Driving Your Car VS. Taking the Bus (One Program With a Car and One Program Without)

I haven't done a blog post unrelated to my daily life in AGES so I decided to do one on having a car versus relying on the bus system. I feel like I have a really good grasp of this since I did a full program (Fall 2014) without a car, as well as January - March of my spring program, and have had a car from March - now (Spring/Summer/Fall 2017). 

First off, let's start with the busses. There is a bus to take you to every location you might need to go on Disney property, plus a bus that goes to Walmart, Publix (a grocery chain down here), the post office, and the Florida Mall twice a week. They will also have special events you can pay for once in a while to go to the beach, a baseball/football/soccer game, Universal Studios, Busch Gardens, the Asian Market, or some other Florida spots. Most of these busses include multiple stops, but it will always run the same route. I'll use the A and B routes as examples since I use those the most. The A bus will start at the Commons, then go to Chatham, then Vista, then Wilderness Lodge, then the Contemporary, and finally MK West Clock. Side note, West Clock is where working CM's go to get to Magic Kingdom for work, and you can't get to MK as a guest this way. A full trip lasts roughly an hour, but that's if you got on at the Commons and got off at the Commons, which is dumb. For me, it takes about 45 minutes to get to West Clock from Chatham, and about 30 minutes to get home. For a comparison, it's a 20-25 minute drive by car. So if I take the bus I generally leave the apartment an hour or an hour fifteen before my scheduled shift, and I'll leave 45 minutes early if I'm driving.

All the busses are set up pretty similarly, I think they're all roughly 45 minutes on the long leg, and 30 on the short. Epcot is the exception because that route only stops at Epcot and is shorter as a result. Some busses only have pickup/drop-offs by request only which can lengthen/shorten a bus ride. For the most part, the busses are on time +/- a couple minutes, and if they are late enough that you're late to a shift your leader will normally take off the half point you'll get on your record for being late. The worst experiences I've had with the busses always involve coming home from work, since West Clock is the last stop before housing. What happens is CP's playing in the park for the day will get on at one of the MK resorts (Contemporary or Polynesian, so A or B bus), and when the bus get to us there's either only room to stand because the seats are taken, or on busy nights (AKA the night after the new CP's have gone to Traditions) the bus can only take a couple of us who just got off work and the rest of us have to wait another 20 minutes for another bus which SUCKS. That's mostly if you get off work just after fireworks, between 9:45pm - 10:30pm. Another crappy situation is when there are party nights and you get off around the fireworks, because they use special perimeter fireworks on those nights and have to close off two of the three roads that lead to West Clock. When that happens they send one special express bus that comes once every 45 minutes to an hour since the normal route can't come get us. So those nights I've waited for up to an hour and half for a bus to go home, which is awful.

When it comes to having a car down here, you have much more freedom, but you will also spend much more money. You have to pay insurance, gas, tolls, parking, and whatever activities your car takes you to. Right now gas is roughly $2.32/gallon for the cheap stuff and no one ever pays you for gas haha. The cost of a parking permit for housing is I believe $75 per session, so I had to pay another fee in the fall when I extended my program. The second fee is discounted, but it's still over $100 I had to pay (I know, nothing compared to college campuses!). I think the biggest advantage of having a car is grocery shopping, and getting outside the Orlando bubble. I have done SO many more things on this program than my first, mostly because I now have the freedom to go wherever, whenever.

I think that I would only bring a car if you're staying longer than a single fall/spring program or if you live relatively close to Florida. The busses are really convenient and FREE and take you most places, and chances are you'll make at least one car friend to adventure with. I'm from Seattle and definitely wouldn't have brought my car if I had only planned on being here for a spring program. I went in knowing I would be here for a year, so I brought my car and I think I've gotten my money's worth. I drive roughly four times a week, and bus three times a week, depending on my schedule. People complain SO much about the busses, but as someone who has taken a LOT of busses, I have only been late to work ONE time (back in 2014) because of the busses. There have been a handful of times after work where I've not made it on a bus due to capacity, but it is what it is. 

I think the biggest components you need to look at when deciding whether or not to bring your car down are these:

1. Can you afford it? You'll be making barely above minimum wage and if you're one of those people who know you'll drive everyday, can you afford gas, insurance, tolls, and parking?
2. Will it be worth the drive/shipment down to Florida and back up? It cost me roughly $500 to drive from Denver to Orlando with food and gas, and $1,000 to ship me car between Seattle and Orlando (one way). That's a lot of time and/or money when alternatively you could fly for $300 and take the busses for free. 
3. How much do you want to do outside of Orlando? I knew going into my second program I wanted to go to the Florida Keys, go to the beach more, check out some Florida Springs, and buy a Universal annual pass, none of which the CP bus regularly goes to. If you just want to soak up Disney, is a car really worth it when the busses go everywhere you want to go?
4. How much stuff do you need down in Florida? If you plan on moving down here or staying here for a while, you might have more stuff and driving your car could be better than flying with what you can fit and paying to ship what you can't.
5. Are you comfortable city driving? Florida is one of the most dangerous states to drive in, and if you're not comfortable driving in the city, surrounded by confused foreigners (both domestic and international), crazy taxi drivers, and angry locals, then it might not be worth it to have a car down in Florida. 
6. If you picked your roommates out ahead of time, will any of them have cars? If so then you can offer gas money and go on an adventure or two without having to bring your car down.

That's pretty much what I've got. I personally enjoy using both my car and the busses, but would stick to busses if I was only down here for four or five months. Some people's parents pay for gas and insurance and shipment/the drive down so that's an easier decision but if you're paying for everything, it's a big financial decision. Everyone is different when it comes to transportation but hopefully I gave some clarity to those of you looking for advice on taking/leaving your car!!