Hey friends, it's Jacqueline for Pixie Dust PhD! All Walt Disney World
owned and operated hotels offer free transportation to and from the parks, and
even many off-site hotels offer some form of free transportation. With free
transportation available do you even need to rent a car? Today we'll be going
over some pros and cons of renting a car during your Walt Disney World vacation
Ultimately, no you don't need to rent a car--particularly if you're staying at a
Walt Disney World Hotel. All of the on property hotels offer free
transportation to and from the parks, and you can even take a free bus to and from
Orlando International Airport. I just did a video going over the basics of free
transportation at Walt Disney World; go ahead and click the card to learn more.
And while you may not absolutely need to rent a car in order to get around,
renting a car may be a consideration for you just like with any other non Disney
vacation. Let's go over some points to think about when considering renting a
car. First on many people's minds when planning your Walt Disney World vacation
is cost. Obviously renting a car will be an additional cost for you. You'll have
the cost of the rental itself, as well as gas, and then any parking fees incurred
at your hotel. Additionally, if you're staying off site you'll also have to pay
to park at the theme parks themselves. So compared to using the free
transportation at Walt Disney World if you're saying on property: cost is kind
of a no-brainer, the cost is significantly more if you're
going to rent a car. Two: driving. Walt Disney World property is absolutely
massive, and if you rent a car you will have to navigate your way around the
property. There are of course signs on the road pointing what direction to go, and
Google Maps is a great tool. However, driving can just be an added
stressor to your vacation that you may not necessarily want. The frustration of
driving around may be the tipping point for bringing you out of that wonderful
Disney bubble. With the free transport of course you don't have to worry about
driving and you can maintain your perfect Disney bubble with Disney music
blasting the whole way through. So of course if you want to avoid driving
renting a car may not be your best option. Three: freedom Renting a car gives
you the freedom to go anywhere you please. Do you want to hit up a cheaper
meal in town? Are you interested in doing a Target run to load up on snacks? Or do
you want to do a day trip out to Universal or other attractions in the
Orlando area? Certainly having a rental car will make this exponentially easier.
While Disney does offer free transportation that transportation is
Disney-centric, meaning they're aiming to keep you on their property so you're
spending your money only at Disney. Disney World free
transportation certainly won't be taking you to and from the nearest fast food
chain to save some money, or a grocery store to stock up on snacks. They would
much rather have you eating and dining on their property, be it in the parks, at
resorts, or at Disney Springs rather than spending your money elsewhere. And while
Walt Disney World property is absolutely lovely, having a rental car gives you the
option to leave property easily. So as far as freedom goes, if that's something
you're interested in, a rental car beats the Walt Disney World free
transportation easily. Four: time and efficiency, particularly if you're staying at
a hotel that's not adjacent to a park. The free Disney transportation,
particularly the buses, is an excellent service--that being said it can be
relatively inefficient. It's not uncommon to be waiting a full twenty or more
minutes for a bus to come. Disney is working on this by keeping on-site hotel
guests more in the know, as they can access the next bus time through the
My Disney Experience app. That being said, you do have to keep an eye on that
schedule and you won't be able to just go anywhere whenever you please like if
you had a rental car. Also, if you're staying on-site depending on which hotel
that is there may be multiple stops per resort. This of course adds time, but
occasionally you'll also see buses fully at capacity and if you're the last stop
you may not be able to get on. In particular trying to leave the parks at
park close on a bus back to your hotel can be a real hassle. The lines are long,
the buses are crowded, and you may have to wait for several buses. If you've had
a super long day, that delay can add to your stressors when all you want really
is to go back to your hotel and shower and get to bed. All this is contrasting
to if you had a rental car and you're driving that around--this goes back a little
to point 3--you're freedom. You're free to go and come as you please. You don't have to
wait for a bus schedule, or a Skyliner, or a monorail, or anything; you can simply
just up go to your car and drive off to wherever you want to be. This added
efficiency with a rental car I think is particularly useful if you're the type
of person who wants to take a midday break, meaning that in the morning you
leave for the park and then sometime in the afternoon (usually between 12 and 4
depending on your party) you want to go back to the hotel and either hang out at
the pool, or take a rest, etc.,
and then after you've been back at
the hotel for a couple hours you go back out to the parks. So that's two full
round trips to and from the parks. Increased efficiency with a rental car
can save you a boatload of time when you're considering two full round trips
to and from the parks each day. Five: park arrival. At Magic Kingdom
hands down the Walt Disney World free transportation system wins. If you're
taking a free bus or monorail from your resort to the Magic Kingdom
you'll get dropped off at the Magic Kingdom proper. If you're driving or
taking a ride share you will be left at the Transportation and Ticket Center, and
from the Transportation and Ticket Center you'll have a short walk over to
a hub where you can catch a ferry boat or a monorail and sometimes a bus over
to the Magic Kingdom. Basically from the Transportation and Ticket Center you
cannot just walk into the Magic Kingdom. You will have to take another mode of
transportation to get to the park itself. This means that your rental car or ride
share transportation to and from the Magic Kingdom actually takes a super
long time, because there is an entire annexed step after you're done with the
car part of your journey. This caveat only exists for the Magic Kingdom though.
For all the other parks you're parking in a parking lot adjacent to the theme
park itself and you just walk in like normal. So other than the Magic Kingdom,
as long as you're not staying at a resort that's a walkable distance to the
theme park, on average you're probably going to save some time driving to the
theme park, parking, and walking in, rather than waiting for a free mode of
transportation, potentially making multiple stops within your resort, and
then heading to the theme park. That being said if you're at a Skyliner
Resort, Disney's Skyliner gondola system is actually incredibly efficient
when it's loading properly. And that will beat even driving. Six: leaving the parks.
We touched on this a bit earlier; when you're leaving the parks right as a
nighttime show ends there's really a mass of humanity all exiting at the same
time. Some of those folks are going to their personal or rental cars, and unlike
it major sporting events where you can find yourself sitting in a parking
garage forever waiting to leave, Disney is actually incredibly efficient at
getting cars out of their parking lots. If you happen to make it on the first
bus back to your resort that's great, A+. If you don't, you're going to be
waiting a little bit. Disney does typically employ a lot of buses towards
park close, so hopefully you won't find yourself waiting for a super long time.
But there will be some added time. However, the hectic nature of using the
Walt Disney World free transportation system at park close really only
applies if you're leaving in that same moment that everybody else is. Note that
the parks stay open usually about an hour after the official close; this
is so you have time to shop and spend more money at Disney. So if you do want
to minimize crowds, which for me also means minimizing my anxiety, when using
the free buses to get back to your hotel after the parks are closed: just hang out
in the parks for a while, get some awesome pictures when the crowds are
lower on Main Street, do your shopping, and then go ahead and take the free
transportation. Like most aspects of a Walt Disney World trip whether or not
you rent a car will really depend on your party's preferences. What matters
more to you? Do you want that enhanced freedom and efficiency, while sacrificing
the cost as well as maybe bursting a bit of your Disney bubble? Let folks know in
the comments down below if you do or do not rent a car when you head to Walt
Disney World, and why. What what are the big decision factors for you? If you found
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