Alright, so the more I read trip reports the more I think that I should rent a car for the week we will be in WDW. We will be a group of 10, 5 adults, 5 kids ages 2-11. My question for those of you who go often is, we are going in January (of 09) and are staying POR, just how slow are the buses from POR to each of the parks this time of year? And are there direct bus routes (meaning we don't have to get off of one bus to get on another, not necessarily a non stop route) to each of the parks from POR? I'm just thinking this is a big deal of a trip for us and I don't want to look back at its completion and realize we spent 15 hours waiting for buses, where we could of just driven to the parking lot and been there already, you know? And is there down sides to driving within the park and the actual parking lots? Any inside tips on the parking lots would be great too!
Any thoughts?

Oh, I guess I should clarify, part of our group is driving down so we would only need to rent one sedan.

Ok, Thanks!!

I'm in the 'don't rent' camp. The buses may stop at other stops within the same resort complex (in your case, multiple stops in POR or at POFQ), but you will get to the park without having to change buses. The only time you have to change buses is if you're going from resort to resort (like if you want to eat dinner at Boma).

With this large of a group, I'd think NOT renting would give more freedom, too - it would be MUCH easier to split up on the spur of the moment when individuals want to do different things - because then you don't have to worry about when the car is getting back and who's driving it and who has the keys and who are they supposed to be waiting for, etc etc.

Other people here really like the independence of driving - but there really are two things that push me over the edge: I hate navigating in unfamiliar locations, especially in the dark. And this way I can enjoy an adult beverage or two without having to designate a driver.

Im with Drince on this one. We did our own experiment this past August since we drove down. (Also stayed at POR.) And quite honestly, we found very few situation where having a car was really convenient. (Going to AK for an early Boma breakfast was one and going to DisneyQuest after Epcot was another. Both could have been easily accomplished with cabs, if need be.)

Even with higher crowds than what you might see in Jan 09, we did not wait more than 15 min for a bus with an average wait time of 6 minutes. Only times we had to wait a little longer was if we stayed to the very end of the day, and even then it was not all that bad. Only a few times, also at the end of the day, where the buses were super crowded. Other than that, it was very reasonable and no hassle at all.

Bottom line - you do not need to rent a car. I would rather take the extra money and put it towards doing something else.

Thanks gusman and dince for your input! I really do appreciate it!

We just returned this past Sunday, and I must disagree with the above...........we stayed at Yacht Club, and it became a big joke, about the buses. We waited for 45 minutes to get a bus to Downtown Disney, at 11AM. We then waited 30 minutes for the return ride back. I was mad because I could have spent more time shopping. My sister always rents a car, and I have argued this car/bus thing with her for years. I can now say that I agree with her, and will rent a car the next trip. Not only were they late, there seemed more crowds than usual, and they do stop at other resorts. We only stayed 5 days, and were short on time, and the waited only made me crabby! My vote, rent a car. ;)

We like to rent a car for:
-Dining at other resorts
-Going to the water parks (The transportation to and from them is sporadic and if it storms, there is a mass exodus and we have waited one hour for a bus back, also the water park bus stops also at AK)
-Going to DD, its nice to have a trunk to put all those purchases in instead of lugging a bunch of shopping bags onto a bus.
-If anyone in our party is golfing or going to Cirq
-making early breakfast reservations on time
-We get to the resort sooner and can stay a little longer if we are on our own schedule not at the mercy of the ME. (I know, I'm greedy for every extra minute of vacation):D


We use the busses also and they are efficient and good but the convienience of a car in certain situations if worth the extra cost imo

I am in the "Yes to a rental car" camp as well. We always do this when we go down. Its much nicer to have the freedom of not relying on the buses. Plus it makes it easy to get to church and the outlets for shopping. In fact, the ONLY time we do take a bus is when we go to the Magic Kingdom. Its much easier to get dropped off at the gate by a bus than to have to park at TTC and catch the monorail or boat.

gravette, cheermom, and bellefan-thank you for posting an opposing view. I am thinking I will just go ahead and rent one for the whole week since I was going to rent one anyway for the two days we go to Universal and the beach. I agree with you cheermom about the irritation of having to wait when your time is so short. That is how I am feeling. We'll only be enjoying the WDW parks for 5-5 1/2 days so I want to make every moment count and feel like I have some sort of control over my schedule:) thanks again you guys!

I'm another avid car renter. It solves so many problems, starting with transportation from the airport. Of course the Disney bus service is now free, but then you're waiting on their schedule to get you there and then get your luggage there sometime later. I like to hit my hotel, change into park clothes, and then hit the first park. Hard to do while waiting for your baggage.

