What I have learned...

[grapefruitjellybean]

Honestly I don’t mind the busses at all. I’ve only had positive experiences. There’s something very peaceful about it at the end of a long day. Driving in the dark, soft music gently soothing my kids, the bus rocking them into sleep. Each time I have boarded with a kid in my arms people were courteous to give their seat to my child.
it’s going to be Uber for me in the morning for rope drop, and bus/skyliner at night.

Do Ubers in Disney have car seats? I realize I was only taking Minnie vans and they come with car seats. And I believe the driver told us that Uber is not permitted to drive you all the way up to the park, it’s only Minnie vans that can do that.

 

[zebrastreyepz]

Hard disagree. We used to just use disney transportation until we discovered how much nicer it is to have a rental car because disney transportation is awful. With the exception of magic kingdom, it is much nicer to drive to the other parks then take a bus/monorail/etc.

I'm glad you like it better.

Prior to 2022, we had always had our own vehicle, so I've experienced it your way.

I learned I like NOT having one in 2022. I like having someone ELSE do all the driving.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Hard disagree. We used to just use disney transportation until we discovered how much nicer it is to have a rental car because disney transportation is awful. With the exception of magic kingdom, it is much nicer to drive to the other parks then take a bus/monorail/etc.

Not sure when you were last there but just a heads up that trams are not yet running at 2 parks. I think those are Epcot and DHS so you would need to walk from your car to the park.

 

[snikki]

I’m team Not Driving On Vacation. Plus the idea of getting into a car that’s as hot as the surface of the sun isn’t fun. But again I’m from an area with public transportation so buses and trains don’t bother me nor do the minimal waits.

We do Uber 2-3 times a trip. Usually for a late night signature meal or if we truly want to arrive super early to a park and are running late.

For our 10 day trip we did Uber twice. Going and coming back from Cali Grill. We stayed at CSR. We used the buses about 3-4 times a day (midday breaks/park hopping) and never had an issue, never waited very long and we always had a seat.

 

[BamaGuy44]

Totally agree about Uber/Lyft. Especially if your group doesn't need car seats, it's our go to for getting to the park early if we can't walk. Get to the bus stop 90 minutes before early entry? No thanks. $10 Private ride for me. We only do it 2-3 times per trip and that cost is a rounding error in the total cost. Time is money at WDW amirite?

Split stays are a love them or hate them kind f thing, but you certainly don't have to waste half a day checking in/out. If I didn't trust bell services to hold my stuff and I had to wait, yeah split stays would be miserable, wouldn't do it. But the way most people do it it's fairly painless, IMO. YMMV

 

[ilovebassets]

1. No split stays for us, and we always go for 7-9 nights.
2. We usually stay at places with multiple rooms--SSR or FW Cabins. We need our space.
3. I like opening my door and being outside. Maybe because we live in a big city, but I don't want to be on top of other people. The resorts like AKL and Poly are beautiful but don't feel relaxing at all in the lobbies and hallways. This is also why we don't mind the occasional stay at a moderate.
4. Value resorts are not for us. Stayed at AoA one night. That was enough.
5. Scheduled downtime is critical. 2 full park days in a row have to be followed by either a full day off or at least a late afternoon start (4pm or later).
6. Most of the TS restaurants really aren't that great. Ale & Compass and Tutto Italia are the only two non-signatures I can think of where the food is actually GOOD. It doesn't stop us from enjoying the atmosphere and overall experience at many other places. In fact, lunch in the parks is ALWAYS table service.
7. Buses, Skyliner, monorail, our own car...we do all of it.
8. If you actually want to relax and enjoy great service, take a Disney cruise. But nothing beats the magic of Walt Disney World.

 

[grapefruitjellybean]

I just had an epiphany. I don’t like mid-day breaks, I prefer to Uber (at least to the parks, return trip I’m fine with), and I don’t need anything fancy because it’s all about the parks.
So what’s the incentive for me to stay on property when there’s a handful of Good Neighbour hotels that offer the early morning hours plus shuttle service. I did some searching and all the hotels have shuttles every 60 min.
The cost is a fraction of what I would be paying on property.
Does anyone have any recommendations? Should I start a new thread for recommendations?

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

Not sure when you were last there but just a heads up that trams are not yet running at 2 parks. I think those are Epcot and DHS so you would need to walk from your car to the park.

