Rent a Car just to drive from your resort to park? I say yes

My husband always rented a car for his time at Disney until we experienced how much more convenient uber was for our family 3 trips ago. No more rental car for us the first time we got dropped off at the MCO terminal without having to leave early enough to fill the gas tank (at criminal prices), and return the car, and deal with carrying a car seat. And we don't mind the Disney transportation around the resort except to and from Disney Springs so we uber that too! And now that Disney Resorts charge parking fees, uber is much cheaper for us.
 
If you have the means, i would highly recommend you rent a car at the airport. We did this last week and it saved us at least 60-90 minutes a day + the stressing/dealing with busses going to and from the resorts - which can really put a damper on things if not running smoothly.

If you are staying at a disney resort, while parking at your hotel will incur a daily charge - parking at the actual parks will not. Each day we were literally door to door (or in the case of MK on the monorail) in less than 15 minutes.

It was the most helpful at the end of super long days to not even have to think about the bus situation which for us would have been 2 grumpy kids and a massive tandem double stroller to fold/contend with. It just gave such an extra layer of flexibility on getting to and from airport and parks. Will do it next time!
did not find the rental car much help at MK cause you still had to take either the monorail or ferry, add the tram to you car we didn't save much time over the buses there
 
Funny thing--normally I don't miss the ferry/monorail when going direct to MK, but when I bring my housemate to WDW for the first time I have some (mildly convoluted) plans to arrange things so her first view of MK will be from the ferry. That's how I first saw MK as a kid, since we were offsite guests who drove in each day, and it seems to me that it's the way MK is meant to be seen your first time.
This is my plan for my sister in a week. But I can't remember if the ferry will get us to MK for rope drop? What time should we park then catch the ferry? We are staying offsite
 
We live in FL, so we drive to Disney anyway. We do take the buses some days and others I drive. We eat our big meals offsite because of our restricted diet, so I appreciate being a resident and not having to worry about eating microwaveable kosher meals in the parks every day. That gets old pretty fast.

We've never encountered any "traffic" coming from or going to the parks.
 


I like Uber/Lyft. It works for me. Especially for a short trip, 4 days. We normally stay at WBC. An adult traveling with 1 or 2 other adults:
1. Fit my clothes into a carry on
2. Pack my backpack for a day at the park including lunch.
3. Catch the first flight to Orlando
4. Exit the plane, walk right out the door, catch an Uber to the first park
5. Arrive at the first park by 10am - Guest Services has been great about keeping my carry on bag if i can’t fit it into a locker.
6. Use Uber/Lyft for the next 4 days - Disney Transportation when it makes sense -One park a day usually open to close
7. I reverse on the way back the last flight back to Philly - store my luggage at the park - pick that up on my way out - Uber to the airport at around 6PM for 8:40PM flight.
8. If my flight is delayed Southwest will send me a text - I just stay at the park until it makes sense to leave.
 
If you have the means, i would highly recommend you rent a car at the airport. We did this last week and it saved us at least 60-90 minutes a day + the stressing/dealing with busses going to and from the resorts - which can really put a damper on things if not running smoothly.

If you are staying at a disney resort, while parking at your hotel will incur a daily charge - parking at the actual parks will not. Each day we were literally door to door (or in the case of MK on the monorail) in less than 15 minutes.

It was the most helpful at the end of super long days to not even have to think about the bus situation which for us would have been 2 grumpy kids and a massive tandem double stroller to fold/contend with. It just gave such an extra layer of flexibility on getting to and from airport and parks. Will do it next time!
I actually rented a car while staying at the all star movies resort in 2017. This was when parking was free for both the resort and parks when staying on-site. I think its worth it because one, when your ready to leave, you dont have to wait for a bus to go. Second, there many things outside disney so if your tired of disney's types of food (which is hard to be tired of) there's many restaurants and food places within 5 mins of the resorts. Finally, i may over think but god forbid there's a extreme emergency, instead of relying on Disney to provide you transportation if and evacuation occurs you can jump in your car and leave.
 
Everyone is different. We only have our car with us when we drive (20+ hours) to WDW. When we fly, we do Magical Express and do not rent a car.

Over the years we have driven our car to the parks at times and also relied on a Disney transportation. For the most part, we prefer to just use Disney transportation.

For us, renting a car is an added hassle, especially with little kids. I’d have to fly with both kids car seats (rental ones are not guaranteed to be available, and from experience, can be in questionable condition.) Then get everything at baggage claim, shuttle to the rental place with bags, 2 giant car seats, a stroller and 2 little kids. By taking Magical Express, we don’t need to pack/check car seats. Skipping baggage claim is great. We just hop aboard the bus. We fly in early, so our bags are always at the resort by the time we get our villa. Just so convenient.

We don’t go off site at all, so we don’t need a car for that. When we’re at Disney, we’re at Disney.

I actually like Disney transportation. Buses, monorails, boats etc. We drive all over the place all week at home, so it’s nice (even when we have our own car) to have someone take us around all week while we are on vacation. I’d rather use the money we’d spend on a rental car for a Minnie Van budget instead. They have the 2 car seats we need (new and in excellent condition) and are great for us when going between locations that are tougher to get to via bus (for example, going resort to resort.)

Rental car isn’t for us, but everyone is different!
 
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This is my plan for my sister in a week. But I can't remember if the ferry will get us to MK for rope drop? What time should we park then catch the ferry? We are staying offsite

The ferry starts running well ahead of rope drop, but you do need to allow a little extra time for it. I'm honestly not a very good judge of how long it takes to get around on WDW property, especially if you're driving in from offsite. I'll hazard a guess, though...in order to be sure you're actually there for rope drop instead of just missing it, probably aim to arrive at the park a good 20 minutes ahead of when it opens, and for MK add another 15 for the ferry. That might be a little tight still; it depends on how sure you want to be that you're at the very front of the line. I like being there at rope drop but I don't fuss about being at the front of the pack since I'd rather lose out on being very first in line than deal with the stampede.
 
I must have a car or else I feel “naked”.

1 - I spent my adult years in Texas and California where cars are mandatory. Not having a car is like having a limb amputated.

2 - Many of my trips to Orlando were business trips (I spoke at a lot of conventions). I would stay on property but had to travel to the convention hotel.

3 - When I was paying I stayed offsite (not recently) so a car was necessary.

We now live in New Orleans so we always drive. Once I needed an ECV and we own DCV I have used the buses. My husband likes not having to drive.

I now have a power chair and we have a lift in our van. I like that traveling by car is easier on my DH but not sure what we will do on our next trip.
 

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