Town Car plus golf cart or rental car?

[texmom]

Hi everyone! This is my first time posting and hope someone can help. We will be at Disney from Dec. 7-15th, splitting our time between Fort Wilderness Cabins and the Polynesian. I currently have rental car ressies, but am considering switching to a town car so that I can afford to get a golf cart for our four days at Fort Wilderness. The cost should be about the same for either option.

Which option would you all choose? We have three kids ages 9, 6, and 5 (not great on endurance for walking). We are planning on park hopping, but not doing too much resort to resort travel. There will be one day where my DD and I will be apart from the men all day, as we are having a "mommy-daughter day" to celebrate DD's birthday. We have never stayed at FW before and have heard mixed things about transportation there.

Any help will be much appreciated...thanks!!!!

 

[inkkognito]

It's hard for me to say how it would be with kids, but we did it with just hubby and I once, using a towncar and golf cart, and it was great! I got a really super rate on a wilderness home that we just couldn't pass up. The only headache was waiting for the WDW van to take us to our home after we had checked in (the towncar dropped us off at the front, and then you wait for the van to get you). That wait was LONG, but after that things ran very smoothly. We used a golf cart for internal transportation and the WDW buses and boats for anything else. I was wondering how the bus service would be, since FW seems to be geared for people with cars, but I must say that it was great. I wouldn't hesitate to stay there and not bother with a car.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[CarolMN]

If most of your trips will be resort to park and/or park to park, I'd go with the golf cart option.

If you plan to travel between resorts, you will be happier if you rent a car.

Of course, the best option (as well as the most costly, LOL) would be to rent a car AND a golf cart.

 

[drusba]

Particularly for FW, I highly recommend the car and use for all trips except to MK. Internal bus system at FW is not bad and not really any slower than taking the golf cart, and then runs to parks from the hub at the Pioneer Hall area in FW is also not too bad (you take boat to MK bus everywhere else). Nevertheless, from your cabin that you park right in front of you can drive to MGM and Epcot in 10 minutes and AK in 15. Bus to Bus trip or golf cart to bus trip to get to any of those is seldom less than 40 minutes and return at park closing time can take well over an hour.

 

[texmom]

Thanks for the input! I think I will look at our itinerary a little closer and try to get a better idea before making a decision. It helps to hear what others have done though!

 

[buddy&wooz]

We didn't get a golf cart at Ft Wilderness and didn't feel we needed it. We had our own car and used that and Disney transport depending on where we wanted to go, and I have to say going to the parks was much quicker with the car-especially when we were park hopping- except for MK because of the boat. (The internal bus system at Ft. W. worked fine and was easy to figure out.)

But if you plan to spend a lot of time exploring Ft. Wilderness (which we didn't really get to do due to lots of rain!) the golf carts would make that easier and probably more fun, so it depends on what you think you'll be doing with your days.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

The internal busses at Fort Wilderness run every 10 minutes. There are three basic routes. The Yellow, Orange, and Purple.

The Yellow starts at the FW Outpost (Check in area, formerly known as Gateway Parking)... It then heads up and hits the 1600, 1700, 1800, 1900 loops, 1500 loop & Meadows Complex, 1400 loop, 300 & 500 loops, and then finally the Settlement Depot (Pioneer Hall area). At this point in time, it turns into a Purple bus, and follows the Purple route... 2000 Loop, 2100 2200 2300 loops, 2400 2500 2600 loops, 2700 2800 loops, and then back at the Outpost Depot, where it switches back into a Yellow.

There is another bus that runs this same route, but in reverse.

The Orange bus runs up the center... Starts at the Outpost, then hits 1100 & 1300 loops, Meadows Complex, 900 & 1000 loops, 800 & 700 loops, and then the Settlement Depot. From there, it converts to the Wilderness Lodge/TTC bus. Once at the TTC, the route reverses.



Busses to Animal Kingdom, Blizzard Beach, Downtown Disney, Typoon Lagoon, and Epcot run from the Outpost Depot

Busses to the Disney-MGM Studios and the boat to the MK run out of the Settlement Depot.

The Yellow/Purples run on the 10 minute mark out of the Settlement and Outpost depots. The Orange runs about every 10 minutes, but at different times.