Driving to WDW from Mississauga

[SandraC]

Hi, when I was a kid, driving to Florida was a normal thing for my dad. He could do marathon driving while we slept. Hubby and I flew twice to Florida before kids and twice again with the kids. But I'd like to consider driving. I would love to drive thru the night, but I can't drive at night ~ I don't see well at night. So that leaves hubby to do all the night driving. I can easily stay up with him, to help him stay awake, but he doesn't love long distance driving. I can do lots of driving during the day, but then we deal with bored kids (dd 8 years old ds 2 years old). And dh is a better driver than passenger. So how do you all drive from Ontario to Orlando. How long does it take? Do you do it all at once or stop? Where do you stop? How long do you stay in Florida for? Thanks for all your help! Sandra yogalife@teacher.com

 

[WDWBOB1]

I too remember the days when as a kid our family would venture down to Florida. I was amazed as an adult driving my own family to the Sunshine State how different it all felt. As a child, I thought the drive took forever, but driving now to Florida is quicker and more pleasant than 'the old days'. To answer your questions Sandra, I'm not one to drive through the night. Instead we choose to wake up super early and be on the road by 4 or 5 AM. Our kids would be tired enough to sleep through a lot of that day's journey. With 2 meal stops of about an hour's length each, we would easily get to southern Georgia by early evening which is where I would have had enough driving for one day (I too prefer to drive than be a passenger). This leaves us a relatively short and pleasant drive to Orlando for early check-in about noon the second day. I timed this trip one time and it was about 18 1/2 hours of actual drive time from our door in suburban Windsor to WDW. We would do this only for our 2 week excursions and fly for the one week trips. Hope this helps.

 

[Baboo]

Hi Sandra! We've driven down twice with the kids. We usually leave in the afternoon and drive all night. DBIL was with us both times, and he and DH split the driving. We don't stop except for meals and gas, and it usually takes us about 23 hours from London (DBIL lives there). Our kids have never really minded being in the car. The first time we drove to Florida they were 6 and not quite 3. I packed each of them a Rubbermaid suitcase of stuff to keep them busy, including a lot of things that they'd never seen before, so that it kept their interest. I think that if I could, I'd look into getting one of those portable VCR players for the car for the trip. I've heard that they are great for keeping the kids occupied. Kathy

 

[SandraC]

I have this ROMANCE OF THE ROAD thing happening, but I know the reality would be two bored kids and 2 sleepy adults. I want to drive, but I think flying is our way next time.

 

[DSNY FN]

We drove it in 99 and it took us 18 driving hours from London we left here at 4 AM and arrived in Knoxville Tenn at 2:30 in the afternoon we left there after a visit with some friends at 5 PM and were in Atlanta by 8 or 8:30 that night for a stop and another visit. We stayed there for the next day and left around 7 or 8 PM and arrived at WDW around 2AM after my dad got lost in FLA so I made him stop and ask for directions oh well it was a nice drive. We leave in 42 days and are driving down again. This time we are leaving at 6:30 PM so the kids will sleep through the night and we can make better time as we will have fewer stops.
Darren & Lisa

 

[TimNDansMom]

Hi Sandra! We have driven for 3 of our 4 trips to Florida over this past year. We would rather fly, but as a matter of economics, we have driven when the kids went with us. We try to leave as soon as dh gets home from work on Friday and stop over for the night around Lima Ohio, so we're on our way but having an early night. The next morning we leave around 8am and drive to just south of Macon Georgia. We get into Orlando after lunch on the next day. Dh does all the driving (usually) so doing it this way, he doesn't get as tired. On the way home we have stopped in various places depending on what our agenda was after WDW, but at last March Break we HAD to be back home after WDW, so in order to stay as long as possible, we allowed for just one stop on the way home--at Knoxville, Tenn. We stay in hotels that have continental breakfasts, so a fast get-away, then stop for about an hour for lunch and have dinner at our destination city. We also have quick stops at rest centres every couple of hours or so, if only to stretch our legs.

 

[SandraC]

Thanks, I think we might fly until the kids are older

 

[North7]

Hi Sandra. We have drove 5 or 6 times and the last two have been with the kids (ages 5.5 and 4). We always drive straight through from Kingston unless we encounter a really bad snow storm or freezing rain. On our last trip, we left home about 11 am and we arrived about 2 pm the next day (27 hrs). On the way home, we left Disney at 7 am and were back home just after 8 the next morning (25 hrs). We usually stop about 1 hour for meals and then for some stretching/fresh air at the rest stops along the way besides the gas stops.

As far as the driving goes, I find that after the first 4-5 hours, the time really seems to fly by (especially at night). I do most of the driving and as others have said, it really isn't that bad. My wife will stay awake most of the night for company and then she will sleep for a few hours. I find that I usually start to get tired as the sun is rising. My wife will drive for a few hours while I sleep and then I usually finish up the trip.