I guess I should add the caveat that we always splurge for preferred parking. We were last there three weeks ago. We have AP’s, so it’s only the preferred upcharge to park.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I just had an epiphany. I don’t like mid-day breaks, I prefer to Uber (at least to the parks, return trip I’m fine with), and I don’t need anything fancy because it’s all about the parks.
So what’s the incentive for me to stay on property when there’s a handful of Good Neighbour hotels that offer the early morning hours plus shuttle service. I did some searching and all the hotels have shuttles every 60 min.
The cost is a fraction of what I would be paying on property.
Does anyone have any recommendations? Should I start a new thread for recommendations?

Please visit the resorts area of DISboards. (You are currently in the Theme Parks area.)

There are entire boards dedicated to both Disney Resorts and locations off property.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

Now that I am a professional Disney attendee and planner I know what works and what doesn't work for me and my family. I wanted to share and this is just my own opinion.
What are some of your hindsight lessons?

1. Avoid a split stay. I wasted half a day packing, checking out and checking back into my new resort. I didn't want to leave valuables with Bell Services so I stayed with a few of my belongings and waited at the new resort for our room. Also, a split stays counts as 2 reservations which affects your 60+ day dining reservation. Never again.

Agree. Unpacking once we get in is a big aprt of our vacation and re-packing is a pain and time consuming.

2. I only need a place to sleep. I admit I'm high maintenance and I love the finer things in life; including hotels. Not the case on a Disney vacation. A stay at the Poly was once on my bucket list, but for the same cost I would much rather stay at the Four Seasons in Bora Bora. It's AoA forever for me.

I do not see a resort as "just a place to sleep", BUT I also do not need to spend a lot more $$ just to stay at a deluxe. We have also found that we've had just as great of trips at POP as we have at Mod or Deluxes. Other than splurging, we do not see the worth in paying more for a Deluxe.

3. The food is not worth the hype, most of it at least. I was incredibly disappointed with most of the things we ate and nothing blew me away. Looking at you: cinnamon bun at Gaston's, Dole Whip, corn dog nuggets, brioche ice cream, just to name a few. Shout out to Docking Bay 7, Skipper Canteen, that cheeseburger pod place in AK, and Skool Bread because that was tasty.

OMG! So good to see someone else with this opinion. I think people's taste buds are also on vacation when describing WDW food.

4. Character meals are a one and done for me. We started off the trip with breakfast at Topolino's, the food was ok and I felt like we paid $500 for the characters.

Sorry, character meals with our DDs were a must for us. Yes, the food is mediocre at best but our DDs smiles and excitement were well worth it.

5. I wish I could have stopped more and taken everything in. I was in an intense go mode for the entire trip. Next time I'm going to try to remember to sit down, stop, and take it all in.

Once we stopped planning everything for every minute and just made sure we got in most of the important rides and taking it slow. We actually found our vacations relaxing and when we got back home we felt relaxed and not exhausted.

6. Next time I will book more off days for pool days or resort hops.

We normally do 2 RR days during an 8 day trip.

7. Ubering to the park is totally worth it. Note for self - call Uber 20 minutes before I want to leave in the morning.

We always drive to WDW but after the first few trips, we much rather just take WDW transportation to the parks and with over 40+ trips rarely regretted it. For us, Uber would be a waste of $$

8. Leaving a park mid-day for a break with the intention of coming back in the evening never works for me. Once I'm in bed with my bra off, I'm done and it's impossible to get motivated to go back. Coffee and an indoor show is the answer.

Also agree totally. When we had our 1st DD we tried doing midday breaks and laying down just made us more tired and grouchy and found it a complete waste of time. Or hanging out in the pool on a 90 degree day only makes the chance of getting sunburned even greater. Plus, my DW and DDs will all want to shower after the pool and by the time all that is done a lot of the day went away. Again we rather do a full RR day then to break up a park day. I'm 62 and still do not need to take a nap or go back to the resort, we much rather stay in the park and relax there. Sitting with a snack or just grabbing a spot and people watch, or just browsing through the stores..

 

[leebee]

>No split stays for us. I detest living out of a suitcase, so I completely unpack when we get to a hotel. The time needed to unpack, repack, move, unpack again, and then repack for the trip home would make me cranky.

