A lot of people assume because of the ages of our kids, that we rent a car while on vacation in Walt Disney World. Well, that couldn’t be further from the truth. We never drive (or cook, for that matter) while there. We actually enjoy the transportation system on property, and find it easy to negotiate with our growing brood and all our gear. So to drive or not to drive, that is the question.
This past October, we headed down for the Halloween festivities. After a great flight, we utilized Disney’s Magic Express, a coach busing system that will bring you directly from Orlando International Airport, to the Disney Vacation resort of your choice, and vice versa. This service also provides you with hassle free luggage handling. You are sent specific luggage tags to your home via mail in the weeks preceding your trip. These tags insure that once you check your bags at your home airport, you will not see them again until they magically appear in your resort room. Best part of all? If you have booked a Magic Your Way Package, this service is absolutely free! We have done this every trip since they began offering it (on our Honeymoon), and it has always eased what can be a long day of travel.
While you are staying on property, there is an internal busing system (and a monorail, which has a very limited reach) that will bring you to each of the 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, and Downtown Disney, also free of charge to resort guests. Now, yes you do have to wait occasionally for buses, but they run frequently (at least every 20 minutes), and usually more often depending on special events and park attendance.
During Halloween, we were there with no help. No friends, or grandparents and we managed just fine. The kids were 5, 3, and 15 months, and we had a double stroller, as well as a single stroller. I would take the baby and the single stroller, while Eric would take the double. Eric Jr and Ella were (almost) always awake when we were traveling to and from our resort, but that comes from good vacation scheduling which I’ll save for another post.
We also found that people were offering to assist us everywhere we went, and that was without us asking. Did we need the help? No. Did we take people up on it? Sometimes, for sure! If they want to give their seat up to the kids, or the lady holding the baby (this girl right here) we were certainly down for it.
Now maybe you’re thinking, “Gee, that sounds like a lot of work, schlepping all that stuff and the kids”. It’s not. We drive everyday at home, and the kids sit in a car everyday at home. The bus is part of that special vacation magic you can only get there. Our kids expect to ride the buses and they love it! And Eric and I are only too happy to let someone else do the work! After all, we are on vacation too.
Photo provided by Jrobertiko
