When is it preferable to use car rather than WDW transport. to parks?

[PlutoPony]

Originally posted by cruise-o-matic
...I you want to park for free, park at DTD. Then take the bus to the parks.

Uh, Disney's on to that one. Sounds like LOTS of people had that idea, which filled up DTD parking, leaving no spots for people who actually wanted to visit that area. Not good

Busses from DTD now go only to resorts, not to the parks. So if you wanted to violate the "spirit" of WDW transportation you'd have to bus to a resort first, then transfer to other transportation to get to a park. Quite a hassle and somewhat time consuming just to save $7....

 

[cruise-o-matic]

Oopsie, thought DTD went to TTC. Oh nevermind, we always stay on-site, so never an issue, except that if you want to park at DTD, you pretty much have to follow someone as they walk out to their car.

When you check into your resort, they give you a parking pass for that resort only, with your stay dates. That's what the CM's look for when you go to the parks. When you return to your resort, you can use your room key to lift the gate.

On EE day, it is probably best to take WDW transportation. I've seen posts where even on-site drivers have been held back from entering the parking lots too early. Though you may want to start a separate thread asking that question.

 

[seashoreCM]

If different trips take from 15 to 40 minutes to get to a particular park by bus and 20 to 30 minutes to get there by car, which is better?

Driving once and taking the bus once is not a good comparison.

On a recent trip, drove on 4 different days and each time ended up parking almost as far from the tram lane as possible.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[Michael623]

I can answer this question in one word:

always

 

[pumpkinboy]

Originally posted by seashoreCM
If different trips take from 15 to 40 minutes to get to a particular park by bus and 20 to 30 minutes to get there by car, which is better?
Driving once and taking the bus once is not a good comparison.
On a recent trip, drove on 4 different days and each time ended up parking almost as far from the tram lane as possible.

seashoreCM is right here: once each way is not a fair comparison.

Personally, we found that AKL buses are among the best in WDW. There is only one stop for the bus routes there, and the buses are rarely crowded. We only use the rental car for going resort to resort, or to water parks, DTD or the grocery store.

If you drive to any of the parks, then you still have to park, and then wait for the tram to the park entrance. Taking the AKL buses, you walk out the Lodge door, catch your bus and get dropped off right at the park entrance. What could be more convenient than that? We have the added complication of DS in a wheelchair, and have found that boarding the bus was much easier for us than moving him from wheelchair to carseat, stowing the wheelchair, then everything in reverse at the other end; much easier to simply keep him in his chair, and just roll him onto the bus.

Have a great time at AKL, vasoccermom. It is our favorite resort. Our only regret our last time there was not spending more time at the hotel.

 

[crisi]

Originally posted by Lewisc
Bus to MK. Drive to DTD and the water parks. Drive if you're going to another resort for dinner, particularly an EPCOT resort.

The other parks are a toss up. Some people like the flexibility of not waiting for a bus and others don't like to drive when on vacation.

This is as close a factual answer as you will get.

We actually like to grab a cab to MK. Drops you off at the TTC (unlike the bus), but we like the ferry ride. We always find MK buses to be the most crowded.

We didn't drive last time at all, but we did take a lot of cabs - which is similar to driving your own car - but without the parking issues.

 

[MNSusan]

We stayed at AKL in Nov 2002. We found the buses were running fairly frequently, were easy and uncrowded. We used the car the day we went to Cape Canaveral, that's it.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I use car to sometimes go to AK, most resort hoping, DtD.