Do You Rent a Car When you Stay On Property?

[Goes4FastPass]

I'm surprised how many people still rent cars when they fly into MCO and stay at a WDW resort.

We always rent a car everywhere except WDW. We like the freedom, we're good map readers and because we're super frequent renters from the same (tries harder) chain we get a great rate and no paperwork. It used to be renting a car for 4-5 days didn't cost more than a taxi RT from MCO.

Now with DME, we tag our bags, board the bus and start our vacation.

We use WDW transportation smartly (planning an MK break to WL/WC includes a pleasant boat ride) and relax when waiting for and riding busses.

At times if we're bushed or in a hurry we hop in a taxi and go resort doorstep to resort doorstep in minutes. A few cab rides are still cheaper then a rental car

Driving around WDW means parking a substantial hike from all resort or park entrances.

DME takes us back to MCO and we begin thinking about our real lives which include driving and traffic and parking every day.

[ThanxForNoticin]

We tend to find things are less stressful when we rent a car and control our own transportation schedule. While the bus system is effective, the buses can be a bit busy or even late at times. It's also much more effective to going from resort to resort for dinners - just our preference.

[King Triton]

I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority, but I almost always rent a car, unless its a very short trip.

Some reasons:
- Its nice to have the convenience of running out to the grocery store, drug store, etc.
- More than once, we've had someone get sick and I'd much rather transport them to CentraCare myself rather than figures something else out.
- We occasionally like to eat off-site
- If there long enough, we like to go to Sea World or Kennedy Space Center.
- The Disney bus system is adequate, but I wouldn't rave about it.
- Its nice to be able to make spur of the moment trips to Downtown Disney, mini-golf courses, etc., without figuring out which buses are going where.
- I don't mind, at all, driving while on vacation.

That said, I do think DME is a terrific service and I do use WDW transportation somewhat onsite (WL boat, monorail, etc.). I just like the flexibility the car gives me.

[scoot241]

Last time I stayed on-site, we rented a car and hardly used it (this is pre-Magical Express); we only really used it to get to and from the airport. So, considering that Magical Express now exists, I probably wouldn't rent a car if we were staying on-site and just doing things at WDW. If we had other plans, I probably still would rent a car.

[SBETigg]

I love using WDW transportation. Not having to worry about driving around, parking, or following real world traffic rules adds to my vacation. The only time the buses aggravated me was when we stayed at POR. Otherwise, we've always been at a monorail deluxe and the transportation has never been a hassle for us going to or coming from there, and our experience with DME was really great.

[vamaggie]

Have kids--MUST have car! We always rent and have been thankful we do. Makes it much easier to get sleepy/cranky/fussy kids back to resort. Also allows more mobility in Orlando. Once son had a bad reaction to sunscreen in the eyes and we were able to get him to medical attn quickly. Wouldn't travel with little kids w/o a car. We keep looking and book a rate when it is low--more than DME but still not a bank breaker.

[Polynesian Dweller]

We always rent because of the flexibility it gives us for our schedules. Last year, for example, one day we drove to AK early and got a FastPass for Everest (already late in the day), did a couple fo AK rides, then drove to MGM, did a couple of rides and had lunch, went to Downtown Disney, went back to our hotel, went back to AK for our FastPass, went to DD again for supper, and then returned to the hotel. No way that could have been accomplished on the bus system or cabs.

Also, got to comment on the distances. The longest distance we've had to walk is about 2-3 minutes to a trolley that takes you right to the themepark entrance.

Flexibility not cost is the real reason for the rental.

[lightyearfan]

me and dw simply love renting a car and i'll tell you why. we feel that were not dependent on the Disney transportation, if we feel like leaving we go, i know that there is adequte busing which leaves every 20 minutes or so, but to us this is being on time schedule. dont get us wrong Disney transportation is wonderful if thats the route you decide to go on, but just being able to come and go as you please just has a nicer feel to it. and at the end of a long Disney day, we don't feel like getting on a crowed bus, we would rather just goto our car and enjoy. i mean we have to deal with crowds all day, the last thing that we want to do is dealing with crowds and trying to grab a seat on the way back to our hotel.

Victor

[mudpuppysmom]

I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority, but I almost always rent a car, unless its a very short trip.

Some reasons:
- Its nice to have the convenience of running out to the grocery store, drug store, etc.
- More than once, we've had someone get sick and I'd much rather transport them to CentraCare myself rather than figures something else out.
- We occasionally like to eat off-site
- If there long enough, we like to go to Sea World or Kennedy Space Center.
- The Disney bus system is adequate, but I wouldn't rave about it.
- Its nice to be able to make spur of the moment trips to Downtown Disney, mini-golf courses, etc., without figuring out which buses are going where.
- I don't mind, at all, driving while on vacation.

That said, I do think DME is a terrific service and I do use WDW transportation somewhat onsite (WL boat, monorail, etc.). I just like the flexibility the car gives me.

