Driving Questions - I-4, I-95 WDW signs

[melifeld]

Hi all,

We are planning a WDW surprise trip for DS's 6th birthday, and we are trying to decide when to surprise him. We are driving down the day before we check into AKL and staying offsite for that night. My DH wants to just let DS figure it out when we drive through the WDW gate. I, on the other hand, am not sure if this will work with ads along the road, etc.

We are driving down from NC and will take I-95 to I-4.
1. How much WDW signage is there on I-95 and I-4?
2. Will DS figure out where we are going before we get there?
3. Where should we stay along this route (but as close as possible to WDW for parks the next morning) to avoid DS knowing where we are going until we get there?

Thanks!

 

[haj697]

We have made this trip numerous times and I asked my DH and DD if they could help with the answer. We all agree that the first WDW sign we see is when you take the curve to get on I4 from I95. There may be a couple more as you head west, but most of them are between downtown Orlando and WDW. When our kids were younger, I remember that they would be so engrossed in watching DVDs that they wouldn't necessarily notice the signs unless we pointed them out. As far as where to stay, I can't offer any suggestions because we tend to stay close to property the night before checking in onsite.

 

[melifeld]

Thanks haj697. I would also prefer to stay closer the night before. I'm trying to decide if we should risk it and hope he is oblivious in the back seat with a DVD or his DS so he won't see the signs. Or maybe we should just surprise him beforehand? I don't know what to do.

Thanks to you and your family for the info though. I really appreciate it.

 

[ParrotBill]

How aware is your 6 year old? Reading road signs?

I don't find the signs for I-4 from I-95 to really announce DisneyWorld that much. Here are the main points to be aware and try to distract him:

1) Florida Welcome Center on I-95 as you cross from GA. Don't stop!

2) I-95 signs for I-4 West. low risk. Make sure he's reading a book or watching a movie.

3) The exits from I-4 that lead into WDW - starting with FL535, FL536/EPCOT, then Oceola Parkway, then US192, then World Drive. These get harder as you go farther...

4) and the archway to unveil the surprise if you make it!

tried to get my daughter as far as we could when she was 10. Told her we were going to Washington DC. She asked why we were in Ohio... told her the traffic is back directly from the north and our hotel is on the west side. She bought it. Overnight she slept... and woke up as we stopped in Columbia, SC. She asked where we are. I said District of Columbia, err, South Carolina. Her response: Hey, are are going to Disneyworld? Busted. But got a long way!

 

[rmgreenesq]

Melifeld:

Your story reminds me of the times I blindsided my daughter with trips to Disneyland. I grew up in SoCal and went to Disneyland many times. My wife and I moved to Central Massachusetts in 2000, and our daughter was born a couple of years later. In January of 2010, the three of us moved back to SoCal, landing in Huntington Beach, 10 miles south of Disneyland.

The first time was February of 2010. We woke the kid up early, tossed her in the back of the car, turned north on Harbor Boulevard, and told her that we were going to go and play in a park that my wife and I played in when we were kids. My seven year old daughter was satisfied with that answer until I passed Katella Ave. She saw the Disneyland sign and exclaimed, "I want to go to Disneyland!" My problem was that it had been 15 years since I'd been to Disneyland. I expected to turn left off Harbor and into the parking lot only to find California Adventure where the parking lot was. I had a seven year old freaking out on Disney Magic and no clue how to get into Disneyland.

The second time was her birthday. It was a school day, so we loaded up the kid to drive her to school. Instead of turning south on Harbor, we turned north. Our daughter had no clue we weren't going to school until we got to the Mickey and Friends parking structure. I bought the family Annual Passes that day as a birthday gift. My daughter now knows the way to Disneyland quite well.

Rick

 

[melifeld]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

ParrotBill - Thanks for the play-by-play. If DS is watching a movie or playing his video game, he could well be oblivious. I think we need to stay above FL535 the night before to keep the secret, but we could have issue in the hotel lobby. Maybe we are better off staying outside of Orlando the night before.

If we stay in Sanford or Lake Mary we may have a better chance of surprising him the next day. Then we'll only have about a 40 minute drive that morning.

Thanks again everyone!

 

[excitedfamof4]

We just got back from our Disney trip and stayed in Lake Mary for the first night before we checked into WBC. We stayed at a beautiful Hampton Inn and the only Disney things we saw was all the park brochures....which was by the bathrooms in the lobby, not near check-in.

And the others are correct. The only Disney signs we saw were right as you got on I-4 off of 95.

Have fun!!!

 

[melifeld]

Thanks excitedfamof4!

 

[disneymom0811]

That is such a cute idea if you could distract him till the big WELCOME TO WALT DISNEY WORLD sign, that would be such a surprise, we are driving down too (new york) but I am not sure about signs.