Driving to WDW from Ontario

[August2010]

How many days do you take to drive from Ont to WDW? This is our first WDW trip as a family of 5. Since we have young ones we will try to stop every 5 hours or so making it a 4 day trek each way. (that's how we have done our drives to Winnipeg and it worked best for us) It would probably be cheaper to fly but the thought of taking a flight with a 16 month old really doesn't appeal to me at all!
Anyone have experiences to share?

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

My family and I like to take our time so we like to take 2 & 1/2 days of driving down and we also take Interstate 75.

 

[rjan67]

We drive straight through or no more than one night. It makes the trip way too long after that. Have done so since the kids were babies (they are now 12, 10 and 7). Takes about 22 hours or so with a couple of meal/gas breaks thrown in. Actually works best for the kids if we drive through the night, not so great for the parents however!

 

[MomtoEmIs&Ow]

I guess it depends where you are coming from in Ont.... We live in southwestern ON , and it took us 2 days there, and then we took it a little slower on the way home, so 3 days back. So you are planning 4 days there, and the same home?? I think that you will get sick of driving. I guess if you are making the trip down part of your vacation, and doing some cool/fun things though...

How old are your kids? When we did the drive our kids were 10, 3 and 3months. We just made sure that we did stop at rest stops, and our first night we stopped a liitle early, around 6pm so that we could get some supper, and then went for a swim so the kids could burn off so energy! This worked out great for us!

 

[Sugar Jones]

Our plan for our first trip in September is to do it in two days. We are leaving early on day one like 4:00am and driving for as long as possible, with pee & meal breaks along the way. We are really hoping to get passed Atlanta on the first day. Then we will have a shorter drive on day 2 and hopefully get to Disney by supper time. This is all a plan though, who knows what will happen with 3 kids

 

[adamsloco]

From the far East end of Toronto, we took 2.5 days to get to WDW. Annoyingly, our first pee break took place in ... Toronto, barely half hour into our trip.

We could have been there in two days, easily. The DW insisted on stopping earlier than I wanted to on the first night, and we were stopped early evening within 2 hours of WDW on the second day. Our ressie's weren't until the following day.(We took I 75)

Since the trip was rather horrible for me, I rather pushed the drive home. We left WDW when EPCOT closed, and stopped at Jacksonville. The next day I drove straight through, Jacksonville to Home. We don't switch the driving. So, it can be done in one day, if you really need to. Two drivers makes it easier.

Incidently, that was with an 8 year old DS, a 4 year old DD and a 1 year old DD. The DW sat in the back with the 1 year old, so that diaper changes, and nursings would not interrupt the trip.

 

[SherryG]

We left the western part of GTA at 4:00 AM and checked into our hotel in Rock Hill, SC by 5:30 pm on day one. That was a stop for lunch and gas and then a couple of quick bathroom breaks and gas fill ups. Then the next day you have about 8 hours into Orlando. Coming back we do it in 2 days as well although no one is in a hurry to get home!

 

[lee-annl]

We are planning on leaving around dinner time on Sunday evening and driving straight through the night. We are hoping to be at our townhouse by 9pm Monday, maybe evening sooner.

We will do a day at Disney on the following Tuesday and then leave either at dinner time or later and should be back late Wed.

We want to spend a full 7 days at Disney so we aren't taking our time driving.

 

[Stitch'sCousin]

We did it in 2 1/2 days on the way down with 3 kids (6, 9, 12). If you haven't looked into it yet, I highly recommend checking out the Autotrain for your return trip from WDW. It won't save you much money but they transport you and your vehicle from Sanford FL (leave around 4 pm in the afternoon) to Lorton VA ,just outside Washington, (arrive the next morning in the 9 - 10 am range). It cuts more than 1000 km off of the drive, you get meals and they show a movie in the evening. We then did the Lorton to Ontario drive in one day.

 

[iluveeyore]

We've done the drive several times with three young children in a very small car. We found the best trips were when we left at 2 or 3am the first day (DH would have a nap) then the kids would sleep for quite a while. We like to stop at Charlotte NC or just past there, then there are only about 8 or 9 hours left. That puts us stopping at 3pm the first night, time for swimming, dinner and a good night's sleep for everyone. Then we get up early so the kids sleep most of the rest of the way (around 4 or 5 am), then we're checking into our room at WDW right on time. We're much too excited to get there to make it more than a two day trip. I'd rather spend more of my vacation at WDW than on the road. Have a safe and fun trip!

 

[August2010]

Thanks for the tips. We are leaving from Cambridge, ON. Ours kids are 16 yr, 3.5 and 16 months. We have 2 weeks vacation and 1 week booked at WDW so we thought we would take our time there and back. I need to sneek in a few shopping destinations in there on the way!

 

[vim]

Here is my confirmed driving schedule with checkpoints:
We left home at 3pm and were in Jacksonville next day at around 5pm.

km Hours 15:00
Peace Bridge 185 2:00 17:00
Erie 150 1:30 18:30
Pittsburgh, PA 200 2:00 20:30
Morgantown, WV 110 1:00 21:30
Beckley, WV 280 3:00 0:30
Sleep 7:00 7:30
Charlotte, NC 325 3:20 10:50
Columbia, SC 150 1:30 12:20
Savannah, GA 240 2:20 14:40
Jacksonville, FL 220 2:15 16:55

This timing is based on Google maps, but we were able to make it exactly like that. I hate speading, but driving with trafic makes you drive a bit faster. So you save some time. Then you stop to pee, fill up gas and eat and you loose 10-30min. Then you speed up and catch up.
Above route is if you will go from Toronto using I79, I77.

