Staying on property... to get a rental car or not.

[NYtoFLA]

Having a car is an absolute must when staying on property. My time is pricless so waiting on a bus and being subjected to people coughing, complaining, and or potentially standing makes the cost of a rental nominal. Factor in the ability to come and go as you please makes it a no brainer especially for those of us that venture off outside of Disney periodically to visit other sites or just have dinner on Idrive with no hassle of time constraints...remember its a vacation.

 

[grumpytx]

We have been multiple times, rented a car on a couple of those trips and driven a couple of trips. Having said that I will say it's definitely a personal choice. I have been able to snag some really good rental prices in the past. I will say that the most of the time the car did stay parked but we had planned on doing things away from WDW, Cape Canaveral shuttle launch etc., hence car was necessary. When we do chose Disney Transportation we just pack plenty of patience and remember we are there to relax. The one thing to remember is with Magical Disney Express they pick you up three hours prior to your scheduled departure at MCO(Orlando). Which can make for an EARLY morning if you catch the red-eye out of Orlando, personal experience 2am pickup is way too early!

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

We drive to Disney. We park our car and leave it for the entire trip.

We leave the driving to Disney.

We try to time our travels so we aren't moving with the masses.

 

[Pembo]

Are you going to the water parks? or mini golf? Then you want a car. Taking the bus to do those things is very time consuming. For short trips, I'm fine just using buses but for trips over 4 days I like a car. It's nice to be able to run to the store if you need something and don't want to pay resort prices. Also if you aren't a Coke person, the local Panera has Pepsi.

Like others have said, it's really a personal decision. There are pros and cons to both.

 

[richmo]

I'll almost always rent a car, whether staying onsite or not. I like the ability to leave the bubble and eat at some of the restaurants offsite or perhaps a grocery store or drugstore run.

 

[juncker]

Travelling without kids, we go without a rental. There are so many great places to get drinks that it's great to have a designated driver.

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

Having a car is an absolute must when staying on property. My time is pricless so waiting on a bus and being subjected to people coughing, complaining, and or potentially standing makes the cost of a rental nominal. Factor in the ability to come and go as you please makes it a no brainer especially for those of us that venture off outside of Disney periodically to visit other sites or just have dinner on Idrive with no hassle of time constraints...remember its a vacation.

I think what you mean is having a car is an absolute must when staying on property for you. It does nothing for you when visiting MK, and the idea of no hassle of time constraints in traffic on I-4 or International Drive coming and going from WDW to other area attractions is wishful thinking, not a guarantee. How do you deal with being subjected to people everywhere else at Walt Disney World?

 

[NYtoFLA]

I think what you mean is having a car is an absolute must when staying on property for you. It does nothing for you when visiting MK, and the idea of no hassle of time constraints in traffic on I-4 or International Drive coming and going from WDW to other area attractions is wishful thinking, not a guarantee. How do you deal with being subjected to people everywhere else at Walt Disney

Thanks captain obvious, this was my opinion.Evidently you dont like people who have an opinion that is not in line with yours. I am speaking from personal experience where is your information coming from? I would much rather be with my family in the car than with a bunch of strangers on the bus after a long night at magic kingdom complaining about some nonsese. Its called personal preference so enjoy your ride on the bus and getting back 30 to 40 mins later than me. Lol.

 

[FamilyGuy]

Rental cars can be very inexpensive. We always have a vehicle with us. Sometimes it's rarely driven during the entire trip. But I like the flexibility of hopping in it if we decide to go off property, or sometimes to travel to a park (not MK, obviously). IF you do decide to take magical express and forgo the rental, you can always rent one at the TTC for a day or two mid vacation.

 

[leebee]

We almost always rent a car when we go to WDW, even staying onsite, and when we don't rent a car I invariably come to the "What was I thinking" viewpoint. Here are the reasons we rent a vehicle:

>No waiting in long lines at the end of the day. We just shuttle to our parking area and head to the hotel. We've timed it several times (me in the car vs. sister on the bus) and I always get back to the room before her, sometimes with enough time to have showered and been in bed!
>When staying at a Value resort, we can park very, very close to our room. Makes it convenient to do an early morning coffee run to the food court if your feet are blistered and sore from the day before. Also makes it SO much easier to get back to the room at night, especially with sleeping/sleepy children who might need to be carried.
>Buses at park closing are often packed. We've never waited in line for less than 30mins. to get a bus back to our hotel. There are also a minimal number of seats on the bus, so after being in the parks all day and waiting in line for what feels like forever, we have the pleasure of standing on the bus, packed in like sardines. There seems to be no maximum number of standees on these buses. It's hot, crowded, tiring, sometimes smelly. Now think of trying to stand on this bus while holding a sleeping child. No, people will not automatically give you their seat if you are holding a sleeping kid. Many think, well, I'm tired too, and I got the seat first.
>People talk about parking at MK like having to take the monorail or ferry across 7 Seas Lagoon is a bad experience. Seriously? Where else can you ride a MONORAIL? One that goes through a building? How often do you get to ride in a boat? We think the monorail and ferry are part of the fun, two of the attractions, of going to MK!
>We like to have dinner at restaurants located in the resort hotels ((Boma, Jiko, California Grill, Whispering Canyon Cafe, etc.). Unless you are in the MK and eating at a monorail resort, we find it easier and faster to just use a car. One memorable evening (and our anniversary), it took over 2 hours to go from POFQ to the Polynesian for dinner at Ohana. We'd left our hotel room 2 hours before the ADR time and we were late. They'd given our table away, but would "find" one for us if we were willing to wait. What were we going to do? Took about 45 mins. to be seated. If we'd had a car, we could have been there in about 15 minutes, with another 5 to walk in from the parking lot.
>We like to go to the grocery store and get in-room breakfast items, snacks, wine/beer, etc. It's much more affordable to just stop at Publix than to use a grocery delivery service. A car also gives us the ability to check out towns like Celebration, go to the Disney outlet stores for souvenirs, eat dinner off-site, etc.