Disney transportation vs. driving. Advice please!

Moving on to my next issue...

What's your experience with Disney Transportation vs. driving to various parks and resorts? We're staying at Coronado Springs, and we have the AAA diamond parking pass if that makes any difference.

On our arrival day, we're going to Hoop De Doo, and I'm leaning towards driving for that one since we'll be leaving from CSR as opposed to a park.

The next morning we have Ohana's and MK
Day 3 is Epcot
Day 4 is AK, and we're planning on dinner in Epcot
Day 5 is crazy early Chef Mickeys and then Epcot
Day 6 MK
Day 7 Studios
Day 8- Free Day- nothing is set in stone.

MK is easier to take a resort bus vs. driving. If you drive, you still have to take a monorail or a boat to get to the MK, whereas the bus drops you off right outside the gate. So I'd definitely recommend Disney transportation to MK.

For the other parks - Epcot, DHS, AK - I find it to almost be a toss-up unless you plan to leave after nighttime fireworks when the lines can be long at the bus stops.

I always recommend driving to DTD; the bus makes a lot of stops, and driving is much faster.

I've never had my own car at WDW and I never will. WDW transportation is just too convenient! You can focus on the kids and the day, instead of the traffic. There is something so hum-drum about parking and hiking in, but just hopping off the bus is so easy. And at the end of the day, when everyone is tired and cranky, someone else gets you "home". Hopefully, though, someone else can share driving/parking experience for you. I just wouldn't bother with it, personally.

ETA: And Lori posted while I was typing that! LOL! She's been a lot more than I have -- We've only gone 3 times in the past 8-9 years. She goes more often. I'm so envious!

There are advantages and disadvantages to both. On our most recent trip we were with a very large family group of 7 adults and 5 children, so we took the buses exclusively. This was the first trip we ever did that and honestly it was totally fine. If you plan to stay until park closing, leave immediately after a parade or after a fireworks display, then be prepared to wait for 2-3 buses, even in a slow time.

On the day of your Ohana reservation I would drive though. Park at the TTC and then walk to the Poly (there is a foot path). Otherwise you'll need to be at your resort bus stop no later than 7:00 to make that 8:00 ADR and even then it could be tight. You'll have to bus to MK and then take the monorail around to the Poly.

we had a car cuz we stayed off property, and we were totally fine driving. Not that big a deal, and very very convenient, never once waited more than a few minutes for the tram. But MK does require the monorail, anyway, so I see the advantage of disney transport. I dunno, for your schedule I think either wil work. Maybe for your crazy early Chef Mickey's day you don't drive, if they run that early.

We stopped renting a car because the on property transportation works so well for us and it was so much easier to use the Magical Express than it was to rent the car and deal with all that goes along with it. (We wouldn't even consider staying off property BECAUSE of the convient transportation.)

The only time that we would consider driving is if we stayed at the All Star resorts. DH and I agree that if we ever stay there again we will NOT use the busses.

When we stayed at CSR, we had rented a car and only used it to drive to AKL to eat at Boma and drove to Downtown Disney.

If you are definitely renting a car, I would drive to The Hoop Dee Do Review. And that is it. If you drove to Chef Mickey's, you'd have to drive back to CSR and then take the bus to MK or you'd have to drive to MK and then take the tram or monorail. I would just take a breakfast bus (talk to a cast member at the desk about when they leave in the morning) to Chef Mickey's and you are then a 5 minute walk from MK or a few stop monorail ride to MK. Same thing goes for Ohana's. Just a quick monorail ride.

From AK you should be able to take a bus to Epcot.

For CM, you could bus to the MK, walk to Contemporary and then monorail to Epcot. That would be a fun trip.

Good points everyone- thanks! :)

FWIW, we're driving to FL, so we'll have our own car one way or the other. We'll probably end up doing a mix of both.

When you're done with this trip, you HAVE to post a Trip Redux and tell us what worked, what didn't, and why. You're my new barometer for what we choose to do next time!

LOL, definitely will do! :) Did you get a Tour Guide Mike subscription last time? I'm telling you, it would be right up your alley! TONS to obsess over, and stuff you'd never think of!