using disney transport vs. renting a car

[PigletIsMyCat]

we've done both in the past. this is the first time i'm renting an ECV from a preferred vendor and will have it 24/7 while we're there, so i'd need a portable one if we rent a car. we've also just decided to save the money and skip universal (even though diagon alley is open and i freaking love hp) so we won't really be off property at all. if we don't rent a car, we save money, i can rent a non-portable ECV, we don't have to worry about parking lots (i can't take an ECV on the tram so hubby will have to walk with me but i should have a handicapped permit), and we just don't have to worry about crap like gas.

hubby is still intent on renting a car. i'm kind of looking at the extra $300 and thinking i'd like to spend that A THOUSAND other ways. anyone have any input or something i might not be considering to sway us either way?

 

[BigTxEars]

We did WDW last month for the first time using Disney transportation instead of a rental car. Not sure we will ever do it any other way from now on. It was much more relaxing not having a rental car. You have the ECV issue which I can not speak to but beyond that I vote Disney transportation all the way

 

[fugawe09]

Disney Transportation is very convenient because you can let someone else do the driving and in most cases gets you close to your destination. Here are some considerations on the ECV... each bus can at most accommodate two ECVs. If you are planning to use a popular bus at a peak time (say the All Star bus right after the fireworks), you may be in for a wait. A few older buses and boats are not accessible and you may have to wait for a different one to be dispatched. Also make sure you are comfortable driving the ECV onto the bus and maneuvering it into the ADA spot - potentially with an entire queue line watching and waiting. Not that anyone should be judging.

 

[disney4life2008]

Also make sure you are comfortable driving the ECV onto the bus and maneuvering it into the ADA spot - potentially with an entire queue line watching and waiting. Not that anyone should be judging.

Excellent point here.

 

[PigletIsMyCat]

i've rocked my way through the parks on ECVs before and am *pretty* comfortable maneuvering them. i've never parallel parked one on the bus though - but i think i'd be okay. (now that it's been brought to my attention, i'd probably practice a lot before haha.)

'not that anyone should be judging'... i'd like to say i'm used to it, but i'm not. i was never in a cast or anything and am overweight, so i've heard the 'fat and lazy' comments. i try to let them roll off.

hubby is still wanting to rent a car. i think my desire is two fold - saving money and being completely enveloped in the disney bubble while we're there. straight from the plane to dme to the resort... never having to wander through parking lots... stuff like that.

 

[Dvcden]

i've rocked my way through the parks on ECVs before and am *pretty* comfortable maneuvering them. i've never parallel parked one on the bus though - but i think i'd be okay. (now that it's been brought to my attention, i'd probably practice a lot before haha.)

'not that anyone should be judging'... i'd like to say i'm used to it, but i'm not. i was never in a cast or anything and am overweight, so i've heard the 'fat and lazy' comments. i try to let them roll off.

hubby is still wanting to rent a car. i think my desire is two fold - saving money and being completely enveloped in the disney bubble while we're there. straight from the plane to dme to the resort... never having to wander through parking lots... stuff like that.

100% Disney transportation! they accomadate ECVs to the point there are 2 spots on every bus and if people are sitting there they have to move... only problem you may or maynot run into is if there are 2 ECVs in front of you (which is rare) you then have to wait for the next bus even if there is room to stand. they only transport max 2 ECVs per bus....hope that helps

 

[PigletIsMyCat]

i kind of feel like i'd rather wait for buses than traipse through the parking lots. with an ECV we won't be able to take the trams. that's not a *huge* deal at epcot, dak, and dhs, but mk's parking is RIDICULOUS and HUGE. my handicapped permit expires in august and i'm hoping the town issues me another one before we go, but i can't guarantee they will.

 

[MorganKelly]

We just returned today from WDW. Great trip - except for the heat! - but we knew that going in. We rent a car every so often. I will chime in that a car is very helpful if you plan a lot of meals at other resorts. Getting to them requires a theme park or DTD transfer and that can be a drag and takes a lot of time. For one or two meals, not a big deal. But otherwise a car really saves time in that regard. Or of course it would then be possible to dine off-site if desired. I love Disney, we are DVC members and we visit as often as possible. But this has always made me a little crazy, although I am used to it for sure. A rental is a big expense, though, and I usually talk myself out of it.