All of the parks have their own parking lots, of course. The only one that's separated from its park is in the Magic Kingdom, where you park in the Ticket and Transportation Center. It's true that the busses drop you off right at the park. But taking a ferry across the Seven Seas Lagoon or hopping a monorail to the MK is a terrific perk - almost like attractions themselves. And having a car is really handy at night, when you stay till park closing. Actually I tend to stay well after closing, and with my car I don't have to worry about when the busses stop, or having to cram in with a whole bunch of other tired sweaty cranky people.

As was mentioned above, going from hotel to hotel is a major pain with the busses. You have to bus to a park or Downtown Disney, and then hop another bus to the hotel of your choice, and then repeat the process to get back home. It can take as much as 90 minutes just to hop to a hotel, where in my car I'm there in 10 minutes.

And finally, I just don't like having to wait for the busses, even if it's only a few minutes. I really enjoy leaving my room and hopping in my car, and getting to my park of choice while others are still sitting and waiting for their bus. You of course have the option with your large crew to either take 'em all somewhere in the car or let everybody spread out and take their own transportation to wherever they want to go. Having your own car will just give you more options - I really think that's the way to go for your trip!

I have to admit that the buses seem to be getting slower and slower. I am seriously considering renting a car when I go down for the marathon.

You can take the bus when you go to Downtown Disney or somewhere else if you're planning to have some drinks and don't want to have to worry about driving back to your resort and also to the Magic Kingdom since it's faster than having to park and take the monorail.

I've always been a "BUS ONLY" person while on site. We usually had a rental car, b/c hubby likes to drive once or twice to the beach but going to and from the parks were bus only. The busses were great and I didn't have to think about anything. In fact, if you do a search on this oft-debated topic, I was in the BUS category just a month or two ago.

HOWEVER

This past trip has definitely changed my opinion. The lines were SO long one night (a full hour and a half after Epcot closed) that I hailed a cab. Most of the time, the busses were FULL--standing only. If you went during the middle of the day, there were 5 stops (POFQ/POR). The busses DID come fairly frequently most times, but they were always packed. I also took other busses to resorts (we like to bus hop) and the waits were ridiculously long. It took about 30-45 minutes to get to Epcot and AK two different times. I've gone to leaving the hotel a full HOUR before our evening ADRs. That stinks.

THIS WAS IN THE SLOWER, "DOWNISH" TIME--mid October.

We rented a taxi three times. It was fairly pricey, but WORTH it. As much as I like DME (it was WONDERFUL), I hated using the internal bus system this time....

I don't know what I'll do next time--may depend on the size of the travelling party.

Sorry to be a downer....:(

THIS WAS IN THE SLOWER, "DOWNISH" TIME--mid October. (

I don't think this exists anymore, Tina - at least not during this part of the year. Either the Food & Wine Festival or the Dining Plan are bringing in the crowds, even at the formerly slow times of the year. From everything I've read, parts of October were every bit as crowded as the middle of summer. Very good for Disney, bad for us. Oh well, at least it's cooler in October!

I'm in the bus camp but then only have one on resort trip to go on and this was a good experience. Also, driving on 'the wrong' side of unknown roads would be a near death experience so best avoided. I think if you accept that a bus is not the instant hit of a car you'll be happy. However, we did and will take cabs back from any meals at other resorts if we're not returning to a park. The resort to resort bus trips are too long for me, especially if you're very full and just need to be horizontal!

As I said in my trip report (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=83253), I've come to the conclusion that there are only two valid reasons for on-property guests to use Disney transportation:

You are going to the Magic Kingdom and don't have AAA Diamond parking, don't want to take the Monorail or ferry, or otherwise can't deal with the TTC.
You are going to Downtown Disney and might be, or plan on being in a condition at the end of the night where driving back to your hotel would be contra-indicated.
If one of these does not apply, drive to your destination. Unless your time is worth nothing to you, always rent a car at WDW. So yes, rent a car.

because of the not-wanting-to-(be killed while)-driving-on-the-wrong-side-of-the road thing, we are not going to rent a car for our trip, but from what I have been reading, taking taxis is going to be part of our game strategy. is there anyone out there who can give me some indication of the cost involved so I can plan ahead; for instance, how much would a taxi from WL to DTD be? or from WL to GF roughly?

