Driving Distances...how far do YOU drive to DW?

[kamgen]

We always drive! We even did it twice in one month....only once though! LOL!!!

We drive about 1250miles each way...from Michigan. Takes us about 17-18 hrs straight through.
We can pack what we want and bring home what we want. Plus we always love having a car at WDW...

I recommend driving....you get to see so much more of the USA that way.....

And for us...the savings is well worth it!!!

 

[cali2gagirl]

I'm just in Ga...but it's about 600 miles 1 way...and we took our own van. I'd like to fly, just because it's such a long drive with kids whining "Are we there yet"...but we save alot of $$ by driving, so that's what we do

TRACY

 

[HunnyPots]

In June, we drove from the Fort Worth area, right around 1200 miles.

The trip down wasn't bad at all. The trip back was not much fun, as I had nothing left to look forward to, except mountains of laundry!

We plan to make the same trip next June and we will most likely drive again, unless we see some drastic reductions in airline tickets out of DFW.

 

[KDawnLily]

We drive 1311 miles each way. It takes approximately 21-24 hours drive from home to WDW. That's with no delays on the road. We also stop for 1 night which would make our total trip about 32 hours travelling time.

We plan to drive to WDW in November and we are wishing for no snow till December.

 

[Tantor]

and drove down with a pop up trailer and stayed for 10 days in Fort Wilderness. It wasn't too bad. My daughter was 4 and it was interesting keeping her entertained.

 

[MomE@Home]

A little under 1200 miles one way.
We drove our car the first time we went to WDW. We stopped overnight in VA and stayed a couple of days at my SIL's in SC before WDW.
For our next trip we are borrowing my inlaws RV. We already made a trip to SC with it this year. I like it so much better than being stuck in a car and staying in motels.

 

[KDawnLily]

drove down with a pop up trailer and stayed for 10 days in Fort Wilderness

We also have a hard top trailer and wondered what it would be like to pull it all that distance.

We may try it next year.

 

[musical2]

We usually fly down. But last year we drove about 850 miles from Maryland (we live halfway between Wash. DC and Baltimore). We stopped in Brunswick, GA on the way down for one night to break up the trip. We also had a TV/VCR combo with many Disney movies for the kids to watch on the way down. That and snacking kept them busy and mostly happy. BTW, we took the Auto Train back because we got such a good last minute deal from them.

I think we will drive down again next time. Believe it or not, it was mostly a pleasant experience driving down last year.

Bart

 

[jeleebeene]

Driving from West Knoxville to Orlando is about 600 miles for us - give or take a few.

Just can't talk DH into flying - he hates, and just prefers to drive if at all possible.

We always rent a car - we like to keep our cars for awhile after they are paid off, and they are not to be "trusted" away from home. I am a deal searcher, and browse the internet sites for great car rental deals. We usually get great deals on rental cars - for some reason, car rental prices are sky high for when we are going in September. In July, we paid $173 for an SUV for a week, and now we are paying over $300 for a Mini Van - it's ridiculous, and smaller vehicles are not much cheaper, unless you want to drive an economy - DH refuses to do that!

 

[Chim Chiminy]

Last year, April 2002, we made our first trip. We left at 8:45 pm and arrived in Orlando just after 5:00pm. This included lots of stopping (two young kids) and a two hour nap at a rest area, and lunch at a Sonic in Savannah.
I think our total mileage is 1068, from NE Pennsylvania.
Overall the trip went smoothly, I hope this years drive goes as well. We leave in just a few days!
We also just got a TV/DVD combo, so that should help.

 

[steveandtonya]

We have driven it at Cristmas time 2000. Straight thru from Mustang, OK which is just southwest of Oklahoma City. It wasn't bad until we got to the panhandle of Florida and realized that we still had a looooong way left to go. Coming back we hit an ice storm outside of Shreveport,LA and took 2 hours to go 5 miles. We slept in a motel parking lot with the car running, heater on and doors locked. Not fun. On a good day it is about 22-24 hours straight through. Flying is just too darn expensive.

Steve

 

[crazymomof4]

999 miles (sounds less than saying 1000! ) with 4 kids

This year we have an ace in the hole......a TV/VCR unit for the car (suburban actually, I guess I should say "truck" but then it seems as if I'm taking an 18-wheeler to WDW)!

We have a roof rack for all of the kid's tapes that we're bringing!

 

[ToriLammy]

Originally posted by VintageKnight
thats write im seeing if im the crazy one trying to drive from okc to orlando.

okc-dallas-houston- coast to orlando.

do you rent or drive your own??

We're crazy enough We did on Jun 22nd. Although we didn't drive down to Houston, we went OKC - Dallas- Shreveport LA then down to the coast and over to FL. We have a Ford Econoline Van (huge van because of my daughter's wheelchair). We even drove straight through It was actually our second time, we also drove when we went in 1999 (in the same van). It took us about 23 hours. We have an extra seat (bench seat) in the van so DH and I take turns driving. In 99 we left at 5PM at night, in 2003 we left around 10AM in the morning. Even though it takes 23 hours or so it goes pretty fast. If you have any questions PM me.

 

[jenny2]

About 1300 miles one way. We're part of the drive-straight-through club as well Whenever we stop to take a break we keep thinking "let's go... back on the road... gotta get to Disney World!!"

When we drove without the kids we made it in about 21 hours (it's 20 hours of driving time, plus an hour for all the potty breaks). When we have the kids with us it's been repeatedly 24 hours. We usually leave in the afternoon, around 4 and get there the next day around 4.

We're leaving 7 weeks from today... can't wait!!

 

[sherry8253]

My DH and I drive straight through. It takes us about 16 hours and is much cheaper than flying. To fly and rent a car costs us about $700 VS 6 tanks of gas and food. It is a no brainer for us plus we have a great time talking on the way. oh.. and we drive our own car.

 

[deerh]

We drive 8 hrs from north of Atlanta. It is around 450 miles or so. The best we did was 7.5 hours this summer. Not a bad trip, have an Expedition, with the DVD/tv combo, so the kids like that, and not a bad drive. EXCEPT-I75 construction sometimes slows us down, a bummer for sure!

Deer H

 

[Deb & Bill]

steveandtonya - next time you get stuck in Shreveport, stop by our house. You could have camped out here instead of a parking lot. Unless that's when we lost power and had no electricity for five days.

 

[pegah2os]

Hi everyone! I'm new here and this is my first post. We're in the process of planning our first trip to Disney World in February and we've decided to drive. We were going to fly but sat down and figured up the cost difference and decided driving would be better for us. We're alway making trips to Maine which is 12 hours so what's another 4???
Sherry8253- Hi! We're also from Harrisburg, we're going to be there from Feb 3-9. Since this will be our first trip down do you have any tips for the drive?

 

[steveandtonya]

Thanks Deb and Bill. We are going down again in January 2004 for a Disney cruise. I'll have to stay in touch with you to maybe have an alternative. Thanks

Steve

 

[JulesMom]

We have driven on our last 2 trips and loved it! It's about 1000 miles and takes 15-16 hours.

I thought driving would wear me out, but I was actually less tired than flying. And that was after driving straight thru.

My kids don't ever want to fly there again. We are planning on driving in 6/04 again.

We have cooler in the back of the SUV for drinks and snacks. We have 2 DVD players that really make the time go by fast. WE stop about every 4 hours for gas up, restroom break and meals if needed.