How about a Massachusetts Roll Call?

[Disney1fan2002]

AND, more specifically, anyone from MA who has driven to Disney. We plan on driving for the first time in November. With the two of us, we plan on driving straight through, only stopping for gas, pee breaks, and food. We have 3 kids who will be 7,5, and 3..so with each stop, we plan on lettingthem run around and stretch theri legs for about 30 minutes. Any idea how many hours the commute will be? I am thinking around 22 hours. Please, if it is different, let me know.

[poj7]

Dover here. 22 hours sounds about right.

[rbuzzotta]

Wakefield here!!

We have driven SEVERAl times. We have gone straight through and have also stopped. We find stopping around 9 pm and sleeping until 4 really works for us. We leave in the am and try to get 14 hours in day one!! We usually stop on the Va border.

We are driving again in Jully. This time my DD's friend will be joinning us for the drive back!!

It is not bad. MY girls are 11,7,5!! We have done it when the baby was 6 months and the others 2 and 6. And every year since.

If you have any other questions, just PM me. It takes us about 22-24 hours nonstop...........30 stopping!!

[mickey7861]

We're from Fall River.

We drive every summer. We stay 3-4 weeks so we have plenty of time and get alot of use out of the car while we're there. We've driven many, many times over the past 15 years. On our first road trip DS was 5, DD was 3. We used to leave around 7 pm and they would be asleep by the time we hit Ct. and sleep through until breakfast in NC. Now DS is 20 and DD is almost 18, they can actually help with the drive!

[chrissyk]

Shrewsbury here :) We've never driven down, but my next-door neighbors growing up drove down every year. I think that they said that the drive was about 24 hours (that was from NE MA).

[winniedapooh]

Hey Shrewsbury, Millbury here! Drove once and it took about 22 hours, ugh! Still lurking here and waiting for hubby's contract at work to go through (May 12th.) and then we will be purchasing our "Home" at WL! Yipeeeeeeeeee!


Is winter really over?????

Faith, trust, and pixie dust to you!

[jennybobenny]

Saugus here.
And you couldn't pay me enough to drive down to Disney. :) :) :) We drive to Maine a few times a month to see mil and those are the longest 3 hours of my life. Kids are 8 and 4 and start bickering the minute we leave the driveway. :rolleyes:

[mitcam]

Woburn here,

We plan to drive next year. Friends drove this year and last for Feb vacation and loved it! 23 hours and they loved the drive. They have pictures of the kids with every state sign from both years. They had a blast - ages of the kids is from 3 - 9 (3 boys)

Carolyn

[poohbear1029]

Shrewbury, Millbury - I'm in Rutland! Never driven down....DH says we probably wouldnt be speaking by the time we got to WDW!! LOL!

[pluto109]

we are from east boston ,never driven ,always delta express,,soon to be song airlines with 24 direct tv station at your seat and nintendo 64, leather seats with 33 inches leg room..pizza hut slices too.:D :D :D :D :Pinkbounc :Pinkbounc :Pinkbounc

[stevepete]

Lowell here. We drove down in December with our 9 and 3 year old. It actually wasn't bad at all. We had a VCR for them to watch which made all the difference in the world. We just booked a trip for next month and are driving again :teeth:

[winniedapooh]

OK guys you gotta do what we did.....we needed a new vehichle and with 5DCherubs the options for us were a new minivan or a new minivan, lol! Anyhow we got one of those DVD players in it. Actually we discovered this in Jan when our rental van came equipped with one. This is a definite sanity saver. We go to Maine as well several times a year to visit OOB and guess what, the only words we hear are.....What movie are we watching next? When the movie is playing I no longer hear "are we there yet" or "she breathed on me" or even the dreaded "he tounched me". I Love it! Oh yeah and we drove down, BC-before children. Would think in order to talk me into doing that drive with 5 DCherubs I would probably require Valium or something stronger, lol!

Faith, trust, and pixie dust to you!

