To Rent a Car or To Not Rent a Car

[imthewalrus79]

I'm looking for some advice. In the past, I've never done the park hopper option. Between the way the resort is laid out, how much there is to do in the parks, and the length of my trips, I've never seen the reason to pay the extra money for it. But for my upcoming trip, the option was included for free. And since I'm not staying as many days this trip, I'm considering taking advantage of park hoping. But, I'm wondering if I'm okay using the Disney Transportation System or if I'd be better off renting a car. I'm looking for opinions on which would be the better option. And, if I was to rent a car, would you recommend picking up at the airport or using the Magical Express to get from the airport to my hotel and back and picking up the car at the Disney World pickup. Thanks for the help.

 

[berryinDC]

Where are you staying and which parks are priorities for you? Do you usually take a break in the afternoon or stay at the parks all day?

 

[imthewalrus79]

I'm staying at Pop and tend to stay at the parks all day. Also, my trip is from 11/28 - 12/3.

 

[Darcy03231]

I like having a rental car. We usually do a grocery stop and have breakfast in the room, which is a big time saver for us. We've found that we save quite a bit of time by having our own transportation as well, and if we have dinner reservations in another hotel we can just drive there, rather than take a bus to a park and then take another bus from the park to the hotel we're eating at. Much easier to get to and from DTD too.

 

[happymommy]

I was going to have a car for our next trip to Pop, so we could do some off site shopping. We got the free QSDP though, so dropped the car.

I used Uber for the first time last trip, and found it really convenient. We'll use that if we need transportation other than Disney's next time instead. Definitely we plan on using it to return to the airport. Last trip, magical express was a pain going back. We boarded the bus at AK Kidani, then stopped at AOA for forever, and it was well over an hour before we were actually headed to the airport. Miserable! I'll take it from the airport but not back again.

 

[NH-to-FL]

We would always rent a car at the airport for our stays at the BWI. DW has some unique food allergies so food shopping was a 1st priority upon arrival and once or twice during the visit. We would use the car to visit Seaworld. Since we had the car we would drive to rope drop at AK as we found it faster than using the bus. While there are ways to get these things done without a rental car in the end we were willing to spend the dollars for the flexibility. I was a member the Hertz Gold Club and had an excellent discount through my job so it made the airport rental quick and easy. Walked off the plane right to the car.

Reading your posts I did not see a strong reason for a car. What you described can be accomplished through the Disney transportation system. Might take a bit longer while waiting for the buses but you'll get there.

Wishing you a magical trip!

 

[hookedonears]

I'm looking for some advice. In the past, I've never done the park hopper option. Between the way the resort is laid out, how much there is to do in the parks, and the length of my trips, I've never seen the reason to pay the extra money for it. But for my upcoming trip, the option was included for free. And since I'm not staying as many days this trip, I'm considering taking advantage of park hoping. But, I'm wondering if I'm okay using the Disney Transportation System or if I'd be better off renting a car. I'm looking for opinions on which would be the better option. And, if I was to rent a car, would you recommend picking up at the airport or using the Magical Express to get from the airport to my hotel and back and picking up the car at the Disney World pickup. Thanks for the help.

If you've always rented a car in the past, having to wait for busses may be frustrating, especially if the weather isn't good. Since 1997, we've only rented a car once, which was because it was our only stay off property and we were doing other things away from WDW as well. We love Disney transportation. It's a part of the magic for us. They drops you off next to the front gates, which saves time having to park and walk across giant parking lots. I do plenty of driving in traffic at home and Disney transportation allows us to relax and let someone else worry about that. Yes you have to wait for busses here and there, but that wait gives us a chance to rest before having to fight the crowds again at the next park.

 

[Parker Clan]

We drive down and one year our car's transmission went and we rented a car. I can't imagine not being able to come and go as we please. It is amazing to be on your own schedule. We do park hoppers as well so it is convenient to not wait for their buses and it's Aug when we go, so I'm not a fan of waiting outside in the sweltering heat! So I say go for the rental!

 

[redsbe]

When we are on vacation at WDW we aim to be fully immersed in the experience so we tend to stay in WDW and also in a park from open to close. We also pack breakfast items and snacks so no need to shop for them. Since we stay on site we never rent car as I doubt we would get the value since rental costs are high and we would use little. I also enjoy not having to stress about driving and parking. Not a big fan of crowded WDW buses but can appreciate how they do provide ready and quick transportation around WDW, we have never experienced long delays waiting for or while on WDW buses, nor had any bad experiences with Magic Express. To each his own determining whether the extra costs of a rental car are of value to your party and needs.

