Driving to Disney

[Klac]

We will be driving to Disney from Oakville this month for our first trip with the kids. We plan to go 90/79/77/95 route. DH and I don't like to drive late at night, we will have our four kids 6, 4, 15 month twins and our wondering how most people break up the trip. Our original plan was to leave at 4am and drive to Columbia SC that day, then next morning to Orlando. We've been contemplating leaving around 5pm the day before and driving till hopefully the Pittsburg area that night, then next day driving to Savannah and spending the night there, then to Orlando. Just curious what others do.

Also do you pre-book your hotel? I've been thinking about it because we need a larger room to fit everyone and two pack'n plays.

 

[Skjhjb]

Well our plan won't help you if you don't like driving late at night! Our kids are also older, but they used the through the night drive to sleep the whole way down.

First trip in 2012, we left at 4am. But in 2014, we left on the Saturday night at 10:30 (this drive we took I75). We stopped for a quick breakfast break, and then hit the Marietta Diner (a Triple D stop) for lunch around 2pm. We drove until 7:00ish, and DH was done. I can't remember where we ended up, but we only had about 5 hours left to drive the next day. We were up by 7am (oldest DD actually had to log on to her University site and register for classes that day) and after breakfast in the hotel, we hit the road and made it to Orlando by about 2:00.

DH really liked the drive through the night - he spent Saturday evening napping, while I went to a play that our middle DD was in (hence the leave at 10:30 once she was off the stage!)

We didn't pre-book our hotel in Georgia, but we pre-booked our Orlando hotel. We stayed off-site (both trips) the night before we checked in to Disney - we wanted to have a fresh, early start to our first day at Disney,and not be tired from driving and miss part of our first ticket day. We stay at the Buena Vista Suites - awesome rooms & great breakfast for a great rate! We did some searching on Booking dot com to research hotels in the area that would work for the 5 of us, and I wrote a few names down from a few areas we figured we end up in by 7pm or so that first night.

Side story -we were super glad we did I75 and had the "along I75" book! I had updated our GPS before we left, and it gave me a message that there wasn't enough memory for the full update, so I chose the "update Canada" part. Well, that was fine, but it DELETED the southern states! We ended up hitting a WalMart in Marietta, where we bought a cord that we could update the GPS with and used DD's computer to update the Southern US part. Which left us without the Canada part until we got home and bought a memory chip for the GPS. Talk about a "second wind" at 1am when we crossed the border and tried to input the Georgia address we were aiming for!

Have a fun drive!!

 

[dancin Disney style]

I live in Oakville as well and we have driven to Orlando many times. When our kids were little we took a few long road trips. We always planned to drive as much as possible while they slept.

When we drive to FL here's what we do....
DH goes to bed by 9pm and sleeps until around 2am. He can function perfectly on 5 hours sleep so while he's sleeping I finish up the packing of the car and other last minute odds and ends. I'm a night owl so staying up is no problem for me. When he gets up he takes a VERY fast shower and we leave the house before 2:30am....we are usually on the road by 2:15. We cross the border at Fort Erie and I stay awake until we are through there and I get him on the right highway driving towards Erie, PA. That's when I sleep. We stop in Erie because he wants coffee then...we have breakfast, get gas and get back on the road. From there he continues to drive to the next gas stop which will be in about 4 hours while I go back to sleep. After that we switch off when needed. We drive until around 9pm which puts us in the Savannah, GA area. This leaves a very short second day.

I think you could start out in a similar way but as the days goes on you will probably lose a lot of time. Most kids will need to get out of the car for a break. My kids never did and would sit in the car all day without much complaint....even as toddlers. A great tip that someone gave me years ago was to make each child a special activity bag. They didn't know anything about it until they got in the car and got to the point where they were bored. I made journals and had stickers, crayons etc. to decorate the book and pages. I would also have travel games that were new to them and all sorts of little odds and ends. Some new movies that they have never seen are great as well or a TV series.

One other important thing is to plan your food carefully. We pack all our food for road trip...meals, snack and drinks. We don't waste time stopping at restaurants and it saves a lot of money too. But my point on food was be careful to not have messy, sticky things. Make sure everything is easy clean up should it spill. Also, you know how your kids react to food ie: sugar. Don't feed them stuff that will make them cranky/wild.

 

[migel]

We're in Grimsby, so about 40 minute drive to the Peace Bridge. Two weeks back we left at 3:30 am, just my daughter (11) and me. With minimal quick stops for gas\breakfast\lunch and washroom breaks, we made it to Columbia SC by 5 pm. I pre-book our hotel. Next morning, up early, and on the road by 4:30 am. The I26 after Columbia is under construction so I like to get to through that patch before traffic builds. We had a clear drive into Florida. The I4 is also still under construction, and although traffic was flowing well, I opted to take the 417 toll route at Sanford (we have a Sunpass, so it's convenient). Glad I did, the I4 was all backed up westbound once we exited the 417. We were at our condo in west Kissimmee by 11:30 am. FYI, expect traffic and a slow down when approaching Charlotte NC. In our last three trips, we hit traffic every time.

