How far will you drive?

[kellyla]

We towed our 35 footer in October from Ontario,Canada.Towed it Charlotte for a NASCAR weekend(1 14 hour day) then down to Fort Wilderness1 9.5 hour day)So worth to have your own place even though we spent about 1200 bucks on gas.We ended up going home through the Blue Ridge mountains during a snow storm thanks to Superstorm Sandy.Doing it again in October.

 

[tlkgt76]

Well, we're not towing our 32' Holiday Rambler, because my husband's truck gets 5mpg towing (not a mistake, he's got a F350 with a V10!), but we are planning on driving from the Central Illinois area.

I used to trek down with my dad to Pensacola and Cocoa years ago, but haven't been on a long roadtrip in years.

We decided to drive this time because last December we ended up taking the same amount of time to fly as the 18 hour drive (three hours to O'Hare, then spent the night, then flight with one stop in Atlanta). This time I figured heck, might as well just save some $$ and take my car!

I'm hoping we can get down there by driving straight through and back at the end doing the same.

Anybody got any suggestions coming from the Peoria, IL area to get down there FAST??

 

[4daubers]

We tow from central Texas. We usually stay the first night at the KOA near Minton, Florida and push to WDW the next day. We have taken three days when time allows and stayed an additional road night at a state park near WDW.

For us, the trip is part of the adventure and adds to the excitement. We love the FW magic and comfort of our own camper.

 

[jeepfreak]

We've driven our class A motorhomes down almost every year since 1999. It's about 1400 miles and we stop twice on the way down. Useally drive 12hrs the first day 8-10 the second and arrive at the Fort around 2 pm the 3rd day.

 

[RoyalBlunders]

HEY Fellow Midwest mama!!!
Excited to see your post. What part of ND are you in? We live in Moorhead MN (work in ND) but I grew up in Jamestown ND. We just did the drive this past Aug and we will do it again this coming Aug. We are in a 36 FT Class Super C (Diesel) but we also tow a 30 ft trailer. I think the biggest issue is making sure you have time for breaks. DH does all our driving so for the rest of our family we are able to get up move around but for him it's the stops that make the difference. We broke it up into 3 600 mile days. We also boondocked the way home so once we found a Wal-Mart around our 600 mile mark, we called it a day and ran in to restock on food, snacks, and a few new games or toys for the little ones. We had a blast but traveling is part of our life for work as well so being in an RV was a real treat. Some don't have the luxury of time on their side to take the 3 days there, 3 days back plus play time while you are there. How much time do you have total? We have stayed in the value resorts, moderate and deluxe. This summer was our first time camping and when we asked our kids which they liked best they all said CAMPING! They are so excited to go again this summer. We are headed down for work again but we are staying there the entire time plus a little extra for some down time. All this really is just to say, if you want to drive, don't get discouraged. We did it with 4 kiddos and we survived and are doing it again!!!

 

[5stljayhawks]

First off , yes it is worth the trip, just make sure you have that 11- 14 nights to stay, otherwise not worth it. We were 12 nights and only parked 6 days last trip to the fort.

I am out of St. Louis. 1050 miles - It takes two days. 12 hours & 8 hours. With two primary ways to get there.

If you want easy no mountains, come down 29 to KC - 70 to stl then 55 south to memphis - Graceland RV park is a must!!!!! and Marlows BBQ has pink limo that will pick you up and drop you off for dinner from the campground. then you cut across and hit 10 in FL west of tallahasse. it is around 50 - 100 mile longer but way easier drive with out major surprises that atlanata route can offer (also have chattanogga/nashville) and highway 10 across top of flordia is a breeze to 75

OR you can take the nashville route through atlanata which can be a breeze OR OR OR the 2-3 hour parking jam... If you do go through atlanta, there is a KOA 10 -20 miles south in Foryth. Nice place easy on and off. From STL it's 650 miles leaving 450 the next day to fort (sleep in alittle and a late afternoon arrival.)

