12 days until our family’s 4th trip to our favourite place on Earth! Can’t wait!!!
For our first 2 trips, we stayed at WL which was AMAZING, but so $$. Our 3rd trip was at POR, and we were very disappointed in the efficiency of the bussing to the parks compared to the service at the WL. We considered switching resorts mid-trip but the cost was prohibitive…
This trip we are staying at ASM, because we are part of a group event and that is the hotel where all participants are staying…I’m even more concerned about time lost due to travel to/between parks because of the location of the hotel, and that we have only 3 park days.
I am 99% certain we will have a rental car, and am wondering if the time saved driving ourselves to/between parks is worth it.
Park Day 1 we are doing AK until noon then EP until 8 pm (need an early night because our off-site event the next day starts brutally early).
Park Day 2 we are doing MK until 2 pm (my girls are in a pre-parade at 1:30), then HS until 7:30-8 pm (not staying for Fantasmic), then over to EP in time for Illuminations (since we will have missed it on Day 1) - EMH that night so we will stay until 11.
Park Day 3 we are at MK all day.
Willing to pay extra for preferred parking if it will help at all…
I like disney transportation. The thought of having to fight traffic just exhausts me. I’ve never had a problem getting where I needed to be when I needed to be.
I personally think that you will love having a car. I’ve never encountered what I would consider “traffic” at WDW and waiting for and riding on a crowded bus is the opposite of relaxing for me. We do even drive to MK. I think unless the bus is pulling in as you arrive and leave, driving is still faster overall. If you arrive at Rope Drop you will not need to purchase preferred parking as you’ll be right up front. Even later in the day, you can walk instead of the tram if you would like and it sounds like your kids are older so you won’t need to be folding strollers. I would just do regular parking. Sometimes they will let you go look for spots in the front, but other times they will not.
We just returned from 8 days at AS Movies. We drove down. We’d always taken Disney transportation but decided to drive some this time. We drove everywhere except MK and were tempted to drive there. We learned we preferred driving to taking the bus.
For Day 1: AK is very close to ASM. I would probably drive to AK and then drive from there to Epcot.
For Day 2: I would probably take the bus to MK, then bus from MK to HS and then take the boat outside of HS to Epcot. It’ll drop you off right at the International Gateway entrance, which would be perfect for finding a spot for Illunimations.
For Day 3: I’d take the bus to MK.
Another possible option for Day 2:
Drive to MK (may need to allow more time), then bus to HS, take the boat to Epcot, and then take the monorail back to TTC to get your car.
Most people say to not drive to MK because you have to go to TTC. However, if you’re just going between MK and Epcot, you could park at the TTC and use the monorail to get back and forth to both parks, I believe.