Car vs Bus

[mlayton14]

Hello all, as the title suggests want your feedback of staying on property with a car. We have always flown in , stayed on site , and taken Disney transportation. For those that have driven down and have a car on-site , do you use it for transportation to the parks vs using Disney buses? Staying at AKL so it’s car or bus. The advantage of the buses is you obviously get dropped at park entrances , but have to wait for the arrival. Part of me thinks having the freedom of not waiting for the buses outweighs having to trudge yourself into those massive parking lots. Thoughts/preferences?

Thank you

 

[scrappinginontario]

MK I would definitely suggest bus as driving takes you to TTC.

 

[OKW Lover]

Got to agree with @scrappinginontario above. Don't drive to the MK. The bus to the MK will drop you off at the park while driving will leave you at the TTC and you would need to take a monorail or ferry to the MK.

 

[mlayton14]

Thanks for the replies , what about the other parks ? Talking hot summer trip lol

 

[Lewisc]

A former member of DIS split their group. Driving beat the bus most of the time to the MK. The time spent waiting for a bus, combined with stops in your resort and possibly other resorts, more then offsets the 15 minutes or so it takes to ferry over to the MK.

 

[OKW Lover]

what about the other parks ?

For the other parks it's really just up to the individual. There are no extra steps involved when going to Epcot, DHS or DAK when you take a bus. The bus stops in those parks are approximately the same walking distance to the park security screening.

Yes, sometimes the walk from car parking can be a bit longer. It depends on when you get there and how popular the park is that day. As noted above, the overall time for each mode depends on how long you wait for the bus.

 

[beccasmom]

Driving (except to the MK) is a viable alternative. We usually just depend on WDW transportation (we enjoy the watercraft). I especially enjoy the break from driving (which I do a lot of at home); DH enjoys driving and is fine either way.

I will add that if there are younger children (in our case, grandchildren ) in your group, a car can be very handy. Particularly in the middle of the day, WDW transport is on a slower schedule and we have found a car to be invaluable in those instances. And I don’t have the patience (and dexterity!) I used to have to deal with a stroller on a bus anymore.

We also found having a car available was very helpful when traveling with my mom (now deceased), who visited her beloved WDW well into her 80’s.

 

[GreatAuntie]

We rent a car and prefer driving to the buses. Now that the parking trams are back that makes a difference too. The buses tend to be very crowded and we like the quiet and freedom of our own space heading back to our resort or wherever we are headed to next.

 

[Lewisc]

the overall time for each mode depends on how long you wait for the bus.

It also depends on how many stops the bus makes. Guests who board one of the first resort stops may take a 15 minute tour of CBR, CSR or PO before leaving resort property.

 

[WLWildlife]

We have done both. If it's early in the day, say rope drop, you can get pretty close to front of the parking lots and the walk isn't too bad. I enjoy the break from driving so I always take Disney transportation. DH is 50/50, depends on his mood for the day and the destination. We stay WL so always boat to MK, bus to DS, and decide at the moment for the others.

 

[Stratman50th]

So with one exception, we have always driven to WDW from MD. Multiple times a year for 30 years. We have never used our car for resort to park transportation. Always used Disney transport, busses or boats. That being said we haven't had a stay where parks were involved since they installed the "bus-on-a-string" transportation. We have used the car for some special things when busses weren't running yet. One was the girls took surfing lessons at Typhoon Lagoon where we had to be there around 6:00am. The second was at the MK for the train and roundhouse tour which I believe was around 7:00am.
We were never in such a huge hurry where saving those few minutes mattered. I, as the car driver was content to be a passenger while there and relax.

 

[Miffy]

Since you're staying at AKL, the bus to DAK comes quite frequently and the ride is about 5 minutes long. So, for DAK, definitely take the bus. Also for MK.

For Epcot and DHS, if you had a car, you might want to drive, but I really don't think it takes that much longer on the bus. And if you were concerned with the time, you could always take a rideshare.

In a way, it really comes down to how much the car rental is going to cost. If you were planning to do anything off-site, then having a car would certainly be preferable.

 

[mlayton14]

Since you're staying at AKL, the bus to DAK comes quite frequently and the ride is about 5 minutes long. So, for DAK, definitely take the bus. Also for MK.

For Epcot and DHS, if you had a car, you might want to drive, but I really don't think it takes that much longer on the bus. And if you were concerned with the time, you could always take a rideshare.

