We drive from RI in my Yukon XL with DH and 2- DD's. We drive because 1) My husband refuses to fly after our honeymoon to the islands 20 years ago. 2) We like the anticipation of getting to WDW and the winding down-- just the 4 of us each way-- on the drive. 3) We love to see this beautiful country and make plans for more road trips. 4) For some insane reason, my 2 girls-- 15 and 9-- think the ride is as much fun as Disney. No, you can't make this stuff up. 5) We like the fact that we will not be delayed and stuck in an airport or on the tarmac in a plane because we can pull over and get out or change routes-- and we've seen some strange back roads I must say...
We leave RI around 5 a.m. on a Saturday and drive to Mooresville, NC (our personal Nascar pitstop!) taking 95-9-691-84-81-77 (about 13 hours) and then the next day take 77-26-95 into Disney. Just about 22-23 hours total. This route gives us gorgeous views and to find traffic= an accident, not construction. I don't know if I'd fly if it were free. We simply love the family time. 6) We have our own truck to get wherever we want to go and since we stay onsite, it's free to park at the hotel or the parks.
We stay at Holiday Inn Express or Hilton Garden Inn and I usually do reserve ahead, but whenever I do I aim for a 6 p.m. cancellation. By 6 p.m., I know if we'll make it there and can call to cancel if necessary. We can use the GPS in my Verizon phone to find hotels-- but I start by getting on Tripadvisor at home to have a few ideas around the day's end to be assured of a safe area, etc. Remember that the cost of hotels varies not only with the chain, but the location. We find better prices by stopping before or after larger, more populated areas and can save $15-30/night sometimes and even be in a brand new hotel that just isn't in a built up location. Yet. I can't imagine having such a great time at WDW and then in the span of 4 hours being back in the frigid north. Nope, not for us.