Driving from Toronto to WDW (hopefully)

[twinz]

We have a trip booked for October 2021. It'll be my sister and I, my 6 year old and her 2.5 year old twins. We were toying with the idea of driving. We have been to WDW many many times but we have always flown. Any tips or tricks you can recommend if we choose to drive (or if we can even cross the boarder). My sisters van has a DVD player so movies would be on schedule. We are thinking of splitting the drive up into two days both on the way there and home (as we have to be back for work the Monday and our trip is Saturday to Saturday). We would hopefully leave on Thursday, drive a bit, do a longer haul the Friday and arrive on Saturday.
Thanks

 

[TammyLynn33]

I would leave really early so they will still sleep like 330 am .. I wish you all the best .. I have a 3 hour drive time limit with my crew lol.. that said I’m a single mom ..

 

[mort1331]

So we have always driven straight thru..23-25 hours depending on traffic and stops.
Weve been doing it since the girls were small. They sleep and ride great in the car. But you need to know your kids and if they could handle it. We make longer food stops and stretch the legs..but the energy returns as soon as we hit that florida border.
Leaving just North or TO. We have taken both I75 and I95. There are a lot more rest stops on 75. And really not that much longer.

 

[bababear_50]

Like Tammylynn I would also leave in the middle of the night.
Here are a few ideas


Make up a BINGO Car chart,,
If you decide to go let me know and I'll make you one.
The kids look for the object along the drive and check them off .
Buy a bunch of cheap/inexpensive gifts (Dollar store) and wrap them,, kids get to choose a gift every time they win.

Download some Disney music and have a Car Karaoke.

Play the I spy color game.....
I spy something that is black & white .... cows.

Give the kids inexpensive disposable cameras to take 12 of their best pictures.

Stickers and blank paper book.
Coloring books and crayons/markers.

Snack bag for each kid (use cheap school lunch bags).

Mini baggies with Lego are great and you could have a competition where you tell them what to make.
https://www.google.com/search?q=leg...BAgUEAE&biw=1920&bih=937#imgrc=D_bEsuS_Dxsh4M
Storytime with the stuffies
Each child sits quietly with their stuffy while one of you reads a storybook or
play one from YouTube.

Plan lots of washroom breaks and fun exercise breaks.

Do Car Yoga for kids
(Google).
https://www.google.com/search?q=car...ome..69i57.4750j1j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Magnets with a cookie sheet work great.


Have a great time time planning and I hope all goes well for you.


Mel

 

[newdeal]

personally, if it were me, driving would ruin the trip as I listened to my kids scream and argue and complain in a confined space for 24 hours straight. I would also need to take more time off work. Between the cost of gas, wear and tear on the car, and extra time off work, I would be spending far more to drive than to fly. Not to mention the cost on my sanity and on my enjoyment of the vacation.

 

[FigmentSpark]

We usually do our long day the first day when we're fresh. Go as far as possible, then zonk out at a hotel and do the second day and a light day on the third day (if needed), so we aren't exhausted when we want to start touring WDW.

Typically, we stop in Beckley on the way down, then the south side of Savannah. On the way home, we push it for 2 days. Bluefield for the overnight on the return trip and then home. But we are on the west side of the GTA, so that makes a difference.

 

[Dawg74]

We love a good road trip to Florida. Like the others have said, leave at 3 am, we find we can have almost 6 hours in by 9:00 am with just one quick stop around 6 or 7 am, then breakfast at 9. The kids miss most of the first 6 hours, we travel til about 5 pm then stop for the night. Good luck!

 

[momof2gr8kids]

One word... gravol. (lol jk...kinda)

 

[SCCNJ]

I love the drive and have done it a few times now with a plan to do it yearly. One of my favourite parts is seeing things get greener as you drive(we typically go in March). Last year we left the London area and stopped for the night in Charleston SC. Unfortunately, we quite literally drove up to the hotel as it was announced that Disney was closing. We had been to Florida before but that was to be our first trip to Disney. We had dinner, slept a few hours, and drove home. That drive sucked but seeing this thread honestly has me so excited to plan again.

