Has anyone ever driven down to Disney??

[NewmanFamily6]

We have driven and are driving next year. It is an extremely long drive of 12-13 hours for us but cheaper than 6 of us flying. The drive definitely stinks but it is worth it when we arrive

 

[kelly1218]

We have driven and it takes us 12-13 glorious hours For our family of 6 it is much cheaper for us to drive. It does stink to drive that far but once we are there it is worth it

I would really like to fly our next trip...but it's over Christmas...and it's about $420 RT!!!! there are 5 of us....

I can't justify spending 5X's that amount it would cost us to drive.

 

[polkadotsuitcase]

I love driving! I think I'm a traveling (driving) junkie. Plus, the airlines wouldn't let me bring our camper as a carry-on, and then they said it wouldn't fit in the baggage compartment...

 

[heatherwillmom]

We have driven ever since DD was 18 months old. Flying with the 2 kids was actually so much stress.

planning.



As for kids activities.... we have printed out games and puzzles, iPods, gameboys, crafty items like pipe cleaners, friendship bracelets, shape magnets and a cookie sheet. (a cookie sheet is a GREAT travel companion~ works as a tray for eating...to color on, etc.)

a word of caution I tell everyone.... CRAYONS WILL MELT IN THE CAR IN THE FL HEAT.

Colored pencils work great or the color wonder markers that only work on the special paper.

 

[Jennifer in MI]

We drive everywhere! With six members of our family, it's a LOT cheaper to drive. I have a sister and dh has a brother that both live halfway for us. That saves us a bunch of money. We start out at 4 am and drive 10 hours to my sister's house. We get in at a decent hour and feel like we've got some time with her. We leave the next morning and drive the rest of the 8 hours and we're at Disney!!

Works well for us. We've also driven from MI to CA and back. We've done the east coast. We've driven to CO and back. SO many trips to count!!!!

 

[LISAVWL]

We are you in PA? My friends just did it and went 81 to ???? (I could ask her). They didn't pick up 95 until South Carolina. She said it was great and is doing it again in May.

we're about 35 min NW of Philly. DH thinks is would be easier to take 95 all the way down.
I didn't even think about the crayons melting -- thanks for the great tip!

 

[KY*Figment]

We are coming upon my husband's 10th trip, my 9th trip, and my 6 & 8 year old girls 8th trip. Every single one was driven. We typically drive all night. We leave around 5 or 5:30 and drive straight through. We have a portable DVD player so they watch movies and typically we have bought one or two new movies to keep their interest. The Nintendo DS has been helpful. We have stopped for meals and snacks before but the last time we got everything to go because it occupied their time in the car. We bring blankets and pillows so they sleep. I keep a blanket & pillow for the passenger so my DH & I can nap, too. We keep a small cooler close to the driver's seat so the driver does not have to wake anyone. We stop at a lot of the same stops because we have somewhat learned the exits. I have the girls wear flip flops/ Crocs in the car so it is quicker to get in & out of the van for pit stops. We will see how this trips goes. My kids have been fighting a LOT more lately so it may make it a miserable trip this time........

 

[NiftyJ88]

When we went in November, we drove with DD who was 3 at the time. We hit a TON of traffic and after 14 hours, we were only in South Carolina, when we should have been in Florida south of Jacksonville by then. We ended up staying overnight because we couldn't drive anymore. The trip should have taken 16-17 hours instead of the 20 hours it took us (not including the time in the hotel).

We were staying for 10 days, so the drive wasn't too bad. However, if we're going to be there for a week or less, I would fly.

We do drive to Myrtle Beach, SC every year which is a 10 hour drive and that isn't bad at all.

 

[edk35]

We just drove down from MD in July. We had only driven ONCE from MD and that was in 2002 I think. It was NOT bad at all. We drove straight through. Of course our kids are older.... 19, 16 and 11. We got on the road around 6 a.m. and we were there by 9:30 that night. We stopped several times too. Not bad at all. We would do it again. It does cost more to fly for us now that we have driven. If we were going for a short trip we would fly, but if we have at least 8 to 10 days....we are driving. I want at least 7 full days at Disney.

 

[2disneyboys]

if your family enjoys or does not mind car trips (short or long) you will do fine. We have driven down several times and yes, it's a lot cheaper!Once we even had our 2 boys, and my younger brother & sister (those ages @ the time were 7,6,6,4)

We always leave @ night so a lot of the driving can be done overnight. DH is used to driving & working @ night so it's not a safety concern. We typically stay somewhere around downtown disney the night we get in beacuse we dont want to be tired our 1st day @ disney. IT works out nice as we get to the Downtown Disney area usually mid afternoon... do some shopping, eat dinner, get an early night and then the next morning we have like a 10 min drive to our hotel, we check in (rooms are rarely ready this early) and we either take the busses or our van and go to a park and are there by ropedrop.

we actually enjoy road trips. we do have a few rules though... #1 is that when the car stops for gas, everyone goes to the bathroom. This gets rid of a lot of the I have to go! less then 5 mins after you are back on the road! #2 each kid starts with about $20.00 worth of quarters.. whatever they have when we get there, they can use to play in the acarde (I figure I would normally be paying for them to play anyway, so this way I make my money work for me!) Each time they are acting or saying ugly things, they have to give me back a quarter. it only took handing over those quarters to me a few times and realizing they were not getting them back that it was not worth it! I have boys that love arcades so this worked for me, but if your kids are not into arcades, you could find something else to "bribe" them with.

