First drive to Disney World (God help me)

[kitkatsmom]

I swore up and down I would NEVER drive to Disney world. Well I'm eating those words cause we just decided this next visit we are driving. (mid summer) I am the girl who is car sick 20 minutes into the drive but I will just have to stock up on motion sickness pills and suck it up.
There was always very cheap airfare to Florida but this time around we can't find anything for under 1400. (round trip, total price, for four). so we did the calculations and its so much cheaper to drive.

Now we are using that same money to have the dining plan (yay)

I have been researching this board and have come up with some good tips.

Our plan is/was to leave PA (not far from philadelphia) at about 2-3am and head down I95. Drive all the way till we hit the top of Florida and stop for the night. Friends of mine have done this trip a few times and this is what they always did.

BUT from what I hear I95 is currently a nightmare with construction from PA down through VA.. So
Is there a better route?

We have 2-3 different drivers so I think we will be ok with our plan of driving to the top of Florida in one day. Then we will stay overnight and leave fresh in the morning.

I'm hoping to be at our resort by noon. We are renting a car from enterprise so I am hoping there is a drop off location in downtown disney to return the car. (anyone know? ) We are using enterprise due to my husband having enough points to get the rental for free. (so cant do another company)

Then we will rely on disney transportation during our stay (6 days)

Then we will pick up a rental and drive home.

If anyone knows a better route than I 95 please let me know (PA to FL)
and if anyone knows where the Enterprise rental is near downtown disney too?
thanks!!!

 

[MudQueen22]

We drive from Texas so I can't help you with roads.
Advice about the car sickness--always ride in the front seat. I find it helps so much. I get so sick in the back.
And you're smart to bring plenty of meds. And bring a small trash can just in case.

 

[KrazeeK120]

This may be a silly question, but if you're driving from home, why are you renting a car? One big bonus for us to driving to Disney is that I love being in my own car. I know where all the buttons are and how everything works, and I like the sense of familiarity when I'm in an unfamiliar place.

Also, driving around Disney is so easy and much more convenient than Disney transport most of the time, in my opinion. No dealing with crowded buses full of sweaty people and overtired children (and adults). No waiting around for the bus. No standing on the bus on my tired feet at the end of the day. In my opinion, another bonus is being able to drive around property!

I drive from Illinois, so I'm unable to help you with the route...sorry. Hopefully someone else will be able to chime in.

 

[kitkatsmom]

This may be a silly question, but if you're driving from home, why are you renting a car? One big bonus for us to driving to Disney is that I love being in my own car. I know where all the buttons are and how everything works, and I like the sense of familiarity when I'm in an unfamiliar place.

Also, driving around Disney is so easy and much more convenient than Disney transport most of the time, in my opinion. No dealing with crowded buses full of sweaty people and overtired children (and adults). No waiting around for the bus. No standing on the bus on my tired feet at the end of the day. In my opinion, another bonus is being able to drive around propertyin.

We are doing a rental because my husband has enough enterprise points to get it for free both ways and he rather do that then put the miles and wear on our car.

We are not keeping the car because we've used Disney transportation in the past and didn't have any problems and don't mind waiting. Plus we save money not having the rental all week (not enough points for all those days)

 

[sharadoc]

Hi. Are you west of Philly? We are, and we like to break up the trip into two days and NOT get ourselves exhausted on the way.

The alternative to 95 is to take the turnpike west, hit Route 81, then Route 77. If you stop around Columbia SC, you are 6 hours away from Disney on the 2nd day.

Our schedule - leave home around 10 am, drive 10 hours, stopping around 9 pm. Get up the next morning, have breakfast in the hotel, then back on the road around 9-9:30. Stop at the Florida welcome center for Free OJ and lots of Disney brochures to start the excitement in the car. Then arrive at the resort around 3:30 - 4:00 (check in time at OKW)

With this schedule, we are fully rested, comfortable and ready to go for the trip. If we leave really early, drive forever, then we start our trip exhausted. We end up having to recover the first day or so, which really cuts into the trip fun.

