shuttle question for offsite hotels

[WendyLovesPeter]

is it much different staying offsite and using their shuttles compared to staying onsite and using WDW bus transportation?

If you stay offsite do the shuttles run as early and late as WDW transportation and do they come as frequently? We have always stayed onsite at mods and twice at the values and we are so used to the WDW bus transportation.... I don't even know where offsite shuttles let off.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Most offsite resorts offer shuttles to parks but don't advertise how often they run or if they stop at partner resorts to pick up more people. Most offsite Dis-ers would agree, if you're going to stay offsite, rent a car. Our timeshare offers free trans to parks but we'd still rather pay the $12 to park just to have the freedom to come and go as we like.

Without it you may be stuck relying on inconvenient transportation to parks and also just for general things: shopping, restaurants, non-Disney attractions, it's nice to have a car.

It's not too hard to drive around the Disney area but be sure to map out your route to/from World Drive (leads to all parks) on mapquest before you leave home. Our 1st time, way before internet, we followed the signs to WDW but of course, no signs on the way home to get you back to hotel and many route #s sound similar.

No offsite transportation will compare to Disney's.

 

[Brian Noble]

I am sitting in Wyndham Bonnet Creek as I type this. They have reasonably decent scheduled transportation. But, there is no way I would stay here without my own car.

Remember: you have to pay someone something to get between the airport and your hotel. At that point, the rental car is a modest extra expense that will give you a lot of additional flexibility, and will be well worth the cost.

 

[WendyLovesPeter]

I guess I want to add my husband is not one who enjoys crazy crowded city traffic... at all. It is not the kind of driving he does on a daily basis and it becomes a major source of stress in unfamiliar areas.... that is why we are reluctant to rent a car. I am afraid daily dose of WDW driving will lead to grumpy, unhappy mornings and evenings on vacation...

 

[Darcy03231]

We stayed off-site once and relied on the hotel's shuttle service. It ran twice in the morning and twice at night (as I recall it was 8 am and 10 am and then 6 pm and 9 pm). It was terrible. The shuttle service picked up and dropped off at several hotels and the 8 am bus was full by the time it got to our hotel. After the first day we ended up renting a car. There is no way I would stay off-site without a car.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I guess I want to add my husband is not one who enjoys crazy crowded city traffic... at all. It is not the kind of driving he does on a daily basis and it becomes a major source of stress in unfamiliar areas.... that is why we are reluctant to rent a car. I am afraid daily dose of WDW driving will lead to grumpy, unhappy mornings and evenings on vacation...

Maybe you might have a better time staying onsite? WDW traffic is similar to our traffic here, typical suburban area so for us it's not an issue.
For us, stressful driving was in Ireland on the opposite side of the road.

It may not be worth whatever you're saving if your dh is having a miserable time.

 

[TaraPA]

I stayed offiste once, last year, and the shuttle was terrible! Thank goodness I was there solo, there's no way I'd have wanted to use the shuttle with kids. It was a Marriott, so I was expecting better.

It ran twice in the morning (8am & 10:30am) and twice at night (6pm & 10:45pm). You had to reserve your spot the night before, and the early bus filled up within 5 minutes. If you weren't there to sign up right away, you couldn't get a seat. Like the OP said, it picked up at about 5 hotels, so it was full by the time it got to mine.

My shuttle also only dropped off & picked up at Epcot. So the days I went to other parks, I had to then transfer to the Disney bus to that park. Wasted a lot of time doing this. Also - I took the 10:45pm pick-up from Epcot - and the pick-up for offsite hotel shuttles is waaaaaay out in the parking lot past the Disney busses, past the taxi's, past the town cars. It's pretty dark & empty out there at 10:45pm.

I wouldn't recommend this at all with kids in tow!