For 2,000+ Mile Round-Trip Drivers Only! (II)

[dvczerfs]

Well ... it depends. Do you like to have an adult beverage with your dinner? If so, then it's on us, for sure!! Otherwise, it's all included anyway so sure! Have a make-your-own sundae on me!

 

[BC1836]

The next time we start to complain about a traffic jam on I-95 or some other minor driving interference, we'll pause to think about the people who perished in the recent outbreak of tornadoes, the thousands who lost their homes and the damages that will, no doubt, add up to the tens of millions of dollars.


All the best.

 

[dntd]

Trip tick or GPS? I do love my gps as it will give me the shortest route off track( great for pee stops with 4 kids coming).I want to order a trip tick anyways but which should I follow?

 

[pamkev]

Trip tick or GPS? I do love my gps as it will give me the shortest route off track( great for pee stops with 4 kids coming).I want to order a trip tick anyways but which should I follow?

I do both as I have learned never to trust the GPS it has lied to me one to many times. We will have a trip tick for our drive to Fl along with the GPS and if that darn things leads astray its going out the window

 

[pamkev]

The next time we start to complain about a traffic jam on I-95 or some other minor driving interference, we'll pause to think about the people who perished in the recent outbreak of tornadoes, the thousands who lost their homes and the damages that will, no doubt, add up to the tens of millions of dollars.


All the best.

How true

 

[dntd]

Trip tick or GPS? I do love my gps as it will give me the shortest route off track( great for pee stops with 4 kids coming).I want to order a trip tick anyways but which should I follow?

 

[stasijane]

I am shocked to see that even if gas goes well over $5 per gallon it will still be cheaper for me to drive than to fly. On that note... I am so ready to hit the road!

 

[Laurabearz]

Ok my husband and I have gone off the deep end and are considering driving straight through from Chicago...

We have done Hilton Head, South Carolina/Chicago in one shot, and were surprised how easy it was, so we are thinking the extra 3 hours is doable, and then we would be there, and not have a 4 hour drive ahead of us the next day...

I know it would take a bit of a toll on DH and myself the next day, but we are staying onsite at Universal, so we would have front of the line access. We could sleep in that first day, hit the parks in the afternoon, pool time, then early to bed for early entry to Potter the second morning....

Nuts? Hmmm

 

[dvczerfs]

Ok my husband and I have gone off the deep end and are considering driving straight through from Chicago...

We have done Hilton Head, South Carolina/Chicago in one shot, and were surprised how easy it was, so we are thinking the extra 3 hours is doable, and then we would be there, and not have a 4 hour drive ahead of us the next day...

I know it would take a bit of a toll on DH and myself the next day, but we are staying onsite at Universal, so we would have front of the line access. We could sleep in that first day, hit the parks in the afternoon, pool time, then early to bed for early entry to Potter the second morning....

Nuts? Hmmm

drive straight through going down is easier than driving home.

 

[dvczerfs]

Trip tick or GPS? I do love my gps as it will give me the shortest route off track( great for pee stops with 4 kids coming).I want to order a trip tick anyways but which should I follow?

i would recomend asking the fine people on this thread which way they go. there are people on here that travel with kids and can give you some great tips. also they will give you real time construction updates, which way are you coming from?we would love to help you out.

 

[blondietink]

We rely on the TripTik, with GPS backup. Yes, GPS is often WRONG!

Also, we have done the math and for our trip in December, comparing to the Jet Blue fare sthat just came out, gas could go to $9.00 per gallon and it would still be cheaper to drive. When you have more than 2 people that need to be transported, it really makes more sense for most people to drive if they have a car that gets decent gas mileage, and they have the extra time. If money is not a consideration, then by all means fly if you want to.

 

[dvczerfs]

737 and 757 dont run on love. if gas at our pump is $4.00, jp5,av gas is about $7.25. and they dont get 30 mpg. the only reason some airlines can hold the price of a ticket for now is because they ink contracts at a set price. as soon as those contracts are up?
i would still drive if it was cheaper to fly for a bunch of reasons. the main one is we enjoy the drive. its part of the trip to wdw. we look forward to the drive. ive been doing it since i was 8 years old and i can remember more about the drives than i can about the magic kingdom it self from when i was a kid. the night my dad stopped at a howard johnsons on i95, which wasnt completed yet, and i had to have a milk shake at 2am. never again.

 

[C&G'sMama]

Trip tick or GPS? I do love my gps as it will give me the shortest route off track( great for pee stops with 4 kids coming).I want to order a trip tick anyways but which should I follow?

