Traveling in Disney

[Jeanette12]

This will be our first time staying onsite. Plus, our last and first trip was only one day. We will be staying at OKW. What is the easiest to do...Drive or ride busses or monorail? We will be there for 6 days and have a 5 day hopper so I know that we don't have to rush alot but I do want to get where we are going the best way.
TIA

 

[Ducky4Disney]

Honestly, I find the busses work out just fine for most of the traveling around WDW. If you have a car, you might want to use it if you are trying to go to another resort for a meal. Otherwise you have to go to DTD and switch to a resort bus. On the plus side, OKW is pretty close to DTD, so it's not that far to do the transfer.

D4D

 

[ehaley]

We always use the DW transportation. I figure they know the best routes, the bus drops you off very near the entrance and they seem to get priority to move in/out of parks. I know most of the parking lots are further away plus the traffic getting in and especially out of the parks seems to go on forever.

 

[Matt]

I don't like to worry about driving and parking and such. For that reason, the busses are fine. They can get a bit crowded. If they are, I just wait for another. The plusses outweigh the negatives for my family!

 

[PrincessLindy]

For one thing even if you drive most days, never drive to Magic Kingdom. You have to take boat or monorail to the parking lot and then a tram to the parking lot. Last time we went it took two hours to get back to the room at OKW. True it was after the Halloween party but still. We waited in an awful line to get on a ferry (monorail line just as long) where we couldn't even sit or anything. Then when we got to the TTC our car was in the back of the lot so we waited in line for the tram. Then we were in traffic. We got to the room after 2 in the morning!! If it wasn't for the stroller so DD could sleep I don't know what we would have done.

Bus stops are very convienent at OKW and you are dropped off at the entrance to the parks. Then picked up again at the entrance and dropped off a short way from your room. True you may have to wait for the next bus, or even a third, when it is busy, but is better than driving IMO.

If you are using a towncar service they will let you stop at a grocery store on the way. If not the resort store has a convience store.

We will not get a car on the next trip.

 

[Goofy4]

I think you said it was your first trip? I think Disney transportation is part of the "experience", at least until you know your way around.

Keep in mind that OKW has the least frequent (or close to it) intervals of any resort -- probably just a "numbers" thing. If you try to catch a bus from MK back to OKW mid-day, you may wait 1/2 hour. If the weather is bad, it will seem worse than that. As mentioned, the "plus" side with MK is that the bus takes you all the way to the park, not first to the TTC.

For me, I would do a little of both. Be sure to take time to enjoy OKW!

 

[greg126]

If bus is your only option between where you're going and a park you're leaving at closing - drive. We had to wait through 2 buses each loading wheelchairs at MGM closing and hustle much more than I like to catch Electric Water Pageant.

 

[wdwgoofeeee]

Disney transportation does an excellent job in moving large numbers of people around. We have not rented a car for our WDW trips in many years and don't miss not having a car at all. We are on vacation....so let someone else drive.
The best tip I can give is to never race out of any park at closing. We were watching Wishes at the MK back in June. When it was over we just sat down on a bench right outside the castle and watched the people pour down Main Street. After 15-20 minutes or so we slowly walking out. By then most people were gone and the bus stop area was very quiet. Take your time and enjoy the atmosphere of WDW.
Have a great trip!

 

[Disney Doll]

We usually take the busses to MK, MGM, Epcot. We drive to AK, because the parking there is relatively close to the park itself. Sometimes we drive to the Boardwalk to do the sights, shops, retaurants there, and walk over to Epcot or boat to MGM.

We always drive to the hotels if we have dinner reservations...that's much easier than taking the bus to a park or DTD and changing busses for the hotel where the reservation is. If shopping, we take the car so we don't have to schlep all the packages on the bus. If going to PI, we take the bus so we don't drive if we've had a couple of drinks.

