Rental car worth it when staying on site?

[MrsSkellington]

We're flying into either Tampa or Orlando to visit family for the first few days of our vacation (they live in between), and will be renting a car. Our son will be 2 1/2 when we visit. I thought to save money, we should drop the car off at MCO on our arrival day at Disney and take Magical Express to the resort. We'd stay at the resort and then take ME back to the airport on our departure day. We'll be staying at Wilderness Lodge, and are planning on visiting MK, EP, and AK.

Am I just being cheap? Should we just keep the rental for the 5 days we will be on site?

 

[Pooh2]

We've gotten a rental car for our last two stays onsite and would not do it any other way for future trips. It was so much nicer than waiting for the bus, then standing on a crowded bus at the end of the day. If you are bringing your own stroller, might make things easier as well as not having to stand with a sleepy child at the end of the night.

 

[MillauFr]

I got a rental car for our entire stay. It was nice not having to use the buses.

 

[Angiea1114]

I have done both ways with multiple children of different ages. There's pros and cons to each. For us, the additional expense of the car was too high to justify when theres transportation available. Either way, you are walking to a parking lot or to the hotel. I just returned from Disney yesterday from a short 3 day trip with my college aged daughter who was there for an event. I hated driving through Disney. It was confusing at night and very stressful. The trip before this our youngest was 5. This was in 2013. Still loved the convenience of the busses.

 

[Newsies]

For the WL, I don't think a rental car is completely necessary. My family likes to not drive when they're at WDW. In theory, if you're staying at the WL you'd only have to use the buses to AK. WL has a particularily enjoyable boat ride to MK, and from MK you can take the monorail and transfer to EP.

 

[tnd]

I am a rental car convert! We've decided that Art of Animation works best for our family (now 3 kids) and I don't love having to take busses everywhere. I feel like we are always waiting. We also always take a mid-day swim/nap break, and a car makes that easier. It also makes pre-park opening breakfasts easier. We also run to Target when we arrive and get diapers, sunscreen, water, breakfast foods, and snacks, so we save a bit of money that way.

I also love the convenience of Magical Express, so we take the ME bus to the resort and then rent our car from the Car Care Center close to MK. If you call, they will come get you from any resort. We return the car the day before our trip ends and take ME back to the airport.

 

[OZMom]

Totally worth it, for us anyways. We had a car for our last trip because we drove and used it on property because we had a stroller and I wanted my kids in car seats etc. It was also super convenient to just toss the kids in the car and go back to the hotel then have to deal with crowds on the bus. I'm planning a trip for DH and I for May with no car and it's already a hassle trying to figure out how to get from this park to this resort. If we want to go to a restaurant in a different resort you have to take a bus to a park, then transfer to a bus to that resort.

JMO, but that's a lot of hassle for me and cuts out a lot of park time.

 

[lauradis]

How much would your husband hate to drive??????

Mine doesn't want to see a car on vacation if he has to drive it.

Most of the hotels have taxi waiting in parking lot. So you could just take a taxi from your resort to ADR resort easy and cheap. Plus cars parked in the parking lot of the fla sun. hot hot hot. bus has air condition and its been ice cold every time.

 

[Mickeyluver37]

First, since you are getting a car anyway, price the difference. Sometimes it's actually cheaper if you keep the car the whole week due to codes that can only be used for certain lengths of time, or Saturday stays.

For us, we are definitely rental car converts. The busses take entirely too long when loading ECV's , and when leaving a park are too jam packed full of people. It's also more convenient to have a car for early morning ADR's. We do mix it up though, and take the bus sometimes if it seems like it will be more convenient that day, or quicker than parking and walking. We also no longer rent strollers from the parks, but from an outside company for the week, and that's easier to deal with in our own rental car than on a bus where you not only have to fold it and hold it, but you might also be holding your child too, since they cram so many people in without seats.

 

[msp2mco]

Part of me wants to tell you that using Disney transportation would be easiest, given your itinerary. However, I'm not sure I would give up the flexibility of the rental car when you have to take a few hours from your vacation to return the car to MCO and take ME back to WDW. I'm guessing it would take 3 hours to go through the whole process the day you return the car before you start your WDW stay and plan on an extra hour the day of departure to use ME back to the airport. Time is money...

