WDW transportation or drving to parks, opinions?

[horsegirl]

We unexpectedly will have a car rental for our 6 days at WDW, as it is cheaper to rent for 12 days, than just the 7 needed for the beach afterwards-by about $150-200 dollars! Clearly paresident's week is expensive. Anyway, in reading the unofficial guide, it seems like often WDW transportation system is most times faster. We are staying at OKW. The only parks that seem like it might make sense to drive are BB and AK. Our experience last time when we stayed at Pop was it took forever to drive to MK, park, shuttle etc. We will be doing all the parks this year. I have also read on the Dis boards that WDW transportation from OKW is terrible and you need a car. Can you help us figure this out? Thanks.

 

[nicolemarie]

Since you are there for 6 days, I would try both. We stayed off-property at Downtown Disney once and found that driving our car was more convenient than the Disney transportation from the DTD area. Since that is not an actual "Disney" hotel, that might have been the reason. But waiting on the buses, stopping at all the other stops before and not being "in control" did not work for us. The Disney transportation can sometimes be slow in my opinion. I would try your car to see how it works. You have 5 other days to take Disney transport if you don't like it!

 

[Robo]

We are staying at OKW. The only parks that seem like it might make sense to drive are BB and AK.

Why did you pick just the Animal Kingdom and Blizzard Beach as the ones you'd drive to?

We never use a car at WDW.
But there are others here who perfer it.

Its always a GUESS as to which way to go.

I have been on MANY a FULL BUS (standing) on my way "home" from ANY of the parks at closing time. (The worst is always after IllumiNations, Fantasmic!, or Wishes).
But, I also see all the MASSES trying to get on a monorail or ferry (from MK)... and the gaggle of cars queued up trying to leave the parking lots

In fact, the Animal Kingdom and the waterparks are generally the LEAST problematic for bus-riding, so I don't understand why you singled those out.

 

[horsegirl]

Why did you pick just the Animal Kingdom and Blizzard Beach as the ones you'd drive to?

We never use a car at WDW.
But there are others here who perfer it.

Its always a GUESS as to which way to go.

I have been on MANY a FULL BUS (standing) on my way "home" from ANY of the parks at closing time. (The worst is always after IllumiNations, Fantasmic!, or Wishes).
But, I also see all the MASSES trying to get on a monorail or ferry (from MK)... and the gaggle of cars queued up trying to leave the parking lots

In fact, the Animal Kingdom and the waterparks are generally the LEAST problematic for bus-riding, so I don't understand why you singled those out.

Good question. I have been looking at the UG's approximate driving vs. Dis Transp pages that give times for everything from every resort. I realize they are not exact, and alot can factor into this. The bus times to BB and AK were over the most it would take to drive to those two according to UG. That is why. We had a rental last time and definitely used the tranport system alot more. We have a stroller for our little guy that is not the easiest to get on/off bus. Also because our DKs are pretty little, we don't leave the parks late, although we will try this this trip! Your point about the traffic after the fireworks, etc. is quite right. We drove to MK last time on one day and ended up staying until after wishes. It was crowded leaving. We took the boat, and it worked pretty well. I know OKW is a big resort and there appear to be many bus stops, plus I keep reading how terrible transportation is from this resort in particular. Have you stayed there? Thanks.

 

[jsmla]

We drive to every park except Magic Kingdom and sometimes Epcot if we're planning on . The whole TTC/monorail/ferry thing makes driving to the MK too much of a bother. As far as driving to Blizzard Beach, taking the bus is just not an option for us. We bring along an ice chest and loads of beach towels, reading material, sun stuff, etc. I also don't like the idea of climbing aboard all wet and sticky after a day at the water parks.

 

[Emmyfaye]

We love using WDW transportation - to us, it's far more relaxing that using our own car (which sits at the resort, during our stays at WDW).

 

[rkmassa]

We stayed at POR, just down the road from OKW. We used Disney transportation for the MK only. Too much hastle to drive and park, walk to TTTC, and then ride monorail or take ferry to MK. Driving to EPCOT was a breeze, as was driving to MGM. A very nice fellow DISer gave us a AAA Diamond parking pass, so we walked into the parks from the Diamond lot. Found nothing relaxing at all about the buses at the end of the day. When leaving the MK the busses are packed. People standing and trying to hold onto small children. Sometimes tired kids that are not in pleasant moods--oh no, those were my kids. We drove as much as possible. Also made getting to our evening ADRs easy too. Drove right over to the Contemporary, Poly, etc.

