What's faster? Disney Buses or your own car?

[princess brianas mom]

We plan on renting a car during our next trip but I was just curious... What's faster?

 

[wdwfanatic80]

By far - a rental car will get you every where you want to go much much faster!

 

[kangaroodle]

I agree! The buses are convenient because they go closer to the gate but the wait times can be longer....especially at park closing. We always rent a car. Also so much more convenient if you want o go to another hotel for dinner, or to the Boardwalk, DTD, etc.

 

[scorp111]

I disagree with the OP, it does to some degree depending on how long you wait for the bus, which will also vary by whether the bus is hitting multiple resorts or multiple stops within a resort. If you luck into it correctly, it could beat a personal car, if you are going to a PARK. Especially MK, and sometimes AK. If you are going anywhere else, ie resorts or DTD, driving will definitely be faster.

Regardless, we rarely drive once we are on Disney property.

 

[Skroops]

It seemed like kind of a wash for us. Unless you are staying at a resort that is spread out with multiple bus stops, it seemed about the same because you had to take the parking lot tram and at park close it was a wait for the cars to leave to lot. Then our parking spot was a walk as well.

Many prefer to drive, it leaves you more in control.

There has been a couple of times where we ended up taking a taxi instead of waiting for the resort bus when the lines were really long at park close. Usually there isn't that long of a wait though because they get more than one bus at a time then. We had a toddler that wasn't going to make it without a meltdown before the bus arrived, so luckily they have taxis' right there.

 

[Mickey'sfriend]

We drive to WDW and even while staying at a WDW resort we drive our own car to the parks. You get free parking, so I'd rather have the freedom to get there and get back without waiting in line for a bus.

 

[jimenyfan]

We always drive to Disney and always drive our car on property. If you leave for a park the same time a disney bus does your car will generally get to the park first, but the disney buses have a better drop off area. That being said we arent big on waiting and would rather be walking to our car instead of waiting on a bus. We always use our car on property it really boils down to being what you prefer.

 

[becka]

We loved the buses and used nothing else when it was just DH and I. When we brought our DS for the 1st time we rented a car and for the first day or so we continued to use the busses but we found that waiting around with a toddler was not much fun. We started driving and loved the ease of us - even at the MK it was not as bad as we feared. Ever since then with the kids we use our own car to get everywhere. We don't have to wait in long lines for buses, carrying our kids and once we do get to our car the kids can fall asleep in their own seats for the drive back to the resort and it is so nice and quiet. For us now driving beats riding the busses every time.

 

[kaelarad]

Your car by far!

 

[armomof3lvsdisney]

We drive 18 hours to Disney, so once we get there I prefer not to get back in our car until time to leave. So we use the buses and love it.

 

[kandeebunny]

We drive on property, the only park we dislike for parking etc is the MK. We have handicapped parking and find the lot a long walk from the boarding area for the boat or monorail.

 

[OKW Lover]

Except for MK, its faster to take your own car. The reason MK is different is because of the additional tram to boat/monorail steps that you need to take from the MK parking as compared to the bus dropping your off near the gates.

 

[elastigirl]

We take the bus to MK and drive anywhere else. Skipping the TTC on the way to MK and getting dropped off at the gate saves a lot of time.

 

[Idroveallnight]

Just remember that if you drive your car to the parks in the morning (if you want to be there early), you may be held at the entry to the parking lot as buses are allowed entry.

 

[DisneyDadof3]

Just remember that if you drive your car to the parks in the morning (if you want to be there early), you may be held at the entry to the parking lot as buses are allowed entry.

We are always at the parks 45-60 minutes before opening and have never been held up. We were even at MK 2 hours before opening once (for breakfast at Chef Mickey's) and there wasn't anyone at the parking gates or even there to park us.

 

[TENIA66]

car is faster, we get to parks at least 1/2 hour before early entry time and never have a problem with the lot

 

[photobob]

I'm a bus guy. We drive down and rarely move our car once there. Not having to drive is a bit of the reality escape for us and a big reason for staying onsite..

 

[jimenyfan]

As I posted before we drive, I dont ever have to worry about getting a seat on a bus, I dont have to leave 45min ahead of time to wait for a bus, its all on my schedule and thats the way I like it. I can appreciate others who drive and dont want to have to get back into their cars but I like being able to keep on my schedule and not having to rely on anyone else.

 

[byoung]

To me the Disney transportation is part of the majic.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Just remember that if you drive your car to the parks in the morning (if you want to be there early), you may be held at the entry to the parking lot as buses are allowed entry.

We were just there in December and I'm pretty sure the buses have separate entrances to all of the parks and resorts. If I remember correctly, the buses usually enter in the far right lane. The don't have to stop to pay or show a resort ID and the attendant just waves them through. The other lanes are for cars. I also recall that the buses don't drive through the parking lots to get to the front gates. They have a separate lane that takes them right to the front. The cars follow the attendants and cones to the designated parking area.

We drove our rental car everywhere but MK and we never encountered excessive bus traffic or had to wait for buses to have the right of way.