Car to the parks or no?

[Bass T-bone]

We are going to be at the World the last week of January and are going to drive down this time. Should we take the car to the parks or use Disney transportation?

We are staying at French Quarter.

Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

[IloveDisney71]

I prefer to use Disney transportation especially to the MK. If you drive to the Mk, you have to ride the tram to either the monorail or riverboat to get to the actual park. However, if you ride the Disney buses you get to skip the tram
& monorail/riverboat. I very rarely use my personal car to get to any of the parks. However, if you choose to drive, you won't have to pay for parking as long as you leave your resort parking tag in your front windshield.

[Genie1953]

We drove down on our last trip and left our car parked at the resort the entire time except the day we went to SeaWorld. That was one of the things my husband loved most....NOT having to drive. It was great. We stayed at POR and only had one long wait and that was the night that we stayed until closing at Magic Kingdom. Other than that we never waited more than 5 or 10 minutes for a bus. We are flying down on our next trip and we will not be renting a car....we are using Magical Express to get to and from the airport and Disney transport to get to the parks.

[drosenbe]

We swear by driving, except to the MK, which is usually easier by bus, since you get taken right to the gates..and then picked up again. But then...we usually arrive at our first park in time for opening (we were once in the very first row of the MK parking lot) and we usually leisurely wander out of our park after closing.

One tip...if you arrive late in the day...politely ignore the cast member guiding you to a parking spot way far away...and you can usually find a spot that has been vacated very close to the park (this works in all the parks other than the MK)

[kakn7294]

We nearly always drive to WDW then park the car and let Disney do the driving around property. We've yet to drive to a park. There are people who swear by driving themselves but we are not among them. Part of the charm of being at Disney is the transportation to take us anywhere we want to go.

[faline]

It's a personal preference but we mostly use Disney transportation even when we have a car available to us. When we're together, my husband does the bulk of the dirivng and he greatly enjoys not having to do it while at Disney!

When we do have a car available, we generally only use it to go off-site or to Downtown Disney.

[Jeff]

We always have a car with us (either drive or rent).

The only place I insist on driving to is Downtown Disney.

As others have said I would not recommend driving to the Magic Kingdom. Depending on the mood we will drive to any of the other parks.

The advice that "drosenbe" gave above is excellent advice. There are always spaces available up front later in the day.

The car is great if you are eating at other resorts. You just stop at the gate and they ask for a photo ID and let you on in.

[ThanxForNoticin]

Our personal preference to take the car most everywhere, except to MK. It's always better to take the bus to MK (from the non-monorail resorts). When we stay at a Disney resort, it includes parking at the theme parks and we just prefer the convenience of coming and going as we please.

That being said, Disney transportation is certainly very good and very effective. I also understand the desire to park the car and not drive it for an entire trip!

[DVC2004]

We were just there- POR too- get a car and take it. Transportation was very slow- the buses were always packed and there were many people in sccoters. There is nothing wrong with that and I mean no offense to anyone, it just took a long time for us to get anywhere. We won't be doing another trip without a rental car.

[wdwfansince75]

A variation of the theme...DVC pointed out the delays caused by Scooters....Last trip, we had two members of the party with Scooters...(and an HC sticker for the car) We found it very convenient to use our SUV to get the two scooters to the other parks....We were at SoG, and had free parking at the parks...For MK, DW and DBF used the scooters to drive to Poly, where we boarded the monorail.

On our last several trips, we have stayed at SoG, with their bus system, and at Poly, with Disney Buses...We find that the car is more convenient for AK, and perhaps for DHS....No clear preference there.....but the buses or monorails are better for EPCOT and MK.

With ECV's, most buses can easily accomodate one or even two ECV's....Three usually means someone needs to wait for the next bus.

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

Each trip we drive more and more. We haven't had any huge issues with Disney transportation, but have just found it to be much easier and quicker to drive. I especially like it at the end of the day, when the bus lines are long and we can just hop in our car and be back in a couple of minutes.

Once I realized it was only 9 minutes from POFQ to Epcot when we drove, I was sold.

DH still prefers to take Disney transport, but we're trying to win him over too!

As some others have said, MK is the one park where it really can be easier to take the bus, since you have to factor in the monorail or boat from the parking lot.

[mdhiggin]

We went on a trip with some friends. We took the bus, and they drove. They pretty much always beat us there and back, but we still like Disney's transport. On vacation, we like to let someone else do the driving while we sit back and enjoy.

[Melanie]

Our personal preference to take the car most everywhere, except to MK. It's always better to take the bus to MK (from the non-monorail resorts). When we stay at a Disney resort, it includes parking at the theme parks and we just prefer the convenience of coming and going as we please.

That being said, Disney transportation is certainly very good and very effective. I also understand the desire to park the car and not drive it for an entire trip!

We're the same way! Almost always drive, except to Magic Kingdom. We were doing a day trip earlier this month, and it literally took us an hour to get out of the park that afternoon. Otherwise, we drive everywhere else. I guess it's that control thing..... ;)

[Melanie]

..but the buses or monorails are better for EPCOT and MK.

I certainly agree with MK, but Epcot is very convenient with a car. There are only two stops on the tram, and we always seem to be in our car on our way within 10 minutes of exiting the park.

[Seasonscraps]

We pretty much drive everywhere in Disney now. It's faster, more comfortable and more convenient when you want to go to another resort.

[Kathy Jetson]

We like to have our own car so we can come and go as we please and not wait for buses. That way ds can sleep and be comfortable in the car on the way back to the hotel.