In a way, it really comes down to how much the car rental is going to cost. If you were planning to do anything off-site, then having a car would certainly be preferable.

We will have our own car (autotrain).

Surprised another poster noted bus to Disney springs - this is one where I will definitely be driving

The car vs bus thing for me had less to do with time savings , was just thinking waiting in the heat at a bus stop and the cattle call onto the bus is less desirable. I guess it will be nice to have the option either way

 

[hertamaniac]

It also depends on how many stops the bus makes. Guests who board one of the first resort stops may take a 15 minute tour of CBR, CSR or PO before leaving resort property.

Add to that the variability of loading/unloading of ECV's which can add quite a bit to the bus duration(s).

 

[hertamaniac]

The car vs bus thing for me had less to do with time savings , was just thinking waiting in the heat at a bus stop and the cattle call onto the bus is less desirable.

ECV loading/unloading will make you wait in the heat longer. By how much and if it's a factor....

 

[mlayton14]

ECV loading/unloading will make you wait in the heat longer. By how much and if it's a factor....

Not a factor but thanks

 

[mmouse50]

I always rent a car and drive to all the parks, including MK - I enjoy taking the ferry over and watching the castle get closer in my view. The trams are great and I don't have to stand up on the tram like you might have to on the crowded bus. Plus the tram from the parking lot will drop you off closer to each park entrance (except MK) than the bus. If you are staying on property then the parking lot is free of charge.

 

[Pooh2]

Thanks for the replies , what about the other parks ? Talking hot summer trip lol

We stayed at AKL last week and rented a car and drove to the parks.
We find it easier to jump in the car and go and not worry about standing around waiting for a bus or having to stand on a moving bus.
The walk to the front is not bad at all when we got to the parks at early entry time.

 

[buzzgirls&dad]

We fly and rent a car. 35+ trips. It was so nice to come and go when our DD was little, to never collapse a stroller for a bus and leave it in the trunk at night if not needed at the resort . The ease of going back and forth to the parks if we want to take a break and still do. We've never really had a problem with park opening or closing traffic either. Also, we always drive to MK because riding the iconic monorail is always part of the trip.

 

[bluezy]

We always drive to Disney (from PA) but once we arrive, we only use Disney transportation. After the 1100 mile drive there (and anticipating the 1100 mile drive back home), it's just nice to let someone else do the driving while we just sit back and relax. We go in late June and feel that getting into a car that's been baking in that hot FL sun all day is worse than waiting a few minutes in the heat (that we've been walking around in all day) to get on a cool bus. We also don't have to worry about having alcoholic beverages in the parks and then making sure we don't leave the park shortly after having those drinks (we're a zero tolerance family. If we have drinks, we don't drive for at least a few hours). We also just like the luxury of not having to deal with traffic on unfamiliar roads full of thousands of drivers who are also unfamiliar with the roads -- especially when we're exhausted from walking around a park for several hours in 95 degree humid weather.

I guess we've been really fortunate because in 10 trips over the last 20 years, we've rarely had long waits for a bus other than at rope drop or park close (when we expect longer waits and plan accordingly). Occasionally we'll have to wait during unexpected rain storms but I wouldn't want to be driving during those times anyway. We plan accordingly for the busy times. We're always at the bus stop at least 90 minutes before park opening time to avoid long waits in the morning for rope drop. If we stay for a nighttime show or simply until park close, we always meander around the park and linger in gift shops for at least 30 minutes before heading to the bus stop.

I know a lot of families really prefer to drive to the parks, we're just not one of them. We figure we pay for that "free" transportation as part of our hotel cost so we might as well use it. Full disclosure, we stay in a suite at AoA, so now we're only using the buses for MK, AK, and DS. We've also never dealt with strollers at the parks as we've always waited until the youngest child at the time was at least 4 years old before planning a trip. They all stopped using a stroller between 2 and 3 years old at home (despite my best efforts to entice them to keep using one) and did absolutely fine without them at Disney. After taking an extended family trip a few years ago with our son, DIL, and1yo granddaughter, we were *really* happy that we never had to deal with a stroller for our kids at DW, so I understand why parents with strollers might choose to drive to most parks. If we had needed a stroller for our kids, I might have actually considered driving to AK, EP, & DHS.