WDW Transport or Drive?

[Cass&KenziesMom]

Hi! I just recently booked our trip to WDW for the 9th-15-th of Feb. We're driving in over night and staying on property at All Star Movies. My question is would it be better for us to just take our own personal vehicle to each park? Or would it be better to take the shuttles from our hotel?

[Gator]

I can say this from experience and the exp from my travel agent - Take the car! We didn't when we stayed, and the bus transport is terrible. And I mean really terrible. The lines are long, the buses are few, and for some reason, the ECVs are plenty at ASMov, which really ties up your time in line.

My agent said she rented a car and said it was so much easier. Really wish I had done what she did.

Take the car. All other resorts, the bus service is good, but not where you're going. Your resort card will get you into the parking lots for free, so that's a plus. No waiting around in frustration - that's the only way to do ASMov.

Oh, and welcome to Intercot!!! You'll love it here.

[Cass&KenziesMom]

Thanks for the info! So far I've spent about an hour going through so many posts. I'm loving these boards so far.

[A Big Kid]

Over the years, I probably drove to WDW at least a dozen times. Once I park the car, I don't put a key in it until I am driving away.

Going in February, the crowds will be more than manageable and bus transportation should be just fine.

Any time you you "gain" from not waiting on a bus, you'll lose it walking or waiting on trams in giant parking lots.

[Scar]

My pecking order goes like this:

1. Walk
2. Boat
3. Monorail
4. Car





100. Bus

[Janmac]

The way I understand it, it's quicker to drive your own vehicle to Epcot, Disney Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom because the parking trams take you to the front of these parks.

For Magic Kingdom, it is considered quicker, and easier, to take a Disney bus since the bus goes to the park. Taking your own vehicle will result in your waiting for the tram to take you to either the monorail or the ferry, and then waiting while those transports take you to where the busses have dropped guests off.

For us, we almost exclusively rely on Disney transportation - whether it's bus, boat or monorail. We like being able to put our brains on hold and just go along for the ride. Especially at the end of the day when we're tired.

Using Disney transportation generally means you need to allow an hour for transport time. This is not a hardship for us, because out where we live, it's an hour to wherever we're going from our home.

Jan

[gerald72]

I park the car and don't look at it again until the trip is over.
I always take Disney transportation.

[Gator]

My pecking order goes like this:

1. Walk
2. Boat
3. Monorail
4. Car





100. Bus

:laughing::funny: That's pretty funny. I don't see the bus system as that bad. I actually love them ... except at the AllStars.

[Cass&KenziesMom]

The way I understand it, it's quicker to drive your own vehicle to Epcot, Disney Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom because the parking trams take you to the front of these parks.

For Magic Kingdom, it is considered quicker, and easier, to take a Disney bus since the bus goes to the park.
This could definitely be an option. We are doing 2 full days at MK (different days of the week) so I guess it wouldn't be too bad if we had to sit back and wait a bit. Although it would be a cool thing to ride the monorail for my girls since it's their first time. Decisions. Decisions.

[arbie_c]

I've driven to WDW twice and flown in several times. When we drove, we always parked the car and used the buses until it was time to load up and head home. When we fly we never rent a car. I've never stayed at any of the Allstars, but at CBR, POR (back when it was Dixie Landing)& at CSR I've never had any problems with the bus transportation.

[MargaretMessler]

Back in the day when I wasn't yet old enough to rent a car, I dealt with the buses, but I've found the older I get, the less patience I have at times.

Consequently, I find it better to go with the car in most instances. I'd rather deal with the "cons" as listed by previous posters.

Once in a while I will still use the Disney transport options, for instance when we intend to indulge our way around EPCOT. :beer:

[Ms. Mode]

I park the car and don't look at it again until the trip is over.
I always take Disney transportation.

Ditto! Finding your way around WDW is not as easy as it appears. I've gotten us lost on EVERY trip, we use Disney transportation once we're on property. :blush:

[Janmac]

Ditto! Finding your way around WDW is not as easy as it appears. I've gotten us lost on EVERY trip, we use Disney transportation once we're on property. :blush:

:ditto:

:blush: :blush: :blush:

Thank you! I thought we were the only ones - so many say they have no difficulty driving to the parks from their resort. DH and I can navigate all over the country, but not the World. Lots of funny "lost" stories. :D

Jan

[Dulcee]

I have a pretty hard dislike of the buses. Walking, boats, monorail all great and we use them alot. Last trip we flew in and relied on the buses and I hated it but at the time we just couldn't swing the car rental.

This year we rented a car, it was a priority. Anything to save me from late night, cramped crowded, cranky buses.

Also if you are doing a lot of meals at resorts I pretty much consider it a necessity, unless you enjoy an hour + travel time to get to and from your dinner reservation.

[Tigerinvestigator]

Just my opinion, but in more than 40 trips to WDW I have never driven my car anywhere. Once it is parked, it remains parked until our departure day. That is one of the reasons I go on vacation. Honestly, I would rather sit or stand on a bus for hours than to drive my own car at Disney. I think alot depends on your vacation attitude. Ours is to get away from the "Real World" and not to get anywhere in a hurry or "see everything". I know alot of people are the opposite and would rather get to the parks and get going and avoid what can sometimes be time consuming with the bus system. If getting stuck on a very crowded bus for a period of time will ruin your day or raise your stress level then by all means drive. If you are going to go with the flow then leave the driving to Disney.....no right or wrong answer just personal opinion.:thumbsup:

[steamboat willy]

I used to be a park the car at check-in and don't move it until we leave......BUT Life sometimes throws us a detour. We still go to the beach and we still go to DISNEY, now with my DW in a wheelchair because of her progressive MS.
DISNEY is the BEST when it comes to accessibility. Yes, buses are accessible but she doesn't want to have fellow guest move from their seat to make room for her chair so we DRIVE our vehicle to ALL Parks each day.
Magic Kingdom we park at TTC and I push her to the Poly and catch the monorail.
EPCOT, DS & AK we drive right up to the front of each PARK and walk/push right in the entrance. At end of day, we don't have to wait on buses or trams and our car is waiting close by.
We ride monorails and boats to Resort Hop, catch the EWP, Dine and Fireworks from the Beach.
We also drive to DTD without the hassle of getting connecting buses to get back to OUR Resort.
BOATS, MONORAILS & BUSES are GREAT at DISNEY, but our car works best for OUR situation.
45 Days from Today!

