driving from Cleveland, OH

[Mickfarland4]

Anyone ever drive from Cleveland to WDW? I am not going until next year but, airfare may not make it possible for us to fly so I am wondering how long does it take? We have two kids, 2 and 5 at time of travel and a 2 1/2 hour flight sure is appealing, but, $1300 airfare is a lot of money!! If we drive it also will cut into our time at WDW and I really wanted to stay 6 nights. Thanks for your help!

 

[sam_gordon]

Cleveland is ~7 hours from me and Disney is ~13 hours. So I'd guess you're looking at 20 hours. That's assuming no overnight stops and quick (ie: meals eaten while driving) stops for gas/restroom.

IMO, that's at least 3 days if not 4 RT driving. Even if I did a 20 hour drive "straight through", I'd be so wasted the next day, I wouldn't be able to enjoy the vacation. Others love it.

If all you have is a week (say from when you're off work on Friday and return the following Monday), you could drive Friday, arrive Saturday late afternoon/evening, tour Sunday-Friday, leave WDW on Saturday, arrive home Sunday.

I personally would do air in that situation. Fly down on Saturday morning and back on Saturday evening. So you get an extra 1/2 day of "vacation" on either end.

 

[pepe of ohio]

We're from the Youngstown area and its about 18-20 hour drive... We've done it straight thru when we were alot younger.... Those days are past.... We've taken Amtrak for quite a few trips (over 10+) since we never use a car in WDW.... Round trip for the 2 of us is about 450.00.... That's what gas would cost us and a motel each way .... Time wise, train about 30+ hours ....

That's the draw back, time but on the train, while you're sleeping, the trains still moving... It's a great relaxing trip, especially over driving...

 

[MushLRC]

We drive straight through every year from suburbs of Detroit Michigan. We leave on friday after the kids get off the bus from school. Leave around 4:45. Drive straight through (regular potty/gas stops and 1 breakfast stop) and get to orlando around noon. On the way home we leave around 6:00 a.m. and drive straight through (gas/potty stops but no big break for a meal) and get in between 1 & 2:00 am.

It may not be for everyone but we wouldn't do it any other way. We are a family of 5 and the cost to fly is huge. It's like anything else I suppose. The first time or 2 you do it, it seems kinda like a big deal but after awhile it's a breeze and old hat.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

If you fly on SWA you can get a good price.

We usually pay $160.00 RT on SWA out of CLE X 4 would be around $640 for you guys to fly. You will end up spending that in gas alone plus you will have to stay in a hotel on the way to and from so you are looking at $750 for the trip plus 40 hours in travel time.

With SWA you get 2 free checked bags per paid passenger.
You might want to rethink the driving trip.

If you chose to fly SWA pick a flight that goes through Nashville.. If you go through Chicago or Baltimore those airports are rather busy where as Nashville is a quietier airport to get around in.

If you go before your youngest turns 2 that child fly's for free on SWA! So you are looking at paying a total of $500 for airfare

 

[Mickfarland4]

If you fly on SWA your 2 yr old flys for free.

We usually pay $160.00 RT on SWA out of CLE X 3 would be around $500 for you guys to fly. You will end up spending that in gas alone plus you will have to stay in a hotel on the way to and from so you are looking at $650 for the trip plus 40 hours in travel time. With SWA you get 2 free checked bags per paid passenger.
You might want to rethink the driving trip.

If you chose to fly SWA pick a flight that goes through Nashville.. If you go through Chicago or Baltimore those airports are rather busy where as Nashville is a quietier airport to get around in.

Thanks! I was trying to avoid flights with stops since both kids have never flown before(in case they get terrified and then we need to get them to reboard another plane) but, with that price I will definitely look into it now!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

SWA does not offer non stops from CLE but Airtran does. You can book Airtran flights on SWA and avoid paying the bagage fees. You would have to fly out of Akron which is a very nice small airport. You can park your car, check in at the ticket counter and be at your gate in less than 20 minutes after you get out of your car!!

Airfare on Airtran is about the same as SWA. But SWA flights out of Akron are expensive and they only have one or two flights a day!

 

[G719]

Another tip I found on disboards, is get the southwest credit card and use points for flights. They were offering a bonus sign up on points if you charge $2000 in 3 months. The card does have a yearly fee but I figure I will be able to get 3 free round trip flights on the points so the fee would be worth it.

 

[kydisneyfans]

Another vote to check AirTran from Akron/Canton before making a decision.

