Disney Transportation

While I'm on the subject of pros and cons, let's talk about Disney Transportation.  I'm talking about the free, resort-guest transportation provided by the folks at Disney World.  Again, there are pros and cons, and you have to make up your mind what's best for your family.  I know people who feel strongly about both sides.

Pros:  You get out of your car when you get to your resort, and you don't have to come back to it until you leave (unless you want to, of course)!  If you're a resort guest, this is totally FREE!  Even the transportation is part of the experience:  I love it when the bus gets to the park entrance and the little announcement comes on and says "You are now entering the Magic Kingdom..." and the little magical music plays...so fun!  The monorail is just cool, and the ferryboats are a truly unique way to get around the Magic Kingdom area!  It is wonderful when you get ready to leave the park, and you are hot and tired, and you get to that bus stop and board a cool bus ready to take you right back to your resort!  You don't have to worry about finding your car in a huge parking lot, waiting for it to cool off because it's about a thousand degrees inside, fiddling with seatbelts and carseats, etc.  We almost always use Disney Transportation because we love it!

Cons:  Unfortunately, the bus (or monorail, or ferryboat) can't be right there waiting for you when you are ready to go.  Sometimes you have to wait.  Rarely, it's a long wait.  Disney is really working hard to improve these wait times, and on our last trip, we hardly ever had to wait for a bus, but I have had to wait many times before.  Once, after fireworks, we waited over and hour...that was very frustrating.  If you're trying to get to a dining reservation or something, make sure you are very early for your transportation because you may have to wait in line.  And sometimes, you'll have to stand.  They fill those buses/monorails/ferryboats to the max, so if you aren't one of the first ones in, you'll be standing.   Strollers can be a pain if you're using Disney Transportation, because you'll have to fold it up and carry it with you.

So, I guess the pros and cons here pretty much balance out.  You choose for yourself, and let me know what you think!  Did you love Disney Transportation, or do you prefer to leave the driving to yourself?

Until next time...
Disney Diva

Why Stay at Disney?

There are many debates out there about whether to stay on-site or off-site when you visit Disney World.  I can honestly say that I can't give you a good debate about the pros and cons of each, because we always stay on site at Disney World.  There is just something wonderful about parking our car when we get there, and not coming back to it until we leave.  Since I am the driver in our family, that, in itself, feels like a vacation to me!

So my first reason why staying on-site is the thing to do, is that you can use Disney transportation!  We take the buses to and from the parks each day, and we enjoy that nice break to sit down and rest on the air-conditioned bus!  We don't have to worry about directions, or being able to find our car in a massive parking lot, we just head to the bus station and go where we want to go!  There are also the monorail and the ferryboats.  These are an experience in themselves!  This is probably my favorite perk of staying at a Disney resort.

And secondly, of course, are the Extra Magic Hours.  Every day, specific parks open early or stay open late just for the Disney World resort crowd.  This is a great time to enjoy the attractions that usually have the longest wait times, because the crowd is significantly lower.  Granted, the parks with EMH are usually MORE crowded during the day, because they have the normal crowd, plus those taking advantage of the EMHs, but if you come and leave the parks during the most crowded parts of the day like we do, that is not a problem. 

And don't forget, the Disney magic!  Each Disney resort is totally themed-out, and is an amazing experience!  Stay at the Caribbean Beach resort for your little pirate, the Polynesian for an island adventure, or Animal Kingdom Lodge for an African safari!  And it's not just the deluxe resorts, you can stay at All-Star Sports for the sports fan in your life, All-Star Music for the musician, or Pop Century to reminisce about years gone by!  All of the Disney resorts are unique and special.  And each one is full of Disney magic!  And of course, that famous Disney service is nice, too! 

We love staying on-site at Disney World, and for us, we wouldn't have it any other way. 

Until next time...
Disney Diva