Driving from NJ-any advice???

[jel0511]

the OP stated it was their first time driving. So they really dont have the experience for the knowledge. They also have very young kids. Many people think it costs too much to fly so they dont even look at the price.
For AirTran sale of 139 round trip-- driving would be the expensive route to go.

That all depends on your circumstances. For me, it's not a deal... We'll be down for approx 2 weeks, with 4 of us you're talking about 550 for air tickets and we'd need a car, as we're going to Universal as well as WDW( we also like having a car), which for 2 weeks would conservatively cost me 400 for 2 weeks. So I'd be spending at least 950 to fly where it costs us 800 to drive down, with hotel, gas, and food included. So for us, it's cheaper to drive, even with a 139 fare. We also like driving, it adds to the fun of the trip.

 

[Marty Moose]

I think it really depends on each persons personal preference and situation as to what is "better" and/or "cheaper".

One thing to consider with airfare though is TOTAL price! I know when I checked AirTran for our trip (we are driving regardless due to a stop off to visit family and my husband being a big chicken when it comes to flying) the lowest price was $59 each way. But at checkout the r/t prices came to $150with taxes,etc. Then, when I looked at the baggage fee the first bag is $15 and the second bag is $25. So, for our family of 4, $59 r/t flights turn into at least $660 total (over $760 with all the crap we intend to load into the car!). Additionally, most of the available $59 flights had layovers and total travel time of 5-8 hrs (sometimes more!). Granted, if I had started looking much earlier I could have picked better (maybe non-stop) flights.

Trust me, I am ALL about flying! This our first time driving, although I'm no stranger to road trips (I've driven from Phoenix to DE and from DE to New Orleans). But I think it's worth it to experience the drive to WDW at least once so that we know exactly what we're dealing with the next time we compare travel options.

In short (yeah, right! ) I don't think anyone is "right" or "wrong" in their choice. It's all good...

 

[Peanut&Piglet'sMom]

We will be doing our 4th drive to WDW this August. For us...we like to have control of when and where we can stop. And like others said...the drive is part of the vacation.

Our first was when my oldest daughter was a mere 10months old. We left midday and drove all the way through the night. We stopped at various places to gas up, eat and have a 'poty break'. Can't remember where though.

Lucky for us, our dd was wonderful the whole ride. We did a non-stop return trip as well.

Then...we drove again when she was 2.5 years old. The DVD player was a life-saver! This time though, we left around bedtime and drove to SC. Stayed the night, then to someplace in the top of Florida - just over the border and stayed again before driving into WDW. We drove home without stopping overnight. My DH is a machine!!!!

Last trip we drove yet again...

Our oldest was 5 and youngest daughter was 17months old. The original plan was to drive straight down and stop in Daytona for the night... then drive into WDW/AKL.

Sadly...our Chevy Trailblazer had a different plan. In Deleware...the water pump bearing something a rather blew!!!! It was Sat. night (around dinner time) and I thought our trip was over right then and there. However, we lucked out and got an awesome tow-truck driver who happened ot be the owner of his own garage! He helped us find a local motel (kind of scary but very much needed!) and called in one of his guys to get working on our truck right away!!! This tow truck driver was an angel!

We were on the road again the next day by 1:30pm. From there we drove straight to WDW. Chanting that we'd NEVER drive down again!!!! hehehe

Yeah......we'll be doing it in August. Hopefully WITHOUT the emergency stop in Deleware!

My kids are now older, less to pack and so on. And this time...we'llhave a GPS to figure out where we need to stop IF we need to stop on short notice!

Good Luck planning the drive down!

 

[angelat]

the OP stated it was their first time driving. So they really dont have the experience for the knowledge. They also have very young kids. Many people think it costs too much to fly so they dont even look at the price.
For AirTran sale of 139 round trip-- driving would be the expensive route to go.

Actually, that isn't totally true. At $139/pp, once you add in the parking at the airport (approximately $70 at the cheapest for a week) and a rental car which will probably run at least $200, it's cheaper to drive.

We're driving in August for the first time. We have an SUV that gets approximately 24 mpg on the highway. We'll use about 100 gallons for 2228 miles. Even if the gas prices are back up to $3.509/gal by the time we go, we're still only paying $350 r/t and we'll have our own car with us.

