To Rent and Car or Not?

[pineapplepalms]

I think it can really vary depending on where you're staying, what your plans are, how long your trip is, and who is with you. We almost always rented a car for WDW before having kids, after staying at All-Star years ago and having really bad bus experiences. Our last couple of trips we stayed at VGF, Poly, and BWV, and found that Disney transportation worked just fine. Plus our son (he was 2 on those trips) really enjoyed taking the various forms of transportation and had fun interacting with other people. We also go for longer trips (10+ days) and take things pretty easy, so the time it takes to use Disney transportation is an acceptable tradeoff for the experience of not thinking about parking/driving/directions/tolls (and in some cases it was probably faster than driving ourselves). We use Prime Now for grocery delivery instead of driving offsite to pick up things on our own, so a car isn't needed for that either.

 

[bostonsean]

We usually (not always) rent a car. It gives us a little more freedom, especially with split stays. We also have family in the area so we use the car to visit them, too.
Having a car is super convenient; we get it right there at the airport, almost as we walk off the plane. Then we have control of our own luggage, we can decide to stop at a store or not, and we can drive right to the resort. We have take the Magical Express, too. It's great!
Some things to take into consideration:
cost: ME = free, CAR = $
privacy: ME = public, CAR = private personal space
timing: ME = on their time, CAR = on your time
luggage handling: ME= they handle it, CAR =you control your own luggage
resort arrival: ME= many ME buses stop at multiple resorts, CAR =drive right to your resort

 

[DSLRuser]

We never ever rent a car. When we fly down, it is Disney transportation all the way. When we drive (not much anymore) we would park the car for the entire time we were there.

I went to Orlando twice for business this summer. Spent several nights at the park or Disney Springs. Having a car was a hassle. Had to watch what i drank, extra time to walk to a parked car. To me, buses are quicker then driving when you factor in the walking.