Driving from Northeast

[Dis Lurker]

We're thinking of driving home to the "world" from CT instead of flying.

It would be Myself, DW, DS9, DD7, DD4

We don't have a real issue with flying (other than the expense) but is the time trade off worth the expense?

Other questions:

I've heard there's 2 paths to travel?

To drive straight through?How long a trip? I've heard anything from 20-30 hours.(from CT)


Has anyone rented a vehicle for this kind of trip?

I seek the experience of the wise & mighty DVCers!!!

 

[Disney Doll]

Well, from CT, if you don't want to kill yourselves and drive straight through, which is about 22-24 hours, then you lose at least 2 days each way travelling, and would have the expnse of overnight hotel stays down and back on the way to WDW. You'd basically leave early in the AM one day, stop about 1/2way that night after 12 hours i the car, saty overnight, and get up early the next AM to leave to drive 12 hours to arrive at WDW in the late afternoon.

If you don't own a fairly large, fairly comfortable car in good condition, then I'd rent one. A family of 5...a minivan is probably a good choice, to keep the kids separated somewhat and give everyone some elbow room and still have enough room for luggage, snacks etc.

Another alternative is the auto train which leaves from the Washington DC area and takes about 16 hours(including an overnight) to get to Sanford FL, which is not far from WDW. My DSIL and DBIL did that a couple of times when the kids were younger...you can take your own car on the train and they put it in a separate place from where you are seated and once you leave your car you can't go back to it until the train stops in Florida, and you get seats like on an airplane where you sleep. They had a family of 5 the first time they went similar in age to your children, and it cost them $750 I think...this was probably about 1991 or so, so I am sure the price has gone up. You still lose 2 days travelling, but you can take your own car without as much wear and tear.

Just an aside, depending on where you live in CT, di you check jetBlue out of JFK for fares??? DH and I are in southwestern CT, abotu an hour north of NYC, so JFK is fairly convenient, and we have gotten some amazing fares on JetBlue...some as cheap as $160 per person. If you live more north in CT, closer to Massachusetts, check if Jetblue goes out of Logan, which may be quicker for you. Their web address is www.jetblue.com.

Good Luck!

 

[Snowgod]

We leave Friday for our Florida excursion. We drive to Philly area and stay with my brother, about 6 hours from NH. We leave in the AM from there and are usually at WDW by 10-10:30 that night. We have driven staight through on a number of occasions and will not do that anymore. South of DC the trip is easy but traffic from DC up can be interesting depending on the time of day. Maybe we will see you on the road. Have a Good Trip

 

[AreWeThereYet]

Just checked for you - the total distance from Enfield, Ct (190 & I-91) to the Epcot resorts area is 1235 miles. Driving time (at 65 mph on highways) is roughly 19 hours 13 minutes.
This is via I-95 and I-4 for the most part.


Will make for one heck of a straight drive, or a more leisurely drive of two days - you'll deserve a vacation once you arrive to the World.

Hope you have a great trip!!

 

[RobDoc]

Since this is a transportation question, we'll move it to that forum. Hopefully you'll get some more responses there.

 

[PhillyKid83]

our family leaves sat. around 2 am, we are from philly. it takes us anywhewre from 17-18 hours. we love the ride. it doesnt bother any of us one bit. we travel with 7 people in our van. this year we are going all the way through to the days in main gate west and then sunday checking in at okw. to me i think that the time it takes to get there by car is well worth it, i think it adds to the excitement of the disney experience.

 

[Pa@okw95]

I drive down there all the time. I live in CT also but I see you are up in Enfield. Here is the first trick that is a must do. You must leave Enfield with enough time to get over the Gerorge Washington Bridge by 6.am. I would say leave Enfield by about 3 am at the latest maybe earlier. When you hit Meriden Ct you may want to switch over to rt 15 then cross back over to 95 later or just stay on 91 to New Haven. What I do is take rt 15 all the way down to the Tappan Zee Bridge and go to the Garden State Parkway and pick up the New Jersey Turnpike later down the Garden State.
Big problem # 2 is Washington DC, if you leave at 3 am or before from Enfield you should get through WAshington before the rush hour. Once through Washington you are pretty much home free with some traffic in Richmond.
Boredom-North Carolinia and South Carolina are very boring to drive-have things for the kids to do.
If you leave about 3 am around 17 hours later or 6 or 7 PM for the evening, leaving you about 6 hours of driving the next day.

 

[dgaston]

We have driven from the "Quiet Corner of CT" several times, taking 84 to 684, over the Tappenzee (I don't like GW Bridge) Garden State to NJ Turnpike (we take the 295 parallel route in southern Jersey), and then down 95. For our Christmas trip we are planning to take 84 to 81 to 77 I think it is.

