Which places should we take our car and which places should we rely on Disney?

[Sheilby]

OK, I've read on here that taking to car to MK is a waste because you have to park at the TTC and you don't save any time, I never would have known that had it not been for you knowledgeable DISers. So I have a few scenarios that I would like to run by you if it is OK. We went to Disney once 3 years ago, stayed in the treehouses and used only Disney transportation (no car at all down there). We made sure all of our ADR's were at the park we were going to be in for the day so we didn't have a lot of travel to do. This time we are getting a car and staying at OKW. Here is our plan.

Wed 11/13 (arrive at noon) go to Epcot in afternoon and stay through Illuminations - I assume we should use the car.

Thursday 11/14 - IOA - obviously use the car

Friday 11/15 - MK until 6pm and then dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe followed by watching EWP and then Holiday Wishes at the POLY. Originally planning on taking a bus to MK, then the boat to WL and then the boat back to MK (or where ever) and the Monorail to the Poly. Now we will be renting the car though so we have more options. Should we park at TTC and then go to MK and after MK pick up the car and then drive to WL and then drive to the Poly?

Saturday 11/16 - Daytime at AK and then dinner reservations at 7:30 at Raglan Road. I was thinking to drive to AK then drive back to OKW and take the boat from there since I read the parking at DTD was awful (I've never been to DTD). Is that the best idea?

Sunday 11/17 - Epcot with an early dinner at Garden Grill followed by movies under the stars back at the resort and some evening swimming. Car vs bus probably wouldn't matter much, but car might be better.

Monday 11/18 - Hollywood studios from open until close, seeing Fantasmic and then the Osborne lights. Car?

Tuesday 11/19 - Breakfast at the poly at 7:30, followed by MK, then dinner at Chef Mickey's and back to the MK for Wishes, we may tour some of the resorts in the afternoon - not sure yet. So should we drive to the Poly and then after breakfast move the car to the TTC and go to MK and then walk or take the monorail to the contempo for dinner and then after wishes pick up our car from TTC or is there a better way.

We are a a group of 7, two grandparents, hubby and I and three kids ages 6, 10 and 13 if that matters.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Cubicleprisoner]

If you have an A.D.R. at a resort restaurant, then you can park your car in their lot and just leave it. I've never seen a tow truck in a Disney resort lot, plus you will have your resort guest parking pass visible on your dash, which is to your advantage. You don't need to move your car to the TTC. The Animal Kingdom now has a bus that takes you straight to Downtown Disney. I would leave your car at the resort that day and just take the bus back to OKW from DD. Driving your own car to/from Epcot and DHS will definitely save you some time.

 

[Sheilby]

If you have an A.D.R. at a resort restaurant, then you can park your car in their lot and just leave it. I've never seen a tow truck in a Disney resort lot, plus you will have your resort guest parking pass visible on your dash, which is to your advantage. You don't need to move your car to the TTC. The Animal Kingdom now has a bus that takes you straight to Downtown Disney. I would leave your car at the resort that day and just take the bus back to OKW from DD. Driving your own car to/from Epcot and DHS will definitely save you some time.

Thanks for your response. Are the buses reliable from AK to DTD? I heard they were just in testing so I wasn't sure if they ran everyday. I also heard the buses were backing up getting to downtown Disney, at least that is what my friend who just got back said, so I was trying to avoid them by taking the boat from my resort (OKW).

How should I handle the plans on the 15th? Would the car be more hassle than it is worth?

 

[Cubicleprisoner]

The AK to DD busses are running daily from 3:00 P.M. to AK close. I didn't know they were backing up. If that is the case, then you should just take your own car to AK then DD. The boat to DD from OKW is very time consuming. I think that the week you are going, you should be able to get a parking spot in the main DD lot. If not, they are having people park across the street and providing a shuttle service. I agree that driving your car on the 15th may be more trouble than it is worth. You should just stick with your current plans for the 15th. Have fun!

 

[Sheilby]

The AK to DD busses are running daily from 3:00 P.M. to AK close. I didn't know they were backing up. If that is the case, then you should just take your own car to AK then DD. The boat to DD from OKW is very time consuming. I think that the week you are going, you should be able to get a parking spot in the main DD lot. If not, they are having people park across the street and providing a shuttle service. I agree that driving your car on the 15th may be more trouble than it is worth. You should just stick with your current plans for the 15th. Have fun!

Great, thanks for your input.

 

[joelkfla]

The AK to DD busses are running daily from 3:00 P.M. to AK close.

Are you sure about that? The test was scheduled to end 10/31. Disney has announced nothing about the service being made permanent. The signs at DAK announcing the service are no longer there.

 

[Autumnslight]

If you have an A.D.R. at a resort restaurant, then you can park your car in their lot and just leave it. I've never seen a tow truck in a Disney resort lot, plus you will have your resort guest parking pass visible on your dash, which is to your advantage.

The security guard will tell you when you enter the resort that you're allowed to park for three hours while dining. That's the official Disney policy, and technically if you leave your car in a resort lot all day when you're not a guest of the resort, you could be towed. I don't know how often that actually happens, but it definitely DOES happen sometimes. I've seen stories on this board about it. Personally, I wouldn't want to risk it, especially with a rental car.

If you pay to valet park at a resort, then you're allowed to leave the car there all day long. We found this to be very worth the cost on certain days.

For your Epcot and DHS days, I would take the car, for sure. Especially if you get there early and don't even need to take a tram from the parking lot. It doesn't get much easier than that.

For the AK day, I'd drive to AK, then drive to DTD and if you can't find a spot, pay ($15+tip) for the new valet parking they just started doing. If paying for valet is out of the question, I'd stick with the boat plan. A Saturday night is probably the worst day and time for parking at DTD, so if I drove, I'd be expecting to valet park.

