Driving Christmas Day

[stevepete]

We're planning on leaving from MA on Christmas day. Does anyone have any idea what we'll be looking at for traffic (if any)? Also, will there be anything open along the way for food or gas

 

[BuzzMe]

We'd love to know too! We're leaving the same day from NY. This will be our first time driving and we'd appreciate any tips.

 

[dis4me]

We are leaving Christmas night from NJ. A few years ago we drove down Christmas night and stopped in Virginia. We hit a lot of traffic the next day in the Carolinas but I believe there was a bad accident that was cleared by the time we got there. Most of the restaurants/ gas stations along 95 seemed to be open though.
Have a safe trip.

 

[dylansdad]

we are leaving xmas day too. about 3pm

 

[Cathy baby RN]

We're leaving Christmas day too!!! We have to get to WDW by the 26th to take advantage of those fantastic AP rates. I'm sure all the relatives we're leaving behind think we're nuts for driving on Christmas day. We do our big Christmas thing on Christmas Eve anyway...that's when Santa comes to our house. I'm going to put the kids Christmas stockings in the car so they can go through all the goodies on the trip down. We're going to try to make it as far as we can the first day(from Chicago) so we have a short second day and can check in at a decent time. I know WDW will be packed, but I really enjoy all the activity at such a special place during a special time of the year.
Everyone driving down....have a safe trip and a blessed holiday season. Let the good times roll!!!!
Cathy

 

[dylansdad]

Thanks Cathy, you too. I like your stocking opening in the car idea.

 

[stevepete]

Dis4me~ when you drove down, was anything open along the way or should I bring the turkey and ham along with us

Cathy~ I like the idea of bringing the stockings in the car for the kids!!

I wish all of you a happy holiday season and please be safe driving down

 

[linda_pizzuro]

We drove down on Christmas day in 2001 from New Jersey. We left around 7:00 am. I can not stress this enough. THERE WAS NOTHING OPEN. There was no traffic. It was very wierd, like the world had ended or something. We could not find any place to eat. I usually pack food for the car but did not this time because we were actually supposed to leave on the 26. We finally found an open resturant and stopped in only to find out that they were feeding the homeless Christmas dinner. We felt homeless too. I believe we finally found an open Waffle House but they were closing around 2:00. We ended up going to a gas station that had some food and loading up the car with this. We did find an open hotel that night but they did not have any food. There was some traffic on the 26th but we had made such good time the day before it was not too bad. Being in Disney from 12/26 on more than made up for our lack of food Christmas Day and spending New Years Eve in Epcot was the best ever.

Linda

 

[travelbug]

I am usually on the road traveling to one or another relative's house on Christmas Day. My experiences have been like Linda's. I have no trouble finding gas stations open, but food is much trickier. There are no fast food places open. The best chance for fast food is if I come across one that is actually located inside a gas station. That's IF the gas station itself is open. There is the occasional truck stop restaurant open.

In your shoes, I would probably pack food so I wouldn't have to worry about it. JMHO.

Have a great trip! I'm flying down on the 26th to spend 9 days. See you there!

 

[avdeane]

This will be our first trip and we will be driving down from Ontario. We aren't leaving until late on the 26th since we have family obligations before we can head out. Just wanted to say that there seems to be many of us heading to see the mouse that week!!! We are all so excited and wish everyone a very wonderful time!!


Vicky

 

[dis4me]

We didn't leave until the evening Christmas night so we had alreadyhad dinner. I would pack stuff though. I know the gas stations that had food seemed to be open but I wasn't looking for restaurants until the 26th and everything was open then.

 

[BrerMama]

We've never driven to WDW on Christmas Day but my family has this thing for staying in hotels for the holidays. It is extremely hard to find somewhere to eat on Christmas Day. Your best bet will be hotel restaurants and/or truck stops. Gas stations should be easy. Traffic will be very light, especially late morning through early evening. Hotel/Motel rooms should be easy to find. I can't tell you how many times we were one of 2-3 families staying at a nice hotel.