Anyone here from Ontario that has driven to WDW?

[ONdisney]

We drive every year except 2020 and 2021 from east of GTA down i-75. We love the drive. Have done the drive with babies and now the kids are teens. We leave GTA at 0130 am and drive to just North of Atlanta, and stay overnight at a hotel. Wake up early am and leave hotel by 6 to get through Atlanta before the traffic really hits. Get to Disney around lunch. We have tried many combinations and this works the best for us.

 

[musika]

part of the reason for wanting to drive is because we are not going til after ME is discontinued and relying on Disney transportation seems like a headache

FWIW, Disney transport isn't that bad. Highly recommend resorts on the Skyliner - it's a huge change from the buses!

We are campers and have toyed around with the idea of driving down and staying at Fort Wilderness. However, we're coming from Nova Scotia which google says is 31 hours (!!) of driving. When towing, plus breaks... it would take us close to 4 days each way and that's not even stopping to smell the roses. A girl can dream though...

 

[tinkerone]

My thought for the 2 cents its worth. We are in South Eastern Ontario as well and have driven it several times. Not recently, it's been years. It is a 24/26 hour drive. In Feb, driving through Pennsylvania could be terrible. If there is an sort of winter storm at all you can forget about it, your going to have to hole up somewhere. Those hwy's can be treacherous in the summer months, in the winter they can be even worse. One summer a few years back on our way to Myrtle Beach, there was an accident that had us sit on the hwy not moving for 6 hours. We had friends who had to find a hotel and couldn't get out for days due to a blizzard one year. Now, this isn't an everyday occurrence but keep in mind your passing through mountains and that's even trickier. I'm making this sound horrid but it can be.....or it can be amazing. My point is you just can't tell.
I like to board a plane in the morning and be their for lunch. It's only two and a half hours and your done. Quick and easy. I understand your fears though so it's something you have to decide if your comfortable with. My comfort level, for all the reasons I listed above, would be with flying.

 

[Nagle]

If we did it, DH and I would definitely split the driving and Detroit is our closest crossover (we live near CFB Trenton) We have done one major road trip before, in 2018 we drove from here to PEI (spending a few days in each province) it took us 5 hours to get to Quebec and the kids were getting very antsy by that time BUT it was very late at night and they were only 4 and 1.5yrs then. I think this time they would be ok.

part of the reason for wanting to drive is because we are not going til after ME is discontinued and relying on Disney transportation seems like a headache

If you live in Trenton, your closest crossing is Ivy Lea in the Thousand Islands I believe. We have done the drive from Brockville multiple times, from straight through to 2 nights on the road. It is without a doubt a long trip, however we do enjoy it for the most part.

 

[samsteele]

That and needing to stop at Stuckey's to get those disgusting Pecan log things? Oh so many memories of the trips down, first stop and then every single one after that my dad would hit the vending machines to get packages of cheese cracker & peanut butter sandwiches, watching for the billboards for South of the Border and begging to stop (every year being disappointed that the signs were more exciting that the actual place!)

This. Those Stuckey's Pecan Logs were great when a little kid. Now, a sugar overload and wouldn't be so appetizing. And now a new 'hot' roadside place in Florida called Buc-ee's. Think originally from Texas. 2 new locations in Florida including Daytona Beach. Only matter of months before one pops up around Orlando. Adam the Woo did a recent vlog about the Florida openings. Quite the place.

I also remember the Florida Welcome Centre as we hit the state border and the free little cup of orange juice. Don't know if that's still a thing now or not.

And all the wooden crosses up on the hills along the interstate. Never did find out why. Sure many theories.

 

[Disney_Alli]

Back when we lived in the Ottawa Valley we drove to Florida several times. At our youngest my sister and I were 5, at our oldest my sister and I were 20. We always did the drive over 2.5 days each way. And booked hotels in advance so we knew where we were stopping each night. It’s totally doable if everyone has the right attitude!

 

[SydneyFalco]

Thanks to everybody for sharing. The wife and I will also be driving for the first time in Feb 2022 and this has been useful. We're doing it with pups for a fairly long offsite stay, so we're planning on eight-nine hour days/three days down, three days up.