 

[horsegirl]

We stayed at POR, just down the road from OKW. We used Disney transportation for the MK only. Too much hastle to drive and park, walk to TTTC, and then ride monorail or take ferry to MK. Driving to EPCOT was a breeze, as was driving to MGM. A very nice fellow DISer gave us a AAA Diamond parking pass, so we walked into the parks from the Diamond lot. Found nothing relaxing at all about the buses at the end of the day. When leaving the MK the busses are packed. People standing and trying to hold onto small children. Sometimes tired kids that are not in pleasant moods--oh no, those were my kids. We drove as much as possible. Also made getting to our evening ADRs easy too. Drove right over to the Contemporary, Poly, etc.

Funny about your kids. Never thought about that! Come to think of it, our cantankerous DS, turning 4 in a week, will absolutely cause a mutiny on any bus in the evening. We will be made to walk the plank I am sure! Can you tell me about the AAA Diamond pass? Is it something you can get through AAA, do you know? We don't have it but my dad does, so I am thinking he could get us one. Thanks again, very helpful.

 

[rkmassa]

The AAA Diamond Pass is usually given out by AAA with the purchase of a package. We have been given one with the purchase of tickets from AAA when we told them we were driving/renting a car. It is usually good for 1 year (calendar year like 2006) and has some blackout dates--Christmas, etc. Wouldn't hurt for him to ask at his AAA office to see what they say about getting him one. I was given one by a fellow Diser--MickeyMac. She got her pass from someone else. We sort of passed it on. I used it right before Christmas, so it was blacked out a few days of our trip, and then expired, or I would have continued passing it on.

 

[puffkin]

We had a car for the first time in December because we did a few things offsite. We enjoy taking Disney transportation, but it was nice to have the car.

We took the busses to the parks usually as they were pretty convenient. It may have been faster to drive, but we don't mind using the transportation. We didn't have to worry about walking or tramming out to the parking lot and searching for our car. I definitely would NOT drive to MK. We had to on our last day when we checked out and it was a pain to park, tram/walk to the TTC, and then take a boat or monorail. Much more convenient to have the bus take you right to the front.

I also would take the bus to DTD. The traffic was pretty heavy around there and the parking lot always seemed pretty full. Also, if you are shopping in the Market Place the busses drop you off much closer than the parking lot walk is. The other parks I would say are a toss up and you should do what works best for your family.

We also used the car a few times to drive to different resorts for meals. This was much nicer than having to transfer at a theme park using disney transportation.

Finally, OKW is not set up very efficiently for the busses. It takes forever for the busses to circle through the resort. The moderates and SSR have a much better system. That could also factor into your decision. So in closing I say WDW transportation definitely for DTD, MK, and resorts. I would try it both ways for the other parks and see what works best for you.

 

[horsegirl]

Finally, OKW is not set up very efficiently for the busses. It takes forever for the busses to circle through the resort. The moderates and SSR have a much better system. That could also factor into your decision. So in closing I say WDW transportation definitely for DTD, MK, and resorts. I would try it both ways for the other parks and see what works best for you.

That is what I heard. Thanks for all the great advice and may I say, OMG !, your pup and kit are adorable! What a great shot. We have 3 cockers and 7 cats and a bunch of horses. I just love our little furry friends! Such a cute pic of your sweeties!

 

[Hef4545]

We prefer not use buses to go anywhere. We use the monorail when possible and the car for the rest. No problems parking and the trams keep things convenient. We definitely don't take the buses to the water parks because we take towels, reading material and snacks and it is easier to just hop back in our car. Once you know you're way around, driving is easy.

The downside is, your car is a furnace when you get in.

Isn't it great to have all of these options though?

 

[Grumpy_Disney_Dad]

When we went in June, we parked the car at the resort and took DIsney transportation everywhere with the longest wait time being 10 min. Just remember that with long lines, thebus may not be the fastest way to go. We often took a boat ride from Epcot to the boardwalk or MGM and then caught a bus back to ASMU from there