Unlike most Disney fans, I wasn't a kid the first time I visited Walt Disney World. In fact, I was a

One question I get a lot is Should I rent a car when I visit Walt Disney World? If you re not staying on property, the answer is pretty simple:  Yes. There are no resorts within convenient walking air fares cheap tickets distance of Walt Disney World, even the Downtown Disney resorts, and most resort shuttles air fares cheap tickets are so inconvenient they ll wreak havoc on your schedule. If you re staying on property however, the answer is a little bit trickier.
First, no one staying on Disney property air fares cheap tickets needs to rent a car since Magical Express, Disney s free shuttle service that runs between Orlando International Airport and all resorts, runs 24 hours a day and is there to get you and your luggage to your destination safe and sound. Magical Express is great for Disney as well as for guests, since guests who use it won t have a car and therefore will be spending all their tourist dollars on property.
Of course, that s part of the problem. If you forget to pack something, you re pretty much stuck shopping on property where everything, even toothpaste, is more expensive. If you have something more difficult to get, like a prescription air fares cheap tickets refill, you ll need to take a cab. And if you re looking air fares cheap tickets to travel over to one of the other parks or just explore downtown Orlando, you re looking at a fairly expensive cab fare or a very involved air fares cheap tickets bus ride.
Even so, most guests don t need a car.  If you plan on visiting Sea World, Universal, or Legoland, consider renting air fares cheap tickets a car for one day or looking into special shuttles for visiting those parks. Universal, for example, offers a one-day park hopper and transportation to the front of Universal and back to your resort later that night for $139. You can rent a car from several locations on Disney property; these vendors will usually pick you up and drop you off when you re done with your rental.
Finally, plan well and you ll be a lot less likely air fares cheap tickets to forget items, but worse case scenario, a cab rental from anyplace on property to the Target on Highway 192 is less than $25 one way. Best of all, since these cabbies are allowed to operate on Disney air fares cheap tickets property, air fares cheap tickets you can have confidence they ve been fully vetted and will be fair.
I m going to add one caveat here: Some Disney resorts are simply inconvenient.  Both Ft. Wilderness and the Treehouse Villas have an internal bus system. This means that you ll take one bus to a central location at the resort (or in the case of the villas, to Saratoga Springs) and then get on another bus to go to the parks. air fares cheap tickets This can add a lot of travel time to your trip. While many guests staying at Ft. Wilderness rent golf carts to get around, the price is so high it s actually air fares cheap tickets cheaper to rent a car.  If you re staying at either of these resorts and time is important, consider renting a car.
I often rent a car because I like to go off property or because I tend to stay at multiple resorts during one trip, but bottom line, you really don t need a car. There s something to be said about getting on your Magical Express bus and letting someone else hassle with traffic for the next week or so.  As an added bonus, you re not out running errands when you could be in the park and you save money too.
Unlike most Disney fans, I wasn’t a kid the first time I visited Walt Disney World. In fact, I was a sophomore in college and it wasn’t an over-the-top family vacation but a single day trip to Epcot, down from Tallahassee, where I was a student at Florida State. However, from the very first time I visited to countless times since then, it’s always felt familiar and strangely, like home. I never walk into the park without feeling the same excitement I felt on my earliest visits; I consider that a real gift.
Today I’m a married mom with three young children and I write a Disney blog and work as a Disney travel agent. air fares cheap tickets Although I live in North Carolina, I’m an annual passholder at Disney air fares cheap tickets parks on both coasts and I try to visit as often as possible. My purpose of this column is to cover travel related topics, from the most basic questions for first-timers to more complicated issues for seasoned pros.
This entry was posted air fares cheap tickets in Tips and Advice , Walt Disney World and tagged car rental , Getting Around , Saving Money , transportation , Travel Planning , Walt Disney World , WDW . Bookmark the permalink .
Didn t rent a car the last time we were there and never really missed it. We did have groceries delivered to our room, and that took care of most anything we needed air fares cheap tickets offsite. Going to be trickier this next time since we re visiting Universal for a day before going to Disney. A car rental would mean we could pick up some groceries along the way. Still, the joy of not driving for a week is probably worth the fare from Universal to Disney.
Good point on the grocery delivery! If it s just a couple people, the shuttle service/ticket combo is a good way to go to Uni. Otherwise, you re probably air fares cheap tickets best with a one day rental and as you mention, you can run an errand or two. It s a pretty easy drive once you re on I-4.
