Where to stay without a car?

[tio2girl]

We bought plane tickets for a WDW vacation over Thanksgiving today - YAY! - and now I'm trying to sort through all of the lodging options. We won't have a car, so I've been looking at hotels that are CLOSE with good transportation to WDW. All of the bad reviews of the hotel shuttles have made me skittish, so I've been really focusing my attention on Downtown Disney hotels that are close enough to walk to DD to catch the Disney buses. Am I making a mistake by not branching out more?

WWYD? Stick with DD hotels or branch out?

Thank you!

 

[Upatnoon]

With no car and staying during a very busy time, I would stay at an on-property Disney resort.

How many are going on your trip? What is your budget?

 

[septbaby]

I echo those sentiments, stay on site. Hope you can make it work.

Two years ago I planned 2 night winter weekend trip to Orlando, not a Disney trip. With car rental rates staying at Pop and letting Disney do the driving were cheaper than an off site stay with a car. I did no parks, but enjoyed Downtown Disney, a Disney golf course, meals on site and had a great time.

 

[Metsoskil]

Without a car you need to be on property. I would rethink the plan of using Disney Transportation from DTD. Busses from DTD do not go to the parks, so you'd be looking at having to transfer in order to get to and from the theme parks. DTD hotels do have their own shuttle to the parks, but it does not run as often as Disney transportation.

I think for your situation, you'd be much better off at a Disney resort.

 

[Alexander]

In all honesty, if you are staying off site to save money, I have never found the DTD hotels to be cheaper than the value resorts.

If you don't have your own transportation, you need to stay onsite. The DTD busses won't get you to the theme parks. The will only get you to the resorts.

 

[tio2girl]

Thanks for the input, everyone.

Our one big hangup is that we want a suite. That makes staying on-site more than $100/nt more than staying in a DTD hotel. Very good to know about the DTD shuttles. I've read of a lot of people walking to DTD to use the shuttle system there instead of relying on the hotel shuttles.

I think that we're going to have to consider renting a car and look beyond DTD hotels. I do have a quote in hand for staying on-site, but man, is it expensive!

 

[Metsoskil]

Don't forget that you can rent DVC points for a suite and it will probably be cheaper than the quote you have and will include on-site transportation as well as all other on-site perks.

It does appear that your cheapest option may be to stay off-site and rent a car, though. Many people on the boards here rave about Bonnet Creek. There are ways to rent there pretty cheaply and it is very close to the parks. In fact, it's on Disney property even though it's not a Disney resort. Good luck w/ whatever you choose.

 

[Upatnoon]

What kind of suite are you looking for?

If you want a 2-bedroom villa, your best option with no car would be Wyndham Bonnet Creek, which has pretty good shuttle service and is located next to the Caribbean Beach resort.

You can read about it in the "we looooove bonnet creek thread"

 

[isla bonita]

If there is no chance of a vehicle I would have to say onsite.

There are hotels with shuttle service but the service is so limited as far as times go it is not worth it. JMHO

 

[tio2girl]

So many negatives to using shuttle services! Staying in a suite on-site looks to be cost-prohibitive to us, so we are expanding our horizons and going to rent a car. That gives us a lot of other hotels with suites to look at outside of the DTD area.

 

[septbaby]

You are travelling at one of the busiest times of the year: hotels, cars and flights are often very expensive as a result. If you intend to rent a car I suggest you use Priceline. We just did that for a trip over July 4th (3rd to 10th), another busy time and got a decent rate on an economy or midsized car (Dodge Caliber).

Good luck!

Also are you willing to rent points from a DVC member? You can get a suite on Disney property thus eliminating $300 for a car.

 

[4forMe]

So many negatives to using shuttle services! Staying in a suite on-site looks to be cost-prohibitive to us, so we are expanding our horizons and going to rent a car. That gives us a lot of other hotels with suites to look at outside of the DTD area.

Check out the transportation forum on this board. It's a great source for learning of discounts, coupon codes, etc. for your rental vehicle.