great. But the 10 PM shuttles out of the park are CRAZY. Lord of the Flies crazy! Our best experience was with Doubletree (on City). It was free, and a really big bus. It was never full for us (during Spring Break), and the night-time driver said he makes continuous trips back and forth after fireworks every 10-15 minutes (even though the schedule is every 30). The worst experience was the Marriott Anaheim Suites (although we love that hotel). We had to purchase shuttle tickets and it shared the shuttle with another hotel. We had to wait an hour with cranky kids trying to get the 10 PM-11 PM shuttles. And people were totally rude and obnoxious. We were very close to getting a taxi. Our experience with Courtyard Marriott (which was a free shuttle) was just slightly better at that time of night. The second shuttle of the morning (most people don't get up in time for that first one) is always going to be crowded as well, but we've always gotten on fine.

 

[cfrith5]

We've had varied experiences with the shuttles. If you're coming and going at non-peak times, they're great. But the 10 PM shuttles out of the park are CRAZY. Lord of the Flies crazy! Our best experience was with Doubletree (on City). It was free, and a really big bus. It was never full for us (during Spring Break), and the night-time driver said he makes continuous trips back and forth after fireworks every 10-15 minutes (even though the schedule is every 30). The worst experience was the Marriott Anaheim Suites (although we love that hotel). We had to purchase shuttle tickets and it shared the shuttle with another hotel. We had to wait an hour with cranky kids trying to get the 10 PM-11 PM shuttles. And people were totally rude and obnoxious. We were very close to getting a taxi. Our experience with Courtyard Marriott (which was a free shuttle) was just slightly better at that time of night. The second shuttle of the morning (most people don't get up in time for that first one) is always going to be crowded as well, but we've always gotten on fine.

We've usually done the hotel shuttle and like you, had good and bad experiences. Wondering what the cons of driving ourselves, other than paying the DLR parking fee.

 

[PigletSeeker]

The con is, once you park you still have to get on a shuttle to get to the park. Of course, the shuttles run continuously. We usually leave in the afternoons and come back at night- for us we would rather just get on a bus and go to the hotel, rather than take a bus, get in car and drive, then reverse the process a couple of hours later when we return.

 

[indygirl99]

I guess it might depend on the hotel...but trying to decide if it'll be better to drive to DLR or use the shuttle/ART?

ETA: We don't know which hotel yet.

We did not have a good experience with ART in May. Was supposed to run every 20 min but we were lucky to see it once an hour. After 8 days of being told it will be here in 5 min and then not seeing it for another 30-40 min we decided this next trip will NOT be 1.5 miles away. Okay to walk that far in the morning but it put a very big crimp in afternoon breaks and returning back to the hotel late at night.

Sept trip will be at FFI.

 

[jeremynandrea]

We've never had a bad experience using the ART. It's worth it for us to avoid the hassle of driving ourselves.

 

[DisneytheKid]

We've used the ART once before and it worked pretty well for us. It was about a 30 min wait each time. One thing to consider, if you stay at a hotel near the Mickey and Friends parking lot, you can just walk to it and take their tram to the parks.