Anyway, the drive can be great or terrible often just on how you approach it. We look online beforehand at little things we might like to try along the way. My teen has an obsession with American fast food so always wants to try something different. We stop at different parks etc., wander around different cities/towns for an hour or two. Once we went to a St. Patricks Parade in Charlotte by chance. If you think of it as an adventure it can be lots of fun. All that said my kids are pretty good travellers and are used to it. They fight and bicker but I've learned to tune them out when necessary. lol They are older now, not little ones, so no harm done. lol
Oh, we also leave in the middle of the night around 2-3 am. We grab a Tims just before the border with some breakfast and we can go a fairly long stretch before the kids need a break. My advice is to plan it as part of the trip but be open to whatever happens or catches your eye too. My kids all have great memories of the actual road trips as do I.

 

[FunFamily]

Have you considered flying from Buffalo? Three different air carriers offer non-stop flights from BUF to MCO. Competition is strong on that route, meaning you maybe able to score tickets for $79 a piece or less (of course timing is everything).

Unexpected car trouble I have found to be the one thing that can change all of the accounting/budgeting quickly. As an example, one time when we drive we ran over something on I-95 in South Carolina. Shredded the tire. Fortunately, we could safely pull over. We waited for a service to come out and put on our full sized spare (full size SUV). We then drove it in to Orlando. Once at the hotel, our next task was arranging for two new tires of an uncommon size and the spare put back under the vehicle. But for the drive, we would have not had that this unexpected expense or time hit (which once in Orlando can also be measured by cost).

Enjoy your trip!

 

[Juventus]

I leave from Windsor, which is a little closer. The shortest I would drive to is Macon Georgia: I like getting past Atlanta, otherwise you are fighting morning traffic the next day.

I go straight through on the way home: about 18 hours.

 

[Susan2771]

Can I just say that seeing this post has made me excited for planning Disney trips again Our family has driven down many times, and split it up over 2 days. Bring a ball so that the kids can kick it and run around at rest stops. DVD player was our best friend and bringing fun snacks. I miss the excitement every time we past another state boarder. That and the peeling of layers of clothing as it got warmer the further south we drove. And of course crossing the Florida boarder The memories are making me both happy and sad thinking about them. I pray we are all in a much better place then, and your family can do the trip. If you drive, just enjoy the time with your family and of course the anticipation as you get closer and closer to Disney

 

[Juventus]

Can I just say that seeing this post has made me excited for planning Disney trips again Our family has driven down many times, and split it up over 2 days. Bring a ball so that the kids can kick it and run around at rest stops. DVD player was our best friend and bringing fun snacks. I miss the excitement every time we past another state boarder. That and the peeling of layers of clothing as it got warmer the further south we drove. And of course crossing the Florida boarder The memories are making me both happy and sad thinking about them. I pray we are all in a much better place then, and your family can do the trip. If you drive, just enjoy the time with your family and of course the anticipation as you get closer and closer to Disney

Great memories. Mine is crossing into Kentucky from Cincinnati and seeing the circular Radison hotel off to the side. Hitting Kentucky is when I really get excited...

 

[Bossy22]

I can't really help with stops or highways as I live in Alberta and drive to Disneyland (not world) but here is how my family does the 22 hour drive to Disneyland.

We leave at about 5pm on say Saturday. We stop for supper at about 7:30 (late for us) then keep driving. Kids fall asleep around 10pm and we have quiet driving till about 6am when they wake up. We stop for breakfast then continue till about noon. We have now gotten in about 16 hours of driving time with the kids sleeping half of it. We take a day in the pool and put the kids to bed early then hit the road the next day around 8am and arrive in DL about 2pm and have a nice restful day (check out downtown DL, etc), get an early sleep and everyone is raring to go first thing the next day. Now you need a good night driver to do this but it sure is easier on the kids!!

 

[Marek Zyskowski]

I drive to Florida from Montreal each year.