 

[MariDisney]

Twice I've gone and (at the insistence of travel companions) have used the WDW bus system. Now, I rent a car and probably wouldn't go back to using the buses unless I had an extreme reason. Let me say, though, that I love having a car and try to drive wherever I can at home as well, even when others might take a train or whatever. For me, I like to be able to walk out the door of the resort room and get in the car and drive. Waiting for the buses, even if it's only 15 minutes, just annoys me. Same thing on the trip back. Having my 65 lb. DD6 fall asleep standing up leaving against me on the bus just doesn't work for me. I've never had a problem getting back to my car quickly, even at the TTC, so I guess I've been lucky in that respect. I also like to leave for the airport as late as possible and not be tied in to leaving from the resort on Mear's or ME's time table. Everyone has very different opinions on this, as you can see. For our family, the rental car is the way to go.

 

[Robo]

If bus is your only option between where you're going and a park you're leaving at closing - drive. We had to wait through 2 buses each loading wheelchairs at MGM closing and hustle much more than I like to catch Electric Water Pageant.

Two? TWO whole busses at CLOSING time?

We stay at All Star... we wait for 6, 8, 10 busses if its a busy evening (especially at MK).
But on those same evenings, the folks trying to leave the parking lot (not to mention getting on the ferry boats and monorails) are not faring much better.

We never use a car. Once we arrive at Disney, we rely on THEM to get us around.

(Why All Star? How does $49 (plus tax) a night grab you?)

 

[kaytieeldr]

I have to respectfully disagree with Goofy4. I didn't find the OKW bus interval to be any longer than any of the other resorts - every twenty minutes. The only time I had a 'problem' was leaving Pleasure Island one hight - the dispatcher wanted to hold the bus until PI closed, even though we'd waited for it longer than the 20 minutes and then waited on it at least that long

 

[Goofy4]

I have to respectfully disagree with Goofy4.

No problem... We found the bus service not as realiable midday compared with "prime time". Perhaps things have changed since Aug 2003.

I took a quick peek at the 2005 "Unofficial Guide" and it still lists "substandard bus service" as one of OKWs weaknesses.. Is the published schedule "every 20 minutes" now? Looks like it might be. I'm thinking that wasn't the case then -- not all day long anyways. So, I'm not sure why the guide still lists it as such. Perhaps it's because there are so many stops within OKW?

I do know that we waited 30 long minutes at MK in 95 degree heat and 200% humidity one afternoon. Just our luck, I suppose.

 

[lentesta]

We checked the bus service in OKW within the past 9 months, so it should be accurate as published in the book. In our experience, the "every 20 minutes" idea seems to be more of a goal than a guarantee.

Jeanette12, for the Magic Kingdom, Disney transportation is the most efficient option. For all other parks and destinations, I think having your own car is faster on average. Your decision will come down to time and money.

If you plan to stick to the theme parks, water parks, and Downtown Disney, I don't think you'll need a car. Disney transportation will take slightly longer, but be free.

But if you have many dining reservations at resort restaurants outside of OKW, a car will be much more convenient. (If you have just one or two reservations @ hotel restaurants, take a cab - it's less expensive than renting a car).

Hope this helps!

Len Testa

 

[goofy4tink]

I love being able to just hop on a bus...well, sort of hop on a bus. When my dh travels with me, I always get a bit nervous about the wait times for the buses since he is more than a little impatient. But, he says..."Hey, I'm on vacation, I'm at WDW, who cares about a bit of a wait!!" We have never, either at the resort or at park closing, waited more than 40 minutes for a bus. The longer waits have obviously been at park closing, especially MK. And the 40 min. wait was including several wheelchair loadings. We chose not to stand, so had to wait for a new bus and of course the next bus in had yet another wheelchair to load, so we waited for the third bus to come...hence the longer than usual wait. But, that was our choice. We could have stood and it would have only been a 20 minute wait. And yes, I know....we would have been standing longer by waiting for the ability to sit on the bus. We would have been standing on the bus yet arriving at the resort earlier. Dd was sick and couldn't take the swaying while standing.
So.....now that I have bored you all to tears with my story, I will say that I always suggest taking the bus. If you want to ability to get from resort to resort quickly then I would use a car, but that would be the only scenario where I would use one.

