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

[blondietink]

As I mentioned earlier, I have the Kia Sedona. In my opinion, you can't beat the price for what you get and it has been reliable but you should be aware that the resale value on them is one of the worst. I've read that it's due to the initial low cost that the resale is so bad. If you keep cars a long time like I do, then it shouldn't be a concern.

We usually drive our cars into the ground so resale is not a concern for us. Kia it will be!

 

[dvczerfs]

we will be taken this in September:



got it around Christmas to replace a car that bumped into a deer.



the last three trips we have taken this:



got that last 4th of july when I traded in the minivan. we are taking the Nissan so briana can drive her self to work this time. sorry, wasn't going to let her park the benz in that magic kingdom cast member parking lot.

 

[dvczerfs]

we will be taken this in September:



got it around Christmas to replace a car that bumped into a deer.



the last three trips we have taken this:



got that last 4th of july when I traded in the minivan. we are taking the Nissan so briana can drive her self to work this time. sorry, wasn't going to let her park the benz in that magic kingdom cast member parking lot.

all in all,i got a really good deal on it. the benz was 42k. they came down to 36k (2013 were coming out and they had to move the 2012) they gave me 12k for the minivan. before tax and tags I owed 24k.

the best part was my insurance went down with the benz from the van!!!!

the insurance company told me that what cost them the most is not replacing a car but the injuries that people get in a car in a crash. the benz had a higher crash rating and survivability rating then the van.

 

[BC1836]

Although we had 15,000 miles per year on our Honda CR-V lease, our frequent WDW drives pushed us to the maximum mileage 6 months before our lease ended! So, despite a crack in the windshield and the need for a new set of tires (again, to say nothing of the maxed-out mileage), we got a new lease on a new 2013 Honda CR-V. Its 17-inch wheels make the drive noticeablely smoother than the 15-inch wheels we had on the 2011 model.

Our initial WDW drive in our new vehicle commences in October [despite a short stay via the air next month.]

All the best.

 

[Rock71]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions! Every piece of info helps!!

 

[Goofygirl17]

We're taking our 2010 Honda Accord with about 84,000 miles on it. This will be our 4th road trip in it The first 2 were just 2 DDs and me so plenty of room. Last summer and this week it will be 2 DDs, me and DD's friend. Still plenty of room.

I think we're going to leave Friday morning at 3 a.m. instead of Saturday. Everyone is too excited to wait!

 

[dvczerfs]

You are lucky. We had a Chrysler Town and Country and it was a piece of crap. First transmission went at 70,000 miles, then that transmission went at 110,000. Power steering went on it, too once. Drove it to the junk yard.

We bought a used Hyundai Entourage mini-van with 17,000 miles on it in 2008. Have had no issues with it, other than brake pads, new tires, etc. It now has 113,000 miles on it. Wish they still made them! Next one will just have to be a Kia.

I didn't drive it long enough to give me any problems.

we had a few dodge minivans at work with trans. problems. our vans at work get abused. we get out 10k oil changes and rotating tires is run them off and buy new ones.

 

[dvczerfs]

We're taking our 2010 Honda Accord with about 84,000 miles on it. This will be our 4th road trip in it The first 2 were just 2 DDs and me so plenty of room. Last summer and this week it will be 2 DDs, me and DD's friend. Still plenty of room.

I think we're going to leave Friday morning at 3 a.m. instead of Saturday. Everyone is too excited to wait!

can I go????? ill drive!!!

 

[Goofygirl17]

can I go????? ill drive!!!

You just got back!

And...sorry- nobody drives but me! DH loves when we go on long drives. DD14 gets carsick so she sits in front. He sits in back with DD10 and reads a book

Wish he could come- had to take too much time off this winter so he doesn't have any time left for vacation. Hopefully next April.

 

[dvczerfs]

You just got back!

And...sorry- nobody drives but me! DH loves when we go on long drives. DD14 gets carsick so she sits in front. He sits in back with DD10 and reads a book

Wish he could come- had to take too much time off this winter so he doesn't have any time left for vacation. Hopefully next April.

its funny, I drive all the way down. my wife will drive about 2 hours on the way home. for years I had a hard time just sitting there and not driving. this past may when my buddy and I took briana down for the college program, my buddy drove all the way home. was that nice!

we got down there sat. night. sunday we just hung out and we had grabbed a bite at the poly sunday and i got a chicken sandwich. well, sunday night at midnight i was up and seen that chicken sandwich again and then some.
it didn't taste right but as my wife will tell you, ill eat anything. i was sicker then a dog Monday but it was brianas cp check in day. i made it!!! my buddy drove us around and got her moved in. i didn't eat anything all, just power aide. Tuesday we took off for home at 2am and said he would drive. i still wasn't feeling good. took about a week for me to get back to normal.

