Who drives the longest??

[Svhadden]

I will never complain about our 9-10 hour drive again .

We've driven every year, but we're flying this year. Just to see how it goes, and our youngest is finally old enough that we don't have to pack half the house to take long trips.

Last year we left when DH got home from work and spent the night in Tallahassee. Got up and got to the POR at lunchtime. It was LOVELY. If we drive again, which we prolly will, we'll do the same thing.

 

[mrjef]

Our drive from central Indiana is about 15-16 hours straight through (with gas, potty, and eating stops). Our family of 7 makes flying too expensive. Plus, both DW and I like the drive and feel like it offers us time of slipping into vacation mode. The kids love it because it is an extended time of movies and video games, which is something that they rarely get to do at home. In addition, we like the flexibility of having a car to drive to the parks. Loading two double strollers and five kids on the Disney buses seems stressful to us. We usually make one trip to Florida per year and will be driving for at least the next ~15 years.

 

[Emteach]

We drove on our last trip. Mapquest says it is just over 22 hours but I think it was more like 24 hours, plus crossing the border, pit stops and one overnight stay. The way home took even more since it torented almost the entire way. We are flying this time around as we were able to get a decent deal for the 5 of us (and not that different to renting a vehicle for the week as I dont think our vehicles could manage the drive).

 

[Ennazus8810]

18 hours here. Drove it straight through in November with only 2 potty breaks and 1 stop to change diapers and stretch legs. Same on way home. My girls travel great, they didn't start complaining until we were less than an hour from Disney. Hoping the trip in 40 days is as smooth!

We have always flown, but drove last time to try it out. Flights are expensive now that there are 4 of us, and we always rent a van (go down with friends) because we have friends and family in the area and don't like to rely on the buses.

 

[kimmer]

We drive every year from Ottawa. It's about a 22 hour drive. We break it up into two days, stopping to stay over night in VA. Why do we drive? Two main reasons:

1. money (saves us THOUSANDS of dollars) and

2. family memories


People look at us like we have two heads when we say that we drive to FL with the three kids and M-I-L. But honestly, it's awesome. Takes a lot of planning and organization to make it a happy, sane, fun road trip - but we manage to have it that way everytime. (knocks on wood!)

 

[mad madam mim78]

We drive but we are 10 hours away. Just curious, do you break the trip up in 2 days or drive through?

We drive through. It's brutal but it saves money on a hotel.

 

[mad madam mim78]

We left West Texas and drove for just over 24 hours. It was 1,600 miles with New Orleans as the half-way point. That made for a great stopping place. I even managed to swing by Cafe Du Monde and grab some coffee and Beignets on our way out of town

Oh that's awesome.

 

[ilovezach33]

19 hours for me, not including stops.

 

[Familyof4lovesDW]

Google Maps says a little over 16 hours. I think it usually takes about 15 on the way down. We only stop for gas and go to the bathroom then, since we are night drivers. We stop for dinner coming back, so it takes closer to the 16 hours.

 

[Tanooki]

We drive every year from Ottawa. It's about a 22 hour drive. We break it up into two days, stopping to stay over night in VA. Why do we drive? Two main reasons:

1. money (saves us THOUSANDS of dollars) and

2. family memories


People look at us like we have two heads when we say that we drive to FL with the three kids and M-I-L. But honestly, it's awesome. Takes a lot of planning and organization to make it a happy, sane, fun road trip - but we manage to have it that way everytime. (knocks on wood!)

These are our 2 main reasons as well. We are a little farther away (close to Montreal), so our drive is about 23-24 hours, not counting the stops. We also stay in VA over night Honestly, before we did the initial drive in 2010, we both never thought it would happen, we thought we'd strangle the kids before we got to the border but it actually IS a great experience and we love it. Plus the cost of 6 plane tickets... even when leaving from Plattsburgh, NY or Burlington, VT, which are the 2 closest US airports.

Now, don't get me wrong, if the LottoMax goes my way this Friday... no more driving!

