How many DVCers drive to Disney?

[ZerasPride]

I'm thinking of altering our HH reservation to include some days at Disney over Thanksgiving and I'd like comments from those who drive. According to a couple of internet direction sites I've looked at, the drive should be about 17 hours. I was thinking of leaving the Thursday before T-day and staying at HH Thursday night and Friday night and then finishing the 5 hour drive to Disney on Saturday staying at the World until Friday, then driving back to HH (spending the weekend) and then finishing the drive home on Sunday. Since HH costs so many points on the weekends, I was thinking about staying on cash (hopefully get a DVC or AAA discount) for those weekend days.

Anybody else do this before or something similar? My family appreciates any advice that can be shared. We did the 12 hour drive from Cleveland to HH this past December and it really wasn't bad so I am thinking what's 5 more hours to visit the happiest place on earth? Thanks again for any comments/opinions!

Lisa

 

[Doctor P]

We have driven to Disney twice as a family and I drove there another five or six times from Illinois with my parents and/or sisters. It is a long drive (about 20 hours of actual driving) but it really is not that hard and is kind of interesting. The drive home really drags though!

 

[cgcw]

We have drive to both HH and WDW from Illinois. We have little kids with us and they pass the time either reading books or last year we bought a tv/vcr combo that really helped. As we now own at both, we are planning on continuing to drive over the next 41 years many, many times. The hardest part for me is the traveling through the mountains....I just keep thinking that we are going to go over the side. I have to sit in the passenger seat with my head down, not looking out the windows at all. And then I panic when DH says to the kids -- hey, look over there because I know he doesn't have his eyes on the road. But, I'm not much of a flyer either so given the choice, we'll drive whenever we go. As Doctor P said, it's the drive home that's the hard one.

 

[DiznEeyore]

We drive from the Detroit area. It's about 20 hours. We spend one night each way -- the way down in Macon, GA and in Knoxville, TN on the way home. We did the drive once in our little Saturn (dh, ds & me) -- when we came home we went out and bought a conversion van!

We really don't mind the drive, and the drive home seems to be the "faster" leg for some reason!

 

[sunking]

we usually drive down from the philadelphia area...it takes us about 15 hours to drive...we drive straight thru...we start out in the middle of the night to avoid the crazy traffic around washington dc...flying down is just too expensive when you are a family of four flying out of philadelphia...wife and i flew down on our only kidless trip....

as stated above, one advantage to driving is that you are on your own schedule and not at the mercy of an airline...that can be a real pain in the butt....

have fun....
sunking

 

[ZerasPride]

Thanks so much for the experiences and opinions guys, they are helpful! I did find the drive home from HH to seem to be the longest part too!

I've got a little bit of time to decide and flying is not an option for the four of us this time so it will either be 10 days at HH or taking that additional 5 hours drive to Disney. These are the fun type of decisions I don't mind having to make!

Lisa

 

[gary in florida]

We always drive!
But of course, we only live 1 1/2 hours away!!

 

[tiffany123]

Hi Zebra's Pride----We're driving from near Columbus, OH to HH and WDW this summer. We'll drive straight through to HH and spend 5 nights, then on to WDW for 9 nights to be followed by 3 nights at Vero. Looking forward to the drive and seeing the sights along the way. Flying is unpredictable and expensive so we'll drive this time and see how it goes. No kids this trip.

 

[ScottOKW2K]

Living in Mississippi we find WDW to be about a 12 hour drive from our home. For us, it is about the best way to go - we will have a vehicle available for us while we are there without the expense of a rental car, and once you calculate the total amount of time you spend flying (get to airport long before check-in, fly, lay-over, fly, debark plane, pick up luggage, get rental car or tiffany town car, etc. - you really don't save that much time !

Plus, like thedscoop said, it is really nice having that extra $500 to spend there, instead of spending it getting there !!

 

[CarolA]

I have never driven, but I am thinking about it for next December. Hmm... I really like having a car there and since I have a convertible I would probably REALLY like that! We will see.

 

[Luv2Dream]

we'll be taking this same trip last week of May to HH for one week then down to BWV for one week. We've driven twice now but we've never had a stay at HH. Our usual trip is leaving about 1 on Friday afternoon, staying in Virginia that night, then drive down to upper Florida and sleep for another night, then into Disney next day. The drive home we only stop in Virginia and then make it home the next day. It's a long trip but it's been so nice to have all the extra stuff with me.....and Boy, can I shop down at Disney!!!! We drive an Expedition so you see I could really fill it up!