>Character meals were fun when the kids were little. In Disney, time=money. We could spend 90 minutes or so standing in line in MK to see the Pooh Guys, or we could do it in the a/c at Crystal Palace. Had to eat anyway, so this seemed like a good way to double-up, saving time and energy. HOWEVER... now that "the kids" are 23, 26, and 30, we don't do character meals anymore!

>I always rent a car. I was sucked into the Disney transportation system for a while when ME was still running, but now that I need to pay for RT airport transportation, I'd rather have the flexibility of a car. We can ALWAYS get home faster at park closing if we drive ourselves, and the Very Last Thing I want to do after being on my feet for 12 hours in a theme park in the heat/humidity is to stand in line for 30 or more minutes waiting for a bus- packed in shoulder-to-shoulder with hot, sweaty, tired strangers. Car also lets us make grocery runs, eat off-site, etc. Just works better for us.

>Don't really care where we stay, although AKL/Jambo is my very favorite. We do deluxe when I can rent DVC points (stayed at AKL, BWV, OKW, SSR). I also like POFQ and CSR (CSR is where we are staying this month... love the resort now that they've redesigned it) but have had VERY happy trips while at POP, ASMu, and ASMo. Do I prefer deluxe? Sure, but the extra $$$ in my pocket buy other experiences!

>No rope drop for us. We are night owls and you can't burn the candle at both ends. We try to be out of the room by 10am-ish and will stay pretty late in the parks (and then maybe go out somewhere after). We always schedule an ADR for dinner, but often not until 8pm, and frequently off-site or at Disney Springs. We need the a/c and rest after a long day in the sun!

>Didn't like the QS at Pandora; found it to be incredibly salty. I loved Nomad Lounge when nobody knew about it. You could walk in any time, sit at the bar, laugh and joke with the bartenders, in the cool, peaceful setting. Now? Too many people, too many kids, too noisy, too rushed.

>Park passes. We used to buy as many days as we could afford, one park per day, but that was back when passes were good forever; none of this silly date-specific stuff. Mostly now I will buy a 2-day park hopper. We usually go to MK and AK during the day and then hop over to Epcot for rides and supper. The Studios doesn't do too much for me. I don't know the Star Wars properties so much of that area is "meh" for us, can't ride roller coasters or big-drop rides, so DS means we go to Beauty&the Beast (which I LOVE), Indy, maybe MMRR and TSM.

 

[_19disnA]

^^ I agree and most of these things depend on your budget, what sort of hotel theming you prefer and how you like to travel around when at Disney. There isn't one formula that works for everyone. Having a rental car gives us more flexiblity to get around and if we decide to eat off-site it is more convenient and the food is cheaper then what Disney charges. Even Disney Springs has much more reasonably priced restaurants and isn't that far away.

If someone is the go-go-go type also matters. We aren't in a race when we go to Disney and part of being on vacation is doing what we want/when we want. Everyone has their style that works for them and the most important thing is to keep that mind when deciding where/when/how long you will be at Disney.

 

[pindecisive]

Do:
1. Stay at Swan Reserve with points
2. Visit for 2 days/2 nights, with no park hoppers and only go to AK and Epcot
3. Visit Epcot during the Food Festival
4. Take Uber/Lyft to the hotel and to AK

Don't ever:
1. Plan to eat a sit down meal AK
2. Stay at Disney Springs
3. Take Disney bus transportation

 

[PDXmouse]

Do:
1. Stay at Swan Reserve with points
2. Visit for 2 days/2 nights, with no park hoppers and only go to AK and Epcot
3. Visit Epcot during the Food Festival
4. Take Uber/Lyft to the hotel and to AK

Don't ever:
1. Plan to eat a sit down meal AK
2. Stay at Disney Springs
3. Take Disney bus transportation

Wait, I love learning from all you on this site but I have some clarifying questions…

1) I thought the swolphin bus to AK is the best time to use their transportation?
2) Why no sit down meal at AK?
3) Why no Disney transportation? We’re planning to walk to YC/BC to use their bus to MK.

 

[SwanVT2]

Now that I am a professional Disney attendee and planner I know what works and what doesn't work for me and my family. I wanted to share and this is just my own opinion.
What are some of your hindsight lessons?