We have 4 children and have really air fares cheap tickets needed to have the convenience of a car. We ve never once gone without air fares cheap tickets someone getting sick and three separate trips we needed urgent care/ER (The hospital air fares cheap tickets at Celebration is it University Hospital? was AH-MAZ-ING. Better at treating children air fares cheap tickets than our own Children s Hospital. Did I mention we have 4 kids?), which would have been disgusting in either a cab or a bus (our 1-year-old was vomiting air fares cheap tickets and you can t control it). We have also needed multiple trips to pick up medication or other necessities that aren t available air fares cheap tickets (or are outrageously expensive, as you mentioned) on property.
The other convenience is that you can leave things in your vehicle for a different time/park, meaning if you re park hopping and you want a change of clothes for the evening at, say, the Studios for Fantasmic and you ve spent the day at the Animal Kingdom getting soaked on the Kali River Rapids you don t have to return to your room or carry it around all day, although we typical make at least one trip back to our resort for our personal sanity.
Just my wife and I traveling have used ME and not had a car and it was great not having to drive anywhere. With that being said it was extremely difficult/time consuming to just get from Wilderness Lodge to Grand Floridian air fares cheap tickets for a reservation.
Traveling with our boys, we wanted a car and I m glad we did. No waiting for busses, no having to stand on busses on rides back at the end of the day. Just hop in the car and go. Shorter walks back to the room from car than bus stops.
Resort to resort can be a pain and WL is one of those resorts that can be tough, transportation-wise. We used a cab to get from BW to the GF last weekend. It was so convenient and with a tip, it was $17. Well worth the money, especially with three tired kids.
We always rent a car when we stay off site, cause if we have an early Breakfast reservation we drive to the Resort and inform the Security Guard of our Reservation and they allow us to park in the Resorts parking air fares cheap tickets lot. It also allows us to get to were we want to go quicker.
I always air fares cheap tickets rent a car until the last time we visited and I will never rent a car again. Because I go so often, I am in no hurry to see everything. I don t mind waiting for a bus/boat. We used to rent a car, go to Walmart and also use the car to go to Animal Kingdom because the bus ride was so far from our resort. It saved $200-300 for the week. I always thought getting on the bus 3 hours before my flight was too long but when we went a car I have to leave that early anyway to get the rental back. This next time I plan to order groceries to be delivered. Anyone have a good site/store to order from?
We always rent a car when we come to orlando. Reason being, we travel by to Disney on the Amtrak. Disney does not have a pick up there. Renting air fares cheap tickets a car is easy, Hertz has a office air fares cheap tickets right in the train station. Also we travel to Busch Gardens while in Orlando air fares cheap tickets as well. Also alot nicer at the end of the night when you are tired ready to go back to your room, you don t have to wait in line for a Disney bus.
Well, we drive (from Maryland) so we always have our car. In the past, we never used our car and were extremely happy with bus service. However on our trip this past January (stayed at Art of Animation), air fares cheap tickets we used our car to drive to Downtown Disney it was a godsend!!! The bus trip to DD is usually air fares cheap tickets so long so driving ourselves was a huge time saver! We wished we had driven to the water park too since that is a long bus trip as well. So, there are some benefits to renting a car if you fly. It just depends on what you re doing on your trip.
If you have regular park tickets, and not hoppers, you can avoid the extra cost of a rental and use the bus. If you have an Annual pass or park hoppers and wish to go two or three parks in a day your wise to rent. I use Costco Travel to rent the cheapest air fares cheap tickets cars in Orlando. It cost me $186.00 for 8 days or $23.25 a day. Going through the rental car website would have cost me $339.00 for the same car!
I have stayed at a Downtown disney air fares cheap tickets resorts. The bus service to the parks is convenient and you dont have to pay to park. BUT if you do breakfast with charactors or so on you will need a car they dont always air fares cheap tickets leave that early for your time and they only go to parks no place else. Then you must catch monorail or other trasnportation (my advice if you do DTD resorts CAB it to a early breakfast we did and it is cheap about20$). All other trips I stayed at Disney resorts (which we much more prefer!) and did not rent a car. BUT remember esp durring a busy season like Holidays and weekends the lines are HORRIBLE just to catch the bus back to your resort. I have waited through 3 pick ups just to get on a bus. BUT also disney was fast about it less than 30-45mins. But I have decided that next time even with staying at a disney resort we are going to rent a car. We did take a cab twice to two of our breakfast air fares cheap tickets with charactors (Cape may cafe and Ohana s I did not want to hassle with bus to Epco