Tired of air travel, anyone ever do the drive from PA to Disney?

[chemnerd09]

I'm from Harrisburg, PA and grew up on road trips to WDW. I remember doing trips that Dad went a bit crazy and did the whole thing straight through. Other times we broke it up by stopping in GA/FL. Now that I live in Charlotte, my parents drive to my place (~7 hours), spend the night, and continue onto to WDW (~8 hours). This time we're trying a different way to avoid I-4 so I guess we'll see how it goes in December. Now that I keep hearing about the auto train, I wish I could give it a try.

 

[NJDiva]

I'm from Harrisburg, PA and grew up on road trips to WDW. I remember doing trips that Dad went a bit crazy and did the whole thing straight through. Other times we broke it up by stopping in GA/FL. Now that I live in Charlotte, my parents drive to my place (~7 hours), spend the night, and continue onto to WDW (~8 hours). This time we're trying a different way to avoid I-4 so I guess we'll see how it goes in December. Now that I keep hearing about the auto train, I wish I could give it a try.

it was really great! I have to say they get you on and off without issue and it's kinda like a bingo game when they bring the cars off because each vehicle is given a number and when they take them off they just call the number and you pick up your car and go. I just wish they had more auto trains across the country. for now I will be happy with VA to FL!

 

[chemnerd09]

it was really great! I have to say they get you on and off without issue and it's kinda like a bingo game when they bring the cars off because each vehicle is given a number and when they take them off they just call the number and you pick up your car and go. I just wish they had more auto trains across the country. for now I will be happy with VA to FL!

I looked into the pricing for the auto train and is it normal for the trip from FL to VA to cost double the price for VA to FL? After seeing that, we might just keep driving.

 

[NJDiva]

I looked into the pricing for the auto train and is it normal for the trip from FL to VA to cost double the price for VA to FL? After seeing that, we might just keep driving.

true, if you drive all the time it may be more expensive, but if you stop and get a hotel for the night, each way, if you figure in that cost it's more cost effective and less wear and tear on your car. I won't do it all the time, but when flights get up over $300 I see me taking the train instead

 

[Granny square]

We drive from the Cleveland area. Usually stop about 11 hours along the way. Swim, eat, explore, and then enjoy the second day. Usually stop at ast Augustine, and a beach then ease into Orlando. Far more pleasant than airports, etc.

 

[chemnerd09]

true, if you drive all the time it may be more expensive, but if you stop and get a hotel for the night, each way, if you figure in that cost it's more cost effective and less wear and tear on your car. I won't do it all the time, but when flights get up over $300 I see me taking the train instead

The good thing is I live in Charlotte, NC now, so my parents use me as the "hotel". :good vibes

 

[Irishman]

I live just outside of Washigton DC....Round trip flights are less than $220.00. Yeah most likely get a car.But thats cheaper than gas alone.( wear tear on my car).......Thinking VERY hard on a winter SOLO trip in Jan....

 

[pheonixheart]

We grew up with family vactions to fla to visit family. I loved the drive (although I wasn't behind the wheel). I'm the one who convinced my mom to fly and now I'm trying to convince her to drive! Lol. We are right on the ny/pa border its about 22 hours to orlando. We always stopped in NC.

 

[1Grumpy9]

If you decide to drive it (which my parents have done it many times over the years and my mom and I did it once while I was in college), and you are planning on going through DC and Baltimore, you might want to watch what times you are going through those two cities. DC traffic can be a complete nightmare!! For years we used to go down 95, but now my parents take 81 South to 77 South then to 26 East to 95 South. The traffic is a little more managable. They break the day up in two (they are also towing a camper), but they get to Orangeburg, SC for the night then get up early the next day and finish the trip. We have also done the whole drive the whole way in one shot and your body shuts down if you try to do a park the next day.

Last year when I was looking into doing a quick long weekend trip to WDW, I looked into driving and it was going to be half the price of flying.

The other thing to look at is flying out of Harrisburg. I know Allegiant and Frontier both fly out of MDT and they are non-stop flights.

 

[GetUpTop]

We made the drive for the first time ever in May. We took DGF's VW cabrio (not great on the highway, found out the hard way) from just north of Philadelphia.

We alternated driving and did the straight shot down without staying at a hotel. We were fueled by Disney magic and red bull.

The trip back we stayed in North Carolina.

It was definitely worth it IMO. We saved a boat load of money, and 30+ hours in a car with DGF was a great way to share our thoughts and feeling about everything ever. Long car rides = interesting conversations

 

[Miss Disney]

I live in Baltimore. It's about 16 hours to Nortern Baltimore County.

Where in PA are you? Have you thought about driving down to BWI? Southwest generally will have some good deals from BWI to MCO, and BWI is a decent airport.

 

[kcwiak]

My wife and I used to have a nice direct flight from a small airport 10 minutes from our house in Bethlehem PA. It took us 2 in a half hours from PA to MCO, the airline left the airport and no other ones offer direct flights. Now we can only find flights with layovers and takes us almost 8-10 hours just to get to orlando.

My question is, did anyone here ever make that drive from PA to Disney? I hear it is about 16-17 hours, and after our horrible flight experiences we are thinking about just driving down for now on.

Any advice?

Thanks

We just recently moved from Forks Township to Ohio and yes we have made that drive. It stunk, however, we did it in winter and we left before a huge snow storm. We were caught in Virginia and it was awful. I think the ride was supposed to be about 19 hrs. Plus we had two small kids with us. I think if you pick a time that the weather won't be a huge problem it would be ok.

I should disclose that you are listening to a person who is driving from OH to Disney on 12/21 after swearing never to drive in the winter again after that disaster!

Good Luck!

 

[kcwiak]

It is about a four hour drive for you to Lorton VA. Consider driving there and taking the AutoTrain (see http://www.amtrak.com/auto-train ) which will transport you and your car to a location about an hour from WDW. And the timing will work well.

The autotrain is ridiculously expensive from what I remember!