Driving from New England to WDW

[jfoofj]

How bad is it? Considering it for April school break, airfare is really high. It would be 2 adults 2 kids in a GMC Envoy. We are ok w/ splitting driving and driving through the night. Any input/thoughts/experiences/screams of "DON'T DO IT" appreciated.

TIA,
J

 

[JennSaint]

Sorry I have no advice on the driving with kids. I will tell you I've done the drive several times in my younger days when DH was going to college in FL. It's a long ride!
Have you considered pulling the kids out of school a couple of days? We do this in February for school break and get better prices for airfare.

 

[sanibelover]

It's not bad - coming home is worse of course, but you will be on vacation -sit back, relax and enjoy the ride!! We do it pretty regularly - will be driving to Ft Myers at Christmas and Feb break with 3 kiddos. (from SE CT)

If the alternative is no vacation, then how could you NOT do it?????

 

[Cmbar]

What are your travel dates? Have you considered driving down to a cheaper airport? Say New York, Philly, Baltimore. Without know your dates can't tell you, but BWI has 89 flights on Easter day.

If not and you have to drive, just be sure to break it up. Driving straight through will set your whole trip crazy. Don't know how many days you are staying at Disney, but maybe consider dropping a night off that reservation and using it towards airfare. Just some thoughts!

That said, we are going to be driving too from BWI, airfare isn't too bad, but we would rather save the money for a Disney Cruise later in 2010.

 

[Rockmtn]

We drove down from southern Maine in april of 08. We decided it would be best to leave at 10pm, here why and how we did it. We left on a Sat night and wanted to get through NYC before 4 am and through Wash DC before 10 am.
Needless to say we made great time with no traffic all night long. I needed a break once we got through jersey and my wife took over for a couple of hrs as she had slept for about 5 hrs. After a short nap I took over again and was fine the rest of the day.
My son woke up at about 6:30am so he got a solid 10 hrs of sleep.

My plan was to put in a long first day so our second day would be really short on the road.
We drove as far as savannah GA where we had a reservation at a hotel:

http://www.hotelplanner.com/Hotel/H...utDate=04/21/08&Bid_ID=0&NumRooms=1&NumBeds=2

We ended up getting into the hotel at about 4:15pm. Again this was planned so we could check in, get settled, do a little window shopping and have a nice sit down dinner. After we camped out in bed to watch a little tv and relax after a long day on the road. We all got a good nights sleep.
This hotel happened to be right off I95 and was actually a nice area. Plenty of restaurants and outlet shopping. We talked with many people who were either coming back or going to WDW. Was generally clean as well.
Got up the next morning at a reasonable hr and had the free continental breakfest and got on the road.

From there it was a short 4-5 hr ride to orlando and checked in about 1:30 pm. We were ready for our vacation and did not feel as though we had just driven 1300 miles.

Unfortunately like others have stated the ride home is always long and boring. The trip down was fine as there was an air of anticipation and new sights to see through each state.

All that said, it worked out well for that particular trip but I would not want to drive again.

 

[jfoofj]

Thanks for the input. My stepson's mom is very leery of us taking him out of school for a vacation. I am usually ok with it, but considering the fact that both boys are currently home from school today (fever, sore throat, belly ache, cough.... oh boy, here we go!) I am nervous too about absences this year. Also, airfare on Weds and Thurs before vacation really isn't that great of a deal. The best I can get is $300 RT and that is w/ connecting flights/layovers. I'm going to keep pricing it out, but our tentative plan would be to leave around 3am Sat and drive til Sat afternoon, check into a hotel w/ a pool... let the kids swim, eat, bed, and up early to finish the drive to Disney. Our first night on property at Disney we typically explore our resort, swim, eat, crash early because that travel day is always hectic and tiring, even when flying. Also, if we drive, the $ we save means we could spring for a nicer hotel on property.... Got a while to think about it.... thanks again!

