Drive from Toronto to WDW! ANY Advice!

[SandraC]

Hi there! We will be trying the DRIVE in 2005! Any advice is welcome!

In 2005, my kids will be ds 5 and dd 11 ~ we will get a tv/vcr combo and GAMES!

We will likely stop once or twice on the way there and back. Where to stay?

THANKS! Sandra

 

[mark & sandra]

Hello SandraC-


Do yourself a favor FLY!!!- We've driven before, we'll never again! You're about 1/2 day or more north of me. How many hours of driving time is it? Flying would be about 4 hours.

 

[SandraC]

Hi, our drive would be about 23 hours. My first WDW experience was driving with my family. I was 11 and don't recall much about the drive. The last 5 trips were flying trips which is only 2 hours 20 minutes for us. I like flying but we thought driving might be fun. We would use the drive as a part of the trip ~ stopping over night in fun places.

We have chatted about our stops. I think we'll leave Friday night after work (got that advice from a DISER!) We'll drive about 5 hours that first night. 12 hours the next day. 5-6 hours the third day and rest at the beach for 2 nights before going to WDW for about 7 nights. We will take 3 days/2nights to drive home, likely about 8 hours each day, leaving early morning so we have good part of the afternoon and night to relax and enjoy the stop over.

I will still monitor airfare for the next trip and if a really cheap deal comes along, we'll take it, but I am not against driving. I am looking at the adventure part of the drive! Sandra

 

[EvilQueen]

My family made the trip down with only stopping one night. We left Toronto around 3am, so the trip to the border at Detroit was free of traffic. We stopped in Ohio (can't remember exactly where) for breakfast and then drove to Knoxville, TN. It's a lot of driving, but with a couple drivers it isn't so bad. The people in Knoxville are extremely nice and I recommend a stop there if you can. They also have a Crackel Barrel restaurant there, which we don't have here in Canada. We took two nights to travel back, but we wanted to get to WDW as quickly as possible to get as many days there as we could. We left around 3am Saturday morning and arrived at our resort by 5pm Sunday after leaving Knoxville at 6am or so.

Hope this helps...
Sandra

 

[SandraC]

Hi Evil LOL! I love your name!

Are you drive this week? Sandra

 

[ducklite]

Yeah, some advice for you...

FLY!

Your kids will be absolutely MISERABLE riding in the car for 30 some hours on the way there, and it will be even worse on the way back.

I think WestJet is looking at expanding routes out of Canada, and they partner with JetBlue in the US, so before you commit to that awful drive, rethink flying.

Anne

 

[EvilQueen]

Hi Sandra!

Nope. Myself and a friend are flying. It's costing us $528 incl. taxes, which seems pretty high to me. However, our flight is now selling for $785 with Air Canada.

Sandra

 

[Rob_b]

By 2005 you should have DVD player in you car.

 

[Rob_b]

By 2005 you should have DVD player in your car.

 

[peg2001]

Evilqueen,

I was so pleased that you found the people in Knoxville to be nice since I live here!

Long car trips with the family are what memories are made from. When I was a kid, we drove from 6 am to 2 am the next day every summer with 2 adults, 7 children, a dog, and camping gear in a VW van to get to our annual camping spot. Although I must admit to hating it at the time, I look back on it fondly. Try to add treats that your kids do not normally get to have like stopping for soft drinks or doughnuts!!

 

[SandraC]

I remember 19 hours in a car with my family drive across Canada. We took our time to do the drive, but the last part my dad just wanted to GO! So 19 hours in the car. I don't remember hating it. I was 18 years old at the time. It was adventurous! S