Our trips have run from 24 to 26 hours, most often including terrible DC traffic (even at 3am on one trip--who could have guessed?), which is why we're taking the other route this time.

We drive straight thru in either a mini-van or our now gone conversion van with the non-driver sleeping. It's worked out well. We usually arrive very early in the am.

 

[sistertrip]

I drove down with my family of four from Maine. We left at 6 pm on a Friday, drove through the night and stopped in Savannah, GA around 4 pm Sat and were at our hotel in Florida by 10 am Sunday morning. We had a blast driving, especially me since I HATE planes! Speaking of which - any tips for my plane-ride in August to keep me from getting freaked out?

Go for the drive - it was worth saving the money for the 4 of us, and we had fun. Just pack plenty of snacks and fun stuff for the kids.

 

[msdis]

We are in Maine, leaving to drive next month. I would highly recommend 84 to 81 to 77 to 26 to 95. It is 130 miles longer but well worth it. No big cities, no timing things just right, and for the traffic jams of 95 straight probably not much longer time wise. The roads are good, lots of rest areas, beautiful scenary, plenty of exits with food and motels. We rented a car twice but will be driving our suv this trip. Happy planning.

 

[sheryl0521]

We did the drive from CT to WDW in Feb 2003, and we are doing it again in August! 2 adults and 2 kids. We rode in a Honda Accord in Feb., and have since purchased a GMC Yukon and expect the ride to be much more comfortable!

The previous posts describe our route we took down 95, and we are planning on doing that same route again.

In Feb., we left Friday night at 6pm, stopped in VA around 2am, back on the road by 8am and arrived at BWV around 9pm. We hit terrible construction in FL on 95 and I-4. But by that point we were going to get through it!

We felt we had accomplised a milestone to get to our favorite place in the "world."

 

[CamColt]

Weve driven from MA 2x, and are going again in August. We go for about 24 hours straight, only stopping for gas and bathroom breaks, and 1 fast food meal.
After doing it this way, we wouldnt want to waste time and money stopping overnight, but thats just us.
We looked into renting something but seeing as most places charge for mileage, it wasnt worth it for us. We just go in our CRV. Once we had 3 adults & 2 kids, and once 2 adults & 2 kids. Its really an adventure...and this coming from someone who used to be dead set against driving.

 

[JudithM]

We almost always take I95 to I4 to WDW. On our trip last month we stopped at the FL Welcome Center for our juice & WDW time schedule. Then we got off I95 just south of there onto A1A. We took A1A to 301 to I75 to the FL Turnpike to US 27 to 192 - this route is so much more pleasant than I95 & I4 through FL. We stopped at a local produce stand & bought peanuts, peaches, strawberries, cantelope, etc. You can also take the Turnpike to the I4. We had driven through the construction along I4 in early April, & it was dangerous. So we were delighted when a friend passed along this alternate route. It really didn't take us much longer - maybe 30 minutes at the most (if that).

 

[Candlelady]

Hi Dislurker! (waving from the other side of Enfield!)

I knew you wouldn't be able to wait for 2005 When are you going? Maybe we'll be there at the same time?

We are driving down this fall. (DH will not fly). When I go without him, I always fly.

We take 91 to 84 west in Hartford. Then 81 South in Pa (no map in front of me, someone will correct if I'm wrong) hook up to 66 East in Virginia to 17 which connects with 95 just before Fredericksburg Va. Distance is around 100 miles farther but over all the time is about equal as you won't have to slow down for heavy traffic thru the major cities. We would never drive any other way. AAA actually recommended this route and it's a very nice and easy drive. 95 is boring though.

We rent a car from Hertz to make the drive. We wouldn't have a problem driving my own car, but by renting, if anything does happen, we don't have to worry that we are hundreds of miles from home with a car that needs repairs at Bubba's garage.

 

[Coastie]

Make the trip part of your vacation... we are! We are going down in December for Christmas. We will be staying at Disney's Hilton Head one night on the way down and 2 nights on the way back. Hey, 2 adults, 2 kids, and some movies we're all set!

 

[Dis Lurker]

Thanks for all the info!

It looks like we still may have to wait until 2005!

But I need 2 years to convince DW that we should drive.

 

[dis neighbor]

sorry to see youll be waiting till 2005!

We have made the driving trip from WMass to SWFlorida 6 times so far and the last two with an infant (4 mo than again at 16 mo). Tip # 1 plan major driving at night the temp is cooler, traffic is light and kids sleep! Tip # 2 prepare the days driving keep drinks and snacks lite but reachable and not messy. (more drinks means longer trip time for more bathroom stops!!!) tip #3,4,5 if you have tv and video for the love of pete and your sanity dont bring THE favorite movie (shrek for 20hours straight is enough to drive any adult over the edge).