Golf Cart: to do or not

[Big35Lt 4]

So we check-in in 2 weeks. Went 2 yrs ago and stayed in the 1400 loop. We loved it. I felt it was kinda in the middle (ish), but we had a golf cart. So this trip got me thinking, a price for a rental car for the week is $250. That’s $35/day vs the $59+tax on golf cart. With the car I don’t have to rely on buses, i get free parking at parks and no 3-4 hr early DME pickup for departure home but I can’t use it in the resort. Golf cart can get me to the marina or front bus pickup, so no using internal bus. 

I did book rental and haven’t cancelled my cart yet. I’m hoping for a close loop to marina so we can walk there and also loop with close comfort station  

So my question has 2 parts: 1. Cart or Car? 2. If car, what loop do you recommend to not have a country mile to walk to marina/trail’s end?

Thanks. 

Chris

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Car.  Use the internal buses to avoid the long walk to the Settlement.

[LONE-STAR 370]

Really depends on your idea of a long walk. But for premium 400,700, and 500 is not bad also the last half of 600. But preferred  100, 200 are the best.

[Starbuc71 162]

Cart rental is a rip off

[LONE-STAR 370]

14 hours ago, Starbuc71 said:

Cart rental is a rip off

All depends on how you want to spend your money. To me $3.00 for iced tea at a restaurant is a rip off but people buy it every day myself included.

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

10 hours ago, LONE-STAR said:

All depends on how you want to spend your money. To me $3.00 for iced tea at a restaurant is a rip off but people buy it every day myself included.

That's true.  This past trip, we were there for two weeks and while we (typically) ride our bikes around the Fort (it's actually one of my favorite things to do)...this time we rented a cart because mom and dad were with us the first week and mom (physically) cannot walk the Fort.

[jayco1 15]

Sometimes the experience at the cart pickup isn't too magical. 

[LONE-STAR 370]

5 hours ago, jayco1 said:

Sometimes the experience at the cart pickup isn't too magical. 

That I wouldn't know, I have always brought my own. Sorry  to hear that.

[Starbuc71 162]

On 11/15/2018 at 7:03 PM, LONE-STAR said:

That I wouldn't know, I have always brought my own. Sorry  to hear that.

Hence, golf cart rental is a rip off

[Grumpy and Grandma 740]

41 minutes ago, Starbuc71 said:

Hence, golf cart rental is a rip off

And over major weekends they are sold out. 

[LONE-STAR 370]

3 hours ago, Starbuc71 said:

Hence, golf cart rental is a rip off

Let's say you just rolled in, in your $500,000.00 diesel pusher you check in they tell your golf cart is right over there, have a magical day. That guy is going to say how nice that they have these for us. Just because they cost more money then you or I want to spend on them does not make them a rip off. Every one sees value in something from different points of view. Some people say WDW is to expensive of a vacation others say it's magical and the best trip they ever had. You can't call the golf carts a rip off just because they are expensive to you.  You are told the price up front, and you get a cart like they say you will. It's up to each person to decide if it's right for them. In fact they are quite a bargain compared to buying your own cart $5,000 toy hauler $40,000 1ton truck $55,000 (and those numbers are all on the low side). So $100,000 to get a personal cart to the for for your 1 week trip. Or rent the Disney cart for $600.00 looks like a Disney cart is a bargain to me.

[Starbuc71 162]

Hence. I still believe they are a rip off.  And so is the fort these days for $185 a night. I don’t care how nice and magical it is. I have a 16ft pull behind not a diesel pusher so most things are a rip off to me when it comes to camping these days

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

11 hours ago, Starbuc71 said:

Hence. I still believe they are a rip off.  And so is the fort these days for $185 a night. I don’t care how nice and magical it is. I have a 16ft pull behind not a diesel pusher so most things are a rip off to me when it comes to camping these days

Things have gotten super expensive, I'll agree with you there.