 

[BC1836]

All-Time "For 2,000+ Mile Round-Trip Drivers Only!" Records (updated 7/8/13)

Most Total Drives: 55 (since '73): dvczerfs

Most Drives in One Decade/10-Year Period: 27 (2003-2012): bc1836

Most Drives in One Calendar Year: 4 (four times: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011): bc1836; (two times: 2009 & 2012): cruisingkat

Most Drives in One 12-Month Period: 5 (12/08-12/09; 2012): cruisingkat; (12/09-12/10): bc1836

Most "Non-Stop" Drives: 12 (2008-2012): bc1836

Shortest Time Between Drives: 19 days (2009): cruisingkat

Most passengers in one vehicle: 10 (2010: 2 adults, 8 kids; 1999 Chevy Express Van): birdslightyear (aka just*the*ten*of*us)

Longest Drive (one way): 2,070 miles (2013): Shir Khan (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada)

Second Longest Drive (one way): 1,953 miles (2011): peigirl (Stratford, Prince Edward Island, Canada)

 

[thelittlethings]

I can handle road trips, no problem, but its the kids I'm worried about (and maybe my sanity). We will for sure leave at night and go straight through on the way there. (Excitement is in the air, why stop! ) But on the way home, do you guys stop at a Hotel? Leaving at night isn't really an option after park touring all day. I've been told by a friend that she thought stopping just made it seem longer and the kids complained more.... Is she right or should I consider that hotel stay on the way home?

Some info: 2 adults and 2 girls ages 4 and 9. Mini-Van THANKS!

 

[nono]

I can handle road trips, no problem, but its the kids I'm worried about (and maybe my sanity). We will for sure leave at night and go straight through on the way there. (Excitement is in the air, why stop! ) But on the way home, do you guys stop at a Hotel? Leaving at night isn't really an option after park touring all day. I've been told by a friend that she thought stopping just made it seem longer and the kids complained more.... Is she right or should I consider that hotel stay on the way home?

Some info: 2 adults and 2 girls ages 4 and 9. Mini-Van THANKS!

My kids are in a different camp than your friend's kids -- they love stopping another night in another hotel with another new restaurant! (Mine are 9 & 6). So, it depends on your children's personalities. When we can get good rates in VA Beach, we go there on the way home, which is 12-12.5 hours from WDW. We pull out at 6 a.m. and plan for a great dinner upon arrival. Plus, that puts us in easy range of the ferry back to NJ, so we don't have to get up super early our second day...

Best I can tell you is try it a couple different ways, and you'll find what works for your family!

 

[oneprincessjo]

I can handle road trips, no problem, but its the kids I'm worried about (and maybe my sanity). We will for sure leave at night and go straight through on the way there. (Excitement is in the air, why stop! ) But on the way home, do you guys stop at a Hotel? Leaving at night isn't really an option after park touring all day. I've been told by a friend that she thought stopping just made it seem longer and the kids complained more.... Is she right or should I consider that hotel stay on the way home?

Some info: 2 adults and 2 girls ages 4 and 9. Mini-Van THANKS!

No matter what you do the drive home is dreadful. Haha. The one time we drove all the way through I had gotten terrible car sickness, I started feeling very bad about an hour from home and we were one mile from my house and I couldn't handle it anymore so I rolled down the window and threw up all over. Instead of my husband pulling over he sped up and yeah I got a face full and it got in my hair, but in hindsight I was so grateful to be home at 1am instead of stopping and losing an entire extra day driving. We almost always stop for the night and only drove through that one time. The last trip my daughter had gotten sick and she got sick twice, I almost wish we had driven straight through because she would have fallen asleep and probably wouldn't have gotten sick. Sorry for the gross post. This was just my experience. Why don't we just fly??? Haha, because the drive down is awesome! Now that I think about it I am going to discuss with my husband about only doing a park the morning before we leave, this way we can chill at the hotel and relax as much as possible. Go to sleep early and hit the road around 5am so we can drive right through, our trip in January is going to be a long one so I would like my whole weekend at home recoup instead of just the one day before I have to go back to work on Monday.

 

[dvczerfs]

No matter what you do the drive home is dreadful. Haha. The one time we drove all the way through I had gotten terrible car sickness, I started feeling very bad about an hour from home and we were one mile from my house and I couldn't handle it anymore so I rolled down the window and threw up all over. Instead of my husband pulling over he sped up and yeah I got a face full and it got in my hair, but in hindsight I was so grateful to be home at 1am instead of stopping and losing an entire extra day driving. We almost always stop for the night and only drove through that one time. The last trip my daughter had gotten sick and she got sick twice, I almost wish we had driven straight through because she would have fallen asleep and probably wouldn't have gotten sick. Sorry for the gross post. This was just my experience. Why don't we just fly??? Haha, because the drive down is awesome! Now that I think about it I am going to discuss with my husband about only doing a park the morning before we leave, this way we can chill at the hotel and relax as much as possible. Go to sleep early and hit the road around 5am so we can drive right through, our trip in January is going to be a long one so I would like my whole weekend at home recoup instead of just the one day before I have to go back to work on Monday.

oooookay, when, which and what? when are you going to be on the road? which roads are you taking and what are you driving? just trying to stay away. im guessing tail gaters are not a problem. I haven't thrown up out of a moving car since the early 80s!! ahhh, the good ole days.

