Staying at AKL- should we drive to parks??

[WisconsinDisneyGirl]

Would it save time to drive to the parks from AKL? Also- we are going to Cirque- should we drive to DTD? How far of a drive is it from AKL to DTD?

 

[WDWHound]

We drove to every park except MK. Take the bus to MK. Its faster because you are delivered right to the front gate and you dont have to wait for parking shuttles, monorails and ferrys. At all the other parks, the parking lot is close enough to the front gate that using a car is faster than taking the bus for them.

DTD is about 5-10 minutes from AKL.

 

[GEM]

I'll go the opposite way.

We didn't drive anywhere - and we had a 12 month old with us!

We found the bus transportation at AKL great. Busses came often and were never full. We loved that we didn't have to share a bus with any other resorts.

In my opinion, the hassle of getting to your HOT car, driving to the park, parking, and taking the tram to the entrance is a much bigger pain than taking the bus! Plus, we always met lots of nice people on the bus and our little guy loved it!

We had a car, but we never used it and never had any regrets.

 

[TerriP]

We found the bus service from AKL to all the parks and DTD to be great. I'd advise using the buses. No driving, no parking, no worries...

 

[WDWHound]

I guess it all depends on what you like. The bus service at AKL is perhaps the best in the park. If you find driving stressful or bothersome, the busses are the way to go. It will take a bit longer than driving (at least in our experience, note we have no kids, so no carseat concerns), but you will probably be more relaxed.

Personally, I prefer to drive. I dont like waiting for busses and I am not real comfortable riding in them. I am much more relaxed when I do the driving and we get there few minutes faster on average (except for MK).

If you don't like to drive, use the busses. If you don't mind driving, I still suggest you drive everywhere except MK.

Oh yes, one more thing. Avoid the DTD busses like the plauge. As the night gets later, the busses get very, very crowded. I waited for over an hour once at DTD as full busses drove right by our bus stop. Ever since then, we ALWAYS drive to DTD. I know other posters have had different experiences, but I don't want to risk having this happen to me again, so I wont take the chance on DTD busses.

 

[Lyn-CA]

DH & I did like WDWHound and drove to the parks except MK. We also went to WWS, BB, DTD and FW by car.

The only glitch was when it took us awhile to find our car at the MGM parking lot one night. We kept going around and around in circles and couldn't find the darned thing.

 

[SuperDuperBounce]

Our rental sat in the parking lot the entire time we were there last year. We had no problems with the bus service, even with three kids and a stroller. Even after the firework shows we never had an excessive wait. I have seen complaints about the bus service between AKL and DTD (we drove there on our last day so we can't speak to this route first hand).

 

[cdrn1]

We are staying at AKL in December and will have our 11-month-old granddaughter with us. My dau is insisting on a car because she will not allow the baby to be in a vehicle unrestrained. I guess I understand, and as a nurse I am pleased that she understands how important it is to have the babe restrained but I sure will miss the convenience of hopping on the bus and kicking back for the ride. I found the buses at AKL to be an excellent form of transportation and would not for a minute consider driving if I had the choice.

 

[WDW LifeLong Fan]

We always take the buses from AKL to the parks...we have found them to be among the quickest of any resort.

However, we drive to DTD from ALL resorts!

 

[Momof5cubs]

Big thumbs up for the AKL buses from me. We went in late June during a very busy time and the AKL buses were fantastic. Short waits and we only had to stand once when leaving MK.

 

[SonicLogic]

Originally posted by cdrn1
My dau is insisting on a car because she will not allow the baby to be in a vehicle unrestrained.

Tell your "dau" to relax. A baby does not need restraints on a bus. The laws of physics are heavily on the side of the babe!