Never again without a car

[Bork]

We had a great 2 weeks at WDW, but I will never again be caught without a car. Too many bad bus experiences.

POP was pretty good in the mornings, but the lines at park close were terrible. And the walk to the Epcot and Disney Springs bus stops is ridiculous.

Kidani was great at park close, but terrible in the mornings. We waited 20-40 minutes for buses on many mornings.

It just seemed like we wasted way too much time waiting for buses or walking to them.

 

[bumbershoot]

No argument from me! We love a rental at WDW.

 

[Ladygoldenhair]

We can't stay on site without a car. Now we have been renting a town home 15 minutes away and loving the space with great savings.
The Magical extras just aren't so magical anymore.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Never been on a vacation (aside from my honeymoon where one didn't really venture outside of the resort) without a car. We always end up at a Walmart (or something close to it) and the thought of either being completely captive or having the trouble of arranging taxi/uber just stresses me out.

 

[maxiesmom]

I'm the opposite. I've rented a car before and it just sat there.

 

[HarleenQ]

Totally agree. We did a bus only trip at Kidani and it was awful. The comfort of having that rental car will be worth the additional money.

Next month we are the Poly so I'm hoping the monorail/car combo will be easy.

 

[loves to dive]

Another one just the opposite, I drive down and park my car at the resort and don't get in it again until I leave. I do sometimes take packages to it and drop them off just so they aren't cluttering up my room but ain't no way I'm driving once I'm there.

 

[jdisnut]

I value my time at a premium cost, so I won't visit Walt Disney World without a car. The buses are free, but they are just too inefficient for me to use them in most cases. Having my own vehicle gives me freedom and flexibility, which Disney's transportation simply doesn't.

 

[BabiesDaddy]

This will be my first year at disney with a car, i'm looking forward to not riding the bus.

 

[Tattylou]

If you stay on site with a car, do you get free parking at the parks? We've always just used the busses.

 

[mco65]

on shorter stays 1 week or less, i don't use a car much but i can see where a 2 week stay would make having a car very nice if not necessary.
I never felt like we needed a car when we didn't have one but always found a use for it when we did.. go figure!

 

[Bork]

If you stay on site with a car, do you get free parking at the parks? We've always just used the busses.

You get free parking at both the resort and at all parks.

 

[Bork]

The other thing I don't like about not having a car is Disney's unmagical Express. Both times we've gone without a car, we had our return flight delayed, but we were forced to take the DME bus at the original time. So we're stuck at the airport for hours, when we could have stayed onsite longer.

 

[spleuchan]

This was my first time flying to Disney World. We were without a rental car and relied 100% on Disney transportation. It exceeded my expectations. Almost every time, we had an under 5 minute wait for a bus or boat. The only exception was after Fantasmic. The line for the boat to the Yacht club was extremely long (we'd probably make the 3rd boat), so we walked. No big deal.

 

[n2mm]

Always have a rental car. It's budgeted into the cost of our trips. We always go to the outlets, margaritaville, and Publix. Getting from resort to resort in 15 minutes is great.

 

[LilyWDW]

Sorry OP. Another one here who is the opposite. I hate driving around Disney. Did it on my first trip and never will again.

 

[Lyricallie]

Every time I went before my family had a rental car. However this year it was just me and BF and he didn't want to drive on the other side of the road and I was too young to rent. It was ok. There were a few times I would have much preferred to have a hire car. The queues getting back from Disney Springs were crazy 4/5 busses until you could get on. We got taxis to some restaurants that we just wanted to try as we were in America and we nearly got stolen as we accidentally got into an unmarked cab (whoops). But for the most part the busses to the parks where fine, just couldn't go anywhere else. Next time I'll convince him

 

[Tattylou]

You get free parking at both the resort and at all parks.

I didn't know you get free parking at the parks. That is a nice perk.

 

[jazzyscoob]

The past 6 trips we have driven to the parks. Next trip we are flying and DH doesn't want to rent a car so we will be back on the Disney buses. I am hoping to change his mind in the next 355 days!

 

[bumbershoot]

This was my first time flying to Disney World. We were without a rental car and relied 100% on Disney transportation. It exceeded my expectations. Almost every time, we had an under 5 minute wait for a bus or boat. The only exception was after Fantasmic. The line for the boat to the Yacht club was extremely long (we'd probably make the 3rd boat), so we walked. No big deal.

You got very very lucky. That is not the normal experience, and I think even fans of onsite transportation would agree.