12 hours ago, LONE-STAR said:

Let's say you just rolled in, in your $500,000.00 diesel pusher you check in they tell your golf cart is right over there, have a magical day. That guy is going to say how nice that they have these for us. Just because they cost more money then you or I want to spend on them does not make them a rip off. Every one sees value in something from different points of view. Some people say WDW is to expensive of a vacation others say it's magical and the best trip they ever had. You can't call the golf carts a rip off just because they are expensive to you.  You are told the price up front, and you get a cart like they say you will. It's up to each person to decide if it's right for them. In fact they are quite a bargain compared to buying your own cart $5,000 toy hauler $40,000 1ton truck $55,000 (and those numbers are all on the low side). So $100,000 to get a personal cart to the for for your 1 week trip. Or rent the Disney cart for $600.00 looks like a Disney cart is a bargain to me.

I think most really nice, resort, trips are super expensive anymore.  Tough part for us, is we love our memories from the Fort, so we want to keep going but... sadly, we just can't do it.   

But, I think for those who do Disney once in a lifetime or once every 4 or 5 years, the price is comparable to any nice resort (and I get that the Fort isn't a "resort", but for those of us who love our rigs and the camping experience, it's pretty darn close ).

[LONE-STAR 370]

23 hours ago, Starbuc71 said:

Hence. I still believe they are a rip off.  And so is the fort these days for $185 a night. I don’t care how nice and magical it is. I have a 16ft pull behind not a diesel pusher so most things are a rip off to me when it comes to camping these days

 

12 hours ago, twiceblessed....nacole said:

Things have gotten super expensive, I'll agree with you there.

I think most really nice, resort, trips are super expensive anymore.  Tough part for us, is we love our memories from the Fort, so we want to keep going but... sadly, we just can't do it.   

But, I think for those who do Disney once in a lifetime or once every 4 or 5 years, the price is comparable to any nice resort (and I get that the Fort isn't a "resort", but for those of us who love our rigs and the camping experience, it's pretty darn close ).

I agree it's has gotten to expensive and we are also going to have to take a time out from Disney. Not that we want to(its really the only place we like to vacation) we did 4 trips on our AP''s with in a year, a lot of house expenses, plus camper repairs, then totalled the camper (owed more then it was worth) then bought another camper. Disney has gotten to expensive, but I won't call it a rip off. Do I wish the campsites were still $35.00 a night maybe the cheap side of me says yes, but can you imagine trying to get a site if they were still that cheap. I know several families that Disney has already priced out, and it's not like they are poor people. I know people that own DVC and can't afford to use them. I am hoping our break from Disney will just be a little over a year, but if it has to  be longer so  be it, and by the time we go back there will be a lot of new stuff. 

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

17 hours ago, LONE-STAR said:

 

I agree it's has gotten to expensive and we are also going to have to take a time out from Disney. Not that we want to(its really the only place we like to vacation) we did 4 trips on our AP''s with in a year, a lot of house expenses, plus camper repairs, then totalled the camper (owed more then it was worth) then bought another camper. Disney has gotten to expensive, but I won't call it a rip off. Do I wish the campsites were still $35.00 a night maybe the cheap side of me says yes, but can you imagine trying to get a site if they were still that cheap. I know several families that Disney has already priced out, and it's not like they are poor people. I know people that own DVC and can't afford to use them. I am hoping our break from Disney will just be a little over a year, but if it has to  be longer so  be it, and by the time we go back there will be a lot of new stuff. 

Yeah... that's us.  The AP really gets you or (at least) it gets us me (Tom could care less if we went, haha).  When we have an annual pass, we do 3-5 trips per year.  Let's use easy numbers:  $1000/week for the site plus $3300 (I think that's what we paid last fall) for 4 AP tickets and last year alone (4 trips) was over $7000 and that does not include gas and eating out.  I'd have to say easily $9k - $10k in the past year alone    We've camped at the Fort, 2-4 times a year, for the past 5 years.  I cannot remember if we've had APs all those years (I'm afraid to go back and look).  When we started, our youngest was at no charge and our oldest was a child's ticket.  Now we're at 3 "adults" (she's 11 but... okay) and 1 child.  As our kids get older, their activities (here at home) get more expensive.  Just can't continue to do it    We got home from our last stay, last week... and what made it a little easier, was the mistake we made in buying tickets to the Christmas party.  We attended this party a few years ago and had a great time, but this time around was a different story.  The MK was PACKED.  It was ridiculous.  Spent $400 to stand in lines (Mine Train was 60 minutes, Peter Pan was almost an hour).  I was so upset.  Such a waste.  