[Jack]

Rockland! Have driven down 4 times. The first three times we would in stop in NC/SC overnight. That makes the 2nd day a piece on cake. On the way home we would drive to Williamsburg VA. stay there then continue home. We drove a conversion van so that helped with 2 adults and 4 kids. We now FLY!

[Dizzy4Dizney]

Billerica here. I drove down once when I was single, never with kids. We stopped in VA and Georgia to sleep. Long trip, much
preferr flying.

[Lexxiefern]

Cape Cod here!

Good luck with the drive, anything over 6 hours and forget it!:p

[imgoingtodisney]

Oxford
south of Worcester, almost at the CT border

[Peggy Sue]

From Beverly,

Never drove down. Have 2 trips planned -- October and December. Already have our reservations on Delta express replacement Song. Can't wait to check out the new perks they have come out with! Several coworkers have driven down recently. all report 22-24 hour experience. One leaves at midnight, so the kids will be sleeping. they all report driving 14-16 hours on the first day. We like the 5-6 hour experience of door to door via the air!

[BVC4us]

we're south of Boston and we have driven many times. It takes about 23 hours. We usually drive about 14 hours the first day (staying in Lumberton, N.C) and then we only have 9 hours the next day. We leave very early in the morning . We have been doing it since the kids were little. Personally, I love the drive. The kids are used to it now and it doesn't phase them. Have fun!

[BCVOwner2002]

Scituate checking in! We have never driven but have talked about it. Now that we own DVC we will probably drive down at least once over the next 40 years!! ;) Annmarie

[zillow]

Hey Annmarie - I used to have a summer house in Scituate. Love the town. My house was right next to the Hatherly country club's tennis courts (could pratically jump into the courts from my bedroon). I miss it - no ocean out here in Harvard, Mass. Just lots of apples.

[Simba's Mom]

Please-can I be counted? Grew up in Worcester area Massachusetts, last 17 years in Paxton. So my body's in South Texas, but my heart's in Massachusetts. Missed the Marathon today!

[buzz5985]

We're from Wakefield. Drove down Feb 2002, myself, DH, DS - 5, Dog - 10. Left at 4 am, stopped about every 2 hours for 15 minutes, stopped overnight in RockyMount NC, Left there at 5 am, arrived disney 2:30 pm. We had a blast. Secret is planning. My DS had a portable VCR, and my DH and I had books on tape, and the Dog - just loved being with us.

[poohbear1029]

You can take the girl out of Massachusetts, but you can't take the Massachusetts out of the girl!

As I posted earlier, I am from Rutland....just North of your hometown, Paxton!

[MelCald]

Sturbridge Here!!!
Sorry, can't help with driving..never done it!!

[Poorman]

We fly. Too old to drive.

[larfamily]

I grew up in Bellingham, but now I live in Rhode Island.

[mitcam]

Simba's Mom, you are definitely welcome! Once a New Englander Always a New Englander, that is unless you root for another Sports team?

How about those Red Sox!

[MAC3]

Billerica Here too!

We have driven twice (to which DH replies NEVER AGAIN). He hates driving when you can get in a plane and be there in 2 1/2 hours.

But we did like BCV4US stop in Lumberton N.C. to sleep rest. I could never ask him to drive straight through. It is a long haul though. Wouldn't mind trying it with that Van with the DVD player!

:wave: To all my fellow Disney freaks from Mass!

[cherylp3]

Dracut here! I drive down to Lorton Virginia and take the autotrain.


Cheryl

[Basser]

Brockron, We drove down last year and I highly recommend a stop over in N.C. or S.C. That way you are'nt to tired to enjoy your first day at WDW.

