Driving to Disney

[mackaylc]

I am going to disney for the first time , driving from NS to Florida beginning on Sunday. My husband's father is driving and remembered hearing that it is a good idea to get Florida license plates from the police station once u are down there so that you don't have plates that give away that u are tourist. I looked all over the place on the web and think that this is just an urban myth because I can't find anything about it. Does anyone know anything about this?

Thanks

 

[highland3]

I can't iamage you would be able to get Florida plates for a short visit.

It is true, that tourists can be targets... but that is true everywhere.

 

[usetheforceluke]

I'd go along with the urban myth comment. I couldn't see the state just giving out temporary license plates.

Besides, when you get to WDW, it's not like your vehicle is going to be the only out-of-state vehicle there.

Jim.

 

[Ham Ham]

Sounds like an urban legend to me about obtaining temporary tourist plates in Florida.
Crime can happen any where, keep vehicle locked, no luggage in sight and when you park is not the time to move valuables into the trunk.

Florida is full of vehicles with tags from other places.

Here's link to Florida Motorist Services & Information

 

[nosnobunny2006]

I think someone is pulling your leg. Heck in the Ft. Lauderdale neighbourhood where my daughter lives, people who moved in from out of state still don't change their plates to Florida plates years after their move. There's some sort of financial benefit to them not to. You certainly won't be the only one.

Beth

 

[mackaylc]

Thanks very much, I thought it sounded a little unlikely, but wanted to make sure!

 

[Kurby]

we drove down in May of 06 with a 7 months old and a mini van full of crap - and by that i mean that we have NO idea how to pack and took everything LOL

when we stopped for the night all we took out was our over night bag with a change of clothes and toiletries, our cell phones, cameras and GPS.

everything else stayed in the car.

when we got to WDW we were among the majority - most plates were out of state and country.

I remember when we were young and had a motor home, we drove all over the states and heard stories about "tourist's" being targets but we never can across anyone who could say it happened to them personally it was always "did you hear about...."

another thing i remember was that somewhere along the I90 there was some punks tossing rocks or bricks off the bridges at cars and a few that were hit were tourists but i think that was more the luck of the draw over intent.

just take as much car on vacation as you do parking down town or in the malls and you'll be fine.

 

[nosnobunny2006]

just take as much car on vacation as you do parking down town or in the malls and you'll be fine.

Yikes!!! Our largest local mall has at least one car stolen a day. The police don't like to let that information out but it's true.


Beth

 

[MikeyNS]

I am going to disney for the first time , driving from NS to Florida beginning on Sunday. My husband's father is driving and remembered hearing that it is a good idea to get Florida license plates from the police station once u are down there so that you don't have plates that give away that u are tourist. I looked all over the place on the web and think that this is just an urban myth because I can't find anything about it. Does anyone know anything about this?

Thanks

Definitely an urban myth. Everyone down there is a tourist. You can even tell who has a rental car. I find they stick out like sore thumbs.
I make a game of it when I'm down there.. see how many states/provinces I can find while I'm out and about. You'd be surprised!

 

[dancin Disney style]

We drove down this past August and all the cars in the parking lot at POFQ were from other states and Canada.

As mentioned previously, lock your car, remove valuables and don't park in a dark area. All just common sense.

 

[kimsuenew]

We drove down/back August/September from northern Ohio. At SSR all the cars parked in our section were from out of state. You all will be fine!

 

[OntFamily]

Here's how this myth may have become established.

Some years ago (15?) rental cars in Florida had a special designation on their license plates. Many people driving rental cars were targeted for violence (robbery, and cars targeted for damage). Due to the outcry from the tourism board (as tourists were staying away from Florida), the State of Florida changed the license plates on rental cars, so that the new license plates were the same as the plates used by Florida residents (so the rental cars could not be easily identified).

 

[Ham Ham]

Yikes!!! Our largest local mall has at least one car stolen a day. The police don't like to let that information out but it's true.

Beth

So... are you going to tell us which mall it is?
Scarborough Town Centre? Square One? West Edmonton Mall? Surrey Place Mall?

I'm assuming the mall is in the GTA.

The Police are now using bait cars at certain GO Transit commuter parking lots in the Greater Toronto Area.

Here's a link to a program they have in BC. BAIT CARS

 

[nosnobunny2006]

So... are you going to tell us which mall it is?
Scarborough Town Centre? Square One? West Edmonton Mall? Surrey Place Mall?

[/url]

Nope - nowhere near the GTA. I heard about this from a friend who had his van stolen in broad daylight last year. When he called the police, they didn't even take a report and told him to call his insurance company. There's something so not right about this. No wonder our insurance rates are going through the roof.

Beth

 

[Csaks]

I just went down to the lot to check on the truck. I was getting nervous, haven't seen the truck since Sunday ( it's still there). The plates were from all over but I haven't seen another Ont. plate since the first day.

 

[Shir Kahn]

The first time we drove down from Manitoba to Orlando, we arrived in Orlando just after 1am, expecting to see the usual gauntlet of hotels everywhere as we drove into the city, just like every other city I've ever been to. Unfortunately, Orlando doesn't seem to follow this tradition, as we didn't see a single hotel for the first 20 or so minutes we got there.

I worked for Fedex Customer Service at the time and when I saw an exit for South Orange Blossom Trail, I thought to myself, "hey, I've scheduled a lot of pickups at hotels on this street!". So we turned off at that exit. Apparently though, I must have been scheduling the pickups at North Orange Blossom Trail because the area we were in was extremely run down and we actually had people approaching the car at the first stop sign we came to. We weren't far from the ramp to get back onto the highway we came from, so I actually ran a red light (no other cars were in sight) to get out of there!

We eventually saw a sign that showed us the way to the airport and knew that there must be a hotel in that direction, and sure enough we found one. It was a scary start to our trip though! Expensive too! I think we ended up going through about $20 in change from all the tolls we kept going through!