 

[PigletIsMyCat]

hmm i hadn't considered the dining-in-resorts thing, but looking at our plans, i think most of the resort meals we're doing are on the monorail line. we're still wavering on universal - we really really really really really want to see the new harry potter stuff, but it's like $350 for two 2day/2park tickets and that's a lot to add to our budget. and if we take away the rental, i mean that's like saving well over $600 on my budget. we planned on this trip for so long, but we didn't plan for me being diagnosed with the illness i have and we didn't plan for the huge expenses of a very sick cat this past year. every few bucks we can save count.

 

[SAV]

On our DHS day I needed to be at the park before Rope Drop to get my son into the Jedi Training Academy. Knowing my DW and DD wouldn't be ready in time, we planned on me driving and them taking the bus to the parks when they were ready. So there was no rush on their end and they weren't making me late. The DW and DD had a pleasant experience with the bus service, one was at the stop as they got there so no wait at all for them. DW's comment was she never wanted to do that again. She preferred the car over the bus.

 

[slappy magoo]

hubby is still wanting to rent a car. i think my desire is two fold - saving money and being completely enveloped in the disney bubble while we're there. straight from the plane to dme to the resort... never having to wander through parking lots... stuff like that.

We always drive to WDW so I cant speak for how great DME is or isn't or might be or could be. But I certainly don't find the regular buses to the theme parks to be particularly "Disney bubble"-like, especially when they're packed. You're next to people who think soap is an urban legend perpetrated by the media. If their kids are being cranks, it's awful, if your kids are being cranks, it's worse. Strollers that don't stay folded up. If I'm on a bus I try to compensate by talking more loudly, to my kids or other kids around me. Not obnoxious-loud, not mean-loud, just asking what kids are looking forward to (or on the way back what they likes most), who they want to meet or met, just loud enough to drown out anyone else being a pantload around me and it helps pass the time.

But I prefer using the car, especially if we can get to a park early enough that we can get good spots. This year, we got lucky in a few different ways - we're staying at BLT so getting to the MK is not an issue. And at least one day at each of the other parks, we have reservations for in-park restaurants for breakfast before park opening, so getting a spot shouldn't be a problem. While in the car, we'll play Disney songs to get in the mood. If anyone of us, kid or grownup, gets cranky pants, being on a bus full of strangers is not a fate we'll have to deal with.

 

[PigletIsMyCat]

uggggh cranky pants. i hadn't considered that. i hate when darling husband puts on his cranky pants. and i can already see him putting them on every. single. time. we get on a bus.

i think we'll rent the car.

 

[LAM378]

uggggh cranky pants. i hadn't considered that. i hate when darling husband puts on his cranky pants. and i can already see him putting them on every. single. time. we get on a bus.

i think we'll rent the car.

We did a mixture of rental car and bus in May. We got the car to avoid the Magical Express and because I got an insanely good rate for a week. I hadn't even considered what a pain it would be to deal with my son's stroller on the buses, and the heat and the waiting and the attitudes. After a couple of those rides, we stuck with the car. I'm paying through the nose for a rental next week, rates are just crazy high, but I'm calling it insurance against crabbiness.

We had the AAA parking pass and that did help, so hopefully you're able to get your handicapped pass renewed. Also, keep checking rental car rates obsessively. Book at a price you can live with now, but check rates constantly, and cancel and re-book to your heart's content. Rates normally come down a lot as your date approaches.

 

[KingdomofDreams]

Can't speak to the ECV issue, but we just returned from the World a week or so ago and we used DME and the buses without benefit of rental car. Won't do it again.

DME was ok at best. Certainly nothing "magical" about it and it took forever stopping at two other resorts before our own (AKL). And don't get me started on the resort buses. We missed the welcome show and opening of Magic Kingdom on early opening day because no bus came for that park. We walked up to the bus stop at 7am and waited forever. Buses came for every other park, even though none of them had early opening that day, but for the one park that did have early opening...nothing. Finally after 7:30 a bus came. Other than that, the buses were ok, but I just came to the conclusion that having our own car was definitely worth the extra cost and the best option for us on future trips.

 

[BufordTJustice]

We did Disney's bus transportation system once and that was enough (slappy magoo pretty much summed it up)!! I could only imagine what a nightmare it would be bringing an ECV along.

 

[JustJude]

Personally, I couldn't go and not rent a car. I am the most impatient person in the world and I get fatigued medically which always makes me grumpy, it's an escape and a quick one for me at times lol