Transportation when staying off-site? (no car)

[happymamma]

The hotels off-site I'm looking at seem to all say free scheduled transportation to/from WDW parks. How does this work usually? Can you still use the monorail if you need to go to a restaurant at a different resort? I'm assuming you can't use the buses, so how do you get somewhere that is not on the monorail line? Are there any downsides to the off-site transportation versus using Disney transportation, i.e. if you were staying at a value resort on-site? It's our first time going to WDW so sorry if these are obvious questions! Just starting to feel tempted by the price/amount of space differences if we stay off-site. thanks!!

 

[dioxide45]

Once you are onsite, you have full use of all Disney transportation. This includes the monorail and busses.

The problem with offsite hotel shuttles is that they are very limited and travel on very rigid schedules that may not work best for what you want to do.

When staying offsite I would always suggest to rent a car.

 

[happymommy]

If you can adhere to the shuttle schedule, you'll be okay.

Or, occasionally use a taxi if you need to. But beware! When we stayed at Marriott's Grande Vista, which is close to Sea World, we split up a couple of times. I took a taxi to MK and it was close to $50. Yup.

Is there any way you can rent a car? You'll have to get from the airport as well, so it may be worth it to have one. A taxi from the airport is about $50 or so each way, as is a towncar.

What resort is it?

 

[Darcy03231]

We stayed at an off-site hotel with shuttle service and planned to not rent a car. The shuttle service is usually shared between several hotels and runs at a few specified times in the morning, afternoon and evening. We found by the time it made several stops in the morning to pick up other passengers at other hotels we weren't getting to the parks until well after they opened. If we were tired and wanted to go back to our room, we had to wait for a scheduled shuttle. After the first day we ended up renting a car. I will never stay off-site without one now.

 

[Brian Noble]

Please please please don't stay offsite without a rental car.

I've loved my offsite stays---I've done about half on, half off. But, I would NEVER stay offsite without a rental car. As the previous poster mentions, the hotel's shuttle service is almost certainly going to be frustrating.

 

[David Brent]

my suggestion is if it's your first time for you and your family, save yourself some trouble and get a value resort and let disney drive you around especially since you are new to WDW.

 

[DISvirgin1]

We just got back from a stay at Best Western LBV in DTD. Admittedly not the fanciest of hotels, but it has a shuttle that runs every 1/2 hour starting at 8:00am. We had no issues using the shuttles, and didn't feel like we needed a car for the parks. It does share shuttle service with other hotels in DTD, but BWLBV is the first pick up and first drop off so we always had a seat even during busier times - check if your hotel shares services and what order they are picked up in. Also check if they stop service at some point during the day (some places stop in the afternoon for a bit). Since the shuttle came every 1/2 hour we just planned accordingly. It wasn't a big deal at all.
Good luck!

 

[mocha226]

We just got back from a stay at Best Western LBV in DTD. Admittedly not the fanciest of hotels, but it has a shuttle that runs every 1/2 hour starting at 8:00am. We had no issues using the shuttles, and didn't feel like we needed a car for the parks. It does share shuttle service with other hotels in DTD, but BWLBV is the first pick up and first drop off so we always had a seat even during busier times - check if your hotel shares services and what order they are picked up in. Also check if they stop service at some point during the day (some places stop in the afternoon for a bit). Since the shuttle came every 1/2 hour we just planned accordingly. It wasn't a big deal at all.
Good luck!

We stayed here before also and I completely agree with your post. price and location was good.

 

[funcinderella]

Also, you can use the monorail as well as the buses to get around. I'm not even sure what the official policy is about disney transportation, but I have been to the World 30 plus times, and never been asked for resort ID to get on a bus. ALso, if you stay offsite in the DTD area, at worse you can take a bus to DTD and walk back to your hotel. Probably only a good idea if you are in one of the hotels closer to DTD though, further ones maybe be half a mile walk. My recommendation, rent a car. Check out the transportation board, if you are diligent you can almost always find a decent rate. Prices fluctuate constantly. Book, cancel and rebook as often as you need to, no credit card necessary.

 

[Krissy562]

A bit of clarification; you do not need to be staying in a Disney resort to use Disney transportation; your ticket is what entitles you to use the buses, monorails, etc. There is a big HOWEVER though; As a general rule, the buses don't go from Downtown Disney to the parks until the afternoons/evenings. It is a good option for those staying at the Hilton coming back from the parks though, as it's an easy walk from DD to the hotel.

 

[livndisney]

A bit of clarification; you do not need to be staying in a Disney resort to use Disney transportation; your ticket is what entitles you to use the buses, monorails, etc. There is a big HOWEVER though; As a general rule, the buses don't go from Downtown Disney to the parks until the afternoons/evenings. It is a good option for those staying at the Hilton coming back from the parks though, as it's an easy walk from DD to the hotel.

Actually the buses from DTD don't go to the 4 parks. Buses from DTD service the resorts