WDW without a car (am I mad?)

[robinb]

We used to rent a car every trip, even when Magical Express was free. I preferred driving to everywhere except the MK. Now, we will only rent a car to get to our resort. But, being Americans it's a lot easier and we don't have to handle driving on the other side of the road. I started using a ECV/Scooter to get around WDW and I need to take the bus as the scooter is too heavy to break down and put in a trunk.

I think, for you, using Uber/Lyft when you want to get out of the bubble is a great idea. If you want to venture further, like to the Space Coast, you can always rent a car for a couple of days from National or Alamo which is right on property at the Car Care Center or the Dolphin.

 

[jec6613]

When I'm on Disney property, even if I have a car I never use it. Too much stress to deal with driving around and wayfinding, and I'm the sort of person who thinks 900 miles driving in a day is reasonable. I use Mears (usually Towncar service nowadays) to get from the airport to property, and then I'm done.

If I'm doing a lot not on Disney property I tend to either rent or bring my own vehicle, as outside of WDW has pretty awful public transit. For just a few things though, either Mears or Uber/Lyft are more than sufficient.

One thing I really hate about renting at MCO, and a big reason I will tend to drive my own vehicle all the way from the northeast US for the few occasions I've wanted one, is how long it takes to go through the process. I've rented at most of the major US airports, and MCO is consistently by far the worst in terms of both picking up and dropping off.

 

[lampshadehead]

Heading to WDW in April 2025 (very excited!) from the U.K. for 11 nights at CBR. We last did a trip to WDW in April 2023, also staying at CBR. It’s a family trip with one child age 8.

Last time we hired a car but I query if it was worth it. Picking up at MCO was long and drawn out and wasn’t great after a long flight from the U.K. (we’d had a very long day travelling to Gatwick also!). We then didn’t really use the car as much as I thought we would. Getting to and from the airport was useful plus a trip to Walmart and Target of course!

My thoughts for 2025 is that we don’t hire a car. Instead we use Uber/Lyft for trips outside WDW and then rely on transportation for trips inside WDW. Has anyone done this? Any tips and guidance for me?

For the first time last summer, I rented a car for the whole trip, picking it up and dropping it back off at the airport. And I have to say, while it was convenient for picking up groceries and having a parking space near the room, I actually missed the Disney transportation experience. At the end of the night, after the walk through the parking lot to get the car, I found myself tired and wishing that I was a passenger with some one else driving me back to the hotel. Especially with a Skyliner resort, because you are guarenteed a place to sit once its your turn to board.

If you're not going far from WDW property (i.e. Clearwater or Daytona, that is when I would get a car for the day), then rideshare is very convenient.

For the airport, I used a combo of Uber, Lyft, Mears. It really depends on personal preference because I think they all are pretty convenient. But with that being said, I would recommoned only selecting the XL or SUV version of Uber/Lyft if using rideshare to and from airport if you have multiple passengers plus luggage.

 

[Robber Baron]

Even when we do have a car at WDW, we hardly ever use it.

The buses are fine for us. In hundreds and hundreds of nites onsite we've always taken the buses/boats/monorail/Sky Liner and we don't have any horror stories. We do rope drop every morning, and have never been late for it.

We may occasionally take a lyft/Uber if going to Shula's or Il Mulino, but, that's usually just to make it a one step process rather than catching 2 buses.

The ONLY exception is we are usually taking a rideshare if Disney Springs is involved. For some reason, for us, buses to DS have always been an ungodly nightmare.

 

[TheUnderstudy]

We're also from the UK and have thought about that decision a lot over the past few years. When staying off property (I know, forgive me, I was naïve) we had a car and honestly the driving was stressful and exhausting (I drove on the wrong side of the road out of the airport which didn't help..!). We've stayed on property the last two times and never needed a car, we've just used Disney transport. I love the skyliner from CBR and the bus and the internal loops aren't as bad as you hear. We're also going next Easter (I actually just had an offer accepted on a DVC contract..! which is why I joined the boards here today).

If you want to go further than the parks, I would hire a car. If you are happy in the Disney bubble (and I am) you do not need one. The busses at WDW are VASTLY superior to those in Norfolk, I can tell you that for certain!

Most importantly, do what you want - it's your holiday and it's important you enjoy it - I think I started enjoying my WDW holidays a lot more when I convinced myself there often isn't a wrong answer on these things.

I'll be keeping my fingers crossed with you that the weather is good next Easter! Oh and if you'd like a CBR tip - go to the Riviera quick service restaurant for breakfast at least one day, the quick service does the most amazing lemon and blueberry pancakes that no one told me about but my family all LOVED.

 

[Donalddidwhat…?!]

Heading to WDW in April 2025 (very excited!) from the U.K. for 11 nights at CBR. We last did a trip to WDW in April 2023, also staying at CBR. It’s a family trip with one child age 8.

Last time we hired a car but I query if it was worth it. Picking up at MCO was long and drawn out and wasn’t great after a long flight from the U.K. (we’d had a very long day travelling to Gatwick also!). We then didn’t really use the car as much as I thought we would. Getting to and from the airport was useful plus a trip to Walmart and Target of course!

My thoughts for 2025 is that we don’t hire a car. Instead we use Uber/Lyft for trips outside WDW and then rely on transportation for trips inside WDW. Has anyone done this? Any tips and guidance for me?

We’ve never had a car at WDW while in the bubble, and we like it that way. We always let somebody else do the driving, and have never had a major issue with resort transportation.
It’s not always perfect, of course, but we prefer it to having to drive ourselves around.