 

[Cmbar]

Thanks for the input. My stepson's mom is very leery of us taking him out of school for a vacation. I am usually ok with it, but considering the fact that both boys are currently home from school today (fever, sore throat, belly ache, cough.... oh boy, here we go!) I am nervous too about absences this year. Also, airfare on Weds and Thurs before vacation really isn't that great of a deal. The best I can get is $300 RT and that is w/ connecting flights/layovers. I'm going to keep pricing it out, but our tentative plan would be to leave around 3am Sat and drive til Sat afternoon, check into a hotel w/ a pool... let the kids swim, eat, bed, and up early to finish the drive to Disney. Our first night on property at Disney we typically explore our resort, swim, eat, crash early because that travel day is always hectic and tiring, even when flying. Also, if we drive, the $ we save means we could spring for a nicer hotel on property.... Got a while to think about it.... thanks again!

I like the way you think! Sounds like a good plan!

 

[cranbiz]

From experience.

The friday before the start of April vacation week is one of the busiest days on the road that I ever saw. I came through NYC and it took a good hour, the service areas on the NJ turnpike had lines of cars backed up and out on the turnpike a good 1/2 to 1 mile at every one. This was at 10pm or so.

How the kids do will depend on your kids. I have made the trip with my 2 nieces 2 and 4 and they were great. a few extra stops and plenty to keep them busy and having bags of finger food worked out well.

I always drove straight through.

 

[GranddadTom]

I’ve done Worcester to Washington and Washington (actually Rockville – just north of Washington) to Orlando many, many times but never as one package. As a previous poster stated, traffic will be very heavy during spring break. I assume that you are planning on leaving after school on Friday? If I was you, I’d get some sleep on Friday afternoon (yeah, right!) and then leave after the evening rush hour traffic in your area died down and drive through the night. When driving in the middle of the night, from Worcester, I can be on the Washington Beltway easily in under 7 hours. From that point, you’re 12 ½ hours (and 860 miles) to WDW. If you leave at 8:00 pm you’ll be well through Washington before any Saturday morning traffic starts. During the day on Saturday the traffic will pick up and it’s all heading toward Florida so as many of the miles as you can travel before that begins, the better. But is going to get heavy – you can count on it. And it makes no difference where you are – North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia or Florida. It really going to be nightmarish on I-4 around Orlando during the daytime. You might want to try to making it to around Santee (about 6 hours from WDW) and spend the afternoon and night there and get up VERY early (4 am?) and try to sneak into Orlando before church lets out.

On the drive back home, you should know that everyone leave Disney World at the same time 8:00 am to 11:00 am and they create their own rolling log jam all the way up I-95. If you can leave early (before 6:00 am) you can usually get ahead of this.

 

[JoeCathyAngelina]

My wife hates to fly.
The first time we went to Walt Disney World, April 2004 with my 3 year old daughter We decided to go to WDW a couple of months before we went with little planning. We rented some points off the DIS forum, checked the airfares a couple of times and picked up a trip tick from AAA.

We drove from my office in downtown Boston to WDW Old Key West stopping only for gas and bathroom breaks.

After the first 3-4 hours in the car driving the rest of the way to WDW isn't that bad; more like a series of short trips.

Our Trip to WDW started Friday, 3/26/04 at 1 pm: Miles, Stopped, Time

Leaving, Boston to Walt Disney World: Friday, 3/26/04, 1:00pm
1, Boston to New Jersey 212 212 6:00pm
2, N J to Aberdeen MD 183 395 9:07 pm
3, MD to Rocky Mt NC 266 661 1:36 AM
4, NC to Florence SC 209 870 4:40 am
5, SC to S Newport GA 210 1,080 7:58 am
Arrived, GA to WDW 251 1,331 12:00 PM

Started, Friday, 3/26 0 1:00pm
Finished, Saturday, 3/27 1331 12:00pm
A 23 hr trip with 5 stops along the way down
76 gallons of gas, $131 for the gas, 17.78 mpg 58mph
Driving around WDW 21

The Trip Home started Friday, April 2nd 11 AM: Miles Stopped Time

Leaving Walt Disney World to Boston:Friday, April 2nd 11:00 am
1, WDW to St Augustine FL 116 116 12:44 PM
2, FL to Savanah GA 178 294 3:55 PM
3, GA to Florence SC 174 468 6:22 pm
4, SC to Battleboro NC 181 649 9:30 pm
5, NC to Aberdeen MD 295 944 2:17 am
6, MD to Bloomfield NJ 181 1,125 5:30 AM
Arrived, NJ to Boston, MA 237 1,362 9:30 am