1. Buy an EZPass. You can pay the tolls electronically. You can purchase it at the first toll area on the New York Thurways and activate it from your car on your phone during weekdays. There are parts of the I 95 that allow you to use the express lanes but only if you have the EZ Pass. Plus it works in other states allong the I-95 although sometime you need to wait one day for that to work.
2. Bring your own food. The food at the rest areas in the north is not so great. In the south there are many McDonalds or other restaurants that you can stop at. I like Cracker Barrel.
3. Follow the speed limit. The road is long.
4. From Montreal I can make it to Emporia on the first day. There are many motels.
5. Selma is a good place to stop on the second day for breakfast. McDonals is different their. There is no toast just biscuits. (Different but good)
6. You don't always need to take the beltway. On the second day I usually cruise right through the rush-hour going through Jacksonville instead of around.

Hope that helps.

 

[mort1331]

Forgot to mention..my girls.would nevernlet us not hit a waffle house both ways. They love them. For me its ok. Simple but filling. And keeps them happy. Also girls wanted KFC in Kentucky..could find one..they were so sad.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Someone mentioned car trouble. We've had that, so now we rent a vehicle to drive down. I look for about a year ahead for the cheapest van rentals (as prices change daily and sometimes even hourly) and have gotten some great deals on a van rental for 2 weeks. This year, the vans are insanely priced, but then, maybe no one's renting right now and they are trying to recoup their losses. Anyway, it's worth checking out the Costco rentals (or your favorite rental site) to see if you can find a good deal as an option to putting the miles on your own vehicle.

 

[bankr63]

I drive to Florida from Montreal each year.

1. Buy an EZPass. You can pay the tolls electronically. You can purchase it at the first toll area on the New York Thurways and activate it from your car on your phone during weekdays. There are parts of the I 95 that allow you to use the express lanes but only if you have the EZ Pass. Plus it works in other states allong the I-95 although sometime you need to wait one day for that to work

Actually I would suggest you get the Florida E-Pass Uni https://www.cfxway.com/e-pass/get-e-pass/ The E-pass works throughout Florida and most of the East Coast states. We have been SunPass users for years, but will be getting this before our next trip south as it will also work on the northern thruways. It is the closest to a universal pass in the US right now that I have found.

We have done the drive many times, but coming from Eastern Ontario take a quite different route from the usual Toronto route. From this area we have a couple of good options that can allow us to avoid some inclement weather (I say some because the route through NY and PA is the same, and that is where most of the weather hits). Our preference is to stay on I-81 to I-77/26 through Charlotte. Traffic is much lighter than I-95 and the scenery is great; if it's your shift driving you can actually relax enough to enjoy the scenery. It is a viable route from Toronto as well if you are crossing at Buffalo. Pick it up around Harrisburg PA. The second option is to skirt around Washington and pickup I-95. But I-95 carries a lot more traffic, and can have plenty of slowdowns. Google maps shows I-95 being 45 minutes (and 60 km) shorter, but we have always lost that time and more in traffic.

Be careful with the speed. I always watch the local plates for clues. If they aren't speeding, I'm not speeding either. Out of state plates can be flying by, and that's fine, it's their ticket.

 

[tinkerone]

We drove down for years however never with a child under 5. I can't imagine doing it with three children and two being 2.5 years old.
We switched up and flew down one year and have never switched back. There is something to be said for getting on a plane at breakfast and eating in WDW for lunch. The bonus to that is if the kids get fussy, your only looking at a few hours and not a few days.
Of course you know what's best for your crew and I wish you all the best. We hope to get to Florida in October but for a cruise, not WDW. We will be flying.

 

[samsteele]

The second option is to skirt around Washington and pickup I-95. But I-95 carries a lot more traffic, and can have plenty of slowdowns. Google maps shows I-95 being 45 minutes (and 60 km) shorter, but we have always lost that time and more in traffic.

Agree. Did this once and traffic was a snarl. Great to cross over the Potomac and catch a glimpse of historic Washington but it was a much slower route in the long run. Also a very good chance of taking a wrong turn with more delay.