who is glad they rented a car?

[jenins121681]

We always rent a car, I find WDW bus system to be a nightmare. Plus with a car you can go to the Super Walmart that is about 15 min way from WDW if you need anything and don't want to pay an arm and a leg at the WDW stores. I just like the freedom and all the time we save with renting our own car .

 

[Micca]

If you have a car you can drive to buy beer for much less. Also if you are going from resort to resort, it's easier by car. WDW transport from park to resort or park-to-park often results in less walking.

 

[jphilhower]

We are glad we rent a car when we go. Even though we used SOG's buses. It gave us freedom. We used it to go have pizza, gorcery store and other things off site. we also drove to the water parks for the EMH in the morning. We will always rent a car.

 

[tinklvr64]

We always rent a car...we like to buzz off to whereever/whenever we want. We also valet the car...its vacation and we like to be waited on!

 

[kathie859]

We've stayed on site and off site. We've taken WDW transportation and have had a rental car or our own vehicle. We find that we prefer to have our own transporation. It's just a matter of convenience and time savings.

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

We are primarily bus people, but if we had to go anywhere outside the parks, we were with a "first time" vistor or we had small children, we'd rent a car. Other than that, I think the WDW bus system is excellent. If there is a huge line and we are tired at the end of the day, we can take a taxi - we did this once - $15.

It also depends on your resort. If I stayed at a value, mod or AKL, WL, etc. that is only accessible by bus, I would consider a car more strongly than if I stayed at a MK or Epcot resort where I could walk, monorail or boat to a park. When staying at the Swan, we are so close, there's no need to have a car for us.

I think it depends on the individual situation.

 

[gwcollins71]

We stay onsite half the time and off site half the time. It depends on the budget. When we stay onsite, we rent a car for 1-2 days. We plan any early morning things those days and all our off property stuff (we go to Margaritaville -- don't tell anyone).

As a general rule, we like the busses. The car is nice to have for early ADR's though.

Good luck.

Gretchen

 

[SGMCO]

Whenever you use Disney Busses, you can get dropped off
right in front of the entrance.
But, When you drive you have to park then take
shuttle then take Monorail and fight the crowd in all those situations.
I rather be dropped off at the entrance and not have to walk so much.

 

[Yzerbear19]

I was glad that we had rented a car because it allowed us to go to a couple of other places in Orlando like the Titanic Experience. I also liked that the car was not crowded. The morning of my sister's birthday we drove to the transport center to hop on the monorail for to the Contemporary Resort for breakfast and got front row parking. We then went to MK, but after lunch wanted to go back to the room to freshen up, but left the car parked where it was and took the bus back to the hotel then back to MK. It was great having the car parked there when we left that night. The busses were OK, but I hate waiting so the car was better. No waiting!

 

[Anc96]

Whenever you use Disney Busses, you can get dropped off
right in front of the entrance.
But, When you drive you have to park then take
shuttle then take Monorail and fight the crowd in all those situations.
I rather be dropped off at the entrance and not have to walk so much.

That's only true for MK. Though I don't agree about "fighting the crowds". We have to take the boat/monorail to the parking area.. then the tram to the car. We've never hit what would be considered a crowd, but maybe you've been there when it was more crowded than when we were there. MK is the only time it's a bit less convenient to drive and because of that we usually take the bus to MK if there are evening magic hours.

The other parks, the busses leave you to the sides of the entrance. Not a far walk, true, but when we park our car, we probably have about that same walk as you do, to the tram. And the tram DOES leave you off directly in front of the entrances for the other 3 parks. So we have about the same walk distance as people taking the bus.
And, if you use AAA parking for AK or EPCOT... the walk is very short (maybe a bit longer than the bus people) to the front entrance. No need to use the tram.

If you're talking wallking... the busses don't save you much in that way at all.

They can be very convenient for some resorts. I found when staying at AKL it was really nice and quick to take the bus to AK. Very short ride! The bus was right around the corner of the entrance to AKL.. and the ride is about 5 minutes. Since AKL bus doesn't share resorts (cause it's a bit off of the beaten path), it's fast. I still liked to take the car to other parks though. It was faster.

We were at MK one day this summer and met a family of 6. They were staying at the Beach Club as we also were. We decided to leave the park and get together at SAB when we returned to the resort, so we left together, parting when they went towards the busses and we hopped the boat to the parking area (our chrysler pacifica only seated 6 total, so we couldn't give them a ride). We got to the resort 20 minutes before they did! The Beach Club only shares the bus with the Yacht Club (the Yacht Club drops off first) right next door.. but we were still back way before them. I thought they changed their minds about meeting us..lol.

So, I guess even MK, which I think is usually more convenient to take the bus... it still may be faster to take the boat/monorail to the tram to the car...


I think if you don't mind the busses (which might get crowded from what I hear.. standing room only).. and you don't want to leave property, you should save the car rental money and just take the busses.
But, if you don't like waiting for the busses... possibly having to stand on the bus, the time it takes the busses to stop at other parks/resorts, if you want to leave property for other things such as shopping.. Sea World.. IDrive, do a bit of searching and you can usually find pretty good deals on car rentals. My 21 day rental for the Chrysler Pacifica was only $493.

Cars will save quite a lot of time in the end and give you so much more freedom!

 

[Suzimom]

We rent a car...so nice not to wait in line at the end of a hot, tiring day...We never felt like we had a long walk to/from the car at any of the parks. It was great to blast the air right away!! We enjoy a lunch outside of Disney right after we land and pick up our car. Then we stop to load up on beverages and snacks to keep in our room at POP.

 

[SGMCO]

We have done both (used a car and used Disney Busses)
so I have experianced both and still prefer letting someone
else drive on my vacation so that I can sit back and relax
after a long day at the park.
I have not experianced crowded busses.
The more people who rent cars the better for those who don't rent
and plan to use Disney Busses.
So, I say go ahead and rent a Car!