Started, Friday, 4/02 11:00 am 0
Finished, Sat, 4/03 9:30 am 1362
A 22 1/2 hr trip with 6 stops on the way home
81 gallons of gas $126 for the gas 17.58 mpg 60.5mph
Driving around WDW 62

157 gallons, $257 for the gas, $44 tolls, 17.68 mpg, 59.2mph 2776


The traffic was a mess from Hartford through Delaware on the way down.
It rained from North Carolina to Boston, Mass. on the way home

Me and my wife alternated turns driving our Nissan Xterra when we stopped for gas. My 3 year old held out a lot better than I thought she would on the way down and on the way back to Boston, WITHOUT, tapes, DVDs, video games, just a lot of singing and sleeping.

It's not that Bad!!!

April 2005 we caught a break in fares and flew down and back out of Logan on a non-stop with American Airlines , $504 round trip total for the 3 of us.

April 2006 we caught a break in fares so we flew down and back out of Logan on a non-stop with Song/Delta , $496 round trip total for the 3 of us.

The 2007 story and stops are pretty much the same as 2004.

We drove from my office in downtown Boston to WDW, Orange Lake Country Club, stopping only for gas and bathroom breaks.

After the first 3-4 hours in the car driving the rest of the way to WDW isn't that bad; more like a series of short trips.

Our Trip to WDW started Friday the 13th of April 2007, at 3:45 pm:

Destination, Miles, Total Miles from Boston, Time

Leaving, Boston to Walt Disney World: Friday, 4/13/07, 3:45pm
1, Boston to New Jersey 208 208 7:49 PM
2, N J to Laurel MD 219 427 11:44 PM
3, MD to Rocky Mt NC 250 677 3:36 AM
4, NC to Manning SC 219 896 7:00 AM
5, SC to Kingsland GA 226 1,122 10:30 AM
Arrived, GA to WDW 203 1,325 2:00 PM

Started, Friday, 4/13/07 3:45 PM
Finished, Saturday, 4/14/07 2:00 pm
A 22 hr trip with 5 stops along the way down
63 gallons of gas, $175 for the gas, 21 mpg


The Trip Home started at 9:45 AM, Saturday, April 21,2007
Destination, Miles, Total Miles from WDW, Time

Leaving Walt Disney World to Boston: Saturday, April 21st 9:45 AM
1, WDW to Kingsland Ga 194 194 12:44 PM
2, GA to Manning SC 226 420 4:16 PM
3, SC to Rocky Mt. NC 218 638 7:42 PM
4, NC to Aberdeen MD 292 930 12:26 AM
5, MD to Newark NJ 170 1,100 3:27 AM
Arrived, NJ to Boston, MA 246 1,346 7:30 AM

Started, Saturday, 4/21 9:45 AM 0 Miles
Finished, Sunday, 4/22 7:30 AM 1346 miles
A 22 hr trip with 5 stops on the way home
62 gallons of gas $175 for the gas 21 mpg

Total miles 2,671, about 21 mpg, about 70 mph
Total gas 125gallons $350
Total Tolls $50

April 2008 we caught a break in fares so we flew down and back out of Logan to Tampa, 4/19-4/26, on a non-stop with AirTran , $753 round trip total for the 3 of us.

April 2009 we caught a break in fares so we flew down and back out of Logan to MCO, 4/18-4/25, on a non-stop with Delta , $627 round trip total for the 3 of us.

April 2010 we caught a break in fares so we're flying down and back out of Logan to Tampa, 4/17-4/24, on a non-stop with Delta , $717 round trip total for the 3 of us.

If all goes well,
The creek don't rise,
and there ain't no melt down,
We'll do it all again next year.

