Driving to Disney from Massachusetts!

[jlhansen]

Hello everyone,

I'm thinking I'd like to drive to Disney when my (2) 8 year old daughters get out of school in June. I know it will be LONG and sometimes boring for them, but am hoping to give us 5 days to get there and 5 days to get back. I'd love to stop along the way at some great places so the girls and I can see more of the east coast. My questions to you are if you have done this what are your favorite places to stop? Any places you'd avoid? Any good planning websites you've used? Am I crazy to be doing this on my own...or at all? Thanks so much for you advice!

 

[Bren's Mom]

Well, I can make one suggestion!

When you get to the Delaware Memorial Bridge take Route 13 rather than I-95 down. This will take you over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel which is really, really awesome. (Note: there is a hefty toll, but worth it imo.)

http://www.cbbt.com/

And then plan to stay the night somewhere in Virginia Beach perhaps. This trip would be about 10-11 hours depending on where in Massachusetts you're starting from.

 

[tlh0726]

It may be out of the way but the kids may enjoy Luray Caverns, Blue Ridge Parkway and Natural Bridge.
You could also stop in DC and take in the Smithsonian and National Zoo

You did not mention how long you plan on being at Disney.
Have you taken the girls on an extended vacation before? Some kids travel well and some do not. Being away from home and going from hotel to hotel would not bother my kids at all. My friend's kids would be in total meltdown by day 3.


Happy planning!

 

[Schmeck]

Why planning 5 days? It takes 22 hours on the road to get there - are you only going to drive 4 1/2 hours a day? We get there in a day and a half.

 

[comconinc2]

We have been to Disney 16 times and most of the time we drive since my husband and I hate to fly. We have tried the auto train on the east coast but it was uncomfortable and customer service was reallyyyyy bad. However, our drive is miserable. My husband is a road nazi!!! He wants to get there as soon as possible and times us. We have only 10 mintues to eat and 5 minute bathroom breaks. Have you every tried to get 3 females out of the bathroom in 5 minutes? Impossible.

However, I digress. Several times we got him to relax and stopped at several places. Virginia was good, but Hilton Head was excellent!

 

[jlhansen]

Why planning 5 days? It takes 22 hours on the road to get there - are you only going to drive 4 1/2 hours a day? We get there in a day and a half.

Thank you all for some great ideas so far! The reason I thought 5 days is so we could do the trip leisurely and see some great places we've never been too. My husband may not be able to join us, so it would be just me driving and I figured I'd like to enjoy the trip as well. Really any excuse to get to Disney again!

 

[jlhansen]

We have been to Disney 16 times and most of the time we drive since my husband and I hate to fly. We have tried the auto train on the east coast but it was uncomfortable and customer service was reallyyyyy bad. However, our drive is miserable. My husband is a road nazi!!! He wants to get there as soon as possible and times us. We have only 10 mintues to eat and 5 minute bathroom breaks. Have you every tried to get 3 females out of the bathroom in 5 minutes? Impossible.

However, I digress. Several times we got him to relax and stopped at several places. Virginia was good, but Hilton Head was excellent!

If my husband is with us I agree he would be the same! Can't take anything slow and enjoy the trip...that's why we may leave him home

And Hilton Head looks great, so I think we'll either stop there before or after! Good luck with the next trip!

 

[jlhansen]

It may be out of the way but the kids may enjoy Luray Caverns, Blue Ridge Parkway and Natural Bridge.
You could also stop in DC and take in the Smithsonian and National Zoo

You did not mention how long you plan on being at Disney.
Have you taken the girls on an extended vacation before? Some kids travel well and some do not. Being away from home and going from hotel to hotel would not bother my kids at all. My friend's kids would be in total meltdown by day 3.


Happy planning!

Thank you for all the great ideas. My friend did the Luray Caverns last year and her boys loved them. See if I can put it in there somewhere!

As for the girls traveling, sadly their like their mother and love a good adventure so they will hopefully do great. Throw in some good movies and snacks on the road and they'll never want to go home.

Thanks again!

 

[liriel]

Hi! I am from MASS and we have done the drive before..though not with kids. We actually considered it for our trip in Jan with our 3 kids, but we got good flight prices, and thought the weather might be unpredictable. 5 days is more than enough time for a leisurely trip especially with one driver. We have used AAA to help us with directions with their triptik. They can also reccomend places to stop based on what you like to do and the ages of you kids, and help you to avoid any bad construction areas, or at least let you know where they are. If you are a member its all free along with state by state guide books. Think about what cities you are driving through on any given day and make sure you try to avoid them during rush hour traffic times. NYC and DC can be particularly bad....yes worse than the cape on fri.night/sat morn. in the summer, or 93 N/S on any evening for that matter. A lot of people like to say stop at south of the border saying its the halfway point, its kinda sketchy in my opinion and I didn't like it. My husband does... Just be prepared to keep the kids entertained, have plenty of bathroom breaks, and plenty of water and snacks.

 

[tlh0726]

My husband is a road nazi!!! He wants to get there as soon as possible and times us. We have only 10 mintues to eat and 5 minute bathroom breaks. Have you every tried to get 3 females out of the bathroom in 5 minutes? Impossible.

With 2 small kids takes us minimum of 20 mins for just bathroom and 45mins to just eat.
This was one of the reasons on DH's list of why we need to get a motorhome. Have to agree it is very convienent. No more stopping unless we are switching driver's or the driver has got to go. Can grab drinks, snacks, food, or kids can use the bathroom (quickly) as needed.

 

[California Jenn]

I think it would be great fun for you and your daughters! There is so much to see on that drive. As a PP said, you could visit DC or spend some time in NYC. If your DDs are into history, there are lots of interesting places in Virginia to visit -- you could go to Williamsburg, visit Monticello or Jamestown. I think you could quickly fill up your travel time with interesting stops along the way.

 

[princeydisness]

Awesome! We're also driving this year (but from PA) with our 16, 6, and 4 year old. What we're doing is having the 16 year old keep the girls up until 2am while me and hubby sleep. Then we are going to drive from 2am while they sleep for hopefully 6 hours or so. We figure we can get through the BAD areas (DC) before rush hour, and knock out a big part of our trip while they sleep!

It should be fun! We already bought them a portable DVD player for the car!

 

[Schmeck]

Thank you all for some great ideas so far! The reason I thought 5 days is so we could do the trip leisurely and see some great places we've never been too. My husband may not be able to join us, so it would be just me driving and I figured I'd like to enjoy the trip as well. Really any excuse to get to Disney again!

oh, now I get it, sorry!

We've stopped in DC before - the kids loved the zoo! Also stopped in Philadelphia on another trip to see Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. Drove through Gettysburg at dusk, past Hershey during a bad batch of chocolate (burnt chocolate smells nasty!) and did South of the Border once. South of the Border was horrible!

 

[mchelle77]

Subbing, we're also driving and are taking our time on the way home!