[CrayzeeDiz]

We have driven down 3 times in the last 2 years from Melrose.
My wife is afraid to fly otherwise we would not drive. We have 5 year old twins and a TV in our van. Cannot survive the trip without it. We are going on the magic 7 day cruise in January 2003 and I am trying to talk my wife into flying. I have had enough of the driving. It is realy exhausting. We usualy will drive straight through to Virginia Sleep in a Hotel. (usualy around Quanico.) Wake up early then Drive through to St. Augustine and stop Sleep enjoy a day as we have friends who live there and then drive the 3 hours to Disney from there. It is a very , very long drive. The plus is you get to use your own car the whole trip. the minus is you tack on 4 extra days of travel time (2 going and 2 coming) that could be spent actualy enjoying Disney world. i dont believe that you save much money either by driving. If you add up the cost of gas, hotels , food and travel treats for the kids - the savings isn't much.. Good luck and enjoy your trip...:wave:

[Michelemouse]

Former Millbury girl here...now in Putnam, CT so still not too far away.

We always drive straight through...no stopovers. For us it is a 20 hour drive door-to-door (we are one town away from Webster, MA if that helps). We leave home at 2am and arrive in WDW at 10pm. We put the kids in the car asleep (getting harder to do now that they are 10 & 8) and they stay asleep until at least 7am. They both usually peter out later in the evening and we wake them up with we get to the WDW archway. We like doing the drive this way because it feels like a regular - if somewhat long - day for us. We used to drive overnight but found that we were exhausted while the kids, who had gotten a good night's sleep in the car, were raring to go.

We bring books, CDs and travel games but do not have a TV in the car. We have just purchased a laptop computer that plays DVDs so we may bring that with us this time.

For us driving is a tremendous savings over flying. It costs us approximately $300 to drive. If we flew we'd be looking at $700 - 800 in airfare alone. Then you have to add on a rental car or transportation to/from the airport and other travelling expenses (snacks in the airport, etc.) and it starts closing in on $1000.00. By driving we are able to go twice a year. If we flew we'd only go once. That alone is worth the drive!

[Disney1fan2002]

For us driving is a tremendous savings over flying. It costs us approximately $300 to drive. If we flew we'd be looking at $700 - 800 in airfare alone. Then you have to add on a rental car or transportation to/from the airport and other travelling expenses (snacks in the airport, etc.) and it starts closing in on $1000.00. By driving we are able to go twice a year. If we flew we'd only go once. That alone is worth the drive!


That is why we have decided to try driving. Up to this point, we have flew. Because we have always had a child under two. The trip this past OCtober, we had to pay for all of the kids. I will not pay for a ticket unless it is under $200, so I wait for sales and specials. The average price I pay is $190 each. So for us a family of 5, it is close to $1000 for airfare, then there is the cost to and from the airport on both ends. IF we hadn't purchased DVC, we would still be flying, but with no way to get off Disney property ( unless we rent a car, that is another expense) getting the food to the villa's would be tough. I just figure, nw that we have a "home" we can drive and it wil be easier to transport all the things we will need for the "home"

Thanks for all the feedback, and it is nice to see how many Massachusetts Disney fanatics we have on the board.

[bres@westernMA]

Hi from Dalton in western MA.
We have never even thought of driving. We usually try for either Southwest or Delta Express to avoid those hated layovers. Some day I'd like to think about wintering in the south but it will probably take me a week to get there?!?

[Connears]

Natick here!
We have been driving since we bought at OKW in 1994(12 times). We have also driven to HHI 6 times in that period. We found it the most cost effective way for us to use DVC. We actually prefer it now, but DS is now 13 and would like to get there quicker, but he knows the routine. We have had TV/VCR in the past, but Santa brought a portable DVD player and it works great in the car. We also listen to books on tape(all four Harry Potters and the first 2 books of Lord of the Rings). We usually stop around VA/NC border and in good weather sleep for a few hours and then continue on until Jacksonville and get a hotel and good nights rest and WDW next day by 1pm. In winter, we stay in hotel 2 nights. Routine is leave friday and arrive at resort by1pm on Sun. stay until friday and back again.

Connears

we also have been going straight through NY over GWbridge and takes much less than going around. Just have to time as not to hit rush hours.

[Jacksmom99]

Brockton here, soon to be Norton as soon as the papers are signed!!

