Take the bus, or take the car?

[quirkle]

I drive all the time. This is my vacation. I want to relax and not fight traffic. We have not had issues. This time we will have our car and we will use it when we do hoop dee do. But really. Im not in a rush at Disney. I'm not thinking about anything. My ADRs are convenient and I'm happy to be "stuck" taking the monorail from chef Mickey to MK. Going in for some late might fun and them collapsing on the bus.

 

[DABIGCHEEZ]

We luck out(if you can call it that?), as we drive down each year. And I drive for work as well(near 40K miles in 10 months). Used the buses many years ago... then when the lines a park close got insane... we started using the car. Been doing that for many years now and will NEVER go back to WDW buses.

 

[G00fyDad]

I drive all the time. This is my vacation. I want to relax and not fight traffic. We have not had issues. This time we will have our car and we will use it when we do hoop dee do. But really. Im not in a rush at Disney. I'm not thinking about anything. My ADRs are convenient and I'm happy to be "stuck" taking the monorail from chef Mickey to MK. Going in for some late might fun and them collapsing on the bus.

What traffic? Most nights when heading back to the resort the road is nearly empty. Even during the day it is a normal amount of cars on the road. And that is coming from someone that typically hates other drivers for running stop signs, stop lights, cutting me off, pulling out in front of me and then doing 20mph under the speed limit, etc... I love driving on WDW property.

 

[Vader2112]

You and me both. AAA parking passes are great off of eBay! And a team of Clydesdales couldn't drag me into a AAA office ever again. For anything! Just be sure that the person hasn't signed it and it is unused. Still not likely to cause an issue but you never know.

Yes you want to make sure they are the unsigned original color pass not the one printed from a computer or a copy. A other thing this is for a close spot not free parking.

 

[G00fyDad]

Yes you want to make sure they are the unsigned original color pass not the one printed from a computer or a copy. A other thing this is for a close spot not free parking.

Absolutely. Although I have found that during the time of year that we typically go, the parking lots are dead empty and we still get a very close spot without this. I think we use it more often during a park hop day.

 

[Mikester71]

We always drive down from Canada, therefore have our own van at our disposal the whole trip, but we always end up taking the buses to all of the parks except for Typhoon Lagoon for some reason. I always figure that I am on vacation and just spent a day and a half driving down there and will be spending another day and a half to get back home at the end of the trip, so I might as well let someone else handle the driving for a while. We do go off property a few times each trip for shopping and that, so unfortunately I can't go the whole trip without hopping back in the drivers seat for a little bit.

We've always stayed at Pop Century and we love the bus service there. Sure, I have nothing to really compare it to, and I rarely get to sit down in an actual seat (we go during Spring Break and I always walk to the back of the bus and stand so that someone else can have the seat), and Pop's bus stop is usually the furthest from each of the parks, but we still love taking the buses just the same. I know we could be at the park already, or back at the resort relaxing instead of fighting the crowds at the end of the night and waiting in those long lines, but we are on vacation in WDW for goodness sake - there are worse things we could be doing. For those 10 days we are down there, stress is non-existent and time stands still.

 

[disney magic 06]

Yeah. When we had a short stay at WL we were the ONLY ones on the bus not to mention from the Magic Kingdom. It was wonderful.

I agree. We stayed at WL for 2 weeks the last 2 years and were often the only ones on the bus. The busiest was around half full.

 

[westalan80]

I usually take the bus myself, never been much inconvenienced Thank God! But incase of any reservations and if i am short on time, i take the taxi. It majorly depends on the time of the year you are visiting WDW, if its the children's holiday season, surely the buses will be too loaded and have more chances of running late

 

[quirkle]

What traffic? Most nights when heading back to the resort the road is nearly empty. Even during the day it is a normal amount of cars on the road. And that is coming from someone that typically hates other drivers for running stop signs, stop lights, cutting me off, pulling out in front of me and then doing 20mph under the speed limit, etc... I love driving on WDW property.

I'm usually there during peak times, when there are lines to park, lines to leave. People driving the wrong way into Epcot.

I just don't want to deal with any of the normal driving stress.

We stay at POFQ so we boat to DTD. My mindset is that Disney transportation in part of my ride experiences.

 

[Br'er Platypus]

Ditto on the WL bus service. That's the only place we've ever stayed (wonder if WL just has some of the best busing on property?).

This January, we're staying at AoA though, and are considering the car.

 

[ddrongowski]

I will always have and use a rental automobile. My reason is simple... My first visit ever to WDW was the week of 11SEP2001. When they cleared out the parks, it was a disaster for anyone riding busses or boats (I heard stories of 3+ hour waits). I and my family just got in the automobile, turned on the radio and went wherever we wanted or needed to go. Also we were free to go eat off property as the dining areas on property were jammed to the gills, no seats were available, it was a mess. That is why I will always have a rental automobile.

Once in a while we have used the busses, but that is a rarity.

 

[ShookieJones]

How do you find a rental car for $150??

1. The longer you wait the better the price.
2. Rent through Hotwire or Priceline in that order.

For our trip this year I waited the longest I ever have before renting (only a month out from our trip) and I got a
mid sized car for $144.00 directly from the rental car company.

On top of that the $144.00 is actually for a week plus a day since we return it late on the last day that the rental car compay considers it an additonal day.

The great thing about it too is that all the major rental car companies (and all available through Hotwire) are right on site at MCO - no shuttles need to be taken.
Off the plane right to the rental car desk out to the garage and on your way to WDW in under 35-40 minutes of landing.

In my opinion the sooner I can get started with my vacation the better.
for under 150bucks -- This set up can't be beat.