Anyone drive REALLY far to get to WDW?

[LUVMICKEY]

Out of our 18 trips to WDW we have driven all but about the last 4 times. We do love the drive but flying is so much faster. However, I never used to feel that way at all. I was the one who was petrified to fly. DH and very close friends talked me into flying about 2 years ago and I've flown ever since. I now love to fly. We are there in less than 2 1/2 hours and we're off and running. We still love the drive down too, I just don't know when we'll do it again. We keep saying we'll do it 1 more time after we get a new car. It takes us about 16 or 17 hours from NJ. We love the drive down, it's the drive back that really gets us.

Michele

 

[Indianadisneyfan]

After reading some of these post, I don't feel so bad about driving 12-13 hrs from southern Indiana near Louisville,Ky to WDW. I don't do the flying thing. I look at it like this if I can't get there by car, boat, train I don't go. I drove 2 yrs ago with DGF her DS 9 DD 8. This time it's just going to be DW (at the time) and me for our honeymoon.

 

[Mouse-n-Mini]

My family has made approximately 13 trips to Disney World. We live in central illinois. We only flew down twice- once to spend time with my grandma in Ft. Myers (then we took greyhound bus to disney and back...never eva-eva again!) and once we flew into orlando for a mother daughter trip. The flight to Ft. Myers and back was fine but the second time we flew, going down was ok but coming back was terrifying. The pilot began "descending" violently about an hour and a half before we were due back in St. Louis. We were right by the engine on the right side and it kept cutting out... additionally, there was a group of travelling herbal-life salespeople in front of us crying that we weren't going to make it. I had a death grip on the arm rest the whole time as if it would have helped. Long story short...I HATE FLYING. So we'll continue to drive. It takes us 3 days at a leisurely pace stopping off to spend the night and eat etc.

 

[Grendalynn]

Thanks Grendalynn!
Thats a great little tool. I'm not sure if the prices are accurate. I haven't seen gas under $3 in a while. I'd tack about $50-$75 to the round trip total to be on the safe side.

Hey - No Problemo! ((Ooops! Spanish there... ... But thats another thread)) Anywho - That web site is a great little tool to help determine what your approximate costs could be. Still far chaper for us to drive at almost $400 round trip in our JEEP; compare to the $1200-$1600 it costed us as a family of 4 to fly. Now we have to add another baby and its only more expensive...

Also a point I forgot to mention in my PP........ Driving also gives you the chance to have your own car there at WDW. That way if you want to spend a few days off property, you don;t have to arrange other transportation or be at the mercy of a cab/bus company!

 

[cowtownmom]

We also drive. It takes us 19-20 hours from Texas. We have driven every time and it really is not such a bad drive. We just make the drive part of the trip. We stop in Pensacola on the way there. The kids enjoy going to the beach for the evening. On our first trip, we stopped and toured the USS Alabama in Mobile. That was really neat. We also now know what to expect along the way, so we have our stops planned out, where we like to eat, etc. On the way home, we stop over night in Jackson, MS. By breaking up the drive, it is not so hard on us. As a kid, I grew up with us driving to where ever we were going on our vacations, so that is just part of the trip.

We love the benefit of having our own car when we get there - no body else to have to rely on or wait on for getting from the airport to the resort. It is also nice to be able to climb into our own car after a day in the parks to get back to the resort.

 

[razamataz]

It is so nice to see how many other people do not care to fly. I have flown about a dozen times. Each time is still as terrifying as the first time.

Well, if any of you are going in September, be sure to wave as you pass me on I-10 or I-75.

 

[digskat]

It is so nice to see how many other people do not care to fly. I have flown about a dozen times. Each time is still as terrifying as the first time.

Well, if any of you are going in September, be sure to wave as you pass me on I-10 or I-75.

I know, I have heard the argument 100's of times;
You are 10 000x more likely to be in a car accident than a plane crash.
However, you are 1 000 000x more likely to walk away from a car crash. You do the math.

I like to say; If my car breaks down, I can walk.......if a boat sinks, I can swim/float...........I haven't quite learned how to fly.

 

[BeckWhy]

We're from WNY and we ALWAYS drove (there were 7 of us in our family and would have cost a fortune to fly). I think it's a 22 hour drive. But I think we always made it in about 18 hours.

We would leave at like midnight or something so that us kids would sleep through the first part of the trip.

 

[Diznotyzed]

When I was a teen my folks drove us from Portland, OR in a camper, but to be honest we did see some other stuff along the way We've driven many times to Disneyland with our own kids, which is about 18 hrs not counting stops.

 

[WI_DisneyFan]

We live in WI too!

Me too!!!

When I was a kid, we drove down to WDW a couple times. It normally took us 22-24 hours. My dad was a comando driver. We would eat two meals a day and only stop for gas and potty breaks. The worst was the last time we drove. Three kids, mom and dad, luggage, straight through to Florida in a 2-door Honda Accord hatchback. (One of these.) I don't think I was ever as happy as I was the day my parents traded that car for a Dodge Grand Caravan. Of course, they decided to fly the next time even though we had 3 times as much room in the vehicle. But I digress...

 

[FreddyBeach]

Back in 1976, my parents and brother and I drove down to Florida from Fredericton, N.B.... Google Maps tells me this is approximately 2700km and would take 32 hours or so...

I remember it fondly, but my parents probably have a different memory.

Mike in the Maritimes.

 

[lindakmonty]

dh refuses to fly, after being in the air force for so long...he hates to fly! We drive about 17 hrs. ds5 is use to it. I just put in a movie and he's good. His first trip I flew and he was 18 mo old. Ever since then, I've drove. His second trip he was almost 3 and we got to Daytona before he asked "ARE WE THERE YET?" Not bad!!! Even w/gas prices so high, we'll continue to drive. Last year we drove the 2 days to Yellowstone! It's not bad if you're prepared for it.

 

[Disneyof3]

We've been down there 3 times now and we have drove all of them. It takes us from Canada about 23-25 hours straight through driving. I can't afford to fly with our family of 5. We fly we don't go.



Next WDW trip: Feb. or March 2007 at POR

 

[shasess]

We drive ~ 9 hours from NC. Getting there never seems to take as long as driving home.

 

[TCKK]

We drive from Ohio. We make it a 2 day trip. I think it's something like 15-18 hours. We stop overnight in Georgia

 

[hockeymedic2000]

driving to the world, for the second time, from texas. we will not try to drive the whole way. my dw does not fly. should be interesting, as well will have three kids with us this time. dd-21/2, dn-6, dn-7. have plenty for them to do on the way. dvds, games, music, etc. can't wait. three more weeks.

 

[i'dratherbe@wdw]

This year will be our 4th time to drive from central Kentucky. It should take about 12 hours, but we usually stop several times. We usually stay overnight somewhere in Ga. Really don't like going through Atlanta. Two years ago on the way home we were stuck on the south side of Atlanta for 3 hours because of an accident involving cattle. We like to vary our route each time. Last year we came home through Alabama, and it was a very nice drive. My DD is usually a very good traveler, but she'll be 8 on our next trip, and probably won't sleep like she did when she was 5. It's nice to be able to stop when we see something interesting or get hungry. It is also good to have a car at WDW even though we usually don't leave the property once we arrive.
Can't wait till Oct!!!!!