Staying at OKW with a car. Should we drive or ride the bus?

[im4pacers1]

Title says it all. We normally fly so always use the bus but wondering if driving would be better with having to park at TTC.

 

[Upatnoon]

If you are going to MK, the bus is better.

As for the rest, I prefer the bus, but so much depends on where you are going after the parks. Are you going out to dinner after? To a different park? To another Disney resort?

Having a car gives you freedom to get around but if I am just going back and forth from resort to park I generally take the bus.

 

[OKW Lover]

Agree with the PP that bust to MK. Everywhere else just drive. Having a car at OKW is really handy since the parking there is so convenient

 

[Tigger's ally]

We always have a few drinks while at every park, therefore the bus is the only option for us. But, it is a great option as far as I am concerned. Have we had bus problems over our 30 trips? Yes. But for the most part, we love the busses. To us, stepping onto an air conditioned bus is a lot more pleasant that into a boiling car. Also, as we have stayed at OKW many times, we actually think the bus system there is great.

 

[kc51570]

Bus to Magic Kingdom, driving will most likely get you there quicker to all the other parks.

 

[decheez]

As other posters have said the bus will be faster in general to MK. But do you have concerns other than time? I personally always take my car if I have it, even if it takes an extra 5-10 minutes. And it doesn't always. If you just missed the bus and have to wait an additional 15-20 minutes then a car is just as quick. You have a guaranteed seat (I think they've started having people stand on busses again but correct me if I'm wrong), no cranky kids crying/screaming, you have control over the A/C and no mysterious sticky substances on the seats from a previous occupant. All of which is important to me so I drive. I also quite like taking the ferry to the TTC and make it part of my ritual to end the day so I don't mind the extra few minutes it takes.

The other thing that makes a difference to me is the car equals freedom. I quite often decide later in the day to pop out to grab non-park food, or I need to run to the Walmart because I ran out of sunscreen/Tylenol/bananas etc. Yes, if you were taking the bus you could go back to the resort, grab your car and go do that stuff. But generally once I get back to my room I'm done for the day. I don't want to go out again. I just find it easier to pop out if I already have my car.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

We always have our van but rarely ever use it to drive to parks. We have done both ways and the time saved is small, especially now that you have the bus times on MDE app, this helps out a lot, even if the arrival times change a bit. We use our van to either go to another resort or offsite, I much rather deal have someone else doing the driving, then driving and dealing with other drivers. LOL

 

[Tigger's ally]

We always have our van but rarely ever use it to drive to parks. We have done both ways and the time saved is small, especially now that you have the bus times on MDE app, this helps out a lot, even if the arrival times change a bit. We use our van to either go to another resort or offsite, I much rather deal have someone else doing the driving, then driving and dealing with other drivers. LOL

Yeah, everytime I drove from Illinois, I parked the van the second I arrived and didn't get in it till it was time to go home.

 

[DVCsloth]

I drive and once I park, my vehicle rarely moves for the week!

 

[Prince John Robin Hood]

Planning on doing bus and the occasional uber on our next trip. I drove on our last trip but only really liked it at HS. At the other parks we were far away and had to take trams which are a bit of a pain with young kids and all the gear.

 

[jimbostacks]

I find the busses to be great most of the time. We usually stay near Peninsilur and hop off first stop ir walk to HH and catch the bus leaving the resort...

 

[mac_tlc]

If they don't get the trams back running, I would stay with the bus. No trams is a real hassle for us, especially if you have any mobility challenges. Walking in Florida in the summer is enough of a mobility challenge without having to walk all the way to the park entrances.

mac_tlc

 

[ColonialMouse]

We usually drive except for MK, but as of last week they were still letting really long lines build up at the toll booth for parking. We wound up taking the bus if we were getting to a park anywhere near opening time.

Bruce

 

[Lori Duck]

Last month's trip was the first time I'd had a car at WDW in ages! Stayed at OKW.So our experience was: Loved the car when we arrived three hours late and there was nothing open restaurant-wise. We hopped back in car and discovered Millers a few minutes away, & they served food until 1:30 I believe!
Bussed everywhere except MK, which was a big mistake....no MK trams and a looooonnng walk in the heat to a hot car...DH was not pleased! Using buses, it's nice not have have to worry about who's drinking what when too. It helps to have a Lyft account as well, and we've used that plenty of times in recent years.

 

[cush1]

I keep my car parked at the resort. Busses and the boats are fine from OKW. About 20-25 mins on the bus to the parks, if I remember correctly. Having a car is nice to go to Walmart, Target, grocery store, etc.