Help me with my decision

[Mr_Incredible]

We always drive to Disney for our vacations. This year we are going big, 10 days 9 nights, staying at POP september 14-23.

We are planning /hoping /praying for free dinning to be announced soon (I know, another topic). We want to fly this year, but are worried with our vast array of ADRs that getting around to the resorts from POP will be a pain.

I know we will need to take the bus to DTD and then resort bus from there to Ressies, how is the timeframe in Sept for that? Is it worth the hassle? Or should we drive?

Now keep in mind, we are driving from north carolina, so flying we be SO MUCH NICER than driving 8-9 hours

so please, tell me its not too bad!!! :lol:

 

[Kramerica]

Quite honestly, I know it's probably too late. But in the future, I'd drop a day off the vacation and then use that money for a rental car. Absolutely worth it.

 

[JillC LI]

Quite honestly, I know it's probably too late. But in the future, I'd drop a day off the vacation and then use that money for a rental car. Absolutely worth it.

I agree about the rental car. If the cost of flying isn't prohibitive over driving, prehaps the additional cost of a rental car (for at leats part of the trip) would be tolerable as well? You can get some really good deals online.

 

[GoochDSA]

...
I know we will need to take the bus to DTD and then resort bus from there to Ressies, how is the timeframe in Sept for that? Is it worth the hassle? Or should we drive?

DTD is the WORST way to get from resort to resort. Use DTD as your hub as an absolute last resort. When using Disney transportation it is usually much easier and faster to use parks.

For restaurants at CR, GF, Poly, WL and Ft.W, take a bus from Pop to MK and then either walk (CR), take the monorail (CR, Poly, GF), take a boat (WL and Ft.W).

For restaurants at BC, YC, BWI, Swan/Dolphin, take a bus from Pop to DHS and then either walk to the resort (most resorts about a 20 minute walk) or take the boat.

For AKL/Kidani, if your ADR is durring AK hours take a bus to AK and then hop on the AKL bus.

Most other resorts are easier to get to by just jumping on the first park bus that shows up and transfering there to the correct resort bus. EC and DHS are more central locations so those are the better buses to choose. The only reason you should use DTD is if you are heading to POR, POFQ, OKW or SSR and plan on taking the boat from DTD to the resort (takes longer but is nice and relaxing).

 

[MuchLovedMama]

We always drive to Disney for our vacations. This year we are going big, 10 days 9 nights, staying at POP september 14-23.

We are planning /hoping /praying for free dinning to be announced soon (I know, another topic). We want to fly this year, but are worried with our vast array of ADRs that getting around to the resorts from POP will be a pain.

I know we will need to take the bus to DTD and then resort bus from there to Ressies, how is the timeframe in Sept for that? Is it worth the hassle? Or should we drive?

Now keep in mind, we are driving from north carolina, so flying we be SO MUCH NICER than driving 8-9 hours

so please, tell me its not too bad!!! :lol:

We'll be at POP with you. We'll be there from the 15th to the 22nd.

Your drive looks a lot better than mine. We're hoping to fly but if these prices don't come down we'll be driving. We're in central Ohio. I'd gladly trade you. LOL!

But yeah, DTD isn't your only option to make the transfer as the previous poster stated. Plan for a dinner and just go from the park. Then you can jump on whichever bus comes by first to take you to another park or DTD to switch back to your resort. Shouldn't be too complicated.

 

[Mr_Incredible]

We'll be at POP with you. We'll be there from the 15th to the 22nd.

Your drive looks a lot better than mine. We're hoping to fly but if these prices don't come down we'll be driving. We're in central Ohio. I'd gladly trade you. LOL!

But yeah, DTD isn't your only option to make the transfer as the previous poster stated. Plan for a dinner and just go from the park. Then you can jump on whichever bus comes by first to take you to another park or DTD to switch back to your resort. Shouldn't be too complicated.

Cool, we will probably see you a few times at the pool and food court!

Thanks everyone for advice, That's what I wanted from this, good to know DTD isnt the best way to go. Renting a car would be an option, but I'd rather walk everywhere and have another day at Disney rather than drop one to afford the car :lol:

Anyone know where to get some good deals online? I go through the websites (enterprise etc) and they are pretty stiff in price.