 

[Tink loves Olaf 64]

We have driven many times (over 10) and while the drive is long (21-22 hours driving time) I would always recommend the I-75. We drive straight through and have varied our trip start times to best coincide with border crossings and major city traffic. Driving while the kids sleep helps minimize the "are we there yet". Also, I have a husband who would drive to China if there was a bridge and rarely keeps sleepy. The I-75 roads are better maintained, well marked, well lit and have many options for food, lodgings and mostly decent rest stations. There are also options to go around Cincinnati and Atlanta, although going straight through is quicker as long as you don't hit traffic. Along the I-75 is a great resource and a very interesting read.

 

[dancin Disney style]

The problem with taking the I-75 route is that from Oakville it adds on 3 hours.

 

[Lavitz]

The problem with taking the I-75 route is that from Oakville it adds on 3 hours.

How does it add 3 hours? I've read other people mention driving from the GTA to WDW by taking the I75 (Detroit) only adds on about an hour compared to the the I79 (Buffalo) route. This also exactly matches what Google maps says. I'd really like to know since I'm planning my first drive down this November and am still deciding on which route to take.

 

[LemonNeko]

It's been a number of years since I've driven but I always take the Detroit route (living in Toronto). I've never gone any other way so I can't say if it's quicker to go through Buffalo. I drive it in two days but I minimize stops which may or may not be possible depending on your kids. The first day I leave at 6am and stop over night in south Georgia usually at 7 or 8. Last few times I did it I didn't book ahead of time as I wanted to see how far I could get. The second day is a lot shorter which I find makes it easier.

Just reread your post and realized the twins are 15 months not 15 years old. I'd stop for 2 nights. You are brave.

 

[dancin Disney style]

How does it add 3 hours? I've read other people mention driving from the GTA to WDW by taking the I75 (Detroit) only adds on about an hour compared to the the I79 (Buffalo) route. This also exactly matches what Google maps says. I'd really like to know since I'm planning my first drive down this November and am still deciding on which route to take.

I don't find Google Maps to be very accurate....just my opinion. What I said was from Oakville it adds on 3 hours. If you are in the GTA you most likely have closer, faster access to the 401. From Oakville you have to wind your way up to the 401 on single lane roads(which is a slow go) but the total additional Km's are 230-ish.

 

[Klac]

Thanks everyone! We drove to Niagara Falls the other weekend, ten minutes into the drive one kid was holding a bucket cause he thought he was going to be sick and one baby cried the entire way there...that's when we decided to split it up over three days...lol! Wish us luck!

 

[chartle]

I'm from Pittsburgh and have driven the route you are taking of course just not from Canada. Its good you are stopping around my hometown. Once past northern West Virginia there are very few places to stop for the night. We have left around 5 PM and driven to Wytheville, VA and then a horrible 10+ hours the next day.

Last trip we left around 1:00 PM and got to Statesville, SC which only gave us 8 hours the next day.

As for stopping around Pittsburgh. I always like an area that has a lot of hotels around since it lowers the cost and if there is a lot hotels there are usually restaurants we can get breakfast the next morning.

I would suggest either the Cranberry area or the Meadowlands area. They seem to have the highest concentrations of properties along 79. Cranberry is north of the city and the Meadowlands is south about 40 minutes further down 79. If you want to push it just a little bit further, past the Meadowlands there are quite a few around where 79 and 70 meet up at Washington, PA.

One other thing is West Virginia is the longest stretch in one state you will have. For us its almost one third of the trip. So be prepared for a long, windy and up and down hills road.

Also I would pre book. For most of our trips we were 4 adults so we always needed 2 queen size beds.

Good luck we would have never traveled that long when our kids were that little. We waited until they were 7 and 8 ish and flew.

 

[Klac]

Thanks for the info Chartle. We have decided to stop in Washington PA our first night, its 5 hours of driving plus stop time and we are planning on leaving at lunch. We are debating between Walterboro SC or Savannah, what are your thoughts on those two? It's a difference of an hour, which might make a big difference when we are stuck in the car for 10 hours...lol!

 

[chartle]

In all our trips we have always stopped between wyeville and statesville. Its just where we want to stop.

Is that 10 hours google driving time or actual time with real world stops?

We would have liked to stop at Savannah but we never had the time and its a little off the route.

I guess where you stop depends on when you want to get into WDW the next morning/afternoon.

For me I would stop in Walterboro but thats just looking at the google map.

When you go across the big blue bridge taking you over the Ohio River wave to the left. I live right up the river in the valley.