Using own car at parks?

[frassieshines]

Hello all, we are going on first trip to WDW January 3-9, 2016. We will be driving there from Chattanooga, TN and staying at POR. My question is - if you have your own car at the parks, is it preferable to drive to whatever park you are visiting that day instead of taking the bus? I've read so many stories and complaints about the buses at WDW. Any advice is welcome! Thank you!

 

[5kidsmommy]

It really depends on what you have going on that day. We rarely ever take the bus to HS or AK, it's pretty easy to drive to those parks. We always take transportation to MK, mostly because no matter what you have to go to the TTC and take a ferry or the monorail to MK. And EPCOT my family is weird and we always take a bus to the TTC and then take the monorail to EPCOT because they like going in on the monorail. But we also aren't rushed so transportation taking us longer isn't a big deal. If time is an issue like we have a reservation we usually drive.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I drive to every park except MK when I have my own car unless I'm drinking at Epcot and then I take the bus to Epcot too.

I found that the bus system just seems slower and more crowded every trip which is why I like to drive to the parks when I have a car available to me.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

We drive to every park including MK ( we like the ferry and the monorail!). I love driving and strongly dislike the idea of waiting for the bus.

 

[PanamaMike]

And other people will say they hate driving and prefer to leave that to a bus driver.

There is no right or wrong answer.

It's totally a personal choice.

 

[GillianP1301]

We always rent a car and love it. It's so easy to drive around WDW and it's almost always faster. I really dislike waiting on a bus and dislike having to stand on a crowded bus even more. Not that this happens every time, but I prefer to just eliminate the possibility.

We stayed at WL last time and we did use the bus for MK only because the time for the bus to get to MK was about the same time as it would take me to drive to TTC. So there are some exceptions.

 

[linzbear]

This question gets varied answers. Many people drive, many leave the car and use the transportation. I personally drive and hate the buses - I've done it in my own car, and always get a rental if I fly.

So do what is best for your family

 

[yulilin3]

agreed, it's a personal choice.
But imagine being in the park all day, you are tired and just want to get back to your room and leave after Wishes or Fantasmic! or Illuminations, chances are you will have to wait for a bus and then board that bus that will probably be packed with fellow guests who are also cranky and tired.

 

[PanamaMike]

Here's the same question posted 2 hours before this thread

http://www.disboards.com/threads/drive-the-rental-car-or-take-the-bus.3448545/#post-54444211

 

[CAS239]

We prefer to use our own car and don't use the buses for anything. Way to crowded and we like not having to wait

 

[Karl66]

I agree with a previous post. It's matter of personal preference. We always use Disney transportation. I like not having to drive back to the hotel after a long day in the parks. I'm usually exhausted by then and it's safer to leave the driving to a professional. It's also nice to be picked up and dropped off near the park entrance and not have to ride a tram to the parking lot. Additionally we meet some really nice people on the busses and we have fun chitchating during the ride home. You'll have to decide what works best for you. At least try the bus once so you can compare both ways.

 

[epcotty]

It's generally preferable to drive to whatever park you are visiting that day. However it can be cool to drive to the TTC early (where you need to go to to go to MK anyway) and go to Epcot on the monorail from there. If MK closes later than EP you could then see Wishes at the TTC

 

[loves to dive]

Always have a car since I drive down from Georgia, never use it. As others have already said you are going to get both sides to this coin. Usually I stay at the Epcot resorts so just walk to Epcot and HS, take monorail to MK and just take the bus to AK, I even go resort hopping and take the bus. I have stayed at POR and did have a car and did take the bus and had no issues. Walked to the main bus stop in the morning and at night when coming back the bus stop was right behind the building I was staying in so just had to walk across the parking lot. The resort really isn't as big a people let on, I walked the entire perimeter and over to POFQ every morning and back to my room and it didn't take more than 15 min. Yes, there will be times the buses will be crowded especially after the FW, I would just sit and let the crowds thin out then catch the later bus. I've only stood on a bus once, that was my last trip in May during F&G and it was leaving MK one night where we made the mistake of actually leaving after the FW, we were staying at BW and Epcot was closed so we couldn't take the monorail and walk through.

 

[Belle0101]

Even within your own family the answer can vary. DH does not want to bother with a car at Disney so he prefers Disney transportation. I only want to use Disney transportation if I've exhausted every other option (my own car, Uber, taxi, DME, etc.).

 

[powellrj]

We always use our own car. My DH and kids took the bus once and said never again.

 

[buzznina]

We always drive to WDW and the first few trips we drove to the parks, and the times we took the bus to MK we realized it was not half as bad as people made it out to be. So one trip we decided to do a test, I drove and my DW and DD took buses to the parks. After that we we now use Disney transportation all the time (except for resort to resort trips). We have had trips where the bus was much faster then driving and then we had trips where it was also slower. I will say that we try to never leave after fireworks, Illuminations etc. that is when most people are waiting for transportation.

 

[lubob]

We also take the bus. Sometimes crowed otherwise no problems. And it is some resting time back to the resort after along day on your feet. Why worry about driving if you don't have to . That's one of the perks for staying on property .

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

Hello all, we are going on first trip to WDW January 3-9, 2016. We will be driving there from Chattanooga, TN and staying at POR. My question is - if you have your own car at the parks, is it preferable to drive to whatever park you are visiting that day instead of taking the bus? I've read so many stories and complaints about the buses at WDW. Any advice is welcome! Thank you!

It depends, but if you're staying on site, parking everywhere is free. We did half and half on our last trip. We prefer driving to the parks.

 

[bluezy]

We drive over 1,000 miles to get to Disney World so once we're there the car gets to rest for the week and we take Disney buses everywhere. We've always stayed at either Pop Century or Art of Animation (except for one stay at AsMo) and really haven't had any issues with the buses. The only times they're usually packed are at the end of the night when returning to the resort (and we go in June...not a slow time of year). And 90% of the time, we haven't had to wait more than 10 minutes for a bus. Most of the times we've had to wait longer than that have been after fireworks when *everyone* is leaving the park. A lot of times we'll just linger in the park to let the bus lines thin out. We've spent over 30 days in the parks in the last 6 years and ride the buses numerous times each day. I can't remember ever having miserable or cranky people on our bus. I don't even remember any screaming/crying children. We like being able to walk on to a nice cool bus rather than getting into a sweltering hot car. I know a lot of people prefer to drive their own cars to the parks and that's great -- more room on the bus for the rest of us!

 

[lubob]

Amen well said !!!!! More room on the bus for us.