Driving from NJ am I nuts???

[beachgrl001]

We are in South Jersey(close to Phila.) Last time we drove was 10yrs ago. I am seriously thinking about driving for our september(hopefully free dining) trip. I would save roughly $700. We just bought a dodge grand caravan so we would have plenty of room. Should we stop for the night? DH dosent want to But I am leaning towards it...

 

[DisneyNicole]

Yes. I never tried driving down, but my mom did as a kid.
She said it was horrible...just 18 hours of misery...from Lancaster PA to Orlando FL. Now, we are New Jersians. I couldn't ever spend 4 hours in a car with my family, but my dad tried to talk us into it a few times...

 

[beachgrl001]

my friend said her brother told her they did it in 14hrs! They must have been driving really fast...we made it in 16 when we went 10yrs ago. the going part was fine comming home was baaaad. But leaving disney is never easy.

 

[sue1013]

The older I get I have no patience in the car. I think because I spend so much time in my car everyday it's the last thing I want to do on vacation. 10 years ago I told DH if we had to drive to Disney again I'd rather not go. Unless I was going for a month or two no way am I driving.

 

[vod2117]

I would say you are crazy. Even coach class has more room than your car unless you have a Mercedes Benz S Class

 

[cyndiloveswalt]

I am in Delaware and we have driven about every other year. It takes about 14 hrs. We have 2 kids 11 and 6, and a dvd player ( a must). We usually leave about 3:00 and drive through the night (stop for dinner) arriving in the AM. We are driving in Nov, because we are going Thanksgiving and flights are so expensive. We have never had any problems and when we fly we feel like we could have been atleast half way there by the time you're done dealing with everything. The drive home is definitely a little tougher!

 

[beachgrl001]

I have the dvd players. Its my first mini van so I am kind of looking forward to it. I have been in those coach seats many times I think my grand caravan has waaaay more room

 

[Luvchefmic]

I have the dvd players. Its my first mini van so I am kind of looking forward to it. I have been in those coach seats many times I think my grand caravan has waaaay more room

You'll have a great time I used to drive down from Long Island NY all the time..I would probably spend the night about 1/2 way down

 

[beachgrl001]

Last time we stopped in savannah. Do you think we should stop before or after that? edited to add: wow I just saw you now live 25 mi. from Mickey LUCKY!!!!

 

[scooterpig]

We are driving from Massachusetts with a party of 7, ages from 8-40. We have 2 drivers and are planning on driving straight down, except for a couple diner and bathroom breaks. Probably crazy, yes.

I think that aside from the physical stress, and the stress from being in a moving vehicle (nasea, etc) is not the only thing to be considered. I dropped my minivan off at the mechanic the other day, and he completely recommended renting a van for the trip. I consider my van reliable, it's our daily driver. Apparently, the stress on a vehicle is something to seriously consider. Have you owned yours long enough to know it quite well? You'll need to watch your guages carefully (he stressed) If you do break down, be prepared to pay plenty more than your own mechanic would charge you. These things happen, he warned. Just throwing it out there, because that is the advice he gave me.

I'm still planning to drive my own van down, btw, unless he comes up with something dramatically wrong with it.

 

[twinmom108]

We drove from Colorado to WDW last June. It's about 1850 miles one way from our driveway to the WDW resort parking lot. It was nice having our own vehicle. How many miles OW would it be for your trip to WDW?

We had a lovely trip. Besides WDW we visited the Everglades, the Keys, Vero Beach, Hilton Head, Blue Ridge Pkwy, & the Smoky Mtn Nat. Park. We drove a total of 5918 miles that trip. That was our last family vacation as our 3 teens will be adults soon & we wanted to do it big.

 

[Luvchefmic]

Last time we stopped in savannah. Do you think we should stop before or after that? edited to add: wow I just saw you now live 25 mi. from Mickey LUCKY!!!!

Very blessed indeed ..even more so once I get a job ! Recession hit when we bought the house 2008....back to you though, I always had stopped in SC but since there are 2 drivers GA sounds right

 

[eliza61]

We are in South Jersey(close to Phila.) Last time we drove was 10yrs ago. I am seriously thinking about driving for our september(hopefully free dining) trip. I would save roughly $700. We just bought a dodge grand caravan so we would have plenty of room. Should we stop for the night? DH dosent want to But I am leaning towards it...

You've got to be close to me. I'm in sicklerville NJ and we drive all the time.
We leave around 4:00 am in the morning. I want to be well pass DC/Virginia traffic for Rush hour. After Virginia the driving is really easy.
We stop at the Georgia/Florida line. the Brunswich Ga exit. It has lots of inexpensive motels right off 95. We usually pull in around 7:00 pm (and that's with a 1 nice meal stop and a few quick refuel stops) enjoy a nice dinner/rest and then get up early to finish our drive.

 

[Hillbeans]

Unless I was going for a month or two no way am I driving.

ITA with this. We did the drive from the NJ shore to Jacksonville and it was the longest night of my life, and that was before we had kids. Unless we were going for 2+ weeks, i'd not do the drive again because it just wipes you out for the entire next day.

 

[beachgrl001]

You've got to be close to me. I'm in sicklerville NJ and we drive all the time.
We leave around 4:00 am in the morning. I want to be well pass DC/Virginia traffic for Rush hour. After Virginia the driving is really easy.
We stop at the Georgia/Florida line. the Brunswich Ga exit. It has lots of inexpensive motels right off 95. We usually pull in around 7:00 pm (and that's with a 1 nice meal stop and a few quick refuel stops) enjoy a nice dinner/rest and then get up early to finish our drive.

yes Im close we are in Mantua! Stopping sounds like a good plan. I was thinking of leaving around 4am, my husband usually gets up for work at that time so he is used to it. even if we stop overnight i will stil be saving 500. so to me its worth it. we have dvd players and my 15y/o will probably sleep alot of the time

 

[Diannedorothy]

We drive from NJ all the time. We do stop in Pooler Ga at a really nice Sleep Inn on the first night. We then get up, have a free breakfast, and make it to Disney by lunch. We usually make it in 16 hours and we do not speed. The roads are great especially after you pass Richmond. We start out early and always make Pooler for dinner. We do not have really small children but I think a DVD player in the back seat would work well. I say go for the "Road Trip". It is a good way to get to know your kids.

 

[cranbiz]

Used to drive it all the time (from 04 to 06 did the trip once every other month, for 18 months and for those last couple of months, once every other week) and now, do the drive back to MA to visit. I'll admit, I'll fly if the price is right but never considered myself crazy for driving. I may have been crazy for driving straight thru, but that is another thread

 

[sticker231]

We also drive down, will be doing it again in April. we leave around 7pm and drive straight through. We have a Honda Odyssey, with dvd to entertain the kids. There is plenty of room for everyone. We leave at night so the kids sleep for part of the ride. It takes us a little over 16 hours with bathroom breaks and stopping for gas. It is a money saver and we like driving around in our own car, not having to make sure the kids didn't forget anything when it is time to turn in the rental.

 

[sanibelover]

I second the driving straight through thing. Leave at 7 pm as someone else said. It is really not bad at all - just drove from CT to Ft Myers - 23 hours straight through, and I would do it again any day! Of course it depends on your kids - we have 3, DS16, DS13, and DS9. We hardly knew they were with us - we had a great trip. Good luck and have fun!!!

 

[disneyworldaddict]

Personally, I have no desire to drive! Flying is so quick and easy, and quite cheap out of Atlantic City, but whatever works best for your family. How bad could it be if the journey ends in Disney!