The kids travel really well... a lot better than either of us could imagine. We take a 13" TV/VCR combo and that is worth its weight in gold. We also have lap desks for the kids so they can colour, read books, or any number of things. We keep a cooler with us as the kids are always wanting something to drink. Both kids will sleep right through the night even when we stop for gas, and in the daytime, they love seeing all new things along the way.

My wife was concerned about driving through the night as she was worried that we may not be able to find any gas stations open and therefore she had me stopping whenever the gas guage would drop down near half. This really isn't a concern... there are many 24 hour gas stations along the route (81 to 66 to 17 to 95 to 4).

Don't dismiss the option of driving too quickly; we were apprehensive too about driving straight through, but now we wouldn't do it any other way and kids seem to be very adaptable. We normally stay 10 - 15 days and our next trip is for 17 nights, so the extra day or two for driving isn't a factor. If you only had 4 or 5 days then driving may not be the best option. We look at it as the money we save on driving vs flying allows us to stay that many more nights at WDW.

Have fun whichever option you choose.

 

[randog]

sandra: may name is randy - aka randog. i work night and have to go now , but we have driven to florida 5 times with are girl since she was 2 1/2 . here is are email pls98@auracom.com we live in peterborough so i know i can help you out. thanks randy

 

[SandraC]

Hi Randy, thanks a bunch. I appreciate your help. I am thinking about driving AGAIN. I'll e-mail you soon with questions. THX

 

[c&m]

Hi SandraC: We have driven down to DL from the West Coast twice. The first time our DDs were 4 yrs and 15 months old. This month, we did it again, our DDs being 6 and 2.5 years old. We've driven 13 long hours at a time with the kids. They're fine as long as they're kept busy with car games (mostly guessing games, I spy games), an activity backpack I give them as a surprise on the day of travel, eating, and napping.

The activity backpack I create is months in planning. I start filling them early on and by the time the trip starts, I have a big stash of goodies. I usually spend around $60 to fill their backpacks. The Crayola markers that work only on their magic paper are great, activity books, and picture books, individual packs of Ritz crackers (with the cheese filling), rice crackers, Sun chips, pretzels, water bottles. My kids also like to listen to children's music that they can sing along to and story tapes.

I think you can do it, SandraC! Not to mention, it'll be a great adventure! And you know, the kids behave quite extraordinary well when they know they're going to such a fun place!

 

[SandraC]

You know, you are all talking me into driving. I've been thinking about all the positive things about driving, #1 being all that time with my family! I like that! I have some questions.

I would like to only stop once both ways, since it's 24 hours drive, that's 12 hour mark. I've been looking at www.mapquest.com and trying to figure out where to stop. I don't what to spend a mint on hotels or food so where do we stop and stay?

How much $$$$ gas both ways.

I'm looking for any budget info! THANKS!

 

[c&m]

On the west coast, there're the Holiday Inns, dotted all along the I-5. You probably have Holiday Inns in the east too. We liked them, especially their complimentary breakfast bar (they had cereals, fresh fruit, bagels, breads, muffins, coffee, tea, juices, milk, etc.). It enabled us to have a quick, nutritious breakfast and then get on the road faster. The cost of our stay in a standard room for 4 people was $89 when we headed down (still considered peak season) and $69 when we were coming back (the start of value season).

We actually liked the Holiday Inn. We thought it was better quality and value than the Downtown LA Hyatt and the Hilton Del Mar hotels that we also stayed at.

Just like you, our drive was around 24 hours. We averaged approximately 12 hours per day on the drive there and back.

 

[chucked]

I have driven to Florida many times. Leaving from Toronto, taking the route through Buffalo, Pittsburg, Charlotte, Jacksonville to Orlando is the shortest, fastest trip. Keep in mind, that you do hit the mountains further North then if you go I75 so weather can be a factor in your decision. That said, Wytheville, WV is pretty much the half way point. There are several motels there to stop for the night. We generally go an additional hour or so South to Statesville NC, about 1/2 an hour North of Charlotte. This gets you out of the mountains and avoids the early morning fog that can occur as you come down from Wytheville. We are usually on the road around 5:00 AM the first morning, and end up in Statesville by 7:00 PM making limited stops for gas and quick meals. Hope this helps.

 

[TimNDansMom]

Sandra, because we planned for one stop on the way home last March break, we found stopping in Knoxville, Tenn to be a good half-way point. We stayed at the Sleep Inn, 5460 Central Ave (take exit #108 off I-75) at a very good rate of $45.00 which I prebooked over the Internet. Adding up my records of our full-ups, it cost us about $150.00usd for gas, not including the full tank we started the trip from home with (that's for a Windstar van). And if I remember correctly there was a 24hr grocery store next door, where I went and stocked up for the rest of the trip home. There's also a Ryan's Steakhouse (which we like) nearby. Hope this helps!

 

[SandraC]

Hi Julie, thanks for posting. Is $150.00 USF for gas both ways? Was $45.00 USF? I'd like to talk dh into two trips this year. One in April and one maybe in the summer (driving) or January 2002. THANKS!