 

[DemoBri1]

IMHO I will always have a car when at WDW, if for no other reason than to have the ability to arrive and leave a park when I choose to do so. If you have strollers it is much easier to manage I think with your own transport than having to fold a stroller up to get on the bus, find a place to stow it, then expand it again, and then do that all over again when you have to come back.

I found it very easy to drive around the WDW property. Signs are pretty much everywhere directing you to the appropriate destination. I was able to manage fairly well my first time down.

On the other hand staying at OKW you're probably not going to be prone to the hassle that other resorts face with bus service, particularly those around Epcot. Still, I'd rather make my own schedule.

The one earlier poster who made mention that it took them over 2 hours to get back to their room after the Halloween party is correct. On nights when there's a special event such as this you should expect a rather lengthy delay getting out, especially if you're leaving with everyone else. Two years ago we left MK right after Wishes, and it started to rain, so guess what? Everyone else decided to leave. We had our car valeted at CR as we had eaten at Chef Mickey's that night and decided to monorail over for the fireworks and Spectromagic. Well...it took us about 45 minutes to get a monorail and get to the CR to pick up our car. Once we had our car getting out wasn't a problem. The point to this story, leave before everyone else, or let it thin out a bit and take your time getting out.

 

[goofy4tink]

IMHO I will always have a car when at WDW, if for no other reason than to have the ability to arrive and leave a park when I choose to do so. If you have strollers it is much easier to manage I think with your own transport than having to fold a stroller up to get on the bus, find a place to stow it, then expand it again, and then do that all over again when you have to come back.

I found it very easy to drive around the WDW property. Signs are pretty much everywhere directing you to the appropriate destination. I was able to manage fairly well my first time down.

On the other hand staying at OKW you're probably not going to be prone to the hassle that other resorts face with bus service, particularly those around Epcot. Still, I'd rather make my own schedule.

The one earlier poster who made mention that it took them over 2 hours to get back to their room after the Halloween party is correct. On nights when there's a special event such as this you should expect a rather lengthy delay getting out, especially if you're leaving with everyone else. Two years ago we left MK right after Wishes, and it started to rain, so guess what? Everyone else decided to leave. We had our car valeted at CR as we had eaten at Chef Mickey's that night and decided to monorail over for the fireworks and Spectromagic. Well...it took us about 45 minutes to get a monorail and get to the CR to pick up our car. Once we had our car getting out wasn't a problem. The point to this story, leave before everyone else, or let it thin out a bit and take your time getting out.

I have to ask....why didn't you just walk to the CR from MK? It's about an 8 minute walk. I realize it was raining but you were going to get wet anyway. Just curious. Even after MVMCP or an EMH night it's never taken us over 45 minutes to get back to our resort. Different people have different experiences. I guess I've been lucky so far...knock on wood.

 

[MariDisney]

The point to this story, leave before everyone else, or let it thin out a bit and take your time getting out.

I think the idea of taking your time to get out is an often overlooked option by some folks. After Wishes, Illuminations, Fantasmic, or whatever the shops stay open for a while. We usually find a bench and grab a drink or snack. DH and I take turns sitting with DD6 while the other one does some shopping. Or, we just all sit together and watch the mad dash for the exit. Park closing is actually one of my favorite times...no more rushing or thinking about what's next, instead we sit and recap the day and just enjoy hanging out awhile. Once the departing crowd is pretty thin, we head for the car and get right out on the road.

 

[Lesleyluvdisney]

we always use the transportation, but agree, that at the end of Illuminations, Fantasmic etc, it is best to resist the urge to race to the bus stops. You're best to hang back and wait until the crowds die down. We nevertake car hire, but sometimes feel we wish we could go off-site for food ,as eating on-site for 15 days eats up a lot of money!!!