 

[EvilQueen-T]

we only live 2 1/2 hours away from disney so of course we always drive but when we do an adults only trip we use disney transportation for moving around so we can all drink if we want to and totally agree with using the previous alternatives to always going thru dtd for bus switches. it just takes to much time mainly getting a bus FROM dtd. remember if you get into a pinch for time you can catch a taxi from any location (park or otherwise) for less than $20....that may sound like a lot to some but when you pay almost $4 for a bottle of water it's not that bad lol. we usually go from a park straight to dinner by using a bus/boat/monorail from the park we're in directly to whatever resort we're eating at then either go back to a park or make our way back to our own resort.

 

[Mr_Incredible]

To be honest, we are only going to the park 5 days out of the 10. We want to enjoy the resort (first time at pop) and we want to visit boardwalk, DTD and take our time, soak it in and enjoy everything.

So a lot of our reservations will be during days we don't have a park, so we can take the time to make sure we get there in time, if not we will leave right from the park we are at.

we'll make it work. I just would rather be there in 1 hour 50 minutes as opposed to driving for 8-9 hours haha.

(i know, i know, first world pains)

 

[slappy magoo]

Honestly? A drive of 8-9 hours doesn't seem so bad to me. We're driving from NJ, so the driving part alone, minus any stops for gas/bathroom/food, will be over 15 hours.

I looked up Raleigh to Orlando. Still about a 2 hour flight, assuming you can get a nonstop flight. I don't know if you're closer to a different airport, I just guessed Raleigh.

Unless you live incredibly close to an airport and can have someone drop you off and pick you up there, factor in the time it gets to the airport and park and shuttle to the terminal, you're expected to be in the building at least 2 hours before take off, the time it takes you to actually board and fly and land and get off the plane and get on Magical Express and bus to the resort...it could easily be 6 hours to get from your house to WDW. So for the extra 3-5 hour drive each way, you'll save THAT much more time by having your car and being able to drive from resort to resort without having to worry about busing to a park or DtD and transferring from there.

EDIT: I see you're in Charlotte, so that'll shave some time off your flight compared to Raleigh...again, assuming you can get a nonstop flight. I went on priceline, and the pickings for non stop flights seem slim from either airport...

 

[ThinkTink721]

When we travel from resort to resort, we usually pick the closest park & change buses there.
You just have to allot for enough travel time.
The bus service at Pop is pretty good.

 

[WendyTinkerbell]

The Disney transportation is really not that bad, and can often be convenient. Magical Express is great, and you don't have to worry about driving through traffic to get to the resort. Another reason we like the WDW transportation is that we park hop a lot. It is nice to not worry about having to go back to our original park to pick up car... or go to the parking lot to get car to drive to another park and re-park and so on. Also, we often go during Food and Wine Festival and are able to enjoy a few drinks without worrying about driving.

 

[annawilliams]

We always fly and have never had a bad experience! The busses usually run every 15 minutes or so to the resort (I've personally never waited more than 25). If you really want a car, I saw car rentals for 6 dollars from the Orlando airport yesterday. Maybe sign up for hotwire emails? I'll try to find my email about the six dollar car rentals. We only rented a car once, and that was to get off property to Universal and Cocoa Beach. Other than that, I didn't see that much of a need for them.

 

[Mr_Incredible]

We always fly and have never had a bad experience! The busses usually run every 15 minutes or so to the resort (I've personally never waited more than 25). If you really want a car, I saw car rentals for 6 dollars from the Orlando airport yesterday. Maybe sign up for hotwire emails? I'll try to find my email about the six dollar car rentals. We only rented a car once, and that was to get off property to Universal and Cocoa Beach. Other than that, I didn't see that much of a need for them.

Great, thanks!

 

[Mr_Incredible]

To answer a couple of questions from previous posts, we live in Charlotte, we are about 4 miles from Charlotte-Douglas IA. So it would not be tough to get to the airport (with family or friends to help dropping us off). We also are keeping in mind no speed traps to worry about (my wife and I both have lead foots), our 4 year old in the car that long, the wear and tear on the car as well as the miles. So there are pros and cons for everything.....we just are trying to decide if the pros outweigh the cons for flying.

 

[mickeysshoes]

I told my DH the other day if the day ever came (and i dont think it will) that we need or want to think about moving it would have to be to somewhere that would put us NO more than a 4-5 hour drive from WDW!!!!! So we dont have to think about airfare anymore and can get AP!!!!! :king: All he could do was laugh at me!!!!