 

[MikeScott8]

My fiancee and I drove a few weeks ago. It is good for me as I am a big guy and the airplane seats are tight for me and uncomfortable. Also the air and the motion usual gets me sick to my stomach. So I prefer to drive. We live in Western NY (Rcochester), and a highschool buddy moved to Raleigh a year or two ago after his marriage, so that is right around the middle point.

We drove 12ish Hours on a Saturday and spent the night for FREE (well we did buy them suveniors) with them. and then 10-11ish hours to Tampa area to spend the night with my mother. We drove an hour or so to OKW on monday and we did the reverse order on friday after a day at the park.

So most likely we will drive most of the time so we can see our friends in NC, and mostly likely will cut out the stay with my mother since SOON we will be members and not renting points.

AND another reason is that Rochester airfare is OUTRAGEOUS! So we save the money and around $100 in gas and oil changes, we get there and back and see friends on the way! I think it is great doing it that way.

Mike

 

[msdis]

We are hoping to drive from now on. We were at WDW on Sept. 11th. We kept the rental car and drove 25+1/2 hours straight to get home. We must be nuts to want to do this again But as everyone else pointed out, flying is even less than it was cracked up to be before Sept. 11th. I calculated we will have $750 min. to play with for what a rental car and airfare for 2 would be. I think we can beat that driving and staying 1 night each way in VA or NC. Any tips for us from anyone in the far northeast. Any advise on where to stay that is safe and reasonably priced. Thanks!


That is great for those of you that HH is 1/2 way or so for you. For us it would still be a 20 hr drive and would turn the drive into 3 days down, 3 days back. BUT, I am looking forward to the day when DH says we can stay at HH for a vacation. He says he can't stand the thought of driving all that distance with ONLY 5 hours to go and NOT go to WDW. LOL!!!


CarolA- my DH thinks HE needs a new corvette to drive to WDW with. I told him when he moves me to Celebration he can have his new corvette. How's that for smooth talking?

 

[eva]

We usually drive from the Peoria area in Illinois. It takes about 19 hours. We usually drive straight through. Going down isn't a problem, but coming back is a bummer. This trip we have decided to stop in Chattanooga on the way back. We traded in our Grand Caravan this year so the drive might be a bit much in a Cavalier. Our girls are not driving with us this time though. They will be flying down after finals in May. When we take them they usually listen to CDs or watched DVDs on our laptop. I'm big on books on CD. This year we bought The Lord of the Rings on CD and will listen to that during the drive. Crackle Barrels also rent books on tape and you can rent and turn them in at any Crackle Barrel. I find that time really flys when you are listening to a good book.

P.S. I'm afraid of those darn mountains too! I try to get to sleep before we get there.

 

[hoosiergirl]

We drive from the Toledo area--it takes us around 18 hours. Our most recent trip was on 1/2/02 and my DH got us up and on the road by 5am! Thank goodness he did--we got through Atlanta around 3:30pm when the snow just started coming down so we totally missed that "big snow" they got! We made it to Valdosta by 7:30pm and would've driven all the way to WDW but there were no rooms to be had at the AS (where we would be staying the next 3 days.)

Our trip home was from Vero and that was longer but still worth the drive over flying--money, hassles, etc.

 

[chris1gill]

We've only driven once, but we did exactly as you are suggesting... We stopped at HH on our way back from Disney. For us it was about a six hour drive, I think we stopped on the way. Our drive is 24 hours (from Boston. Lately we've been getting the 100.00 rt fares, so it's made sense to fly, that's the only reason we haven't driven since our first drive 2 years ago....

 

[Snowgod]

DW and I recently drove down from NH. We use the oportunity to stop and visit family in the Trenton area and then drive 16 hrs from there. Have trip home planed next summer and have big conversion van we will fill with eight people. 150 days and counting

 

[ZerasPride]

I appreciate all the additional comments from you guys, they are really helpful! It doesn't sound like my plan is too far fetched - I've just got to convince hubby. We love Hilton Head but I have a feeling if we don't do the Disney trip this year, it won't happen for a few years (buying a new house and son's high school graduation are in the semi-near future, plus I'm planning a big formal shindig for our 10th anniversary next year).

Anyway, thanks again for your experiences. I'll keep you guys posted on what we end up deciding to do.

Lisa

 

[marley]

If I'm reading your post correctly, just wanted to point out that driving back the Sunday directly after Thanksgiving is always a nightmare in itself so you might want to consider leaving on Saturday. It is not uncommon driving the interstate to have an additional 3 hours added to my 5 hour trip home to MD from NC if I drive on that Sunday regardless of how early I leave. Just a suggestion

 

[SnowWitch]

We always drive! Granted its only about 8.5 hours for us. Like others posters have said we love the anticipation Macon, Valdosta, Fla state line, Ocala Disney visitors center and then bam we're there!