WE don't have GPS

I'm totally on the trip tik. But since our friend's GPS once had them making a right hand turn into a cornfield to get to their final destination I would consider Trip Tik with the GPS back up as someone suggested.

 

[C&G'sMama]

Also, we have done the math and for our trip in December, comparing to the Jet Blue fare sthat just came out, gas could go to $9.00 per gallon and it would still be cheaper to drive. When you have more than 2 people that need to be transported, it really makes more sense for most people to drive if they have a car that gets decent gas mileage, and they have the extra time. If money is not a consideration, then by all means fly if you want to.

There's that... And we LIKE to drive we really do. I think it's become so 2nd nature to us that as soon as we pull away from the kids' school we're on vacation.

We take 2 nights each way but even with the hotels it's slightly less (or break even depending on what kind of fare we could get) and we have our car with us.

 

[irish dancer]

We are at 35 days until our trip and I have a ?? for those that use the Trip Tik. We are new AAA members and never ordered one before, do you order one online, by phone or in person? I know I can print one online but if it's free from AAA I'd rather use their ink than mine. Plus since I want the maps and guide books anyway I'll be stopping in the office anyway.

Also, anyone driven recently from the Chicago area that can report on construcion??

 

[GoofyTraci]

We are at 35 days until our trip and I have a ?? for those that use the Trip Tik. We are new AAA members and never ordered one before, do you order one online, by phone or in person? I know I can print one online but if it's free from AAA I'd rather use their ink than mine. Plus since I want the maps and guide books anyway I'll be stopping in the office anyway.

Also, anyone driven recently from the Chicago area that can report on construcion??

sorry I dont have any advice but noticed your ticker...we will be there the same time at the same resort. Hope u guys have a good ride there..

 

[blondietink]

We find that to go directly to AAA in person and talk over your route with them is best. If we call and say we want to go to WDW, they often route us on roads we would like to avoid (Baltimore/DC area, for example). If you have a US map available at home, look it over and take it to AAA with you and discuss. You can also go to mapquest and have them suggest a route and you can tweek it as you want, taking alternate routes. Then print it out and take it to AAA. I have never done a TripTik online, but agree with you on the printing costs.

 

[Becky2005]

Last time I just went in to my local office and she handed me the TourGuide books right there & then along with the basic maps. We were going to Michigan that time but I know they have FL maps, etc...

She gave me her card and told me to e-mail her the starting/ending points and she would mail me the triptik. I much prefer getting it printed from them than attempting to print it on my own. There's came spiral bound and so much easier to read than anything I could have printed.

 

[Dallas_Lady]

Hey road trippers! We'll be hitting the road to WDW this June. We are driving from Dallas breaking it up over two days each way. We did the drive once before. We tried to drive through the night on the way there and it was miserable. The drive home with a stop over in Mobile was so much more enjoyable. So we will be stopping in Baton Rouge on the way there and then in Atlanta on the way home (a little out of the way, but my parents are there).

Can anyone recommend what gas calculator site is most reliable? I tried AAA & GasBuddy and they're WAY different. AAA is telling me $900 and GasBuddy is saying $435.

I know that neither will be right on, but that's a huge variable.

I just tried both for our trip and there is a big difference. We are driving 2200miles RT. Gas Buddy says only $360 whereas AAA says $478. I noticed that Gas Buddy does not count the initial fill up of the trip- I guess they're assuming your car will magically be full of gas when you leave home. They also base their prices on you seeking out their reccommended lowest price station. AAA computes it based on total gallons needed for the drive and average price per gallon.

I know that on the road, my van gets 350 miles and it takes 18 gallons to fill her up. That's about 6.5 fill-ups. At 3.80 a gallon, my own breakdown is $444, closer to AAA than Gas Buddy.

 

[irish dancer]

Thanks everyone for the AAA advice, think I'll stop in my local office as it is close by and then I know I'll get the route we want and they'll give me the maps and books then and there. Might try and sweet talk them into a parking pass too, we're DVC and have APs this time so no need to get a pkg or tickets from them so it will probably be a no go but worth a try.....

sorry I dont have any advice but noticed your ticker...we will be there the same time at the same resort. Hope u guys have a good ride there..

Are you staying Jambo or Kidani? We are staying CL in Jambo but we'll probably hit both pools. My kids had fun at the spray area at Kidani in 09 but then again they were 7, 8 and 12 then now they are 9, 10 and 14 so might not be as big a hit.