We have driven down twice and are planning another trip this August. We have not driven straight through. The first trip we took 3 days, the second trip we left at 8 pm on a Th night and would've made better time had we paid done better research and avioded the construction on 95 in CT. We stayed in Lumberton, NC on Fri night and we at the BCV by 3:00 on Sat.

A funny story about the length of the trip with children..... My mother took my DS 4 to Easter mass with her. She sings with the choir and had him sitting in that section with her. Apparantly the priest was taking a little too long because my DS leaned over to my mother in that LOUD 4 year old "whisper" and said..."Nana, this is taking longer than Mickey's House!!" Time is all realative in the eyes of a child:D

[mickey'smj]

Lynn, here.

Flying to HH on Sunday. Can't wait! This has been the worst winter and so far spring is no bargain, either. Hoping for South Carolina sunshine.

[goofyforwdw]

We are from Melrose also (CrazeeDis) and for the last 2 years have flown but when the kids were small and money was tight we drove down many times. We had a conversion van and that made all the difference. With 3 kids each had their own seat and we would lay the back bed down and 2 could sleep on that during the night and one in the reclining chair. During the day the would watch movies or play on the bed in the back We packed lots of snacks and drinks and we really did have fun. There would be the moments that jumping out of the van into traffic sounded better than another ten minutes in the van with the darlings but they would pass. We did find that leaving after school 3)worked est for us cause we would drive for like 3 hrs stop for dinner(6) then drive another 3 stop for a break kids (9)would fall asleep stop again around midnight and then hubby would drive through till 4 or 5 am stop for a quick break drive till 8 stop for breakfest stop again in 3 hrs for lunch and then next stop was check in at about 2-3 depening on traffic. We would also not go rt 95 the whole way we go rt 90 to 84 to 81 to 66 to 17 to 95 it adds about 50 miles but is the same time and much nicer road and bathrooms. I would do it agin if I had to but I do think flying is much eaiser and faster now that I am more mature. I still drive down to HH every summer. The only bad part about driving is driving home boy that is hard as you are tired and nothing to look forward too.
Good luck and have fun

[Mattsmom]

Simba's Mom, you are definitely welcome! Once a New Englander Always a New Englander, that is unless you root for another Sports team?

My DH would agree with you!!!! I'm another New Englander living in TX. Not a far south as Simba's Mom. I sure do miss home. I grew up in Quincy, MA and have family living in alot of the towns posted here.

Heaven for me would be summer in MA and winter in WDW!

Go Red Sox!!!!!!!!!!!

[MOMO2DK]

HI
Wenham here! (where's that? ~ North Shore near Beverly/ Danvers/Hamilton)
We've been members since 1999, and have been twice, both via Delta Express. Last trip in Dec 2002, I found the increased security at airports to be very frustrating with children in tow. I greatly appreciated the increased security for our safety, but the long lines with the kids seemed miserably longer.

It's been interesting reading everyones driving experiences, especially with kids. My DH and I love long drives and with all your input we'll have to seriously consider driving- the cost savings will help with the decision.

Thanks for the Massachusetts roll-call and all the driving advice!

[beattyfamily]

Norfolk, MA here and we've never driven...don't think we could handle much more than the trip to Sesame Place which was about 8 hours with the horrible GWB traffic!!!

It is interesting, though, to hear how long it takes people and whether they stop or not and which routes they take...maybe someday...

[Coach Rick]

Woonsocket, RI. Right next to Bellingham. (not sure that counts):p

Anyhow, we used to drive down all the time (since 83), but the last two times we went 96, & 02 (much more now that we have a home):bounce: Our plan is to drive to Lorton, as someone else had mentioned, and take the Autotrain. It's a bit expensive, but when you add in the fact you have your car with you, and you have one nights lodging included with meals. You just can't go wrong with that one. Plus it's a huge adventure for the yungons. We used to drive straight through, except for once, we stayed over on NC/SC border.

Coming back was always depressing though. We would take 3 or 4 days coming back, and stop along the way often. One time we took 10 days coming back, and drove up the Blue Ridge Parkway. Very pretty ride.