Driving from Kansas City?

[swilphil]

We want to go to WDW again, but can't afford the $1,000 plus airfare along with the park tickets, food and hotel. My solution is to drive. We would definitely do it in two days and stay in a hotel on the road.

Does anyone know the best route to take and how many hours it would be?

What would be a good place to stop? I would like to do most of the driving on the first day and only drive a few hours on the second day. Any other good stops along the way for lunch on the first day?

My kids travel pretty well, but we haven't driven that far, or even close to it. They are 2 and 4, and we will have a VCR for them to watch in our mini-van. Also a seat to laydown in the back for the non-driver to sleep.

 

[i like stitch]

We purchased $59-each-way-tickets from SWA from KCI to Orlando.

When we factored in gas, an extra 4 days of time off from work, hotel stay, & wear and tear on our car, it was much cheaper for us to fly!

 

[bugbugmom]

We also purchased airfare $59 each way for our trip. We also were planning to drive, but couldn't pass up the price. We drove last year straight thru..it was a 17 hour drive (both ways). Next time, we would probably stay overnight. Try AAA ( if you have it) or Mapquest for directions. Good Luck!

 

[swilphil]

When did you purchase these tickets? How far in advance? When are you going? The cheapest I've seen has been $79 each way, and most of the time they are sold out. For our July trip, I think I got one way at $79 and the other for $129 or so.

 

[bugbugmom]

Swilphil, we purchased our tickets the beginning of July. I think the promo ended late July. Keep checking..hopefully you'll get something.

 

[KarlaG4Kids]

If you keep your eyes peeled and check in with southwest.com on Tuesdays and Thursdays especially you are most likely to get cheap tickets. We just purchased tickets for $135 per person round trip from Kansas City to Orlando. That is as cheap as they go. If you decide it will be best to drive there are a couple of routes. We have driven through St. Louis, and from there you can go more south or more easterly through the Smoky Mountains and then down through Atlanta. That seems to be the quicker way if you don't mind the mountains. It takes between 23-26 hours of driving time (including stops) on an average, depending on traffic, weather and stops. We have driven through between Lawrence KS and Orlando twice. We liked driving straight through so the kids would sleep the most (ha ha). When they sleep 8-10 hours overnight it makes the trip go a little faster. To me it is worth it even if you have to drive. My dd's don't like the drive AT ALL and one trip when the rest of us drove they asked for tickets to fly for their Christmas presents. We left and drove down, arriving in plenty of time to pick them up at the airport. My parents took them to the airport. It also depends on what time of year you are planning to go. Good luck planning.

 

[i like stitch]

swilphil, we purchased our swa tickets in July. I had kept checking the prices, which had gone down, then up, then back down again. Finally, I received an email from them which advertised their $59 each way sale.

If you go to www.southwest.com , you can sign up for their email notications of specials.