On 11/15, I'd probably just take the bus to MK, then boat/monorail/bus the rest of the day. Going back to TTC to get your car is way more hassle than it's worth, and will probably take MORE time, since you still have to take the monorail/ferry to TTC, then walk or take a tram to your car, then drive to the resort and park again, instead of just getting on a boat or monorail to the resort. The other option, if you want to be able to get back to your resort as quickly as possible that night, would be to valet park at the Poly, monorail to MK, boat to WL and back, monorail to Poly, and drive back from Poly.

11/19, I'd just valet park at Poly and then use the monorail the rest of the day. But we're not morning people, so the idea of doing anything more complicated than that at 7:30am is out of the question for us. My second choice would be to take a bus to MK, then use the monorail to get to the resorts.

We had a group of six when we went in September, including three kids and a stroller. Driving to Epcot, AK, and DHS was fine. Parking at the TTC was the worst of our transportation experiences, because it's just a LOT of walking and waiting and logistical annoyances before you can actually get to the park. Valet parking at a resort and taking the monorail was definitely the easiest and least stressful, especially after a long day in the park!

 

[Sheilby]

The security guard will tell you when you enter the resort that you're allowed to park for three hours while dining. That's the official Disney policy, and technically if you leave your car in a resort lot all day when you're not a guest of the resort, you could be towed. I don't know how often that actually happens, but it definitely DOES happen sometimes. I've seen stories on this board about it. Personally, I wouldn't want to risk it, especially with a rental car.

If you pay to valet park at a resort, then you're allowed to leave the car there all day long. We found this to be very worth the cost on certain days.

For your Epcot and DHS days, I would take the car, for sure. Especially if you get there early and don't even need to take a tram from the parking lot. It doesn't get much easier than that.

For the AK day, I'd drive to AK, then drive to DTD and if you can't find a spot, pay ($15+tip) for the new valet parking they just started doing. If paying for valet is out of the question, I'd stick with the boat plan. A Saturday night is probably the worst day and time for parking at DTD, so if I drove, I'd be expecting to valet park.

On 11/15, I'd probably just take the bus to MK, then boat/monorail/bus the rest of the day. Going back to TTC to get your car is way more hassle than it's worth, and will probably take MORE time, since you still have to take the monorail/ferry to TTC, then walk or take a tram to your car, then drive to the resort and park again, instead of just getting on a boat or monorail to the resort. The other option, if you want to be able to get back to your resort as quickly as possible that night, would be to valet park at the Poly, monorail to MK, boat to WL and back, monorail to Poly, and drive back from Poly.

11/19, I'd just valet park at Poly and then use the monorail the rest of the day. But we're not morning people, so the idea of doing anything more complicated than that at 7:30am is out of the question for us. My second choice would be to take a bus to MK, then use the monorail to get to the resorts.

We had a group of six when we went in September, including three kids and a stroller. Driving to Epcot, AK, and DHS was fine. Parking at the TTC was the worst of our transportation experiences, because it's just a LOT of walking and waiting and logistical annoyances before you can actually get to the park. Valet parking at a resort and taking the monorail was definitely the easiest and least stressful, especially after a long day in the park!

Thanks for taking the time to explain it to me.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Don't forget there is a huge construction project at DTD and parking is a mad house. Not to mention the traffic congestion on Hotel Plaza Blvd-the road in front of DTD. I would take the bus from OKW.

If you are taking a boat from WL to MK and need to get to the Poly, there is a boat that goes to the Poly. You will have to get off the WL boat and walk over to the line for the Poly boat.

Here is a link for the boat transportation

http://exploringwdw.com/disney-info/disney-boat-transportation/

 

[wdwrich]

If you have an A.D.R. at a resort restaurant, then you can park your car in their lot and just leave it. I've never seen a tow truck in a Disney resort lot, plus you will have your resort guest parking pass visible on your dash, which is to your advantage. You don't need to move your car to the TTC.

Well, DW and I have witnessed cars being towed from Disney resort lots on two separate occasions. Both times there was no driver/owner with the vehicle, so I don't think they were being towed due to mechanical breakdown. Once, there was a Disney security person present. Both times were in MK resort lots. The resort lots have signs that specifically state that they are for guests of that resort and are not for theme park parking.
Personally, I wouldn't risk getting towed and having the whole hassle affect my vacation.

 

[Sheilby]

Don't forget there is a huge construction project at DTD and parking is a mad house. Not to mention the traffic congestion on Hotel Plaza Blvd-the road in front of DTD. I would take the bus from OKW.

If you are taking a boat from WL to MK and need to get to the Poly, there is a boat that goes to the Poly. You will have to get off the WL boat and walk over to the line for the Poly boat.

Here is a link for the boat transportation

http://exploringwdw.com/disney-info/disney-boat-transportation/

Thanks for the link

Well, DW and I have witnessed cars being towed from Disney resort lots on two separate occasions. Both times there was no driver/owner with the vehicle, so I don't think they were being towed due to mechanical breakdown. Once, there was a Disney security person present. Both times were in MK resort lots. The resort lots have signs that specifically state that they are for guests of that resort and are not for theme park parking.
Personally, I wouldn't risk getting towed and having the whole hassle affect my vacation.

I'm such a rule follower I would never park where I wasn't supposed to, but it is nice to know that we can pay for valet and then be allowed to leave it if we want to. I just didn't know the rules since this is only our 2nd time and we didn't have a car the first time.

 

[bumbershoot]

OK, I've read on here that taking to car to MK is a waste because you have to park at the TTC and you don't save any time

Well, we drive to MK anyway. Because the annoyance of the bus, to us, wastes far more time than the time it takes to park, walk, and monorail or boat in to MK's entrance area. I'd rather be moving, obviously, than standing around.