ISO tips for a 1st time driver at WDW

[Figaro928]

My family has always flown to MCO and have mastered the WDW bus system/ always been limited to the bus system. We've never had a car at Disney.

This next trip we are contemplating driving down to Disney, so for the first time we will have access to a car. For those who have had a car, any tips advice can you give? Any tips on Parking at each park? Is it easier to still use the bus system or drive to each park? If we were to dine at a resort midday, would you drive there or take the bus system from a park?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[Dave B]

Drive your car EVERYWHERE, you will cut so much time, you get free parking at all the parks and you can go resort hop if you like as well

 

[NelleBelle]

We used to use WDW transportation exclusively when we went and we would waste ~1-hr going b/t parks for meals (that's not counting walking to the dining room and was before the much beefed-up security). I despised it so much that we will only rent a car from now on to drive everywhere, regardless if we are staying onsite or offsite. You save so much more time driving yourself! As for routes, I think if you use a traffic app like waze, you might be able to avoid some of the traffic but likely not a lot. It's definitely handy though for getting yourself around.

 

[anchorman314]

For navigating the World, my biggest tip is do NOT rely on GPS/traffic apps. A lot of the time, if you go by the "official" address of a park or resort, the app. won't route you correctly. They certainly are good things to reference, but not as the primary means of navigating. Before you head out somewhere, look at a map (digital or paper) and get an idea of how you want to go. Many destinations have several routes, giving you options.

 

[LAKid53]

Drive car from resort to park. Find parking space. Ride tram from parking lot to park entrance. Reverse to leave park. Naw, I'm jumping on a Disney bus. However, if I have an evening ADR at another resort, I will drive from my resort, so I don't have to do the "which park is closest to where I'm eating dinner" shuffle. And I would never drive from my resort to Disney Springs

 

[Driver]

So my 2 cents....I live here literally I'm 6 miles from the park I commute everyday. When I stayed as a guest I used Disney busses most times for the parks and the car in between. The traffic on property continues to get more and more congested. There are more guest and people are always in a hurry. (Can't wait) so they call for Uber or Lyft, taxi use their own car etc. and this just adds to the congestion. Add to this there are 167 miles of roads on property not all have signage for guest. (some are for service access) And add to this guest who are not familiar with property and construction is going on. I always recommend using the busses whenever you can and use your car when you have to. Also know this if you are visiting during any busy time (which nowadays is almost all the time) security may not let you into resort parking unless you have ADR and can prove it. (Not counting where your staying of course). Summary: your car can come in handy if you find times when you are crunched for time. It can also be a nightmare if your not sure where your going and you take wrong turns and get lost. Most GPS do not work well on property because it's private property and people ask us about this all the time. So don't expect your GPS device or phone to be 100% reliable . The maps provided don't show "all" the roads this can add to your confusion. I'm not trying to scare you I'm just telling you what I see everyday. Enjoy your stay at WDW and have a Magical vacation.

 

[Cosmic Commando]

We normally drive to every park, except MK. By the time you catch the monorail or ferry to/from the TTC, you're probably not saving time anymore versus taking the bus right from the entrance to your resort.

 

[DisAl]

I live in a small town. I HATE "big city traffic." And WDW is certainly in that category.
We park our car at our resort when we get there, and with the exception of Disney Springs or another resort for dinner we take the WDW busses.

 

[Courtney6682]

I hate driving, but had to rent a car for a few days while at WDW both in Feb and Aug of this year. Getting around was MUCH easier than I anticipated. There are signs everywhere! I would def drive around there again if need be.

 

[Rob562]

If you're going to use a GPS app on property, I highly suggest using Waze. They have a very dedicated team of editors to make sure the map and points of interest are accurate. They also make sure that most backstage roads, side entrances to resorts that are CM/bus only, etc are classified as "private roads" and thus the routing functions will ignore them when getting you from Point A to Point B.

-Rob

 

[disneyworlddad]

We always drive in. I'd recommend bus to MK for sure! We stayed at POFQ and it took all of maybe 10 minutes from pickup to drop off. Some of this depends on what resort you are staying at and which park you are going too. It was very easy to drive to our meal at turf club instead of taking Disney transportation.

 

[piglet1]

Another consideration is do you plan on having any alcohol? If we are going to, we take Disney transportation. Also, driving in the dark is harder if you are not sure exactly where you are going, and if you are leaving close to park closing, the traffic can be horrific. I generally prefer Disney transportation, and yes, if I am going to have some wine at a resort dinner, I will take a cab back to my resort.

 

[correcaminos]

I also recommend not driving to MK. It's not worth it IMO to go through all of that. We will drive to some parks but not all. Just depends on how long we want to go for

 

[correcaminos]

Not sure I would trust Waze. I thought I read about Waze omitting certain routes based on some type of feedback. For example, when one of the Atlanta freeways collapsed in a fire, Waze initially was routing commuters through a residential area. From what I heard on the radio, Waze was able to change their algorithms to not use that residential area as a bypass. If that was true, it would not surprise me to find similar special considerations implemented at the request of WDW (ie "private roads" not really private...).

When we were at WDW last year, we found Waze was not always the best in routing us from CSR to/from Disney Springs. We never tried driving to the parks, so not sure about those routes. I also found that as I upgraded the app earlier this year, Waze was not finding the best routes. I went back to Google maps.

We found the same to be true of Waze in a few areas of FL. We went back to Google pretty quick

 

[Pixieish]

Driving around WDW is SO EASY!!! Google Maps will become your best friend. Even with heavier traffic, there wasn't cars sitting at a standstill, there was just more cars, and not an obnoxious amount.