Driving from Western Canada... are we nuts?

[Irish Kelly]

Hi All !!!!

I was talking with a friend of mine, and he said that in a few years, he was planning on taking his kids, and driving to Disneyworld from Alberta... of course he invited me along, as he knows I'm a little obsessed with Disneyworld.

Granted, this is a few years away, but I'm thinking about it. I get 3 weeks vacation (minimum, and would have more if I saved up some days)

Is it crazy to drive from Alberta? I'm guessing it would take 5 or 6 days to travel each way.

 

[Timon]

I drove down to WDW from Calgary 11 years ago when I was 21. Good thing I was young and crazy cus I would never do that again

First of all, we didn't make too many plans, we were gonna stop in Denver overnight then New Orleans then straight to WDW but we never made a hotel reservation, so when we got to Denver 18 hours after our departure, there were NO hotel rooms anywhere! In fact the girl at the desk laughed at us!
So, we just kept driving and drove all the way to New Orleans 55 very long hot hours in a vehicle...did I mention that we drove down in August with NO air conditioning????

We got 8 hours of sleep and then drove to WDW the next day another 10 hot hours!

I really don't know how I did it??? I would never be able to do it now, I have ZERO tolerance for heat and my back would be numb in a car that long!!!

Geez...I sure wish there was the internet back then! 14 days in WDW in August! That was SILLY!! I remember waiting at least 1 hour for EVERYTHING and 2.5 hours for Back to the Future at USF! Without a lot of info though, well, we didn't know any better!

Good luck if you go...better you than me

 

[PanamaMike]

Calgary to Orlando is approx. 4600 kms. so with an average speed of 100km/hr you are looking at 4 days of days of driving 11 1/2 hours.

That's 8 days of vaction time just getting to and from Orlando.

2 drivers? Split the drive and do more kms in a day. Kids getting restless? Stop for the day earlier and take longer.

Is it doable? Of course. Enjoyable? That depends entirely on the group you'd be going with.

As a single traveller, I usually schedule 12 hours of driving per day on my trips, and I have no problem being in the car that long.

When I was a teen, my parents, 2 siblings and I spent 4 weeks one summer driving from Toronto to Los Angeles, up to Vancouver and back to Toronto. We had a great time.

You say you have three weeks vacation time (maybe more). 8 days of driving would still leave you 13 days in Florida (or lets say 12...you'd probably want a last day of rest at home before returning to work). That's a fair number of days to enjoy WDW.

 

[Irish Kelly]

Well, if this trip happens. I would be going with one of my best friends. (We've known each other since we were 4 years old) and his two boys (my god-sons) They're 6 and almost 4 right now... So, they'll probably be 8 and 6 when we go... I adore the kids, and it'll probably be fun to be in Disneyworld with kids...

Being in the car for 8 days... I can probably handle that, as long as there was air conditioning. My friend is a teacher, so this would definitely be during the summer... (crazy, or what?)

Who knows, maybe we'll spend a bit more time traveling and less time at 'the world'. I'm sure it would be interesting to travel a bit of the United States.

 

[jaysue]

That is a really long trip - personally too long for me unless it was a multi-week trip with lots of sightseeing each way

thanks
jaysue

 

[SandraC]

Two Words......

AIR CANADA

 

[pumpkinboy]

Originally posted by jaysue
That is a really long trip - personally too long for me unless it was a multi-week trip with lots of sightseeing each way...

Sounds kinda fun to me! Yeah it's a lot of driving, but with a lot of sightseeing along the way, and different routes coming and going, it could be a wonderful trip, one that those kids will never forget.

Yahoo! clocks a trip from YYC to Animal Kingdom Lodge (just happen to have it as a saved location ) at 4,837.5km taking 46 hrs and 15 mins straight thru (no way in Hades!). That is heading down to Helena MT, to Pierre SD to Omaha, Kansas City, St Louis, Nashville, Chatanooga and Jacksonville FL before turning into the drive at AKL. edited to add: (oh wait, you're coming from Edmonchuk, aren't you. In that case Yahoo! sends us down the Yellowhead to Winnipeg, then down to the Twin Cities, then down the Mississippi Valley, east of St Louis to Nashville, and onward)

I would think I'd vary the route, hitting Jellystone NP and maybe the Ozarks (in Arkansas), Memphis (and Graceland ) and a Southern route one way, and on the other leg emphsising sights on the Great Plains like Mt Rushmore, the Mitchell Corn Palace (oh yeah!), Mark Twain stuff in Hannibal MO, and also maybe Mammouth Cave in KY, Nashville of course and the sights of "Hot-lanta" GA (I can recommend "The World of Coke" there and also Stone Mountain nearby).

And in between the great Road Trip, oh yeah, you'd be at WDW. It's arduous and not to be taken on lightly, but it could really be special for all of you. Then again, you could start bickering on the road and hate each other forever after that, but that won't happen...

 

[Irish Kelly]

Hmmm....

This is beginning to sound like a possible great adventure.

It would be fun to go two different routes there and back.

Could we be really wacky and drive south through Montana, down through Utah, down to see the Grand Canyon, drive through Texas and on to Florida, then return going through Nashville, St. Louis and what-not??

Pumpkinboy... I can't get my Yahoo map thingy to work. what address are you using for AKL ?

 

[pumpkinboy]

Her's the address I have for AKL (our fav' resort ever):

2901 Osceola Parkway
Bay Lake, FL 32830

Good luck!