Transportation of Disney

[Dream of a Lifetime]

My husband and I will be staying at WDW from Feb. 15 - 28. This is our first trip to WDW and we do not want to rent a car and do the driving. We would like to go off the Disney property but have heard the cabs are very expensive. We have also been told there are no shuddles which travel from WDW to off site locations. Does anyone have any suggestions on how someone could go to off site locations, such as restaurants, shopping etc.

 

[Tiffany]

My husband and I will be staying at WDW from Feb. 15 - 28. This is our first trip to WDW and we do not want to rent a car and do the driving. We would like to go off the Disney property but have heard the cabs are very expensive. We have also been told there are no shuddles which travel from WDW to off site locations. Does anyone have any suggestions on how someone could go to off site locations, such as restaurants, shopping etc.

Without a rental car taking a cab would be your next best bet. If you are looking to go to other parks I believe you can arrange transportation via Mears but if you are looking to just go to dinner or something like that driving yourself or a cab is the way to go.

 

[the kabuki]

Is there any particular reason you don't want to rent a car? I was a little worried at first, thought maybe it would be hard to get around in a new place, getting lost, etc. but we rented our past trip and it's really easy to navigate. Orlando is very visitor friendly with regards to signs and such. This was our first time renting and I'll never be without a car there again.

The taxis' are expensive. There are Mears shuttles' to big places like US and Sea World but if you figure out the cost, you'd be better off renting.

There's rental cars right at the airport, and if you're staying on site, getting there from the airport is easy.

Otherwise you'll be stuck with a taxi which can quickly add up $.

 

[G00fyDad]

...Otherwise you'll be stuck with a taxi which can quickly add up $.

Unless they dont plan to go off property much.

It will just take a little planning. Figure out where youre going to go offsite to eat or such and find out which park, or resort is closest to that location. Then take Disney transportation to that park/resort then have a cab pick you up there. It will cost less for instance for them to drive you about 2 or 3 miles from MGM to the resteraunt than it would for them to drive you from MK all the way past MGM to the resteraunt. If you dont plan to go offsite that much then go with a cab. Renting a car for a week could cost around $150 and up. We are going for a week and renting a 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee and it will cost us $280 for the week not counting the insurance. If youre just going for a few days then rent a car. That would be cheaper.

 

[the kabuki]

Wow Goofydad, you really thought that one out. While it would be cheaper, and a lot does depend on what they plan to do , I personally don't want to go through all of that hassle while on vacation, especially with 3 kids in tow. I have done the buses in the past and they're good, but this time having a car was terrific. Plus you have to take into account money you'll save by eating offsite, buying groceries instead of the food court, and hitting the cheapo souvenier places.

 

[G00fyDad]

Wow Goofydad, you really thought that one out. While it would be cheaper, and a lot does depend on what they plan to do , I personally don't want to go through all of that hassle while on vacation, especially with 3 kids in tow. I have done the buses in the past and they're good, but this time having a car was terrific. Plus you have to take into account money you'll save by eating offsite, buying groceries instead of the food court, and hitting the cheapo souvenier places.

Hey, I'm with you. I am just simply renting a car, getting a few grocieries offsite and taking it pretty cheap. But they wanted options.

 

[beattyfamily]

IMHO, I'd just rent a car to go offsite to restaurants and shops. It's so convenient.

I'm renting National EA (bypass the counter and pick what I want from that aisle) for 8 days for $170 Total including all taxes/fee (I never buy insurance as my home car insurance covers me).

It is well worth the expense for the convenience to go to other resorts to eat or shop, to go offsite to restaurants and shopping, to get gorceries or go to Church or go to Universal (which we are). It's a Godsend and I couldn't live without one.

But if you really do not want to rent a car but want to go offsite, I'd just get a cab from where you are. That's pretty much you best, most time-saving option.

Have fun planning!

 

[Dream of a Lifetime]

Thanks for the info. We thought it would be difficult to get around a strange place and therefore did not want to rent a car. We will see.

 

[beattyfamily]

Thanks for the info. We thought it would be difficult to get around a strange place and therefore did not want to rent a car. We will see.

Yeah, I can see why you'd feel that way and I do understand but just so you know, Disney World property is one of the easiest places to get around. It's actually hard to get lost because they have so many signs and they make it as simple as possible. The hardest part would be getting from the airport to Disney property and even that isn't bad.

My DH usually drives but last year I went on a girls-only trip and was able to handle it although I was nervous at first. It went extremely well. FWIW.

 

[the kabuki]

Thanks for the info. We thought it would be difficult to get around a strange place and therefore did not want to rent a car. We will see.

I agree, Disney is the best tourist area for driving. Signs galore. I was also nervous about driving down there for the first time. Especially since the directions were all up to me, hubby was the driver ,I the navigator.

Even the ride to and from the airport wasn't bad. There's some threads on these boards about which is the best way to take depending on way you're staying. Check AllEarsNet.com, they have directions to and from anywhere on property.

www. orlandoinfo.com also will send you a good map of the area in the welcome packet if you apply for the magic card which is a free discount card.