Transportation and wheelchairs?

[Hayden's Dad]

For those of you who have family members in wheelchairs do you find it easier to ride the buses or to drive from your resort to the parks? We had a couple of agravating experiences with bus drivers during our last trip.
We have a several before park opening ADRs and I didn't want to get stuck in the parking lot not able to get to the parks. We have never driven before. I have also heard the shuttles in the parking lots may not accomodate wheelchairs.
Any advice would be great.

[Pirate Granny]

We didn't have any issues when we took my dad and that was over the Xmas holidays...that said, we also had a vehicle and drove some of the times, but not because of the bus service. I'm not sure what you mean about shuttles...the only bus' go from the hotel resorts to the Parks or DTD...they will not go from one hotel to the other...

[Nate's Grandpa]

If you have a handicap parking permit, you can bypass the regular parking lot and park much closer. I'm not sure about all the parks, but I know you will be able to walk to Epcot from the parking lot.

Perhaps someone here has used the handicapped parking permit and can tell you for sure.

Good luck!

[Johnno52]

Most of the HP at the parks are all within walking distance of the gates with the exception of MK which has the Monorail running. They all have close HP or drop-off spots which are as close or closer than some bus stops. I have seen some of the older buses by-pass wheelchair guests for lack of working elevator. Once you get there you can see for yourself which option is best for you. If you have to be at a certain place the first thing in the morning don't chance it go with your car.

[Here we go again...]

We drove to the parks this trip and I will tell you that it beats the bus any day!!
Driving is much faster and no lines or quetions to deal with.
We will always drive to the parks now.

Keep in mind that we always stay on site so we so not have to pay to park. I would think that would be a factor if you had to pay for parking.

[Hayden's Dad]

Driving is much faster and no lines or quetions to deal with

My biggest hesitation to driving is we have early reservations before park opening and I have heard you cannot get in early if you are driving, but people who don't stay on site make early reservations too so I just don't know. I am very torn.

[Here we go again...]

My biggest hesitation to driving is we have early reservations before park opening and I have heard you cannot get in early if you are driving, but people who don't stay on site make early reservations too so I just don't know. I am very torn.

You can still get in early if you drive.
They just check your ticket at the gate or get your ADR number for verification and off you go.
If you go to MK or Epcot you can park at the TTC and take the monorail from there. They will be checking tickets before you are allowed to board the monorail.

You can also park at Epcot, but we learned that it is easier to part at the TTC just in case you wanted to park hop...

MGM has parking right near the entrance.
We did not drive to AK while we were there.

[Hayden's Dad]

You can still get in early if you drive

Thank you for all the information. We really appreciate it.

[MsMin]

I have never used the HC parking at the parks but I know that at the resorts and DTD we could never find HC parking. I'm sure that if you go early it won't be a problem.
When I went w/ my dad he rented the ECV so we didn't have the attachment on the car so it was disney transportation or no ECV . We did have some horrible times with the buses and I would avoid them at all cost.
Personally I found that driving to the other parks is easier than taking the bus. My kids have argued this point w/ me for the past couple years and last Oct we took the car to AK on the last day and then to EPCOT and they loved it.