Driving to disney from PA

[aprilfoolwed]

We leave in 17 days! We'll be driving from the Lehigh Valley - we're doing a caravan with my parents. There will be 5 of us in our minivan (kids are 8, 6 and 3) and 2 in my parents' minivan. Neither my mom nor I like to drive on big highways, so only my dad and husband will drive. Because of that, we opted to leave on a Friday morning and drive as far as we can one day - then stop over at a hotel Friday night and continue the drive on Saturday morning (hoping to be in Orlando just after lunch).

I don't really know what to expect with this trip. I've done the drive many times - but I was the "kid" going with my parents. And much, much older than my children are now.

I plan on putting my little guy in a pull-up just in case (he's been potty trained for nearly a year). We plan on stopping every 3 hours for potty breaks and to let the kids stretch a few minutes.

I have TONS planned for the car ride - we have a DVD and VCR for the car, the big kids have MP3s and Nintendos, I have little gifts/prizes to hand out at every state line, lots of new coloring books, games etc. I made the kids their own Disney journals and coloring books too.

I am crossing my fingers we do okay - because my husband will NEVER agree to do it again if it's a failure! LOL

 

[mickeysmiles]

Bucks Co here too! We're driving in Aug. I think we'll leave around 7 am and drive as far as we can, allowing time for breaks and meals. I hope we make it to Savannah GA...We have AAA so I found out that they will help us make the hotel arrangements while we're on the road. I like the idea of letting them price shop for us and giving us the a good idea of what hotels we have to choose from for our trip down.
We drove in 2006 and left Phila at 3:15, made it to Rocky Mount NC for the overnight, left at 7 am and were at the resort by 5 pm.

Question, So you can call AAA while you are driving and let them know the city and they will get you a hotel? That would be great so we can stop when we want to stop.

 

[rotlex]

Wow, lots of neighbors.

We are doing the drive next month, leaving on the 15th of June, from the Lehigh Valley. Two kids, one 6 year old, one 8 month old. We plan on leaving Monday morning around 4am, I'm normally up then anyway, and driving to Savannah Georgia by evening. (Staying overnight in a Marriot right off of 95).
In the morning, I want to be on the road by 6, and in the hotel pool until check in by noon, LOL.

It's our first drive down as a family, although I have driven it before, so my wife and I are looking at it as our first true "family road trip".

For reference, we plan on doing 81, to 77, to 26, to 95.

 

[DISNEYNV]

We might do the drive down the week before Christmas! I would rather fly to get there faster, but if it means going over not going to WdW.... Were driving

Oh, Southwest has a great deal right now on their website! Kids or a friend fly for FREE over certain dates and days of the week. Plus free dinning if you stay onsite and other off site hotel deals!!! Very tempting. Now if I could just talk DH into it

 

[PA Princess]

We might do the drive down the week before Christmas! I would rather fly to get there faster, but if it means going over not going to WdW.... Were driving

Hey we are planning a trip that same week and also wrestling with the drive vs. fly scenario. I am prepared to drive, but I am still on the look out for a good fly deal (come on Southwest!) in the hope we will be able to fly. Course, both have cons and I am also rather leery of airports in December with 4 kids - eeek!

 

[dawnn12]

if you have AAA you can call them and get the thing they call a trip ticket they give you detailed directions and with those direction books it has info on the exits(or next towns) so if your going down 95(like most of us who drive do) you can look up the next exit number in the book and it tells you hotels, resteraunts(sp?) and other attrations they were great when i used to drive down if one of the kids need to stop(thats usally the only reason we needed to stop besides fuel) my dh would look up the next exit and see what was around and with the hotels if i remember correctly they give you the phone numbers also hth have a great trip( btw we figured it out and it costs about the same(within $100) to fly down and get a rental car then when we drove down)

 

[dmaz]

When we drive through the night from central Jersey we are always at Disney around Lunch time. This year we will be staying in Savannah 12hrs from here 4 hrs from Disney.
Once you drive through the night it can be difficult to stop until you get to Orlando. You get that extra adrenaline rush that you can make it there.

 

[mrstomrice]

Question, So you can call AAA while you are driving and let them know the city and they will get you a hotel? That would be great so we can stop when we want to stop.

Yes, this is what AAA told me. They said that I can call within their hours, which I beleive are M-F 9-9 and Sat and SUn from 10-4 and they can help me book my hotel from the road, as well as price shop for me. I will also have my I-95 exit information as well. I think it is another good reason to have AAA for a road trip!

 

[mrstomrice]

We might do the drive down the week before Christmas! I would rather fly to get there faster, but if it means going over not going to WdW.... Were driving

Oh, Southwest has a great deal right now on their website! Kids or a friend fly for FREE over certain dates and days of the week. Plus free dinning if you stay onsite and other off site hotel deals!!! Very tempting. Now if I could just talk DH into it

I'm looking for the kids fly free deal...where did you see it? Thanks!

 

[jennyerin]

We do it a little differently. We leave the Lansdale area in the afternoon on a Friday and drive to Lumberton, North Carolina. We then stay in a hotel overnight there (we learned to have a reservation after one time when we were late and only a "dumpy" motel was available - plus we get a deal that way...) and drive the next day to Florida. The kids have gameboys and a dvd player so they are pretty much entertained. I really like having our car with us. We stop at a cousin's before going to WDW so it comes in handy. I also enjoy stopping at the Disney character outlet in St. Augustine on the way
Lynn

 

[letsgoagainsoon]

We are north of you, but if we leave early in the morning, we try to make it to Darien, GA. The next morning we only have about 3.5 hr drive left. Our total drive time is about 18hrs.

We take portable DVD players, Nintendos, coloring/activity books, and snacks which all are great. The ride down is fun, we call it a vacation in itself. The ride back not so much!