 

[serenitygr]

We are coming for the first time in motorhome this Christmas from northern mn- almost 1800i miles! Staying 12 nights. Husband is a truck driver, so that's a big advantage! Can't wait!

 

[whiplash]

Former DVC owner for 6 years, visited the "FORT" on one of the trips.........sold our DVC, bought a 5th. whl and now FORT WILDERNESS is our "Home Resort". We are about 1200 miles away (Sandusky, Ohio) and LOVE the trip! Plan at least one trip a year, next trip 63 days out with 3 of our Grand Kids (their 1st time) By the way, DW and I are 65 years old
and 25 when we're at Disney Never too old !!!!!!!! Enjoy !!!

 

[lodge]

As far as Forrest Gump will run... then back.

 

[CamperMomma]

HEY Fellow Midwest mama!!!
Excited to see your post. What part of ND are you in? We live in Moorhead MN (work in ND) but I grew up in Jamestown ND. We just did the drive this past Aug and we will do it again this coming Aug. We are in a 36 FT Class Super C (Diesel) but we also tow a 30 ft trailer. I think the biggest issue is making sure you have time for breaks. DH does all our driving so for the rest of our family we are able to get up move around but for him it's the stops that make the difference. We broke it up into 3 600 mile days. We also boondocked the way home so once we found a Wal-Mart around our 600 mile mark, we called it a day and ran in to restock on food, snacks, and a few new games or toys for the little ones. We had a blast but traveling is part of our life for work as well so being in an RV was a real treat. Some don't have the luxury of time on their side to take the 3 days there, 3 days back plus play time while you are there. How much time do you have total? We have stayed in the value resorts, moderate and deluxe. This summer was our first time camping and when we asked our kids which they liked best they all said CAMPING! They are so excited to go again this summer. We are headed down for work again but we are staying there the entire time plus a little extra for some down time. All this really is just to say, if you want to drive, don't get discouraged. We did it with 4 kiddos and we survived and are doing it again!!!

Hey there! Sorry, I'm terrible about re-checking my threads. We're in Grand Forks! (on the air base actually) Sadly, we'd only have about a week to do all the travel, so hauling the camper I think will need to wait. But the perk about the military is maybe *fingers crossed* our next base will be closer to FL and we can do a trip! Or, maybe my job will become more giving with time off! (ok...so that'll never happen )

 

[CamperMomma]

Thanks all! Definitely sounds do-able, just need the time available off work to do it. Hmm...maybe shoot for the long haul late 2014 and a cabin late this year.

 

[RoyalBlunders]

OH We are nice and close! We pass the base all the time when we have to head to Devils Lake! Hopefully one of these days you will be able to take your own camper. I just like that I don't have to haul suitcases. In the summer, we leave the RV pretty much packed the entire time so our kids are always running back and forth between the RV and the house to find their clothes...we LOVE it,lol! Have fun at the cabins!

 

[dsdeleon]

We drive far but don't haul. We have two young sons and after our last trip we got a car specifically for driving back and forth to Florida. We were in NJ but are now in Upstate NY. We stay over just one night in NC.
It's nice to have our car at the fort and everything all setup for us when we get there (we rent a fifth wheel).

 

[sapdaddy2]

We tow our 24' sportsman TT 1500 miles from NH. DS 15 wants to help drive when he turns 16. I think not Home boss is nervous enough when he drives now in just the truck without the camper.

 

[heartsy77]

We towed our small TT in Oct from Upstate NY to WDW; 3 adults and 5 kids It was actually ok and we would do it again. We made it to SC the 1st day and then we only had 6 hour trip to WDW the next day.

 

[KristinU]

We have driven from CT to the Fort many times (approx 1200 miles) We usually do 7 hours, 10 hours and 7 hours.... but always play it by ear depending on weather, traffic and how tired DH gets.

We are in the process of trading our 5th wheel for a Class A. We may actually be able to drive almost straight through this trip because we will have 3 drivers (DH, myself and my 19 year old son)... with the class A we can take turns sleeping while the others are driving. Not gonna push it though..

