Driving Versus Taking The Bus

Any thoughts on driving to the parks (we will have a car already) versus taking the bus? Last summer we stayed at POR and I wasn’t too fond of the bus. Getting to the park was fine, but going back to the resort was horrible. We spent more time waiting for the bus than for any rides at the parks - not too mention actually getting back to the resort and to our stop. We will be staying at AoA this fall. I wanted to try the mid-day break idea but it seems unrealistic if using the bus system. How long does it actually take to get to MK gates from the parking area?

We gave up on the buses. After 14 hours in the park the last thing I want to do is hobble to the bus stop and wait another 45 minutes standing while 3 full buses go in front of us and then end up on a hot bus full of sweaty over tired people where I again get to stand the whole ride home.

When you drive you just hobble to your car but are guaranteed a seat, you can blast the AC and you turn on music or just drive in blissful silence lol.

MK is the roughest in terms of parking because you do either have to monorail or boat back to the TTC but that extra 10-15 minutes is so worth not dealing with the buses. If you aren’t in a hurry I recommend the ferry because you can definitely find a seat and it’s a nice peaceful ride.

We don’t do the mid day breaks, but I would imagine driving back after that would result in a much further out parking spot. A lot of people recommend driving in the morning, bus for break since it’s not a mob like it is at the end of the night and then driving home. But that only works if you aren’t hopping and if you decide to just stay in for the night someone has to go back for the car.

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Depends when you are going, where you are staying and what park you are going to.

It can take a bit at MK as you have to either boat or monorail and then possibly tram (although we have always just walked unless the tram is right there). Approx 20 minutes to get 'round 7 seas and then how ever long from TTC to your car. I would think a mid day break wouldn’t be bad as there shouldn’t really be a line for transportation out of MK

I prefer to drive for a variety of reasons, including I don’t like standing around and waiting, I don’t mind some extra walking, driving is a little faster, I don’t mind driving on vacation, and I always get a seat in the car (whereas first thing in the morning or returning from the parks at night I’ll almost always have to give up my seat + my back doesn’t handle the extra standing very well).

Having said that, there are times when I’ll use Disney transportation. In the past, I’ve typically driven to Magic Kingdom, though after a couple off-site stays getting back and forth from the TTC isn’t all that bad. Still, I’d lean toward busing to MK to/from a Disney resort most of the time, while I’d drive to the other parks. I’d also consider busing if hopping directly from one park to another, when I might not want to take the time to move the car to another parking lot (and probably get stuck with a crummy parking space).

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Plus he thinks its fun to stuff as many liners in his car as possible.

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Maybe I’m just lazy, but to me driving means finding a parking space (and if you’re driving back at midday and then going out again then that’s 4 times you’ll be finding a space) and then finding the car in the lot when I leave and having to get into a 120° car at 1:00 or 2:00 and again at 4:00 or 5:00. Add in having to put the kids in car seats & stroller in the trunk, and the actual driving to the hotel (fine at midday, but holy traffic at park closing) and I’ll happily wait for a bus any day.

It’s should come as no surprise to anyone that I LOVED living in Manhattan, where I ever had to drive anywhere!

We take the bus to MK and drive everywhere else when we have a car I the drove to MK earlier this month because we were coming from an off property store. At the end of the night I waited for 5 parking trams and was it took me another 1/2 hour to get out of the parking lot. The kids left the park after me and took the bus back to our resort. They were in our room before I was.

Staying at Caribbean Beach and I plan to drive into the parks, especially now that I won’t pay for parking. Walk right out to my car and get there…no waiting for 5-15 min for a bus to pick you up, hit the other stops at the hotel and then drive over. I guess the only bad thing is that if you take the bus it drops you right off at the entry. However, my 9 year old loves the trams and monorail so we’ll be driving. I don’t want getting back to the hotel at night to take me an hour, which is what I envision this summer if we take the bus to Caribbean Beach.

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Thanks all, I really don’t want to ride the bus but I needed some backup against the rest of the family lol. Even if it takes the same amount of time to get back to the resort in the car I’d rather not be standing in long lines and then standing on the bus all the way back. Any info about the buses at AoA in particular? When we stayed at POR, there always seemed to be a lot more buses showing up for AoA guests…was I just imagining that?

When you’re waiting for a bus it always seems like the other resorts are getting way more than you are. When we stood waiting for a POR bus for nearly an hour I kept seeing buses for AKL and there wasn’t even a line.

Having said that the value resorts do tend to get a lot of buses simply because they are so huge and usually have a ton of people waiting.

Drive everywhere!! You won’t regret it I promise!
No Tram or monorail will ever take as long as the buses sometimes do!

We used the bus system the first year we visited and have driven our own car ever since. Kids falling asleep in the car on our way out of the parks at night is much better to me than kids screaming on a over crowded, hot bus.

My last stay at POP we had two buses loading after the park and another friend said they did that. More buses for value.