[LONE-STAR 370]

5 hours ago, twiceblessed....nacole said:

Yeah... that's us.  The AP really gets you or (at least) it gets us me (Tom could care less if we went, haha).  When we have an annual pass, we do 3-5 trips per year.  Let's use easy numbers:  $1000/week for the site plus $3300 (I think that's what we paid last fall) for 4 AP tickets and last year alone (4 trips) was over $7000 and that does not include gas and eating out.  I'd have to say easily $9k - $10k in the past year alone    We've camped at the Fort, 2-4 times a year, for the past 5 years.  I cannot remember if we've had APs all those years (I'm afraid to go back and look).  When we started, our youngest was at no charge and our oldest was a child's ticket.  Now we're at 3 "adults" (she's 11 but... okay) and 1 child.  As our kids get older, their activities (here at home) get more expensive.  Just can't continue to do it    We got home from our last stay, last week... and what made it a little easier, was the mistake we made in buying tickets to the Christmas party.  We attended this party a few years ago and had a great time, but this time around was a different story.  The MK was PACKED.  It was ridiculous.  Spent $400 to stand in lines (Mine Train was 60 minutes, Peter Pan was almost an hour).  I was so upset.  Such a waste.  

That's how I felt about our spring break trip it was packed at the parks so bad that I said I would not do spring break again. But June and September were nice just to hot.

[ImDownWithDisney 342]

1 hour ago, LONE-STAR said:

That's how I felt about our spring break trip it was packed at the parks so bad that I said I would not do spring break again. But June and September were nice just to hot.

It is packed this week, but the weather is perfect. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite times to visit. We are not killing ourselves in the parks...just hitting our FP's plus a few other things. We are just visiting the parks a few hours each time. Today we rope dropped MK for 2 hours then went back in the evening. It is crazy busy, but honestly I've seen worse here.

Our issue now with the kids is we can only come when the kids are out of school. That puts us here the most busy times or we don't come. 

[LONE-STAR 370]

1 hour ago, ImDownWithDisney said:

It is packed this week, but the weather is perfect. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite times to visit. We are not killing ourselves in the parks...just hitting our FP's plus a few other things. We are just visiting the parks a few hours each time. Today we rope dropped MK for 2 hours then went back in the evening. It is crazy busy, but honestly I've seen worse here.

Our issue now with the kids is we can only come when the kids are out of school. That puts us here the most busy times or we don't come. 

2015 was the last year we did thanksgiving at Disney just because of how busy it was. We just started taking our kid out of school for a week then going different times during the year we didn't have any problems.

When staying at the fort we do MK the same way. We will go over about 10 do our fast passes eat lunch, leave about 4 or 5 grab some food at the fort, I will have a couple beers then go back about 7 catch the fireworks and do emh.

[Starbuc71 162]

On 11/19/2018 at 8:49 PM, LONE-STAR said:

 

I agree it's has gotten to expensive and we are also going to have to take a time out from Disney. Not that we want to(its really the only place we like to vacation) we did 4 trips on our AP''s with in a year, a lot of house expenses, plus camper repairs, then totalled the camper (owed more then it was worth) then bought another camper. Disney has gotten to expensive, but I won't call it a rip off. Do I wish the campsites were still $35.00 a night maybe the cheap side of me says yes, but can you imagine trying to get a site if they were still that cheap. I know several families that Disney has already priced out, and it's not like they are poor people. I know people that own DVC and can't afford to use them. I am hoping our break from Disney will just be a little over a year, but if it has to  be longer so  be it, and by the time we go back there will be a lot of new stuff. 