Good Luck all,
Joe


As the story goes;
I always compare the cost and time of flying with the cost of driving.
If flying cost more than twice the cost of driving and it's not a non-stop round trip flight then we drive.
This year, back in May, when the April 2010 spring break fares and schedules came out we caught a break with a Delta non-stop, round trip Boston to Tampa flight, $717 total for the 3 of us.
Driving for us, gas and tolls cost about $400 round trip.
Along for the ride we take a couple bags of snacks, a big cooler and a small cooler filled with sandwiches and drinks.
We stop for gas, breaks and to switch drivers every 200 miles, 3-4 hours, that takes about 10-15 minutes. That's all we need unless we decide to grab something to eat at one of the mall/trip centers where we stop for gas, that usually takes an extra half hour.
We don't take our time and we don't try to hurry it up, we just do what we have to or want to do.
It's really not that big a deal, it's Just bunch of short 3-4 hour trips, not a long 22 hour drive.
Good luck all,
Joe

 

[Poohbeck]

We talked about driving but since our Jeep Liberty is not that comforatable for long-distances (went to VA in April ) we have decided to take the train. Airfare is outrageous, so we compared driving with a rental or taking the train. The train will take 25 hours, some say we could drive faster, but we will be able to relax on the train and I don't have to drive.

If we drove, my DH would probably do all the driving since he does not like to be a passenger.

I am actually excited about trying the train...I hate to fly and usually get all worked and end up with a headache on my arrival day.

I will take the kids out of school on Friday, we leave Hartford at 6:30am and we get to Orlando at 10:30am on Saturday.

Wish us luck!

 

[mchelle77]

We have driven to WDW three times before, but this will be the first time with a kid! One time we made it from Mass (Somerville) to Daytona Beach in 18 hours, which was NICE.

Last time (honeymoon) was a mess. We planned on leaving early but we were both a little hungover and left late. Only got as far as .. Maryland? The first two trips, we stopped in Rocky Mount, NC. I think that's the halfway point. I love the idea of getting the bulk of driving done the first day.

I wish we could leave late at night, but the best we'll be able to do is about 3am. (Halloween is the night before, so it's not like we can sleep early .. our DD will be trick or treating and my DH refuses to miss it) Hopefully we'll make great time on the first day (Sunday) and be able to leave the hotel later the second day to avoid lots of rush hour traffic.

On the way home, we are taking our time .. two overnight stops, so only about 8 hours of driving each three days (give or take). I'm trying to figure out where that will put us each night. Anyone know of a website that'll tell me?

 

[jfoofj]

My wife hates to fly.
The first time we went to Walt Disney World, April 2004 with my 3 year old daughter We decided to go to WDW a couple of months before we went with little planning. We rented some points off the DIS forum, checked the airfares a couple of times and picked up a trip tick from AAA.

We drove from my office in downtown Boston to WDW Old Key West stopping only for gas and bathroom breaks.

After the first 3-4 hours in the car driving the rest of the way to WDW isn't that bad; more like a series of short trips.

Our Trip to WDW started Friday, 3/26/04 at 1 pm: Miles, Stopped, Time

Leaving, Boston to Walt Disney World: Friday, 3/26/04, 1:00pm
1, Boston to New Jersey 212 212 6:00pm
2, N J to Aberdeen MD 183 395 9:07 pm
3, MD to Rocky Mt NC 266 661 1:36 AM
4, NC to Florence SC 209 870 4:40 am
5, SC to S Newport GA 210 1,080 7:58 am
Arrived, GA to WDW 251 1,331 12:00 PM

Started, Friday, 3/26 0 1:00pm
Finished, Saturday, 3/27 1331 12:00pm
A 23 hr trip with 5 stops along the way down
76 gallons of gas, $131 for the gas, 17.78 mpg 58mph
Driving around WDW 21

The Trip Home started Friday, April 2nd 11 AM: Miles Stopped Time

Leaving Walt Disney World to Boston:Friday, April 2nd 11:00 am
1, WDW to St Augustine FL 116 116 12:44 PM
2, FL to Savanah GA 178 294 3:55 PM
3, GA to Florence SC 174 468 6:22 pm
4, SC to Battleboro NC 181 649 9:30 pm
5, NC to Aberdeen MD 295 944 2:17 am
6, MD to Bloomfield NJ 181 1,125 5:30 AM
Arrived, NJ to Boston, MA 237 1,362 9:30 am

Started, Friday, 4/02 11:00 am 0
Finished, Sat, 4/03 9:30 am 1362
A 22 1/2 hr trip with 6 stops on the way home
81 gallons of gas $126 for the gas 17.58 mpg 60.5mph
Driving around WDW 62

157 gallons, $257 for the gas, $44 tolls, 17.68 mpg, 59.2mph 2776


The traffic was a mess from Hartford through Delaware on the way down.
It rained from North Carolina to Boston, Mass. on the way home

Me and my wife alternated turns driving our Nissan Xterra when we stopped for gas. My 3 year old held out a lot better than I thought she would on the way down and on the way back to Boston, WITHOUT, tapes, DVDs, video games, just a lot of singing and sleeping.