 

[sharona]

Having done both, will never visit without a car again. Especially if traveling with a toddler/stroller. Nothing worse than having to wake them out of their stroller after an exhausting day only to stand in line for 20 minutes and then stand on a bus. Also, having the ability to go off site for a few meals and essentials can easily pay for the car.

 

[eliza61]

We don't go without a rental car.

our first year when our kids where little we got caught in the mad, park closing get on a bus with strollers fiasco and said never again.
LOL that was over 18 years ago.

totally worth it.

 

[mrsap]

It's completely up to you. We always rent a car because we drive down. We stayed on property once without it and we were miserable!!!! We felt like we were stuck and hated waiting for the buses. Didn't like not being able to come and go as we please. We stayed at the Lodge this past November... We used the boat to go everywhere it could take us and used the car for everything else! We also like going to the store or even grabbing a bite to eat on non-park days. Good luck deciding!

 

[msmama]

Even on the trips when I have had a ca (because of coming somewhere else) my car gets parked in the resort lot and I don't use it again.

I have no issues with disney transport especially if there are more adults than children, though I've flown solo on several trips with strollers and I've never had any issues.

That said, It might be easier for you to keep the car and I'm not sure that you can just take ME from the airport whenever you want (without actually flying into the airport that day).

 

[MrsSkellington]

First, since you are getting a car anyway, price the difference. Sometimes it's actually cheaper if you keep the car the whole week due to codes that can only be used for certain lengths of time, or Saturday stays.

I think this will be the first step. I do have various discount codes and such to consider too, so maybe it won't be too bad.

Part of me wants to tell you that using Disney transportation would be easiest, given your itinerary. However, I'm not sure I would give up the flexibility of the rental car when you have to take a few hours from your vacation to return the car to MCO and take ME back to WDW. I'm guessing it would take 3 hours to go through the whole process the day you return the car before you start your WDW stay and plan on an extra hour the day of departure to use ME back to the airport. Time is money...

Good point. Someone else did mention renting on site at the park. That may be an option too, so we don't lose out on so much time.

Thanks! Some more to consider. Either way I know we'll have fun!

 

[J.C.&ALI'SMOM]

Rental car all the way. I don't like waiting on buses and riding in one that is standing room only. I also like to visit offsite locations like restaurants and the Disney parks outlet store.

 

[momtosam]

We do it every time.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Totally worth it especially if you have to make a trip to the store. Cuts down on the amount of travel time to/from the parks since you don't have to wait for a bus.

 

[hsmamato2]

see... I prefer no car.... my DH loves the car,and wants to drive like maniac all over the place if we have a rental. I don't. I don't want to drive around the city,looking for a good deal on tube socks, I can do that at home.... I want to get on a bus, that takes me where I want to go,with no fuss. For me, that's Disney transportation all the way. The cost and hassle (and worry)over renting and being responsible for the car vs. just getting on the bus is not worth it to me. My DH is strange though,and his idea of fun is seeing how much Disney is asking for one bottle of budweiser,then spending the day shopping at area stores to see how cheap he can buy it..... I have always preferred no car,even when the kids were babies.

 

[Teacup53]

I vote car! Granted I take public transportation everyday and if I am on vacation I don't want to wait for a bus or a train (unless it is the WDW Railroad in the Magic Kingdom). The other nice thing about having a car is that if you child naps in the car well you can drive around while he or she is sleeping. We did that a few times - we left the park in the afternoon and before we left the parking lot my boys were both out. We drove around for an hour+ then returned to the park for more fun with happy rested boys ready to play again. Much easier than trying to go back to the hotel calm down, rest, then pack up and head back to the park. I felt we got more out of our days that way with more easy going kids. Plus if you have any earlier ADRs you need to factor in travel time. One cast member told me to budget 60-90 minutes to go from Caribbean Beach to the Contemporary if we were using WDW transportation but if we had a car - 20 minutes. That time difference made our decision easy.

Good luck and have a great trip. Plus you can store your stroller in the car and not have to lug it to the room each night.