Using a car at Disney World

On a recent trip to Orlando, we discovered you can save a lot of time by being enrolled in the rental car company loyalty programs. When we arrived at the Budget area, there was an extremely long line, and very few agents working at the counter. But we happened to notice a sign directing FastBreak members directly to the garage. I had signed up for the program just a few days prior so we followed the signs and were in our car less than 5 minutes later.

Hi and thank you for this great article! Answered every remaining question that I had so far in terms of driving around DW. However it raised a new probalby odd question. Coming from Europe I won’t have any possibility to get my hands on coins since the bank is only changing as low as 1$ bills. So now I am kind of worried to be stucked on a toll road. What are you supposed to do when you come to an unmanned booth with only bills? Thanks everyone for trying to help a lost European here 😉 And I wish… Read more »

Why is parking not good at MK? I’m driving down with my mom who uses a seat walker(she has a handicap sticker) and we’re staying off site. What is the best thing to do?

We have taken 3 Disney vacations with our boys, and tried money saving methods (flying into Sanford the first time, and renting a car and staying off-site last year), which always seem to backfire. My advice is to just book everything through Disney, stay on site, take the Disney shuttle from the Orlando airport, enjoy the Disney transportation, and relax! You’re going to spend money no matter what, so enjoy your vacation and don’t add unnecessary stress. If you must rent a car, do NOT rent from Sixt Rent A Car. We rented a van for a family Disney vacation… Read more »

Hello. I’m new to your site. We are traveling to Disney in October with myself (34), my husband (33) and our two kids (8 and 2). I have recently been diagnosed with pretty severe arthritis in my hip. I am planning to try my best to get myself prepared (lose weight, get used to walking more, etc) to try to avoid an ECV. That being said, I’d still like to reduce “extra” walking if possible. As for the amount of walking, are you still better off to drive to the parks except MK?

Thank you!!!!

Hi- I recently returned from a family trip to Disney World, and although my family has been there before this was the first trip where we rented a car and we loved it! It will definitely be something that we budget for on our next trip too as it worked out so well for getting us to the parks bright and early, park hoping and dinning reservations at some of the other resorts. Because we were traveling with a group of six we decided to still take the Magical Express to our resort, Art of Animation. That way we didn’t… Read more »

I always rent a car. I like to be in charge and have the pure convenience of going where I want to when. I feel like there is a lot of wasted time waiting on Disney transportation. It depends on what time we land if we take I-4 & avoid the toll road but I always have change with me for toll roads. Also, I normally fly into Sanford because it’s a short drive from home to the airport & a 2 hour flight. Don’t forget to include driving to/from Sanford too! 🙂

I’ll always drive to every park except M.K. For all the other parks, my driving time beats the bus significantly. However, last Feb. I thought I had left plenty of time to make it from All Star Sports to M.K. for a fastpass return time at Seven Dwarfs. Just missed a bus, had to wait 15 minutes, and then also stopped at Music. Still made the return time with 10 minutes to spare. As for gas prices, there always seems to be a station price gouging on 535, between I-4 and Hotel Plaza Blvd. I saw a $5.99 price on… Read more »

I loved driving to/from the Disney parks! We stayed nearby (Windsor Hills) and found it incredibly easy to get to whichever park we were visiting that day. We rarely waited long for trams, even on busier days.
One important point not mentioned: you don’t pay twice for parking, if you have park hopper and visit another park later that day. Make sure to keep your receipt though!!

I disagree with not choosing to drive to Magic Kingdom. We just returned from our first trip in October. I had read that tip over and over again, and my children wanted to take the bus because they thought it would be fun. We live in a very rural area 🙂 We stayed at CBR, and we found it to actually be much longer, and just as much walking as driving there. Our bus pick up location was the 2nd farthest away (we arrived before rope drop everyday and had great parking locations at all the parks, so great that… Read more »

This post is fantastic information. We will have our car, but we’ll probably use Disney buses most of the time there. The exception is our Epcot day when we’ll want to be there at rope drop but be in the park for Illuminations as well. Thinking about driving in the morning, grabbing lunch when World Showcase opens at 11, then driving back to AoA for the afternoon to rest. Then we’ll take bus back for dinner and fun in the WS until the Park closes. Is this a reasonable plan?