shuttles from hotels?

[Teresa Pitman]

I have a friend who is planning to go to WDW in September. They want to stay off-site to save money, and would prefer not to rent a car. How reliable and convenient are the shuttle buses from the local hotels? They are also hoping to go to Sea World and some dinner theatres - will the hotels usually offer shuttles to these as well?

Teresa

 

[spiceycat]

some will offer shuttle to WDW/SW/US - but that is it - no I forgot some will offer shuttle to one of the outlet malls (the malls are paying for it).

they will generally go twice in the morning and maybe twice in the evening to sw/us.

to WDW it is generally 3 or 4 times in the morning and 3 or 4 times in the evening.

now some of the hotels share one bus. So even if the bus comes you might not fit on it....

these bus generally leave before the night time (fireworks) is over (sometimes before it begans) - so then you need to take a taxi - you do this enough and a rental car would be cheaper....

I would recommend onsite WDW at a value resort before offsite without a car.

I don't know (does not mean some won't) that offers transportation to a dinner show. However the dinner show might offer transportation....

 

[megpol]

Regular shuttles go to the Disney Parks from the DTD hotels. They are regular , every half hour (though you have to give them a few minutes either way!) and go from before the parks open until after closure.

I am not sure whether there are any complimetary shuttles to seaworld etc from these hotels - infact last time I went in 2005 I got cabs to the other parks/destinations

 

[spiceycat]

the DD hotels do have shuttles to both SW and US - you need to get them through the hotel - you MUST buy tickets from these shuttles to get the free transportation - otherwise it will cost you.

 

[Lewisc]

Your friend should RENT A CAR if he is at least 25 years old. Towncar transportation from MCO is going to cost $100 and Mears won't be that much cheaper. A car won't cost that much more than airport transfers.

If you friend can't rent a car then they should look at a WDW resort (free airport transfers) unless they can get a great price at a DTD hotel.

 

[Charleyann]

This hotel has shuttle service. The ygo to Disney, Seaworld, Universal . They have shuttles for outlet malls and Busch Garden bus also stops there. It is close to disney at 1.8 miles!

This is a nice clean hotel, with 3 heated pools for adults and 2 kiddie pools and their prices are good!

 

[Nascia]

We had stayed the the Radison on Palm Parkway during our June 04 trip. We drove down so we did have a car, but had planned on using the buses once we got there. We used it one day and it was a nightmare. Appearently the bus stopped at several other large hotels and there was very little room in the morning. Coming home at night was even worse. People were pushing and shoving to get on, all of the little ones, including ours almost got trampled . We got seats as we were at the begining of the line, but there were no seats or standing room left when the bus departed, an accident waiting to happen . Needless to say, we drove the rest of our visit.

I would agree with the pps and have them get a rental. If they can't use ME, they will be spending a lot on transfers from the airport alone. If they can't get a rental, I would call each hotel they are considering and ask about their shuttle service, and if they share with other resorts.

 

[kilee]

This isn't for all hotels- but for many. Many offsite hotels share a bus/shuttle service. They usually go to the parks 2 or 3 times a morning and have 2 or 3 runs home. Many have no regards for park hours- so sometimes parks might be open until 11pm and the last shuttle home is 8pm. The other thing is once they are full, they are full. We did the shuttle thing a few times (always had a car as back-up w/ us though). Once my dh seen how easy it was to get around that area we never did a shuttle again. Anyhow, the shuttle's would fill up and they'd turn people away and tell them to get a cab (if it were the last run of the day).

From expeirece, I'd just never count on a shuttle as my only means of getting around if I were offsite.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

Thank you, everybody - I really appreciate your help with this. I am going to strongly urge renting a car!

Teresa