I would be very happy to fly if the prices for airfare and car rentals especially were more resonable this year, but that doesn't look like it's going to happen.

Just adding my 2cents and a different perspective.

 

[wishtdream]

Sorry angelat, but you're a little off. It's 1114 miles one way from where you are. R/T would be 2228 miles. Your gas price as you figured it would still be $350.00.
We've driven twice already and unfortunately don't get the same mpg as you. It cost us around $550.00 last Aug. and that included the gas used in the park which added another 200 plus miles to our 2050 r/t. Still cheaper than flying and very nice to have a vehicle so we could go anywhere without waiting around for a bus.

 

[angelat]

Sorry angelat, but you're a little off. It's 1114 miles one way from where you are. R/T would be 2228 miles. Your gas price as you figured it would still be $350.00.
We've driven twice already and unfortunately don't get the same mpg as you. It cost us around $550.00 last Aug. and that included the gas used in the park which added another 200 plus miles to our 2050 r/t. Still cheaper than flying and very nice to have a vehicle so we could go anywhere without waiting around for a bus.

Thanks for the correction. I forgot the "each way".

 

[saratogadreamin09]

"cheaper to fly then drive"

It always cracks me up when I see these responses... It amazes me that people could not consider that you actually PERFER to drive rather then to fly. and that it may have nothing to do with the cost (this may or may not be OP"s reasoning - but for lots of people out there ~ that is the case).

We perfer to drive... various reasons, not imporant to everyone. But it has been an adventure for sure. The key is to time your stops.. everytime we have to stop (bathroom, gas, etc) we make it a point to do everything in that stop...top off the tank, stretch our legs, potty break, etc. This way, you dont have to stop for gas, if the kiddo's are content to keep going or sleeping or something. The I95 book is a great resource, and they also have a kids version that I picked up @ barnes & nobles for $15.00... each state has trivia, games, and their own map to follow along on. DVD player is a plus for us as our kids don't get to watch much tv at home so they enjoy the extra screen time. we usually try to follow a map and plan out stops every 4 hours or so (During the day) then we'll research the areas we may approx be at during that time period so we can see what to do. We like to drive longer periods with fewer longer breaks, but some familys (my sister is one) perfers to drive shorter periods with shorter more frequent stops.

You need to make sure you don't set a schedule so ridge you can't stop and smell the roses if something looks interesting. In addition, you can't control what traffic you may hit so don't get stressed if your not on schedule. I look to book nights @ Holiday Inns for several reasons. #1 - they are consistent.. clean and comfty. not as nice as some hotels and nicer then others. The reason? most have the cancellation policy of having until 5 or 6pm of the DAY of check in to cancel your reservation w/o getting charged. I"ll make several Holiday Inn reservations a distance apart, and by 3 or 4 we know approx where we'll be and will call and cancel the others. verify the cancellation schedule though before you do this. Once we didn't we had just 1 reservation. Traffic was so awesome, we got there by 2:00pm.. and felt a little frustrated that we were stuck (did not want to keep gonig when we didn't have another hotel reservation further up the road.

Sorry so long.. I just love a good road trip. We consider it PART of the Vacation, not just transporation TO the vacation. ENJOY!!!

This is exactly why we drive to WDW every year. We dont want to put up with the stress of going through an airport and we want to be on our sechdual. Also, weather effects you when flying. Last year we left NY in the middle of a blizzard and we only lost 4 hours of driving time becase of it. If we were flying our plane might have been cancled or delayed untill the next day.

 

[jel0511]

" The I95 book is a great resource, and they also have a kids version that I picked up @ barnes & nobles for $15.00... each state has trivia, games, and their own map to follow along on.

What is the name of the kids version? My kids would LOVE IT!!!!

 

[Ariel8676]

I haven't read through the other posts, but..we have driven from NJ to WDW a bunch of times with our girls (who are now 7,6 and 3)..we always leave around 10-11pm, that way the kids sleep for a good chunk of the ride and you avoid a ton of traffic, especially around the D.C area. One time we made it from our house to South of the Border before our girls woke up..that was awesome..lol. We keep games an snacks in the car, we have a DVD player so that helps..and we always kept our little potty in the car..just in case. We like to drive straight through, so we eat on the go except for one meal...My girls are actually begging us to drive again in August instead of flying..lol

 

[ilovemyjj]

i didn't see any south of the border fans??? I know its tacky, its a tourist trap, but just to stop and stretch your legs, take some sill y pics its fun!!
We are history lovers and stop at some battlefields along the way too.
Also, its nice to find some Mcdonalds and let the kids play, take there lunch in the car doe something to do..also dvd players are a Godsend!