 

[Missy13d69]

These are our 2 main reasons as well. We are a little farther away (close to Montreal), so our drive is about 23-24 hours, not counting the stops. We also stay in VA over night Honestly, before we did the initial drive in 2010, we both never thought it would happen, we thought we'd strangle the kids before we got to the border but it actually IS a great experience and we love it. Plus the cost of 6 plane tickets... even when leaving from Plattsburgh, NY or Burlington, VT, which are the 2 closest US airports.

Now, don't get me wrong, if the LottoMax goes my way this Friday... no more driving!

Good luck on the Lotto!

 

[kmoore7]

We live in S.E. PA. The drive takes about 19 hours on the road, spread out over two days. I aim for Savannah,GA the first day, then day 2 is not so bad. We have made the trip 4 times with 5 children and we love every minute of it. Honest. To hear the excitment in everyone, me included, when we actually enter Florida, makes it all worth while. Back issues have me looking at Amtrak auto-train for next trip, but that may be hard to swallow. Not much cheaper than flying. we will see.

 

[GraceMonica]

We drive about 15 hours. Back in January we left at 3 am, hit little to no traffic, made few stops for gas and food and potty breaks. We got there at 6pm and was able to have a lovely dinner with the grandparents! It didn't feel like 15 hours though!

 

[thr33boys]

We drive every year from Ottawa. It's about a 22 hour drive. We break it up into two days, stopping to stay over night in VA. Why do we drive? Two main reasons:

1. money (saves us THOUSANDS of dollars) and

2. family memories


People look at us like we have two heads when we say that we drive to FL with the three kids and M-I-L. But honestly, it's awesome. Takes a lot of planning and organization to make it a happy, sane, fun road trip - but we manage to have it that way everytime. (knocks on wood!)

I'm in Ottawa and have 3 kids too and there's no way I could do it. It's not really the kids, it's me. Our last trip to Niagara Falls nearly did me in and that was only 6 hours. We're flying out of Syracuse in November - direct flight!!

 

[mupt02]

Our trip is about 30 hours each way. We take 3-4 days to do it. We make the drive part of the trip and just have a lot of fun with it. We do it every year to every other year.

With 4 kids it is much cheaper to drive and we see things that we would probably never see if we were to fly. Plus, my hubby is a horrible flyer making it more like flying with 5 kids.

 

[North of Mouse]

We left West Texas and drove for just over 24 hours. It was 1,600 miles with New Orleans as the half-way point. That made for a great stopping place. I even managed to swing by Cafe Du Monde and grab some coffee and Beignets on our way out of town

Now that will make the trip better - I do miss my coffee & beignets fix (from Hammond area). We now live about 12 hours away, but always split it up - not big fans of driving long hours.

 

[loricdietzel]

With no stops it is 17 1/2 hrs for us. We are doing it for the second time in Oct. Of course, with an almost 2 and 4 yr old it will take MUCH longer than that. We will take 2-3 days. Last year when we went we drove through on the way home (with a 12mo and 3 1/2 yr old.) It took us about 20 hrs. We will NEVER do that again!!!! It is SO much cheaper than airline tickets!

 

[blbruell]

Ours is around 20 hours, leaving in 9 days and this will be our 1st trip. I keep telling myself it's not like when I was a kid. With the portable dvd player, kindle fire, ds and iPod, I'm sure my DS 6 & DS 10 will be able to handle the trip just fine

 

[meggiebeth]

Goodness, I couldn't imagine driving for 3 days! The longest I have driven is two days from the UK to Hungary, and that was horrible. I forget how big the US is! We always drive 10 hours to Scotland which is bearable.

We have no choice but to fly to Orlando from London Heathrow. Aside from the fact it is SO EXPENSIVE the flight is about 9 or 10 hours long and so boring and tedious. Much worse than driving to Scotland. The food made me want to throw up lol. We'll try another airline next time

 

[carsmama]

My husband insists we drive for our first trip together to WDW (just about 8 more weeks, woohoo!) We live in NH, so it would take almost 24 hours non stop but we will break it up over several days and visit a family member in SC on the way.

Last year we took our two boys then 6 and 2 to SC (driving), so this will be just a day further and I know it will be worth the trip. I am probably as excited as the kids since I haven't been in 20 years and it will be their first Disney experience.