 

[guilderlandmouse]

I've been to WDW with and without a car. We rented it and never used it except to go food shopping when we arrived. I have found it's not needed just because you have park hopper. My family was there 2 weeks ago and we park hopped a few days even doing 3 parks in one day. We find using Disney transportation is easy, fast and our time to relax.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

We've only not had a car on one trip, and of course that was the trip I forgot to take my shoes. I hated not being able to go somewhere and buy shoes. Had to wear pink crocs from the gift shop all week, lol.

Very similar to what Darcy, above, said - we like to shop and we also really enjoy visiting other resorts, so having a car makes it easy for us. We also usually have at least two "resort days" (as opposed to "park days") and we never know where we're going to wind up, but often we'll go offsite exploring somewhere, at least for part of the day. We also just really don't enjoy being on a bus (though we will take them to certain parks if it makes sense). To each his own.

That said, it doesn't sound like you'll really NEED a car from what you've explained.

 

[Huff]

We rented a car once. Decided it was more a hassle we didn't need. Found with a rental car we often had to park quite a ways out from park gate. We park hop quite a bit. We typically spend most of a day at one park and hop to another for dinner or night time fireworks, fantasmic, parades etc.

Buses at POP were rarely a problem. Wait times were typically 5-10 minutes. Only occasionally we would have to wait 15-20. Sometimes we did have a wait leaving a park at closing especially at MK and EP. Found that leaving 30 minutes before park closing reduced the wait considerably.

Hopping between Epcot and Disney Studios is easy and enjoyable on the boat. Can stop off at Boardwalk to dine or just ice cream at Beaches and Cream. Monorail between Epcot and Magic Kingdom was usually quick and easy.

We use Disney Magic Express to/from the airport. Very easy especially since Disney takes care of your luggage. No need to do so yourself.

For groceries, snacks etc. in the room we order from Garden Grocers and have delivered to our resort. Prices are reasonable. POP luggage services then brought them to our room either in the morning or when we returned at night.

Easy to use Disney buses, monorail or boats to go to other parks, resorts, Disney Springs etc. Love not having to deal with a rental car!!

 

[abner1776]

We are DVC members and have been to the "world" more than 20 times over the past 25 years both with small kids, teens, adult kids and now on our own. Number of times we have rented a car ? ZERO. Yes, we have rented a car for a day to drive to Tampa or Kennedy Space center, but we always take full advantage of the bus system at WDW including DME. It's free...why not use it. I have never felt constrained by the busses or ended up late for something where a car would have been faster.

..and to be truthful...part of going to Disney is the escape from the realities of the daily grind and driving around WDW, parking, trams, etc. interferes with that escape.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I remember waiting for a bus for Pop once - had to wait for two buses to load and just barely made it onto the third. Packed in like sardines the whole way back to the resort, standing up, each of us holding onto a tired kid. Not fun.

 

[DisneyHardin]

We never rent a car. I am glad - my DH is the worlds scariest driver and has no sense of direction, so I'm glad to be on the bus with someone who (hopefully) knows where they are going.

 

[Yahweh]

I prefer not to rent a car. The main reason is WDW transportation a big part of the experience of being at Disney. Sure sometimes it may frustrates you, you may have to wait, but in those moments of waiting memories happen. It slows down what often is normally a frenetic pace. Weird as it seems, Magic Express is my favourite ride

 

[loves to dive]

We've been going for over 30 years, always had park hoppers, always drive down so we have a car. # of times we've used it other than to go to a different resort on split stays, 1. Last trip on resort switch day, we knew we were going to AK and were up super early, we didn't get up early on purpose I just don't sleep late even on vacation (I was up at 6 this morning and it's Saturday so I don't have to) so we decided what the heck and drove to AK for rope drop. I will admit we got there early enough we were parked in the front row of general parking but the walk was just about the same as it would have been from the bus stop, we just knew we weren't going to stay but for a couple of hours that day before checking into our next resort. We left around 10:30 or so, so there was only one other car leaving the parking lot so that was no issue we went over to our next resort, checked in and walked over to Epcot. So, no I wouldn't rent a car even with PHs, like I said we never even use ours and it's there.

 

[ols386]

I used to always rent a car, but not anymore. Getting costly to do that. I think the Disney busses are fine, even for park hopping.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

We are DVC members and always rent a car. It gives you so much freedom in getting to the parks, stores and other restaurants other than the Disney ones. We always get the ME from the airport then pick up a car from the Alamo car depot the next day ( we get in late from the UK ) . Alamo have a shuttle bus that come pick you up from your resort.