 

[mericletwins]

When you are trying to figure out the driving vs. flying costs decide whether or not you need a a car rental if flying. If you are staying at a Disney resort, you can use ME to get from the airport to the resort and that has no cost. If you are going to Sea World et. al. for the day you could take a cab or a town car. If you need groceries you can have them delivered. There is a lot to consider and what will work best for your family. Also, know your kids and what their patience and activity levels are. Two hours on a plane may be much better (at a little higher cost) than 20 hours in a car no matter how many times you stop. You really need to think about those intangibles and what their "worth" is to you and your family. It hasn't yet been "worth it" for our family to drive from NJ to WDW. The difference between driving and flying hasn't been so great that we drove. Now that the kids are getting a bit older we may decide differently so that we can stop and see things, etc. Unfortunately, because I am a teacher we are usually under some time constraint due to school vacations and spending the extra days at Disney usually takes priority of using those days to drive. Have fun with your drive!! I'm sure it will work out well!

 

[Goofy'slady]

We use the same I-95 book and love it.

Another thing we discovered this last tip (February) was RedBox. You rent a movie in 1 town and return it at another. Very convenient for travel. I wrote to the I-95 book people and asked them to put the RedBox locations in their next edition!

I just had to say that was an awesome tip. We're from Baltimore, MD and we make the drive down once a year with our latest slated to begin May 2nd. This year we're trying a little something new. We're packing up the car the night before and leaving at 5am the next morning. We're hoping to have our girls 10 & 3 fall back to sleep for a bit and get pass that pesky DC/Virginia weekend traffic. We're stopping in Savannah, GA that way the next day's drive won't be nearly as long if we stopped in SC.

We've bought the movie Bolt and loaded it on the laptop we're bringing for the girls to watch movies. I pack a picnic lunch for the first days drive down and we always find a nice rest stop to eat and take a break at. However, while we're at the Barnes and Noble tomorrow I'll have to take a look at the book I95 book and see if that's something we'll benefit from on this trip.

Good luck to everyone who is driving back "Home" this year and have a wonderful safe trip.

T.

 

[ten822]

i started this thread- thanks for all the advice. I'm not as worried about the trip down so much anymore. I just realized that we will be coming home on Memorial Daydriving through Washington We will check out Sunday May 24th and I thought we would go to MK, start home around 6pm. The last leg of the trip is through the DC area on Memorial Day. I can only imagine the nightmare. Does anyone have a suggestion or alt. route??
Has anyone travelled on that day before. Help

 

[DJFan88]

I agree with 2disneyboys -- there are 2 different thought processes out there. I am not saying that anyone here was saying this or even thinks this. But, some people (esp. people I work with ) who fly cannot fathom why you would want to drive when you can just hop on a plane. It's part of the convenient fast pace out there many live. I'm sure the flight poster was just trying to offer all insight and options to the OP.
However, I feel great knowing I have the certain freedom that we have in driving. We take 2 weeks off plus a day or two and take our time. I cannot cram a vacation. To me, I have no desire to fly. (Yes, I have taken multiple flights in my life to many locations, including FLA a few times).

Thanks to whoever gave the idea about the I-95 book. I'm going to look into that now. That will be another great tool for the kids.

We come from the border of MA and will also use night hours. Still it will be 2 good days driving about 12 and 9 hours. Hubby and I drove straight through twice before, but kids not sure about.

Question: Want to go as far as we can so do not really know what state we will be staying in. Plan on bringing list/book with hotels and call ahead or just walk in for the night. Anyone had any problem getting a hotel without a Reservation? I will be staying in a chain I feel comfortable with and not just anywhere.

 

[BrookieB]

We just returned from our trip, and the traffic on I-95 was horrific!! Keep in mind that they are doing a lot of road work as you get into FL. I can't remember if it was in S. GA, or actually in FL, but they have some of the lanes blocked off BOTH ways. It added about 1 1/2 hours to our trip going and coming back.