Yeah, what he said......

plus we stay at SOG most of the time and they don't participate in DME (wish they had something worked out, even if you had to pay $20 or something......then we might not rent). Plus, we live in an area where there is not public transportation readily available, so we are used to driving everywhere we go.

[Disney4]

I have tried it both ways, but insist on getting a car over at the Dolphin when we check in. A few reasons I prefer a car:

- I cannot stand a crowded bus in 90 degree
heat at the end of the day.

- I have a small child and always get dirty looks
when I try to squeeze the jogging stroller on
the over croweded bus. I much prefer to
toss it in the trunk.

- I save a ton of money going to the local
store and stocking up on snacks, drinks and
morning food.

- The freedom of coming and going whenever
or wherever you want is worth the $200 or so
a week. We make better time hopping from
resort to resort. That extra park time offsets
the cost of the rental.

[MMouse6937]

I actually don't mind using WDW transportation, but DH absolutely has to rent a car. I don't mind it especially since we like to dine at the resorts and we don't have to hop from bus to bus. I like knowing that we can get back to our resort when we want to, there's no waiting in line for buses, we have a lot more freedom that way. I have always been able to get great deals through Dollar so it's worth it to us.

[d_m_n_n]

Have kids--MUST have car!

[Lehman Family]

We actually drive our own car down because it's less expensive (surprisingly considering gas prices) than flying. We still use Disney Transportation all the time. We only use our car if we travel outside of Disney property. It works best for us.

[Funcruiser56]

We used to always rent a car mainly to get to the resort. Sometimes we drove to the parks other times we took the bus or monorail.
Then the arival of DME- no more rental cars for us.We enjoy the disney transportation, with the exception of the long line at the end of the day. But generally even that's not too bad. If we are really worn out we can take a taxi to the resort.
The money we save not having the rental is now used for purchases and dining.

Bev

[Jasper]

This is one of those "depends on" kind of questions. The most basic "depends on" is that it depends on if we think we are going to want to leave Disney property for any reason. If the answer is yes that we want to go off property than we do rent a car. However, if we are staying on property only than we do not rent a car.

On several different occasions when we had our own wheels at Disney World we did head-to-head comparisons of how long it took to get from one spot to another and were surprised to find that even though it seems longer by bus, in reality, every single time we tried it the rider on the bus actaully got there at the same time as the car rider or in many instances actually arrived before the car rider. I think that when you drive yourself it doesn't seem to take as long because your mind is occupied by what you are doing while when riding the bus your mind is free to wander to other things.

[ldn324]

DH and I always rent a car. We aren't opposed to using Disney transportation, but we look at it as more of a bonus if a bus happens to be around when we want to go somewhere. But we love the independence of having our own car so we're not at the mercy of Disney's schedules. We also like to go offsite at night and do day trips up to Daytona at least once during our visit. The one time we insist on using Disney transportation is when we are going to Pleasure Island and know we will have a couple of drinks. We always let the bus carry us back to the resort in that case.

We're also those paranoid people who are sure something is going to go wrong at check in at the airport and usually get there at least two hours ahead of time. I'd hate to be at the mercy of a bus schedule and worry about our luggage getting there, us getting through screening, etc. with very little time to spare.

That's just two of us - if we had kids I'd definitely always rent a car.

[WinnieThePooh]

>At times if we're bushed or in a hurry we hop in a taxi and go resort doorstep to resort doorstep in minutes. A few cab rides are still cheaper then a rental car<

I was just curious how much has it cost to use a Taxi? I know it would depend on the distance, but like more or less than $20 ?

[mudpuppysmom]

If anyone is thinking of it on a cost basis......think of it in terms of how much water you will drink......for those of us that drink bottled water.

My family can easily go through two CASES of water in our week there (and there are three of us, we don't drink pop). Take 48 bottles of water @ $2.00 each and there you have nearly $100 right there and that is just on bottles of water! If you also buy breakfast foods (pop tarts, fruit, juice, etc...) the savings from buying these things in the food court/parks easily points toward getting a rental if only to go to the grocery store!

[kgoulash]

we go to other parks before disney but keep our rental once we hit the world. dinning with kids is just easier with your own car, and we often drive to animal kingdom instead of taking the bus

[jillluvsdisney]

Yes, we rent a car when we go to WDW. My mom uses her wheelchair when we are there. Steps are tough for her so that rules out climbing on a bus. She'd never let them put her in the wheelchair lift either.

We really enjoy dining at other resorts also. That's hard to do when you don't have a car. I know you can transfer buses, ect, but timewise it just eats up too much precious vacation time.

The time saved not having to wait for a bus is well worth it for us.

I did take a trip with my sister a few years ago. We stayed in DTD and uses the buses and that was just fine for the two of us. It was a short trip and we did not park hop.