1. Avoid a split stay. I wasted half a day packing, checking out and checking back into my new resort. I didn't want to leave valuables with Bell Services so I stayed with a few of my belongings and waited at the new resort for our room. Also, a split stays counts as 2 reservations which affects your 60+ day dining reservation. Never again.
2. I only need a place to sleep. I admit I'm high maintenance and I love the finer things in life; including hotels. Not the case on a Disney vacation. A stay at the Poly was once on my bucket list, but for the same cost I would much rather stay at the Four Seasons in Bora Bora. It's AoA forever for me.
3. The food is not worth the hype, most of it at least. I was incredibly disappointed with most of the things we ate and nothing blew me away. Looking at you: cinnamon bun at Gaston's, Dole Whip, corn dog nuggets, brioche ice cream, just to name a few. Shout out to Docking Bay 7, Skipper Canteen, that cheeseburger pod place in AK, and Skool Bread because that was tasty.
4. Character meals are a one and done for me. We started off the trip with breakfast at Topolino's, the food was ok and I felt like we paid $500 for the characters.
5. I wish I could have stopped more and taken everything in. I was in an intense go mode for the entire trip. Next time I'm going to try to remember to sit down, stop, and take it all in.
6. Next time I will book more off days for pool days or resort hops.
7. Ubering to the park is totally worth it. Note for self - call Uber 20 minutes before I want to leave in the morning.
8. Leaving a park mid-day for a break with the intention of coming back in the evening never works for me. Once I'm in bed with my bra off, I'm done and it's impossible to get motivated to go back. Coffee and an indoor show is the answer.

I agree with all of this and have discovered the same myself after trips!

 

[pindecisive]

Wait, I love learning from all you on this site but I have some clarifying questions…

1) I thought the swolphin bus to AK is the best time to use their transportation?
2) Why no sit down meal at AK?
3) Why no Disney transportation? We’re planning to walk to YC/BC to use their bus to MK.

I said this in another thread, but every meal we've ever had at AK has been terrible. I even worked off the Disney Food Blog our last trip because our experiences have been so bad, and we still threw out some of our food from Nomad Lounge that had been burned/overcooked and served to us.

During our trip to DL this month the DH even turned to me and said, why is the food at DL so much better?

We always go to the food festival at Epcot before AK, so the difference in quality is even starker than it would normally be. We've just agreed to never eat at AK again.

The reason we don't take buses is after staying (the one and only time) at Disney Springs. Having to stick to a set bus schedule - where you have to wait for the bus and get dropped off too early, or wait for the bus and get picked up too late. Just pay less than $20 for a private ride. You can leave whenever you want.

Part of the reason we stay at Swan Reserve now is so we can walk to Epcot. Waiting in line for 45 minutes for MM/EE for Epcot after the bus schedule forced us to be there too early - we still talk about how hellish is was. Now we walk to Epcot when we want and take a Lyft to AK (and it's always raining the day we go to AK) and we take one back.

Unless you're on a strict budget, imo there's really no upside to taking a Disney bus over a Lyft.

I will say however, that I do want to take a water taxi or ferry to/from Hollywood Studios at some point for fun. But I haven't done it yet so I can't say if the experience is worth it.

 

[focusondisney]

I’m just wondering if you’re a Phd after 1 family trip what it makes the rest of us who are out of state APs & visit multiple times a year for decades?

 

[CBMom01]

Do:
1. Stay at Swan Reserve with points
2. Visit for 2 days/2 nights, with no park hoppers and only go to AK and Epcot
3. Visit Epcot during the Food Festival
4. Take Uber/Lyft to the hotel and to AK

Don't ever:
1. Plan to eat a sit down meal AK
2. Stay at Disney Springs
3. Take Disney bus transportation

I used to be a big fan of Tusker House. I still like it but the quality has gone downhill

 

[grapefruitjellybean]

I’m just wondering if you’re a Phd after 1 family trip what it makes the rest of us who are out of state APs & visit multiple times a year for decades?

You are deity tier and fortunate for being able to go so often.

 

[RamblingMad]

I split stayed once in 2009. I’ll never do it again.

The food is okay. But at today’s prices, it’s more misses than hits.

I’ve never gone back to the hotel midday. I like to maximize my rides.

Disney resorts cost way too much. Not worth it for what you get. This is even more true at today’s prices.