SSR and car rental vs. bus system

[jblrn2b]

When staying at SSR do you rent a car or use the bus?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Kmango]

The buses at SSR range from okay to not-good. Rent a car.

 

[disneynutz]

We rent a car no matter where we are staying.

 

[hakepb]

I drive my own car to WDW, but I "park it and forget it", even at SSR.

Especially to MK, the bus takes you straight to MK. In your car, you park at the TTC, take a tram to the TTC, then take a boat or monorail to the actual MK. 95% of the time the bus will beat you.

 

[wilma-bride]

We always rent a car when staying at WDW and use to (gasp) go off site to Universal, Sea World and off site restaurants. However, we always use the WDW transportation to get to the Disney parks.

 

[Disney_Villain]

Speaking as an owner of SSR, bus service is pretty good at SSR and a car rental is a pain if all you're doing is going to and from the parks. Use the busses.

Most who complain about the busses at SSR stay during insane peak seasons and have no patience for wait times over 15 minutes, which is really unfair to the bus system. Everything gets overwhelmed during peak seasons.

 

[goingsouth]

We usually rent a car. This July we had a trip without the kids, so thought we'd try the buses. It wasn't horrible. I missed the car at park closings when the buses are packed. I missed the car waiting for a bus in the hot weather. It does use up time I'd rather be in the parks. All in all, we saved enough money that I felt it balanced the inconveniece. When we have the kids next year...I'm renting the car.

 

[dianeschlicht]

We always rent a car, but we NEVER take it to the parks. The bus system will almost always get you there faster than parking, taking a tram etc. The only place that might not be true is to AK. Everywhere else it's usually faster to take the bus. Sure, there might be an occational "late" bus, but that is the exception rather than the norm. I will say that we have had better bus service at OKW than at SSR, but both are more than adequate.

 

[jpolak]

Both. We use the busses to go to the parks adn the car to go to supermarket and other resorts. Also we used the car inside SSR. When we wanted to go to DTD we drove over to congress park, parked the car and walked to DTD.

 

[Duane]

We rent a car..... We like to travel on OUR schedule, not someone else's.

 

[dianeschlicht]

We rent a car..... We like to travel on OUR schedule, not someone else's.

I understand that, but when we have had guests with that same thinking, we always get to where we are going ahead of them by taking the bus....and that includes waiting for it at the resort.

 

[Brian Noble]

My personal experience has been that, in general from most any resort, Disney will get you to/from MK a little faster. Your car will get you to/from the other parks a little bit faster. Your car will get you to/from other resorts a lot faster.

As for which way to go---the time difference is modest either way, so it's really down to personal preference. What sounds like more of a vacation: never having to grab your car keys, or never wondering when the bus will come?

I'm normally pretty Type-A about these things, but we passed on the car on our most recent no-kids trip. I found the bus system from OKW to be more pleasant than I expected. We'll probably continue to rent a car when we bring the kids, but if it were just the two of us, we could be happy without the car.

Either way, I'll probably not take ME back to the airport again. The trip to the resort was okay, but the trip back was pretty unpleasant---a bus full of tired, sunburned, dehydrated people leaving the World for the real world. Blech!

 

[vandy]

We always drive, but we always take the bus. WDW transportation is so much easier than the hassle of driving, even when the busses are running slow. Use the car for other trips.

 

[mantismad]

We always rent a car when staying at SSR because we like more freedom to come and go at times that suit us. It is certainly not essential though unless you like to go off site a lot.

 

[squirrlygirl]

We just went car-free for the first time at the end of August (at SSR). For me it was good, for DH (the usual driver in Florida) it was GREAT! He loved the freedom of not paying attention, and the ability to have a drink at Epcot without worrying about the drive home.
I don't think we would go car-free and then schedule ADR's that would be difficult to get to, nor would I wait until a park closes then take the bus back. But for a laid-back trip, it was great being car-free! No ridiculously hot vehicle in the lot, no trams to fold strollers on, no rental to clean out before return..
I think a good compromise for us would be to get a small rental (for the whole family we need a minivan) and use it for trips to the store. But for parks I could see us using the buses again even if we have a rental.

 

[dianeschlicht]

As I stated above, we take the buses to the parks (with the possible exception of an occational AK trip where we want to be sure and get somewhere at a specific time), but for resort to resort travel, the rental car is our choice! In fact, we only use the rental car for transportation to and from the airport, off site grocery shopping, and resort to resort dinner reservations. I can probably count on one hand the times we have taken a car to the parks, and each of those times it has been AK.

 

[murcor]

Trust the SSR Bus system! Have been to SSR 4 years in a row in late Dec for 2 weeks.....and have no complaints!

WDW transportation is so much easier than the hassle of driving.

 

[CraftyMouse]

The buses at SSR range from okay to not-good. Rent a car.

I completely disagree. We usually drive to WDW and have our car with us but we almost NEVER use it on property. We only use it when going from one resort to another, never when we are going to the parks or Downtown Disney.

I'd take Magical Express from the airport and save the cost of the rental.

 

[jblrn2b]

Thanks all for your input. Now does it change anyone's opinion that we will be there President's week? - February 16-22 and I think it will be busy d/t the Northeast Vacation week?

 

[missy2217]

We usually either rent a car or drive down from NY. So we always have a car of some sort. I just can't imagine boarding a bus with two young boys a stroller and all of the other stuff we will need for the day out.