My tip would be to take a GPS with you (borrow one if you don't own one). Take parallel side streets to avoid the delays. We used HWY 17 on a couple of occassions to bypass the traffic. My husband and I argue about whether or not this saved any time, but I'd rather be moving at a decent speed in the right direction than going 5 mph on the interstate. That just drives me crazy!

The DVD is a must too, but most people have them these days. We now measure our trips in "# of movies".

 

[Nlbnikki]

We have driven from Langhorne,Pa twice now first time dd's were 6months & 4 2nd time they were 2 & 6. One of our favorite activities is colored pipe cleaners we take turns seeing what each other comes up with. Then after a few hours we unbend them & start again. We also stop at fast food places with playlands & let the kids play while we eat,then get their food to go. My DH likes to drive till he is tired then find a hotel,the last trip we drove straight thru to Tampa to visit friends,then headed up to WDW. We don't like booking a hotel ahead because we never know where we are gonna stop. It looks like I might be doing the drive in August with the girls & my mom she has never done the drive before & may want to sightsee a little more so we may add an extra day going down. Just relax & go with the flow & you'll have a great time. We really enjoy driving as much as flying,with that being said if I could get Southwest flights cheap enough we would fly otherwise we'll be driving again. No big deal either way to us.

 

[3mickeymom]

What worked for us

-Drove at night, so kids slept and got a normal nights sleep
-BASEBALL CAP or EYE MASK for adults to block blaring lights at rest stops. Just pull down gently over the eyes of a sleeping child so that they don't wake up.
-EAR PLUGS, if you are alternating drivers and the non driver wants to rest. The eye mask and ear plugs make it easier to take a snooze when needed.
-A large mouthed PEANUT BUTTER JAR for little boys, when they have to go NOW and can not wait until a rest stop. It is also not always easy or safe to pull over to the side of the road. I only have boys so I don't know what parents of little girls do. The jar can be emptied or disposed of when not needed.
-CLEAN BEACH TOWELS make great throw blankets in the car. They are soft, not too big and a good weight. Then, they can be used for pool trips. we wash them for the ride home.
-TRIP TIX from AAA. I am a member but a friend or neighbor might have one from their trip. I have passed mine along if I knew someone was going.

The ride down is fun because you are excited to start your vacation. Coming home is different because, of course your vacation is over. We haven't, but if we drive again, I would maybe plan an excursion for the way home to break things up. We also don't stop and drive straight through and although it is ok on the way down, the trip home is always tougher. I would also like to plan to stop somewhere, especially on the way home.

 

[java]

We actually like leaving at 3AM. The kids are still groggy and fall back asleep in the car and generally sleep until around 8-9AM so that's a nice 5 hours of quiet! We can make it to Georgia - then spend the night and then just have a 4 hour trip to Orlando in the morning. Then second day is harder to get the kids to sit in the car. So less is more on day 2.


Make sure you have snacks and entertainment and you should be good. We had the 20 questions ball and that kept us all busy.

OH AND THANK YOU!!! for the Redbox recommendation! I'm doing that for sure!I love the DIS!!

I just went to their site and there is actually a redbox right in the walmart near the hotel we stay! Thank you again. Last trip I blew about $100 on dvds! happy happy!

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

We actually like leaving at 3AM. The kids are still groggy and fall back asleep in the car and generally sleep until around 8-9AM so that's a nice 5 hours of quiet! We can make it to Georgia - then spend the night and then just have a 4 hour trip to Orlando in the morning.

We do the same thing, but we don't stop until we reach WDW. We manage this by switching drivers every 2 hours, even if the current driver is not tired. Everyone gets out and walks for a few minutes before we hit the road again.

We have bought those cheap hand-held games for the car, but they didn't hold our boys' attentions long enough for me to recommend them.

We played a lot of "eye spy" type games when the boys were younger. They now just play their DS games or listen to music on their iPods.

Oh yeah - we also do sing-alongs. Yeah, we are dorks...

 

[3mickeymom]

We play a game called favorites. We pick a topic-favorite color, favorite disney princess,favorite dinner, favorite movie etc. First we guess the persons favorite, then they tell us and we talk about it. We learn a lot about each other and it is fun.