We used to live in Canton and drove every year. The average was 16 hours. We preferred to drive straight through as it seemed like we wore out more by stopping. My parents use AirTran to meet us in Orlando for family vacations.

 

[LadyBeBop]

We're 4 1/2 hours southwest of Cleveland, and we'll drive. And I don't even think y'all take the I-75 route. I think driving from Cleveland is doable, but unless there's more than two drivers, i'd take two days. In fact, we're closer, and we'll have three drivers, and we'll still take two days.

Have you thought about looking into SW out of Columbus?

 

[Mickfarland4]

So, I just tried pricing Transair and earlier SWA. Did I do something wrong or do they always have you book your outgoing and inbound flights as two seperate prices? I think on United they quote you a price that includes both flights?? If I am correct it is about the same if not more to fly SWA or Transair out of CLE. Of course, this could be very different next spring when I actually go!

 

[Pembo]

We just flew out of Akron on AirTran it was a great price and the airport is awesome. Yes they quote you prices one way. Keep watch on the fares, I got the best price the week they released our dates. Also depending on when you go, Southwest added a Saturday non-stop during spring break this year out of Cleveland.

Also check flying out of Columbus. Southwest has lots of non-stop flights and we found prices to be cheaper. For us the Columbus airport is about 2 hours...worth the drive to save 17 in the car.

We are on the west side of Cleveland and take I-77 to I-95 when we drive. It's about 17 hours. I've driven with 3 kids many times but prefer to fly.

 

[minnierocks]

We are from the Akron-Canton area and we drive most of the time. We just returned this past Saturday, driving all the way through, overnight for the first time. We have done the drive in as little as 16 1/2 hours and as long as 21 hours. Here are my thoughts...
Normally, we take two days for the drive. We have been doing this since our kids were 8 & 10. Sometimes we leave after school/work on one day and drive about 5-6 hours, stopping in WV/VA area. Then we finish the drive the next day, arriving around 3-4 pm. Other times, we take Friday off and drive all day, stopping in GA and then finishing on Saturday. We are there by noon and have lunch there.
This year, my son (he is now 19) had to work on Friday until 2 pm. We decided to go ahead and try an overnight, all the way through trip and quite frankly, it was not bad at all and we would do it again. We left about 3 pm on Friday and arrived on property by 7:45 am on Saturday. There were plenty of good stops on the way down and there was almost NO traffic to hold us up. It was the quickest time that we have ever made it there and it was a stress free drive. My husband drove most of it. I slept some in the car and took over about 2 am. Then he slept for a bit. The kids slept all night, we stopped just past Daytona for a Waffle House breakfast and then arrived feeling pretty good and ready to go. Even though our room was ready, we all wanted to hit the parks so we decided on some time at Epcot. We made it an early night, but we were not totally exhausted from driving all night.
Driving back we left at 7 am on Saturday and the traffic was awful almost the whole way home...slow downs, backups and some pretty aggressive drivers. We decided that the trip down was much easier.
I will say with younger kids, stopping takes longer...but driving is not horrible and you can make it part of the adventure...it's all in your mindset.

 

[Soon2B4]

Wow! We drive from Cleveland and do it in about 16 hours straight through. Last year we drove leaving around 8-8:30am and I was at the desk checking in by midnight. We pack food and only stop for gas and the bathroom. We let the kids run around at the rest stops for a little while. My kids were little also, 5 and 2 1/2. We go down 77 to 26 to 95. They we take that down to 4.

 

[wdw&sonny]

SWA does not offer non stops from CLE but Airtran does. You can book Airtran flights on SWA and avoid paying the bagage fees. You would have to fly out of Akron which is a very nice small airport. You can park your car, check in at the ticket counter and be at your gate in less than 20 minutes after you get out of your car!!

Airfare on Airtran is about the same as SWA. But SWA flights out of Akron are expensive and they only have one or two flights a day!

If I already purchased RT through AirTran, is there any way to rebook/change reservation to SWA to avoid baggage fees?

 

[maxiesmom]

If I already purchased RT through AirTran, is there any way to rebook/change reservation to SWA to avoid baggage fees?

I'm not sure if you can. But if you can and do you will also not be able to pay for seat assignments. Just something to think about.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

I'm not sure if you can. But if you can and do you will also not be able to pay for seat assignments. Just something to think about.

Not an option if you book Airtran flight through SWA web page.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

If I already purchased RT through AirTran, is there any way to rebook/change reservation to SWA to avoid baggage fees?

Nope.