[PETE FROM NYC]

DW and I have done many trips to WDW. In the beginning, we always flew and rented a car to drive to the parks, and make off property trips. Our last 3 visits, we drove down. After all of that driving, we started using WDW transportation and were pretty happy with it. We are both ECV users, so we find it much easier to use the buses. But I guess it would all depend on where you are staying and how that particular resort has the schedule arranged. We used WDW transportation staying at Pop, and at BLT.

[Cass&KenziesMom]

Thanks you've all been so helpful! It's been 10 years since we've been to the parks so to say a lot of things have changed would be an understatement. Thanks for all of the input!

[cuteduck223]

My opinion on bus transportation...if you don't mind sitting on a bench in the park at the end of the day, talking about your day, or grabbing some nighttime photopass pictures...you can avoid the huge mass crowd exit and crowded bus.

We have a preschooler and an ECV user in our group, so at times, we drive to dinner, or to a park if we know we need to get back, but even still, for the most part, we let disney take us where we need to go.

[T-Belle]

I've stayed at ASMu in July and the bus lines at the end of the day were just awful. But like I said this was in July and probably won't be that bad when you go. On the other hand, we had a bad experience once driving to AK during morning EMH when we were staying at the Contemporary. They were only allowing Disney busses to pass thru to the parking lot which cost us that extra magical hour.

[joonyer]

We live close enough to drive on every trip to WDW so we always have our car. We've used both WDW transportation and our car while at WDW. We like both. We primarily use the buses (or boats when we stayed at WL) for the convenience. We usually drive to DTD or for early a.m. ADR's at the parks; early a.m. you can park closer to the park entrance. Except for MK. The parking lot there is just too far away from the park. The buses drop you off so close to the park entrance, so it's much easier quicker that driving your own car, taking the tram to the TTC and then taking other transport to the park entrance. Yes, if you stay til park closing at MK the bus loading stations will be crowded, but when you factor in the return trip to the parking lot, it's really doesn't take any longer to wait on a bus. You're just sitting still instead of moving. It's your choice.
We usually hang around on Main St. until the crowds thin out before heading to the bus ramps, and it's really not bad at all, unless you are there at a peak attendance time.

[AgentC]

My children are 4 and 7. For us the car is almost always better. We generally do not take the buses. Magic Kingdom is the one park where the buses do have an advantage. When you have your car, you must park at the TTC and take the monorail or the ferry to MK . The buses drop you off right in front.

[HoosierDisneyFan]

This question is really a matter of opinion (though many will post that there is an absolute answer).

We generally take Magical Express from the airport and Disney tranportation the rest of the time. We have had no problems (but I know others have). Is the bus always at the bus stop the second we arrive...NO... Have we waited longer than desired a time or two... YES... Is the bus sometimes crowded at park closing....YES. These things should be expected. If you cannot live with these things then driving many be best for you.

Here are some issues that generally don't get discussed:

If you drive you need to know how to get from one location to another. thought Disney is generally well marked, you can get lost if you don't kow where you are driving (or make the wrong turn).
If you drive you have to hastle with traffic. I let the bus driver wrong about the traffic. I have to deal with traffic back home, not at Disney.
If you drive you have to walk or take a tram to your car. The bus or boat or monorail will be close to the front of the park and front of your hotel.
You will pay extra for rental car fees, gas, etc.


I know there are many pluses to driving but there are always negatives as well. Bottom line for us is is a bus is late don't let it spoil your trip. People generally forget the 5 times the bus was at the bus stop ready to go and only remember the one time the wait was longer than desired.

[BrerGnat]

This is really a tough call.

I rented a car for the first time this weekend after MANY MANY trips where I relied on WDW transport. I was staying at Wilderness Lodge.

I did a combo of buses and driving. Honestly, there was no clear winner.

The ONLY (and I do mean that) place that is faster to use a car is to Downtown Disney (and, I suppose the water parks).

When I drove, I found that the time I spent driving, parking, walking through the lot, etc. roughly equaled the time spent on a bus. If you don't arrive before park opening, your parking spot will be in Timbuktu, and you'll spend considerable time getting from your car to the front gate and vice versa.

Ironically, my trips to MK (where you can't really drive your own car from WL, due to the way the TTC is set up), took the LONGEST. The boats were not running due to the wind from the hurricane, and they were NOT equipped to handle the number of people going back to WL from MK. I spent over an hour trying to get back. Same story trying to get back to MK for MNSSHP. Over 40 minutes.

Also, getting TO my resort from MCO took over an hour, and that was with NOT having to wait for baggage claim (I did carryon) and having Hertz Gold service (i.e. NO standing at a rental counter, just get in the car and go). It actually takes quite awhile to just get OUT of the airport from the car rental area. I was surprised by that. I think Magical Express is actually faster, from my experience.

Overall, I'll probably not rent a car again, unless we have plans to leave WDW property for other area attractions.

I find the WDW transport frustrating, but not enough to want to have to drive during vacation in the future.