I have been lucky over the years. I never had the problem and my wife or dd never had car sickness. ( I only get Disney chicken food poisoning )

we leave wdw around 2:30- 3:00am. the night before we head back to the resort around 5pm or so and do some final packing, shower and then hit the hay. get about five-six hours sleep. ill drive into Georgia and dw will drive about the next two hours and ill take it from there. get home around 7pm. 1100 miles done in one day. the last two times ive been getting up the next morning at 4am and go to work. that's fun.

 

[Yellowstonetim]

We drove straight through for years both during the day starting at 4am or less often over night. Now we stop for the night. With kids it can be tough. For safety and sanity I would suggest stopping. We drive one long day, stop for the night, and then have a short drive home. Makes the arrival much better and more rested for the unpacking.

Of course this year we are going to cheat. This means I'm going to get kicked out of the 2,000+ mile thread. We are driving down and taking the Auto Train back. just have to try it at least once.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I can handle road trips, no problem, but its the kids I'm worried about (and maybe my sanity). We will for sure leave at night and go straight through on the way there. (Excitement is in the air, why stop! ) But on the way home, do you guys stop at a Hotel? Leaving at night isn't really an option after park touring all day. I've been told by a friend that she thought stopping just made it seem longer and the kids complained more.... Is she right or should I consider that hotel stay on the way home?

Some info: 2 adults and 2 girls ages 4 and 9. Mini-Van THANKS!

Yeah, I think a stopover is good on the way back for the reasons you said. IMO, you have to be careful of exhaustion on the way back, especially after touring all week. It is a bummer of a ride though either way. Try to map out some food places that everyone likes, that can help.

 

[Yellowstonetim]

One suggestion is to use the time in the car, between books, toys, and movies, to review your trip and even begin to build some type of memory books. Give the kids some crafts, crayons, colored pencils, and then some items from the trip as simple as receipts, tickets, pins. Then spend some of the time talking about the trip, asking questions and having them write down memories or drawing pictures.

Give them assignments while on vacation. I would ask the kids to take note of the funniest, siliest, weirdest, prettiest, thing they see that day. I would ask what they liked the most, what was the biggest suprise, etc., etc. Later we would always talk about these things. So on your way home you can ask questions about each park and activity and then have them do something to "memorialize it." Maybe even record the discussion with an inexpensive recorder. I found the kids LOVE to recount the things they enjoyed.

 

[oneprincessjo]

oooookay, when, which and what? when are you going to be on the road? which roads are you taking and what are you driving? just trying to stay away. im guessing tail gaters are not a problem. I haven't thrown up out of a moving car since the early 80s!! ahhh, the good ole days.

I have been lucky over the years. I never had the problem and my wife or dd never had car sickness. ( I only get Disney chicken food poisoning )

we leave wdw around 2:30- 3:00am. the night before we head back to the resort around 5pm or so and do some final packing, shower and then hit the hay. get about five-six hours sleep. ill drive into Georgia and dw will drive about the next two hours and ill take it from there. get home around 7pm. 1100 miles done in one day. the last two times ive been getting up the next morning at 4am and go to work. that's fun.

Haha.. Oooops. I am infamous for rambling. I drive a 2013 nissan quest, it has a mickey stick figure family on the back window, you cant miss me. haha. Our next trip will be the end of January.

We leave from Pennsylvania and take 95 all the way down. Going to Disney we leave around 7pm so my dd will sleep the majority of the night. We drive until we hit exit 3 in Georgia, the last exit before Florida. At that point it's usually around 9am and we check into the Hampton for the day and night and finish the drive the following morning.

Going home we usually leave Disney mid morning, but after my last post I did make the suggestion to my husband to really take easy come noonish on our last day and hit the road by 5am the next morning. We should easily be home by 10pm or so. And I can't forget my sea bands this time. Haha. We are just under 1100 miles one way. Now you have me thinking to leave earlier than 5 so we can get home even sooner than 10, either way I am seriously considering driving all the way through on the way home this time.

 

[glen65]

One thing that really kept my kids occupied when they were younger was to print off maps of the US and have them check off the state after they saw a car from the state. It was a contest to see who could get the most states filled in.