Too rent a car or not???

[DizneyDoug]

I am travelling with my family of 4 (DD's ages 7 & 4) arriving on July 13th for a wonderful week at WDW. For all of our other trips we have used either Magical Express or a town car from the airport. We are staying at POFQ and I'm getting concerned that reports of less busses running from the resorts (due to fuel prices) is turning alot of bus stop waits to over 20 minutes and some to near an hour. I'm starting to seriously consider renting a car from the airport for the week and using it for a grocery stop (instead of using Garden Grocer) and then also for travel between the parks to save time. Normally I do not mind short waits at the bus stops, but anything over 20 minutes is hard to do with my daughters.
Please share your thoughts and opinions both for and against renting a vehicle or using the Disney bus transportation. Thank you all!

[kadesha]

I have heard that Disney is cutting back on the buses. Maybe because of the gas? I don't know why, but I've read many reports from people who have been recently and had horrible bus service, long waits, overcrowded buses, etc. I always ride the buses, but I think I'll be driving my own car this year.

[Queen Stephanie]

We always rent a car because it is more convenient! Having the luxury to travel wherever you want makes our vacations more enjoyable. Waiting for buses = no fun!:wait:

[Lucyrella]

I flip flopped on this issue for a long time, and finally decided to rent a car, our trip is for 10 days, and I have 5 and 4 year old, so waiting in the heat is not for us. I also like the fact in case of an emergency we can jump in our car and go. I think with young children, convenience is the solution.... we got a great rate with Avis, via priceline.... unbelievably cheap for a 10 day rental. Good Luck with your decision making and enjoy your trip.:mickey:

[azdisneymom]

We have always used a towncar. You know from experience that it is nice to have someone meet you at baggage claim and help with luggage. If your concern is stopping at the grocery store most towncars will make one stop for little or no fee.

Magical Express does have several stops but what made me say no thanks was they wanted to pick me up almost 3.5 hours before my flight home. The towncar came 2 hours before. 1.5 hours more at the park - I'll take it. Plus I didn't have to allot extra time to return a rental car. IMHO - I'd go towncar again.

[megustamex]

I absolutely recommend renting a car. We've had some long bus waits in the past and it only takes a few times to really make the trip tough. Plus, if you are entering a park later in the afternoon or evening you can often park right up in the front rows and walk right in.

[DizNee143]

im a rent a car kinda person..although i have never done that personally yet..
most of my trips to the world were with my family (parents and sister) and they always rented a car!
its just so much easier!!..
you can come and go as you please and dont have to allow for travel time to get some where at a certain..
renting is just so easy! :mickey:

[bruin1344]

although the buses are kind of nuisance, i still prefer to take them over renting a car because of the high costs of renting it and gas prices plus i dont have to worry about parking at the parks

[epceddie]

We always rent a car from Dollar at the airport. I can't see wasting valuable vacation time waiting for buses. That would drive me crazy.
You can get a car for $150 if you look around.
I love the freedom we have with a car of our own.
You wait in lines all day at the parks. At the end of the day, it feels great to get into a car and have the option of going wherever you want to go.

[pox24]

By all means, rent a car. It leaves you in control of what to do rather than relying on a sometimes unreliable bus system. :thumbsup:

[AirlineGuy07]

RENT A CAR!!! We will have a 3 yr old and a 9 month old when we go in Dec. We rented a car last year and you have the freedom to go as you please. No waiting for buses. We can stop at Wal-Mart on the way to Disney to buy breakfast and snack items. Its also good in case of an emergency. We rented a Toyota Highlander from Alamo for 5 days for only $160.00. If you have a VISA card you can save big from Alamo.

[KylesMom]

This is one of the great debates here on Intercot. We've never taken a Disney vacation without a rental car and drive everywhere except for the MK, so I guess we're a bit biased. It has made our vacations so much more pleasant to hop, skip and jump whenever and wherever we want with a rental car, from park hopping to making our ADRs at other resorts. We cannot imagine a trip without one.