Well said. We love camping at the fort but have been out priced by the greed of Disney.  I guess being local in Tampa pisses me off more than the price is that I can’t get a reservation a few months out for a long weekend (that’s all we can afford).  I guess when they raise room rates over $600 a night, the $180 a night at the fort is very appealing to many. I miss the fort being a hidden gem which wasn’t too long ago. Rip off may be too aggressive a phrase, but imho I think it fits

[Grumpy and Grandma 740]

1 hour ago, Starbuc71 said:

Well said. We love camping at the fort but have been out priced by the greed of Disney.  I guess being local in Tampa pisses me off more than the price is that I can’t get a reservation a few months out for a long weekend (that’s all we can afford).  I guess when they raise room rates over $600 a night, the $180 a night at the fort is very appealing to many. I miss the fort being a hidden gem which wasn’t too long ago. Rip off may be too aggressive a phrase, but imho I think it fits

I didn't like the high prices either, but everybody seems to forget it's all about supply and demand. When the latest RV boom hit everybody started complaining about not being able to get a site in many State and local parks unless they reserved 6 mo out or longer same at WDW. Every article you read about the new construction at Coronado Springs and the new Resort going up ar the FORT mentions the need to meet demand. Many tourist industry experts say the price increases, both at the Parks and Resorts are the only way for WDW and Universal to have to help with crowd control and it really doesn't seem to help.

Prices go up and the crowds get bigger.

[djsamuel 322]

1 hour ago, Grumpy and Grandma said:

I didn't like the high prices either, but everybody seems to forget it's all about supply and demand. When the latest RV boom hit everybody started complaining about not being able to get a site in many State and local parks unless they reserved 6 mo out or longer same at WDW. Every article you read about the new construction at Coronado Springs and the new Resort going up ar the FORT mentions the need to meet demand. Many tourist industry experts say the price increases, both at the Parks and Resorts are the only way for WDW and Universal to have to help with crowd control and it really doesn't seem to help.

Prices go up and the crowds get bigger.

Agree 100%.  But it boggles my mind that as the price increases so do the crowds?  People must really be going into debt just to visit Disney World.  I tell my wife it is the Facebook effect.  Everybody needs to go or they are a bad parent, because "everybody else" is going.

[ImDownWithDisney 342]

2 hours ago, djsamuel said:

Agree 100%.  But it boggles my mind that as the price increases so do the crowds?  People must really be going into debt just to visit Disney World.  I tell my wife it is the Facebook effect.  Everybody needs to go or they are a bad parent, because "everybody else" is going.

The economy is strong. I know a lot of small business owners that are doing really well. A lot of people have disposable income. It's a big change from 9 years ago.  

[LONE-STAR 370]

11 hours ago, ImDownWithDisney said:

The economy is strong. I know a lot of small business owners that are doing really well. A lot of people have disposable income. It's a big change from 9 years ago.  

You know what's strange is I have been with the same company for almost 18 years and it's a small company, and it always seems like we do better when the economy is down it really doesn't make sense. The one thing that kills us is high fuel prices.

[LONE-STAR 370]

Well now that I think about it we are a repair company so I guess when the  economy is down people are making repairs instead of building new.

[Big35Lt 4]

Man, I ask a question about car or golf cart a month ago, come back and it turns into how disney is a rip-off and overpriced. Haha. 

Well, to summarize our experience, turns out we were so happy with the car decision. For the price, IN OUR FAMILY’S opinion, it was very economical. We weren’t dependent on the buses, I feel in Disney that time is worth money. So we saved so much not waiting as long for travel. 

To everyone that says it’s becoming a rip-off, it may but our family visites every 2 years. We do not own a camper so we rent one from a company in Orlando. This was our second time renting to stay at the fort. The for 6 nights we paid $1400. 700 for the premium site and 700 for the camper. I do not feel that is too bad. If you were to rent a 1bd from Davids (i did own dvc at one time), i think a 33’ would be considered a 1br in dvc it can be anywhere from 2400(okw) to 4900. (GF preferred). Seeing when we go we are slight park commandos, so a room for us we are only in to sleep. So $1400 seems like a steal compared to the Deluxe hotels. 

Anywho, we enjoyed our trip and we like going every 2 yrs, and that’s our plan from now on. Plus our kids are 9&6, so we may need to tweak when we go (summer) as to not pull them from school. We have done that since our youngest started. I will say our only major negative was the amount of people in the parks starting the sunday of thanksgiving week. It was insane. We have never gone during a holiday and we WILL NEVER do it again. But we made it work. Thanks for all the thread replies and happy holidays.