I was wondering if I should rent a car for my trip down in Disney, so I can get from park to park and maybe get some shopping done off site. Anyone have any suggestions?
Depends on what you have in mind for shopping, really. If you plan on hitting an outlet mall or something like that, then a car would certainly be handy to have. ; Shopping on-site is pretty much all Disney Themed stuff... and priced accordingly! Once you're on-site at Disney, you don't really need a car to get from park to park... the Disney transportation system is pretty effective... you just hop a bus, boat, or monorail and you can get pretty much anywhere on-site without much difficulty (you might have to transfer routes, but it's generally straighforward and the drivers/operators/platform attendants are pretty good for helping you get where you want to go)... that's for all the resorts, the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, MGM, Animal Kingdom, Downtown Disney, and the two water parks.
You really don't need a car even if you stay off site. ; A lot of the hotels have buses that take you to Disney and return you to your hotel. ; I would say that transit outside of Disney, especially in Kissimee, isn't the quickest, but it will get you to wherever you are going. Plus if you didn't want to go shopping and that to the outlet malls, some hotels do have a shuttle that take you there for the day for a small fee of course.
If you plan on going to the other theme parks (universal, sea world, busch gardens) then a car would come in handy.....you wouldn't have to plan your trips around a shuttle........ We flew into Orlando and stayed on site, next time we will drive...so that if we choose to go somewhere else, we don't have to pay a taxi or a shuttle......
off-site is a different kettle of fish - just remember, you have to pay to park at WDW if you don't stay there. ; Getting around (e.g., Kennedy Space Center) with a car is sometimes easier. Of if going shopping, sometimes cabbing it will be cheaper and easier. But, if you're staying onsite and shop at the parks, use your Disney room card to pay for it, and have stuff delivered back to your room - one of the perks of being a Disney resort guest!
we've rented a car when we've stayed onsite when the kids were smaller and for us it was very convenient. We didn't have to pay for parking since we were onsite guests. ; It was convenient since it was easier to load strollers etc into a car instead of on the bus and it was nicer to go straight to the car instead of waiting for the bus. We also like to take trips to outlet malls etc. We will definitely be renting a car this trip since we are off-site at a vacation home and not onsite