The "For 2000+ mile drivers" thread is full of folks from PA and NJ, so you can ask anything and get a few good answers there. Best thread on the boards!!

 

[strat68]

If you leave at 3am you will hit the DC Beltway around 5am which should be fine. There is construction but no traffic. Google maps can give you a preview of the drive if you tell it what time you leave home.

 

[DSLRuser]

with 3 drivers, skip the stop, do it all in one stint.

 

[rwdavis2]

with 3 drivers, skip the stop, do it all in one stint.

Not a bad idea. Did it with 2 from Pittsburgh a long time ago.

 

[mydisneykids]

Done this a few years now after also swearing I would never do it.
I am ok driving overnight. So my best year was the year we left at about 7 p.m. and drove straight through taking turns with our 3 drivers. We were a bit tired that first night but still had a great time.
Home is a different story. After a week of walking the parks I found the only way for me is to do an overnight stop on the way home.

 

[sharadoc]

If you've never driven that far or that long before, you will hate it! It will feel like the never-ending purgatory of driving to you.

Don't stress, take it in two days.

 

[Nohal]

Many years ago we would drive from NJ to Jacksonville/St Augustine. DH would drive almost the entire way. We left at midnight and only stopped for gas and quick meals. We would hit Jacksonville around 4 pm. We drove 95 the entire way and there was always road construction somewhere. If you have AAA I think they still do the trip tiks which will show you where the road construction is and an alternate way. We stopped driving a few years ago as we are senior citizens now and found that we had to stop more often to stretch our legs so we wouldn't be stiff. Have a safe trip.

 

[Cars2006]

We have driven a couple of times from MA to Orlando with only myself and DH with three small kids back in 2009 & 2012 in our own van. Both times we left late so the kids would sleep. In 2009 we stopped in NC for the night and 2012 we drove straight through. Will never do the straight through again. 2013 and this September we are flying only because we have enough points with Southwest. This is probably going to be our last trip for awhile. kids want to do a cruise and other things out West. Be safe take breaks pack snacks and have fun.

 

[jtopp]

Hi. Are you west of Philly? We are, and we like to break up the trip into two days and NOT get ourselves exhausted on the way.

The alternative to 95 is to take the turnpike west, hit Route 81, then Route 77. If you stop around Columbia SC, you are 6 hours away from Disney on the 2nd day.

Our schedule - leave home around 10 am, drive 10 hours, stopping around 9 pm. Get up the next morning, have breakfast in the hotel, then back on the road around 9-9:30. Stop at the Florida welcome center for Free OJ and lots of Disney brochures to start the excitement in the car. Then arrive at the resort around 3:30 - 4:00 (check in time at OKW)

With this schedule, we are fully rested, comfortable and ready to go for the trip. If we leave really early, drive forever, then we start our trip exhausted. We end up having to recover the first day or so, which really cuts into the trip fun.

The "For 2000+ mile drivers" thread is full of folks from PA and NJ, so you can ask anything and get a few good answers there. Best thread on the boards!!

We drive from SNJ, and have done it over 20 times. We have tried many combinations of start times and stops, and found that with multiple drivers you can go straight thru in about 16 hrs, including time for gas and meal breaks. At that point, a comfortable bed is all we want, but we get up the next morning raring to go. Another good option is to leave around 7-8am, and drive until you run out of energy. This happens to me when I am the only driver, and has happened most times around Florence, SC. We usually get a room for the night, and then have about 5 more hours to go to check in. we get there for a late lunch, and ready for check in. Driving is much less expensive right now, even if you take in consideration time lost from work. The only drawback, The "DREADED DRIVE HOME". Every trip I enjoy driving down, and every return trip I swear I it's the last time I will drive.

 

[bigtony777]

We have driven down many times. It is about a 15 hour drive for us. We drive through the night leaving around 5 or 6 pm getting us to WDW at around 7 or 8 am. The overnight driving helps so much with the traffic and less stops as the kids are sleeping.