Driving to the World, is this crazy?

[ohlas]

1084 miles from my house in ohio to disney door step 18.5 hours drive with the stopping max,,, flights 7.5 hours with all the waiting,, so im really only driving 11 hours right lol well its like 300 person air fair then 75 person for rent car my car cost 350 in gas and 75 in food. so im saving 900 to drive.


drive my pretties drive hahahahahaha

 

[JB2K]

For those of you who have done this before, what are your best tips and mistakes to avoid?

I just returned from a 2,000 mile roundtrip to WDW -- I would definitely do it again (so long as fuel prices don't hit $4 per gallon, of course).

 

[ShelShelsmommy]

We drive everytime we go, and it is around 1,050 one way. We travel with 2 kids and this time we will add a third. They range in age from 1-7. We have never had any issues.... you put on a DVD and they don't mind at all. We drive straight there since there are always atleast 2 drivers. It is doable, and a nice time to talk since there is nothing else you can do. LOL

 

[Kazzy1548]

Hey there neighbor,

We are from Chambly and plan to drive down this summer for the first time, although we are planning to stay for a longer period. We can't wait to live the experience of the road trip. In the past we flew down twice and were stressed both times. I am looking forward in enjoying the freedom. Have a nice trip. Drive safely.....

 

[wide receiver]

We drive everytime we go, and it is around 1,050 one way. We travel with 2 kids and this time we will add a third. They range in age from 1-7. We have never had any issues.... you put on a DVD and they don't mind at all. We drive straight there since there are always atleast 2 drivers. It is doable, and a nice time to talk since there is nothing else you can do. LOL

Do you drive right through? You inspire me! We drive 1161 or did I say 1061 (sorry its late) Anyway it takes us about 17-18 drive hours. We usually stop in Southern GA. And then drive 3-6 hours the second day. I wish we could drive right through. Just too old now

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

The drive very doable. We drive from southern ontario. From Oakville to be DIsney is 2116 kms. We leave 5 am ish in the morning and drive 12 to 14 hrs. we have a hotel book and start calling about 2 hrs out from when we figure its enough driving for the day. We always stay holiday inn express. They are new clean have indoor pools and contental breakfast. Oh and if your a non smoker the rooms have never been smoked in. We get up early the next day have breaky then head off and drive into daytona which is about 5 to 7 hrs depending on when we stopped the day before. We stay there for the afternoon do daytona usa or something else and get a good night sleep. We get up early and drive less than 1.5 hours to Disney and we are well rested. We are at disney ready to check in around 10 am. If our room is ready great if not they will give us our park passes and we head to the parks and worry about our bags later. We are doing this drive 6 weeks from today.

 

[blessedFAMILY]

We are Planning to head down the last week of Feb and we are 32 hours (Brandon Manitoba) away....Family of 5 the closest cheapest airport is 12 hours away out of Minneapolis so we may as well keep driving I think down will be ok but coming back I am not so thrilled about.......the cheapest flight I can find is almost $1300 and then a car rental ..I hope it will be cheaper ....

 

[bigmama67]

I'm also very encouraged by all of this - we flew down two years ago with DS (then almost 5) but next summer plan to drive down in our minivan. We have DS who will be 7, DD who will be 22 months when we go, and us. I'm planning to get as far as possible the first day (Florence SC at least!) On the way back we will spend the night in Richmond VA with friends. So that will give us a full week in Florida (though we will do US, BG, SW and the Space Center this time...saving our next Mouse trip for just before DS ages out of the "kid" ticket).

Woohoo!

Rachel in NJ

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

The hardest part of driving is kids. What to do with the kids. This is what we do to help make the trip easy.

First of all we stop at the visitor centers for each state. This is good for bathroom and leg stretching. This is also a good time to empty out the garbage and clean the windows so dad (me) doesnt get impatent and want to rush out. This 15 mins stop will be good for hours of driving. DVD player with headphones that not only cover the ears but ones that wrap around them so they wont be complaing about your music bring up to loud. Video games PSP, DS etc stuff like that. MP3 players with there fav music loaded on to it. Coloring books reading books anything to keep them busy. Here is one of the best driving tips we have been told. Hit the dollar store before you go purchase about 10 different items per kid and every time you stop let them have a new toy. It's amazing how a peice of crap toy is good for hours of amusment. If they break it who cares the next bathroom / leg stop you can throw it out.

 

[mill4023]

The hardest part of driving is kids. What to do with the kids. This is what we do to help make the trip easy.

First of all we stop at the visitor centers for each state. This is good for bathroom and leg stretching. This is also a good time to empty out the garbage and clean the windows so dad (me) doesnt get impatent and want to rush out. This 15 mins stop will be good for hours of driving. DVD player with headphones that not only cover the ears but ones that wrap around them so they wont be complaing about your music bring up to loud. Video games PSP, DS etc stuff like that. MP3 players with there fav music loaded on to it. Coloring books reading books anything to keep them busy. Here is one of the best driving tips we have been told. Hit the dollar store before you go purchase about 10 different items per kid and every time you stop let them have a new toy. It's amazing how a peice of crap toy is good for hours of amusment. If they break it who cares the next bathroom / leg stop you can throw it out.

Yep. We bring a ton of stuff to keep the kids entertained. Portable or car DVD players are the best invention ever. But even watching movies isn't enough. After 2 or 3 movies, our kids are done with it and ready to do something else. I think the key is to have a wide variety of activities for the kids to do.

 

[hearts8701]

here's a free printable page with coloring pages puzzles & activity pages for the kids
http://psc.disney.go.com/abcnetworks/toondisney/games/printables.html