30 Days of Disney - Transportation

One of the great things about Walt Disney World is that you have choices...choices about EVERYTHING. You can customize your vacation to fit your family's needs...everything from resort, to dining plan (or not), tickets...you name it!!  The same holds true when it comes to transportation!

The majority of my clients choose the FREE option, which is Disney's Magical Express. For those who have never been to Disney, this can be the most convenient choice.

• It's FREE!
• You don't have to worry about getting your bags...Disney picks them up and delivers them to you room so you can head straight to the parks
• Since you aren't driving, you won't get lost...or get into any arguments about stopping and asking for directions
• No car seats...Magical Express doesn't allow car seats so it's one less thing you have to bring with you if you are traveling with little one's.
• Did I mention it's FREE? Nothing beats a good deal!

While those are all great reasons to select Magical Express, there are a few reasons my family typically opts to rent a car or use a car service.  Magical Express is time consuming. It can often take up to 2 hours just to get to your resort and your bags will take 3 or more hours. Since I used to live in the area and know it fairly well, we are comfortable driving...plus it gets us to the resort much faster!

While I have an awesome grocery delivery service (post coming up), I also like being able to stop and grab a few things myself at the store.  Having our rental car will allow us a quick stop without having to pay someone else to do it!

Remember if you are staying at a Disney resort, parking will be free BUT   you will have to budget for either the car rental and gas or a car service. There are some great deals to be had if you shop around but my preferred company is Alamo.  They are always friendly and I love being able to use their kiosk, head out to the garage and pick my own car!

Even though we will rent a car there are a few times we'll still take the bus:

• To the Magic Kingdom: the parking lot is ONE mile from the entrance. At park closing it can be exhausting to get to the Ticket and Transportation Center, then the tram to the car
• Downtown Disney. We'll be staying at Port Orleans Riverside and we really enjoy taking the boat!

We also love that we can easily get to other resorts as Disney's bus system doesn't offer resort to resort transportation!

Update...after all the pro's and con's we decided budget wins. Well that and we don't want to lug 2 kids, a stroller, 2 car seats and all our luggage through the airport! We are leaving the car seats behind and letting Disney get our luggage!

 

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