I must, however, give you a heads-up on rental car rates. We reserved through National's Emerald Aisle roughly three months ago, and are getting a decent rate at $29.33 per day for an Intermediate car, which is what you'd need with four of you plus luggage. The rates that I am getting to try & improve our rates are almost double what we locked in for a few months ago through a few different rental agencies. The "travel experts" are saying that current rental car rates are now roughly 40% higher than last year, so if you're interested in renting a car, I'd do your research now to see if it's in the cards for you to rent one at an affordable rate. I certainly do not mind paying a fair price for the car, plus a reasonable amount for gas which we use to traverse around the WDW property as well as a grocery run or two, but some of the recent rates I've been receiving are ridiculous- close to $50 per day!

[RBrooksC]

I would say rent a car. The stress of having to wait for a bus can get to me, especially when I feel like it is wasting my time.

When we were there in September, we tried using Disney Transportation and each time there was a delay except for the boat from WL to CR or MK. That worked great.

However, the monorail to Epoct was delayed and the boat trip/walking between DHS and Epcot was not what I expected.

However, what I liked is that we could drive to wherever and know we could leave when we were done and not have to wait for a bus to take up back to the resort.

This was especially nice for Downtown Disney.

I don't think I could ever go down there and not rent a car.

[thrillme]

If you can afford to fit it in your budget...I wouldn't hesitate to rent a car. It is GLORIOUS to pass all those people waiting for the bus in the HEAT and jump in you're quickly cooled down car...Then at night when the kids are tired...Wave goodbye to the 10,000 people in line and hop in your car and maybe even stop off for "ice cream"...

Skip the pricey breakfasts and stop off at McDonalds on the way to the park. Can't get ADR's don't worry TONS of great resturants nearby.

Made the ADR...OK...no problem...no worry to just get in the car and drive over to it rather than be at one park (like Animal Kingdom) and try to make it over to Magic Kingdom via bus...(if the monorail doesn't go between parks I "think" you have to go BACK to any hotel and catch a bus to the park)

We're going in October it'll be the FIRST and probably ONLY time I'm ever going to skip renting a car and already I'm nervous about it. I may end up "relenting" and getting a car.

[Hull-onian]

We have thought :idea: about renting a :car:. However, this past trip, we were a party of four :coaster:. Since I really don't know my way around that well, we took taxis all over the place. It was convienent and no waiting. It was great and not that expensive.:thumbsup:

[SandmanGStefani24]

i finally rented a car last trip, and it was so much easier than I thought it would be. Now while I was adventurous and rented one of Avis's Corvette convertibles, you can find any type of car for not too much cash by looking online or by joining one of the online clubs the cars renters have. (i.e. Avis Preferred, Hertz #1 Club, ect) The major thing is, when you're ready to go, you can GO. No waiting at hot bus stops, no sitting for a hour exhausted after being at the parks to go home, and a little more sleep before leaving to fly home. I stayed offsite, and had 400 horses under the hood, and still didn't burn much gas at all. The ME experience was nice, but I will always rent from now on. Parking isn't too tough, and besides, nothing like blazing down the Florida roads with the wind in your hair at about 100. Just kidding kiddos, saftey first!
:car:

[Gator]

2 reasons why I don't rent and never will rent a car.

1) Money-why spend it if you don't have to
2) The reason I love WDW is that I can go to a bus stop and have someone take me wherever I want. I don't have to learn directions. I don't have to get lost or take a wrong road. I don't have to think - and that is a great thing.

[andreallybadeggs]

If it's in your budget, do it. We've usually had a car, our own or a rental, and like it that way. We still use the bus and monorail systems but like having the freedom to drive if we want and we usually need at least one Wal Mart run during a week's stay. Assume you know there is no fee for parking when you stay on site.

[Polynesian Dweller]

We always rent a car. As others have said, its the freedom in planning and moving around that makes it so good. We will drive to AK, then to DHS, then downtown, then back to the Poly with ease and no transfer of buses and waiting at the bus stops. Parking at the parks is never a problem, quite easy as a matter of fact and staying at a Disney resort its free!

[irish1967]

One thing you definitely want to do when choosing a rental car is to find out exactly how much it will cost ahead of time.

We once rented a car for an "unbelievable" low price.

Then we found out at the rental counter that the company policy was that the did not deal with any insurance companies other than their own. Which meant, we had to purchase additional insurance at a cost of $25 or so per day.

Our $90 planned expense actually ended up costing $240 :mad: (at myself for not asking up front if there were any additional charges)