Driving around WDW?

[brancam2003]

Does anyone know if it is quicker to use the WDW transportation or to just driver yourself over in the mornings? We are just looking at the two options since we will have our own car with us.
And is parking free or do you have to pay at the park's itself?
I know it is free at the resort.
Hope anyone can help? You guys rock for information.
Thanks
Tina

 

[cdnmickeylover]

If you stay onsite the parking is free at the parks. Otherwise it's I think $7/day.

We drive down but always use the buses and we've never had a problem but there are lots of people who do drive to the parks. We just like the convenience of not having to drive especially at the end of the day even if we have to wait for several busses.

We do drive to Downtown Disney although that mostly because we shop and it's easier to put the shopping directly into the car rather than taking it back to the room and then moving it to the car on the last day!!

Hope this helps.

 

[Scratch42]

It seems to be a personal preference to use your car or not.

Parking is included if you are staying on site.

Anytime we've stayed on site, the car usually stayed in the parking lot!LOL I have not encountered any problems using the Transportation at WDW! I personally love the fact I don't have to drive back after a long day at the parks!

Last January when we had PS's for GF, we were running a little late and asked the bus driver if we would make it in time, he said not a problem! Next thing I knew we pulled up in front of the GF! We were suppose to go to MK first but since we were the only ones on the bus, drove us staight there! Magic at it's best!

Also, if you are staying on site, you can have your packages delivered to the resort as long as you are not leaving the next day, 'cause it takes two days!(well it is the next day but not until after 3:00 which is after check out!)

Happy Planning!

Scratch

 

[eleanor]

When we were there in Mar. the traffic was really heavy. There was lots of road construction around. I was so glad that I wasn't driving. We always use disney transportation and never had many problems. Some of the bus rides are lots of fun depending on the driver.

 

[juniorbugman]

If you drive your car to WDW you might as well use it.
We always drive our car from resort to parks if we can. We do not like the bus system, it takes too long waiting in line, this from someone who works for the TTC in Toronto.
The buses do have some shortcuts to get to the resorts and parks that cars can not go, but the resorts that we have stayed at IE: Fort Wilderness is at the end of the line from some parks and then you have to take a bus again inside Fort Wilderness or walkto your trailer home. The only time we take WDW transport is the water taxi from Ft. Wilderness to the Magic Kingdom and the TTC.
If you are staying onsite you can take your car and park at other resorts, ie: the Poly and then take the monorail, or the Contemporary and walk to the Magic Kingdom
Also if you choose to go shopping or eating your vehicle is close at hand.
Just our comments from 10+ trips to WDW all onsite.
The more you drive around the world the more shortcuts you find.

 

[SandraC]

We fly to Florida and use rental cars ~ the last three trips we rented SUV's or minivans. Because we had a stroller during the last three trips, we found the car to be an asset. I like the freedom of using a car and not waiting for a bus. I hear the bus system is great and I would use it if the opportunity presented itself, but having a car for us works right now. Last trip we were leaving MGM and the bus stops were packed. I was very happy to have a car that night. I think when my kids are older and we might use the busses if dh takes one kid to one place and I take the other kid to another place. S

 

[Nagle]

We have driven down 5 out of 6 times. Although the bus service is generally excellent, we love the luxury of using the car to leave quickly whenever we want. We also like to go offsite for meals occasionally so a car is a necessity for that. We take the bus when it is going to be a late night and we don't really feel like driving back to the resort.

 

[jjohns]

We use rental cars while in WDW. Our driving/bus experience/strategy has been...

- Between resorts, always drive. (I suppose the exception would be moving between Monorail Resorts, or between Boardwalk and Beach/Yacht Club, but we haven't had to do that!)

- Going to MK, take the bus - so long as the bus goes to the front gates not just the TTC. The advantage here is you get to skip the tram/ferry/monorail stuff at the TTC and are dropped off right at the MK gates.

- Going to any other park, take the car.

- Between parks, take the bus/monorail. Unless, you have to move the car! (This does make park-hopping a bit tedious, but we rarely hop from park to park w/out a nap/swim at the hotel. I think if we were planning to hop during the day, we would leave the car at the hotel).

Also, we're always on-site, so the parking fee is not an issue for us.

HTH,
Jeff

 

[NancyK]

We always drive down and we always take our car to the parks with the exception of Magic Kingdom (for the same reasons Jeff pointed out).