I have had a look on taxi websites and can see the basic charge, but its not much help because I can't tell the distances involved.

many thanks

As one who has travelled to those funny countries that don't drive on the right (correct!) side of the road, I'd suggest that you not let this scare you from an amazing experience. As long as you're careful, take your time, and look both ways before turning ANYWHERE, it can be really a fun and unique time. The only time I really had to stop and think about it was when I was turning right at an intersection. It seemed like I kept trying to go into the wrong lane for just a second. But no crashes, and just driving around was like an E ticket!!!

because of the not-wanting-to-(be killed while)-driving-on-the-wrong-side-of-the road thing, we are not going to rent a car for our trip, but from what I have been reading, taking taxis is going to be part of our game strategy. is there anyone out there who can give me some indication of the cost involved so I can plan ahead; for instance, how much would a taxi from WL to DTD be? or from WL to GF roughly?

I have had a look on taxi websites and can see the basic charge, but its not much help because I can't tell the distances involved.

many thanks
There will be a direct bus from WL to DTD - if you thought that was going to be a 'transfer' situation. I think most cab rides are around 10-20 on site. Going to AKL might be on the higher end (or maybe even a little higher) - and if a taxi driver doesn't know his way around really well, you may go slightly longer ways (Contemporary to POFQ via the Polynesian is NOT the shortest way). WL to GF should be fairly reasonably priced.

I'm a non-driver because I hate navigating in the dark in unknown places and I will not drink more than 1 drink and get behind the wheel of a car. Between those two things, and the (usually) ok bus service with an occassional taxi thrown in, and I'm good. I would NOT want to try to navigate AND drive on the 'wrong' side of the road. Might be an E ticket, but that's something I'd sit out :eek:

thanks so much; i will budget $20 a trip and when it only costs half of that, we'll be ahead. i did realise that there is a direct bus to DTD but I don't think we are very good waiting-around-for-the bus-after-a-long-day people - much happier to jump in a taxi and get going. plus drink and driving is a big no-no and being the designated driver on holiday is no fun at all... thanks again for the info.

Guys, a car for us "foreign" visitors is a must have because we arent just there for a few days like our american cousins are so we are usually doing more than just disney. It really really isnt hard to drive in the States, despite being on the different side to what we are used to because they almost always have automatics and well we are used to manual. Dont let the idea of being on a different side put you off, their road systems are a hell of a lot easier than the UK's, its a pleasure driving over there. I have always rented because I do more than just Disney in the (usually) 2 weeks we are there.

thanks so much; i will budget $20 a trip and when it only costs half of that, we'll be ahead. i did realise that there is a direct bus to DTD but I don't think we are very good waiting-around-for-the bus-after-a-long-day people - much happier to jump in a taxi and get going. plus drink and driving is a big no-no and being the designated driver on holiday is no fun at all... thanks again for the info.
That sounds right. We took taxis several times on our last two trips. From POFQ to DTD was $8, but from POFQ to Fantasia Gardens was $14 + tip. From POFQ to GF was $12 and POFQ to Beach Club was $12. You might be able to do $15 per trip, but if you want to build a little cushion into the budget, $20 would be nice and safe.

From POFQ to DTD was $8, but from POFQ to Fantasia Gardens was $14 + tip.

It bugs me that there's no bus to Fantasia Gardens at all. The closest bus would be to the S&D or BW, I guess, but of course that involves a transfer if you're starting at your resort.

It bugs me that there's no bus to Fantasia Gardens at all. The closest bus would be to the S&D or BW, I guess, but of course that involves a transfer if you're starting at your resort.

And, if I'm recalling from reading (never done mini golf at WDW :eek:), it involves crossing a decent sized street.

As I said in my trip report (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=83253), So yes, rent a car.

Going through the same debate myself but leaning towards renting a car. 2 Questions: 1) What is AAA Diamond parking (I will be onsite and will have an AP so under the impression parking will be free)

2) Should I rent AT Disney car care center or at the Airport (MCO)?

Going through the same debate myself but leaning towards renting a car. 2 Questions: 1) What is AAA Diamond parking (I will be onsite and will have an AP so under the impression parking will be free)

2) Should I rent AT Disney car care center or at the Airport (MCO)?

AAA Diamond parking is a benefit you receive when you book your package through AAA, where you get to park in the closest non-HCA spaces at each theme park. As a Resort guest or an Annual Passholder, you do get free parking.

The car care center only has Alamo and National and those are the two most expensive locations to rent a car in the area. There is a Hertz counter at Shades of Green that offers attractive rates but has very few cars available. Renting at the airport means you may pay the airport concession fee, unless you pick one of the off-airport vendors like Budget or Thrifty--that's what we usually do.

km, just go to Expedia.com and look at their list. I like renting from the on property locations, as I then just walk across the street to the garage and I'm on my way. I HATE waiting for a tram, although sometimes those guys can have pretty incredible rates.

Other than that, ditto everything Andrew said!