Driving from Montreal

[Kazzy1548]

We are planing to go next spring break in 2009... I know I'm early, but we are thinking of driving to Walt Disney instead of flying. I have 2 questions for those of you who drove there. 1) How long did it take you.. 2) Was is worth it for you.
Thank you so much for your quick replies...

 

[iluvflorida]

I always drive. I much rather drive than fly if you have the time. Don't just look at the driving time vs. flying time without factoring the drive to and from airport, time it takes to get luggage, driving (cost of rental car) or taxi to hotel, time of arrival and departure (does that really take up most of the day). I am quessing from Montreal you are looking at 22-24 hours but others may be able to tell you better. I used to go in 23 hours from two hours west of Ottawa.

 

[Ham Ham]

Avoid NY-Philly-Baltimore-DC traffic nightmare. Unless you're driving overnight.

We drive from Toronto. Google maps saying it should take around 20 hours, for us it is usually 24 hours of travel time.

 

[pta-mom]

Well, I'm from the other side of that coin...we always fly. I figure it is just not worth it for us, missing four days of holidays to travel there & back (from Ottawa approx 24hrs each way); about $600 in gas, $200ish on hotels on the way, $100 in extra food & wear & tear on our van. We have been able to get our flights for about $400 apiece & use ME to get to the hotel, no car rental. It just seems to work better for us. Granted, part of the deciding factor is the size of your family & how much vacation time you have.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[wee-haggis]

We are planing to go next spring break in 2009... I know I'm early, but we are thinking of driving to Walt Disney instead of flying. I have 2 questions for those of you who drove there. 1) How long did it take you.. 2) Was is worth it for you.
Thank you so much for your quick replies...

If you are going for Spring Break,I would guess that your time is limited (ie:kids off school for 1 week).As previously mentioned, are you prepared to cut your vacation time down from 8 days to 6 (assuming 24hr drive each way....plus how tired the drivers will be,particularily going down).?
As for cost difference,flying at Spring Break is not the cheapest although we have done it from Buffalo at a fraction of the cost from Toronto.
Are you staying on-site?
This is a major factor in your decision because you could take advatage of ME and the WDW bus system.
How many in your party (this is obviously a factor when it comes to flying).
If it was 4 (as was the case with us), the price difference made the decision a no brainer (mind you....I hate driving to work in TO never mind WDW

 

[abirdd]

We live North-West of Ottawa, and have been told to budget for 24-25 hours to Orlando. Fortunately, DH and I *fully* agree with a little one in tow - there is NO WAY we would ever do the drive. I'd rather save up, and do the direct flight on WestJet.

Reason: Thinking back to our childhood, we both fully agree the years where our parents opted to drive to Disney was a BIG mistake. Although we had boundless energy (like all kids!), our parents just seemed exhausted from the driving. Looking back, my Mom and MIL both agree in hindshight, the roadtrip may have seemed cheaper at the time - but was the longest 8-10 days of their lives.

While today we have the option of portable DVD players, it's still a lot of time for kids to be sitting in a moving vehicle. Granted flying makes for a long day too, but certainly not on the same level as in a car/van.

Just my $0.02...

 

[emmsmama]

Dh and I are debating on whether to drive or fly. I told him if we found tickets for $150 roundtrip each or under we would likely fly, otherwise we are going to drive. We are going at the beginning of Dec. so I'm hoping we might get a last-minute sale from Spirit.

 

[pink_tink8i8]

I have only ever driven to WDW from Montreal. It took about 24 hours. It is pretty long but if you have more than one driver it can go by faster. I like driving and the fact that you can pack as much as you want and are not restricted like you are when you fly.I wouldn't recommend it with little Children as it is quite long. I'm also going in 2009 for my wedding and I'm driving down.