It's not that Bad!!!

April 2005 we caught a break in fares and flew down and back out of Logan on a non-stop with American Airlines , $504 round trip total for the 3 of us.

April 2006 we caught a break in fares so we flew down and back out of Logan on a non-stop with Song/Delta , $496 round trip total for the 3 of us.

The 2007 story and stops are pretty much the same as 2004.

We drove from my office in downtown Boston to WDW, Orange Lake Country Club, stopping only for gas and bathroom breaks.

After the first 3-4 hours in the car driving the rest of the way to WDW isn't that bad; more like a series of short trips.

Our Trip to WDW started Friday the 13th of April 2007, at 3:45 pm:

Destination, Miles, Total Miles from Boston, Time

Leaving, Boston to Walt Disney World: Friday, 4/13/07, 3:45pm
1, Boston to New Jersey 208 208 7:49 PM
2, N J to Laurel MD 219 427 11:44 PM
3, MD to Rocky Mt NC 250 677 3:36 AM
4, NC to Manning SC 219 896 7:00 AM
5, SC to Kingsland GA 226 1,122 10:30 AM
Arrived, GA to WDW 203 1,325 2:00 PM

Started, Friday, 4/13/07 3:45 PM
Finished, Saturday, 4/14/07 2:00 pm
A 22 hr trip with 5 stops along the way down
63 gallons of gas, $175 for the gas, 21 mpg


The Trip Home started at 9:45 AM, Saturday, April 21,2007
Destination, Miles, Total Miles from WDW, Time

Leaving Walt Disney World to Boston: Saturday, April 21st 9:45 AM
1, WDW to Kingsland Ga 194 194 12:44 PM
2, GA to Manning SC 226 420 4:16 PM
3, SC to Rocky Mt. NC 218 638 7:42 PM
4, NC to Aberdeen MD 292 930 12:26 AM
5, MD to Newark NJ 170 1,100 3:27 AM
Arrived, NJ to Boston, MA 246 1,346 7:30 AM

Started, Saturday, 4/21 9:45 AM 0 Miles
Finished, Sunday, 4/22 7:30 AM 1346 miles
A 22 hr trip with 5 stops on the way home
62 gallons of gas $175 for the gas 21 mpg

Total miles 2,671, about 21 mpg, about 70 mph
Total gas 125gallons $350
Total Tolls $50

April 2008 we caught a break in fares so we flew down and back out of Logan to Tampa, 4/19-4/26, on a non-stop with AirTran , $753 round trip total for the 3 of us.

April 2009 we caught a break in fares so we flew down and back out of Logan to MCO, 4/18-4/25, on a non-stop with Delta , $627 round trip total for the 3 of us.

April 2010 we caught a break in fares so we're flying down and back out of Logan to Tampa, 4/17-4/24, on a non-stop with Delta , $717 round trip total for the 3 of us.

If all goes well,
The creek don't rise,
and there ain't no melt down,
We'll do it all again next year.

Good Luck all,
Joe


As the story goes;
I always compare the cost and time of flying with the cost of driving.
If flying cost more than twice the cost of driving and it's not a non-stop round trip flight then we drive.
This year, back in May, when the April 2010 spring break fares and schedules came out we caught a break with a Delta non-stop, round trip Boston to Tampa flight, $717 total for the 3 of us.
Driving for us, gas and tolls cost about $400 round trip.
Along for the ride we take a couple bags of snacks, a big cooler and a small cooler filled with sandwiches and drinks.
We stop for gas, breaks and to switch drivers every 200 miles, 3-4 hours, that takes about 10-15 minutes. That's all we need unless we decide to grab something to eat at one of the mall/trip centers where we stop for gas, that usually takes an extra half hour.
We don't take our time and we don't try to hurry it up, we just do what we have to or want to do.
It's really not that big a deal, it's Just bunch of short 3-4 hour trips, not a long 22 hour drive.
Good luck all,
Joe

Thank you so much for so much detail, that really helps!

Thanks to everyone who gave me their input!