Am i crazy?

[belle231]

Alright I am in my mid 20's and I am takin my 4 year old son and my sister in law (20) to disney in may. I was going to take three days from PA to drive. I figured 6 hours a day would not be a long drive for my son. I have to drive or else I would get car sick so i thought 6 hours was good for me also. I have an advantage of staying at hotels for really cheap along the wayso thats no problem. But my whole family thinks I'm crazy . The rest of them are either flying or driving straight through. We are leaving early and only driving during the day so incase somthing happens to the car we aren't stranded on the side of the road at night. Am i out of my mind to be doing it this way?

 

[FlightlessDuck]

We drove down twice and took three days to do it. But the second time, we ended up only 4 hours away by 2pm our 2nd day. We really wanted to drive the rest of the way that day, but our ressies weren't until the next day. It was really frustrating.

In 2009, we took the AutoTrain. We got to still have the car and not have to fly, but it was as expensive as flying.

However, this next trip, assuming we don't fly, we will drive but go over TWO days instead, driving 8.5 hours each day. If we went over two days, we'd stop in NC overnight. We've even considered driving in one day, but still aren't sure on either of those options.

 

[badblackpug]

It's an 18 hour drive from Philadelphia and a 2 hour flight. I would never spend 3 days of my vacation driving. We always fly.

Make that 6 days, because you will have to drive back.

 

[Nancy F]

It's an 18 hour drive from Philadelphia and a 2 hour flight. I would never spend 3 days of my vacation driving. We always fly.

Make that 6 days, because you will have to drive back.

We always fly out of Philly. We stay at The Airport Marriott the night before so we don't have to worry about getting stuck in traffic on 95 in the morning.

I couldn't imagine driving down.
Nancy

PS... I'm a huge Phillies fan too. Go Phillies!!!

 

[amylevan]

Personally, I'd drive in 2 days instead of 3. You'd only be driving a few extra hours both days but you'd save yourself an entire day (well 2 - 1 each way). When you're driving long distances like that, is there really much difference between 6 and 8 hours of driving in one day?

 

[Zeebs]

Mad as a hatter

Is it that much more expensive to fly if you take into consideration filling the car and paying for accommodation on the way?

I find my kids nearly 4 and 2 will do one day of travelling 6 hours or so, but the next day isn't pretty.

We did a road trip from LA to Vancouver June 2009 and we tried never to do more than 3-4 hours travelling a day. But we were travelling over a 3 week period so they would have been really unhappy if we tried to do too much each day.

Good luck with what ever you decide.

Kirsten

 

[Hannathy]

Personally, I'd drive in 2 days instead of 3. You'd only be driving a few extra hours both days but you'd save yourself an entire day (well 2 - 1 each way). When you're driving long distances like that, is there really much difference between 6 and 8 hours of driving in one day?

I second this. 8 hours is really a very easy day when you are doing Interstate driving. I regularly drove alone with my kids at this age and we did anywhere from 8-12 hours a day. If your son isn't a morning person (mine weren't) try starting out very early like 6 AM and then you can get a couple of hours in while he snoozes and when he wakes up stop at a McDonalds for breakfast and a break and hopefully they will have a play area and he can get some energy out while you get a break. Or at least find a fast food spot with a kids area for lunch, dinner or even a mid afternoon ice cream break.

Truthfully out of Philly I would watch for some of the great prices they have for flights.

 

[AirGoofy]

It is a 13 hour trip for us and we leave in the afternoon and drive straight through. I drive all night. The children sleep in the car. I don't think we could handle that many days driving with them cooped up in the car and hotel room.

If you can't fly, then perhaps the other option is to let your SIL drive and for you to go to sleep. There are meds for motion sickness, a side effect of Benadryl is drowsiness, or consult your Dr about prescription.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

3 days of driving - well, you wouldn't be driving very much each day, so you would spend a lot of time and money on "distractions" along the way. Times two, because you have to come home.

We are a family that loves road trips, but I don't think that I would turn 36 hours of round-trip driving into 6 days of who knows what...

 

[Wendybird55]

I say you won't know until you try it. Everyone is different and everyone has the right to travel/vacation the way they are most comfortable. It sounds like you have some apprehensions re motion sickness, being stuck in a car too long and being 2 young women driving alone with a young child at night. All legitimate concerns / worries. And if it's a matter of cost or dislike of flying, if flying is not a viable option for you, then it's not.

If you and your SIL are comfortable with your plan, then go for it. It's the only way you will find out if it works for you. After going down you may discover that you can and want to drive longer hours per day or that you prefer trading off diving in 2hr shifts and can go longer. You'll also see how your son is. And you may enjoy the stops and the different things you might see along the way. Plus there's nothing stopping you from altering your dirving schedule once on the road.

Going down will be a learning experience and then when you come home you may deicde to do it a different way. I think many of us (I know I have) have done things in a bit of a round about way because for whatever reason we felt more comfortable with it.

Good luck and and have fun.

 

[shellytc]

I would try to do it in 2 days. After a couple of days in the car, you kids will NOT want the third day : ) a couple more hours each day would probably be easier to take then "one more day" in the car. Just my humble opinion... but I have been cross country in a car over 6 times, as a kid!!

and we drive from Va. Beach to Disney at least once a year...

shelly

 

[duggan6]

we drove last year from central jersey and did it in 2 days - 8 hours each day - and had no problems at all. we weren't in a rush and stopped in southern north carolina for the night each way...this year we are driving again and are going to try and push it more on our first day since we'll be leaving on a saturday this time...we hope to make it to southern south carolina on the way down and the north carolina/virginia border on the way back....we really enjoyed the drive adn our kids (10, 6, 2, & 1) did great!

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

I don't think your plan sounds unreasonable. Is flying definately out of the idea? You can find fairly cheap airfare right now?

The important thing is that you guys are safe and by breaking your trip into 3 days each way you are making sure do that.

 

[belle231]

I can not fly. I am terrified of it! We went to vegas twice in the last 4 years and I would be soo sick in the hotel room knowing that when the week was over I had to fly again so no im just not ready to fly again. Its alot of work on me and my husband. Thank you so much for everyones responses. I am going to sit and think about doing it in maybe 2 days instead of three or maybe planning to come home in 2. It doesnt cut into my trip at all the road trip part actually makes it longer for us i thought it might be fun but maybe i should think again. Thanks again everyone

 

[Hannathy]

If time is of no consequence then yeah go ahead and take 3 days BUT make sure you plan some other site seeing or activities along the way. Otherwise only 6 hours in the car leads to a loooong nite in the motel. Plan on stopping at something like Lurray? I think caverns, then find something to see or do another 6 hours away. It could be a lot of fun! There are some great places between Philly and Florida.

 

[seashoreCM]

... to disney in may. I was going to take three days from PA to drive. I figured 6 hours a day would not be a long drive for my son. ... . But my whole family ... The rest of them are either flying or driving straight through. We are leaving early and only driving during the day so incase somthing happens to the car we aren't stranded on the side of the road at night. Am i out of my mind ... ?

No.

Disney hints: http://www.cockam.com/disney.htm

Come to think of it, driving continuously, day and night, to me would seem more taxing. And what about those folks who abhor flying? At one place where I worked, someone said that he won't take a plane. We were setting up a business trip with a train itinerary (Boston to Los Angeles) for him until another colleague volunteeered to go instead.