 

[Ronaldo17]

Nope, not mad at all.
We never went a car, too much hassle and stress
We just book the Mears Connect from MCO to WDW return.

 

[HopperFan]

Heading to WDW in April 2025 (very excited!) from the U.K. for 11 nights at CBR. We last did a trip to WDW in April 2023, also staying at CBR. It’s a family trip with one child age 8.

Last time we hired a car but I query if it was worth it. Picking up at MCO was long and drawn out and wasn’t great after a long flight from the U.K. (we’d had a very long day travelling to Gatwick also!). We then didn’t really use the car as much as I thought we would. Getting to and from the airport was useful plus a trip to Walmart and Target of course!

My thoughts for 2025 is that we don’t hire a car. Instead we use Uber/Lyft for trips outside WDW and then rely on transportation for trips inside WDW. Has anyone done this? Any tips and guidance for me?

I have arrived in my own car and then not seen it at all for 5-11 days. If staying on property and not leaving often I def would not rent a car.

 

[Boopuff]

We've never rented a car for our WDW trips, and we stay at OKW. I guess our family thinks of the busses, boats and other transport as part of the experience.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

We’ve rented a car each trip post-Covid, since Magical Express went away. Our most recent experience was a week-long stay at BWV. Self-parking was terrible, to the point that when we returned to the resort after driving to another WDW resort for dinner on two occasions, we could not find a single open space in the lot. After circling for about 20 minutes waiting for someone to leave, I gave up and used valet parking. I reported the problem to the front desk each time and the manager on duty refunded the valet fee. Next time, I plan to use ride share between MCO and our resort and also for any other-resort dining excursions. We can do a grocery delivery as well. The parking hassles at the Boardwalk make it a pain to have a car when staying there.

 

[Samdari]

Questions to ask yourself when choosing a hotel and its costs not forgetting the daily resort parking cost now.

I've seen this mentioned a couple times here. The official WDW site states that Disney Resort guests park free at their hotel and the parks. What daily resort parking cost are you referring to?

 

[EACarlson]

I've seen this mentioned a couple times here. The official WDW site states that Disney Resort guests park free at their hotel and the parks. What daily resort parking cost are you referring to?

I'm going to go with PP didn't know that that policy changed relatively recently. In 2018 or 2019 WDW instituted a daily parking fee at the resorts. That policy was changed on 1/10/23 to remove that fee.

 

[NYCgrrl]

I've seen this mentioned a couple times here. The official WDW site states that Disney Resort guests park free at their hotel and the parks. What daily resort parking cost are you referring to?

I'm going to go with PP didn't know that that policy changed relatively recently. In 2018 or 2019 WDW instituted a daily parking fee at the resorts. That policy was changed on 1/10/23 to remove that fee.

Nope didn’t know they changed the policy again. I’m sure that makes many happy

 

[Samdari]

I'm going to go with PP didn't know that that policy changed relatively recently. In 2018 or 2019 WDW instituted a daily parking fee at the resorts. That policy was changed on 1/10/23 to remove that fee.

Ah, I haven't been since 2017, so I managed to miss those altogether.

 

[jjr42cornell]

Heading to WDW in April 2025 (very excited!) from the U.K. for 11 nights at CBR. We last did a trip to WDW in April 2023, also staying at CBR. It’s a family trip with one child age 8.

Last time we hired a car but I query if it was worth it. Picking up at MCO was long and drawn out and wasn’t great after a long flight from the U.K. (we’d had a very long day travelling to Gatwick also!). We then didn’t really use the car as much as I thought we would. Getting to and from the airport was useful plus a trip to Walmart and Target of course!

My thoughts for 2025 is that we don’t hire a car. Instead we use Uber/Lyft for trips outside WDW and then rely on transportation for trips inside WDW. Has anyone done this? Any tips and guidance for me?

I just got back from a quick trip to Disney World - 4/26-4/30, with my wife. We spent $155 on Lyft and we stayed at a Disney Springs Hotel that had bus transportation to the parks that we used some of the time.

Lyft Expenses:
MCO - Hotel: $55
Roundtrip Hotel to Outlet Mall & Back - $24
Rope Drop Early Morning to Parks & a Return after a Disney After Hours event - $34
Epcot - Hotel - Airport - $43

Those prices all include gratuity as well. So you can expect about $100 for Airport Round Trip and about $12-18 per use if you are not going far from the Disney Bubble. I unfortunately do not have any pricing visiting other attractions such as Universal or Seaworld.

You are NOT CRAZY to rely on Disney Transportation, especially since you are staying at CBR.

You probably know all of this since you stayed at CBR before but, I think that the Skyliner is a great perk and it is definetely my favorite transportation at Disney. You will have a direct route to Hollywood studios. You can also take the Skyliner to Epcot (you will have to go through Riviera Resort, but you can stay in the same gondala the whole way). I think taking Disney Resort Buses to Magic Kingdom is a good way to travel as you skip the Transportation and Ticket Center; however if you don't want to take a bus you could always take the Skyliner to Epcot and then take the Monorail to Magic Kingdom (will have to transfer trains at the Transportation Center).

Other advice (Hopefully you don't mind)
Be Our Guest is our favorite in park dining experience, especially if you have a fan of Beauty and the Beast
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind became our favorite attraction (42in height requirement). Currently need to wake up before 7AM to get a Boarding Group via the MDE App or purchase an individual lightning lane. When it gets closer feel free to ask any questions.