I am driving to Sarasota in about 4 weeks. I am not sure which way to go - Should I go I-75 or go route that I already did once - I79 and I77. I see many people have their preference and stick to it. I am driving from Richmond Hill, but still I cannot decide...

 

[Debbie]

Get a copy of Along I-75. They have some great side trips that we did when we had little ones. Always stopped for World's Finest Ice Cream, checked out the original Kentucky Fried Chicken Store/Museum, Museum of Appalachia etc. We even drove through the mountains between Cleveland Tenn. and Cleveland GA to go to the Cabbage patch Hospital--TWICE! (different appropriate-aged kids). Have fun! It's a nice trip when you are not rushed to get back.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Get a copy of Along I-75. They have some great side trips that we did when we had little ones. Always stopped for World's Finest Ice Cream,

I am just wondering was the Ice Cream at Mayfield Dairy as good as he says? My family and I are thinking of stopping there so we can try it.

 

[4boyz]

We have been doing this drive twice a year for the last 8 years and drive down over 3 days and come home over two days.

We take the I-79 route as well. We stop at Cranberry Pa and go to the outlets in Grove City and Washington Pa. No sales tax on clothes. Generally we stay night 1 at Cranberry Pa and shop that day and then drive to Charlotte NC for night 2. It is a relatively easy drive from Charlotte to WDW and we get there at between 3:00 and 4:00 pm leaving at

The shopping and price checking on the way there has saved us a lot of money instead of buying in Florida and some cases we wait until the drive back to make purchases.

I love getting gas at Costco in Cranberry Pa and in Charlotte NC always decent prices.

Kids like frequent stops but there is no replacing portable DVD players and DSI's.

You can take as much time as you like to get there but the key for us is we are on vacation and the road trip is as much a part of the vacation as the destination.

 

[Debbie]

I am just wondering was the Ice Cream at Mayfield Dairy as good as he says? My family and I are thinking of stopping there so we can try it.

Since we've mostly gone to WDW in August, the stop is a delight. Cost is minimal, and a wonderful break from the norm. Loved the stop, and I remember once when we didn't stop (timing didn't work), the kids were disappointed.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Since we've mostly gone to WDW in August, the stop is a delight. Cost is minimal, and a wonderful break from the norm. Loved the stop, and I remember once when we didn't stop (timing didn't work), the kids were disappointed.

Thanks for your reply.

 

[MystikaFaith]

It took us 27 hours to drive from Kingston, Ontario to Orlando which includes time stopped to eat lunch and supper as well as many bathroom breaks. We tried to stop every 3 hours for a bathroom and exercise break. We were travelling with two children aged 4 and 8 in a tiny two door car and found it very helpful to force the children to burn off energy at rest stops by making them do jumping jacks outside of the car or see how many times they could run around a tree.... whatever it took to get them moving!

The kids were excellent the whole trip. Their gameboys and portable DVD player were LOVELY and I did not here "are we there yet?" even once! I also brought along some disney coloring books as well as some "surprise" dollar store gifts to occupy them along the way.

Oh and the 27 hours did not include time to sleep. We left early morning around 6am (wanted to leave sooner but fell behind schedule as when we were packing the car in the morning we discovered we had packed TOO much and had to reorganize things) Then we continued driving (with the frequent breaks as mentioned before) until 10 or 11 at night. Pretty much we stopped when we got tired.

Overall, driving was a wonderful experience. Neither myself or my husband had ever been to the states before so it was lovely to see the country AND we saved alot of money by driving. It would have cost us ~$1900 for airfare for all four of us and it only cost us $780 to drive ($400 for gas, $180 for hotels, and $200 for food)

I think if I were to do it again I would definitly drive but I would spread the drive out over 3 days to allow more time for sightseeing...

 

[melly_jane]

We've done the drive twice (the first time dd was 19 months) and the last time was last fall. DD was 5.5 and ds was 2.5. The drive was pretty good ...had all the essentials...nintendo ds and dvds!

we spread the trip out a bit. Left thursday afternoon around 3pm (from Brampton) a few quick stops on the way. At the border around 5pm drove for a couple more hours ...dinner stop....dh drove some more and stopped in virginia overnight. up early for breakfast...and off we went...stopped a few times for pee breaks and lunch and then dinner...then drove a bit more got to Darien GA ....overnight stop...early up for breakfast.....off we went...in orlando by lunch time!

we're doing it again in late september! and the inlaws will be following us in their car

good luck!! it's definitely worth it...it'll add some more adventure to your trip!!

 

[Rita007]

found it very helpful to force the children to burn off energy at rest stops by making them do jumping jacks outside of the car or see how many times they could run around a tree.... whatever it took to get them moving!

You planted a mental image in my mind of my 2, 5, and 7 year olds running around a tree while dh times them on his watch. HILARIOUS!

I'll think of you as we get them moving!

Thanks for the laugh!