We also take some sort of outdoor toy to run out some of the kids energy @ rest stops etc. I buy a disney trivia game and we play that on the way down. One of my favorite things to do on the way home is to "interview" the family about what they enjoyed most, what they thought about particular ridss/shows etc. I sort of ask various questions to everyone and even answer them myself, and just "jot" it down into a notebook and when I get home, I write a little "report" and we share that with family who was not with us and a copy also goes in the kids "scrapbooks" or photo albumns as a way to record the memories. I love the trip down for getting ourselves all excited about our vacation. The trip home we use to record the memories of the trip

The biggest piece of advice is what a PP put... don't hesitate to stop and rest if you need to. the downside to driving is you never know what conditions you are going to run into and don't let the roadtrip get ruined because you are too stressed worrying about a time line or put your family in an unsafe situation. As the turtle says... slow & steady wins the race!

 

[ohiomom28]

Oh yeah we have done it...it just takes sooo long! ANymore we don't drive though. The only place we do drive to is Myrtle Beach & Wilmington, NC. Even then, we stop over for the night lol

 

[disneydadmass]

We will be driving from Massachusetts. Probably taking rte 95 all the way down. Any advise as to places to avoid? or places to take a quick stop?

 

[eliza61]

My husband and I are driving down in October with our . And I was ,wondering if anyone ever drove what they thought about it? My husband will fly, but i won't. and frankly looking around it seems cheaper to drive.

We pretty much have a rule. If we can't get tickets lower for 4 under 880.00 leaving Philadelphia we drive.

We never have a problem. we time the drive to avoid most traffic and we stop along the way.

 

[eliza61]

We will be driving from Massachusetts. Probably taking rte 95 all the way down. Any advise as to places to avoid? or places to take a quick stop?

Try to leave early enough to avoid rush hour around Washington DC. We find that leaving ridiculously early (cough cough 3 am) is great. the kids usually fall right back to sleep and dh and I are fresh.

We actually like stopping at the Cracker barrels. They serve great food, the stores are really cool and the have easy access on and off I-95. Don't forget to stop at South of the Border!!

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

We drove there from MN once. The drive to WDW wasn't bad but the drive home to MN was a killer.

We drive to WDW when all 4 of us go. It's 8 hours from Atlanta. It's fine.

I'd still rather fly but the cost for all of 4 us and luggage is more than I like to pay so we drive.

When I go solo or with just 1 of the kids, I fly.

 

[disneydadmass]

Try to leave early enough to avoid rush hour around Washington DC. We find that leaving ridiculously early (cough cough 3 am) is great. the kids usually fall right back to sleep and dh and I are fresh.

We actually like stopping at the Cracker barrels. They serve great food, the stores are really cool and the have easy access on and off I-95. Don't forget to stop at South of the Border!!

What time would you arrive at Disney? We were thinking 3pm rather than 3am and drive straight though (3 of us sharing drive time).

 

[Cheshire Figment]

We will be driving from Massachusetts. Probably taking rte 95 all the way down. Any advise as to places to avoid? or places to take a quick stop?

1. Bypass New York City. Pick up I-287 West and cross the Tappan Zee Bridge. Take Exit 14A which is the Garden State Parkway South until it intercepts the Jersey Turnpike.

2. If it looks as if you will hit the DC area between 6am and 9am or between 3pm and 7pm avoid it. When you get to Baltimore take the Harbor Tunnel (not the Fort McHenry which is I-95) and exit at I-97 South. When I-97 turns East, continue (Exit 7) South on SR3; when this crosses US 50 it becomes US-301 which will finally take you back onto I-95 around Doswell, VA completely bypassing DC.

3. Make sure you stop for a meal and a break at South of The Border.

4. Fill your tank with gas at exit 3 or 2 in Georgia, the pRice is much lower than Florida.,

 

[disneydadmass]

Thank you Cheshire!!

 

[inkedupmomma]

we drive!! I do NOT fly, will not, can't. thought of it makes me go into panic attack. Personally, we do not mind the drive, only down side it takes park time away..BUT plus side, we just for longer to make up for the little trips we couldnt take

 

[Darcy03231]

When we priced out driving from WI (a good 23-24 hours ie: 2 day drive each way) it came out to about the same for flying vs. driving, with the hotel rooms, gas, tolls, food, wear on your car (50 cents a mile), etc

You have to remember that your time is worth something, too. And we don't have an extra 4 days of vacation to spend driving.

Its the same for me. I'll never drive it! Even with airfare being higher than in past years its still less expensive for me to fly.