Good luck and enjoy your trip!

Also from CT here, though our preferred route is about 1300 miles, but worth it to us to skip NY, NJ, and DC. We tow a 26 foot trailer now, but sometime in the future we'd love a class C...and in a mere 9-10 years we'll be in your shoes msbegin, with a 3rd driver! We've already been planting the seeds since our DS is a night owl and I'm an early bird and DH is somewhere in the middle.

For us, the trip is part of the adventure and adds to the excitement. We love the FW magic and comfort of our own camper.

Totally this!

We've done it for just a week-long trip and I still think it is worth it...two weeks would be ideal, though.

 

[whumpus]

Our drive is at least 24hours. We usually leave on Friday evening: pick up the kids from school in the camper and begin our trip south from there. It's a great way to surprise the kids We too will drive 7 hours Friday evening. Then do as many miles as I can stand on Saturday and finishing up on Sunday.

We are known to be a bit meandering . . . we like to extend and expand vacation as much as possible. It's not unusual for us to swing into a state park for a few hours for a hike, nap, picnic, site-seeing, etc. It truly is a road trip for us.

 

[allaboutthemouse]

Hello,
We have a 31 foot TT that we tow with our older Suburban. Older, like maybe ten years. We live 15 hours from DW. For those of you that tow 15+ hours to FW, what kind of vehicles are you towing with? Are you all driving newer vehicles? Should I be nervous to tow (well, not me, my husband would be driving ) with an older vehicle? Would we kill it? That is a long way to go. We have not camped further than 3 hours from home. If it matters, I would plan FW to be "part" of the vacation, not the destination - i.e., stopping along the way multiple times for a couple days each direction. So maybe a 2-3 week vacation, summer time. What do you think?

 

[pocomom]

I drive from North Eastern PA- We made the trip down a part of the trip we took 4 days and did 2-3 hour stops in fredericksburg va, jekyll island ga, a manatee viewing areas and a few other places. (one was just shoe shopping We actually went to Naples Florida first and then back up to disney so I think it was 24 hours of driving to naples. over the four days it was fun- on the way back we had a tighter schedule and I made it in 3 after leaving the Disney at 2:00pm, 2 overnights and got in around 9pm the third driving day )close to 500 miles of driving after winterizing the rv in the morning! It was TOO MUCH! This is my second day home and I'm still exhausted. I think it is totally doable if you take your time and it is part of your trip- if you are driving straight it is really tough... of course I'm the only driver in my crew and I'm travelling with 3 little kids and dogs normally...if you have a spouse switching off may make that easier.

 

[KristinU]

Hello,
We have a 31 foot TT that we tow with our older Suburban. Older, like maybe ten years. We live 15 hours from DW. For those of you that tow 15+ hours to FW, what kind of vehicles are you towing with? Are you all driving newer vehicles? Should I be nervous to tow (well, not me, my husband would be driving ) with an older vehicle? Would we kill it? That is a long way to go. We have not camped further than 3 hours from home. If it matters, I would plan FW to be "part" of the vacation, not the destination - i.e., stopping along the way multiple times for a couple days each direction. So maybe a 2-3 week vacation, summer time. What do you think?

We tow with a 2007 Toyota Tundra. Personally, I think as long as you keep and have kept up with maintenance I don't think you need to worry. I'd discuss it with a trusted mechanic just to be sure that you have a professional agreement. I also recommend getting behind the wheel yourself and getting comfortable towing unless there are conditions that prevent you from doing so. It sure helps having two drivers to trade off! Plus, last spring on the way back from WDW my DH got hit with a 24 hour bug - we would have spent a whole day somewhere in GA waiting for him to feel better if he were the only driver.

...of course I'm the only driver in my crew and I'm travelling with 3 little kids and dogs normally...if you have a spouse switching off may make that easier.

Yes, this! Trading off with a second (or third!) driver really makes a difference in this conversation.