How many people drive to Disney?

[armomof3lvsdisney]

Ok, seeing the thread about flying to Disney, I was feeling left out So how many people drive to Disney? ME first, we do DH, ME, DS14, DD11, and DD9. 18 Hours, we always break it down, last year the first day 14 hours and 4 hours the next. Sometimes we break it down alittle different. We have fun on our Disney road trips. Food is a big part of that, we have certain snacks that we always have. Always crunch and munch (never buy this except for road trips), pringles, sunny d's, and hunny buns we have other stuff but, these we always have. We all get goodies bags with things to do in them. And we always play the license plate game. And on the morning of day two, we always eat breakfast at an IHOP. Then were almost there

 

[Indianadisneyfan]

I always do 12 -13 hrs.

 

[diz8297]

We drive from RI. We leave early (as in 1 a.m. ) Saturday a.m. , stop in South Carolina, and are in Disney at 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon. We have traditional stops-Cracker Barrel first breakfast, IHOP secondbreakfast for example. We have a blast. We bring cd's that we have burned, the kids have game systems and dvd's to watch. Driving lets us go yearly-we wouldn't be able to afford to if flying.

 

[Eoywin]

We are only about 9 hours away, so there is really no sense in us flying. It would be a waste of money.

 

[Crazy Kanga]

We always drive. It is about 10to 10 and a half hours with one stop for lunch. We leave about 5am and get there around 4 or 4:30(time change). We then swim eat dinner and go to bed early to get ready for our 1st park day.

 

[Merriwind]

We do, but it's only 2 hours door to door. Yippee!

 

[Groovee]

Not sure where we could drive to or from as we have the atlantic ocean to cross

 

[DVC Jen]

We drive all the time as well. For us it is about a 22 hour trip - but we break it down in to 2 very managable days and then 1 short day.

We enjoy our drive and make it part of our vacation as well.

 

[justKim]

We drive down in about 8 hours. Much better now that the kids are older and we don't have to stop so often.

My daughter always has to have a potty break at the welcome center and we usually eat lunch at the same Steak and Shake in Lake City. We have it down to a science.

 

[welovemickey]

We drive with the kids every year from MA. It's a 22 hour drive and we make it in 2 days. We're in an RV, so it makes it easier - everyone can move around.

We do fly when we do our adults weekend in October each year though.

 

[FamilyGuy]

We have drove down the last 2 times, from Chicago.

The first time driving we left the house at 4Am, and had planned to stop overnight, but ended up driving right on through (too much anticipation and excitement). We called POR to check in one night early, after we had crossed the GA/FL border. They could not accomdate us they said.... were willing to check other resorts, but no luck for POR. So, I checked rates via phone for a couple of off site places, but got to thinking that since we had scheduled a split WDW stay (POR/Boardwalk) we would be moving 3 times! I called back and explained and asked if there was any way they could get us in, and that my DW was sprinkling some pixie dust and hoping for a little disney magic. Well, they magic played out and they got it figured out and said they would be able to check us in later that night...

The family was so happy that it worked out. It felt magical, really, it did. Even little parts of the drive often make make fond memories.

I have to say that flying definitley has it's advantages. But for us, I don't think we will ever fly it again... driving is in our comfort (and budget) zone!

The one thing that we will likely do on future trips is park the car and take strictly disney transportation. It truly gives the entire stay more of a 'resort feel!'

 

[mmcguire]

We drive too! Driving is half the fun! Since my mom (and sometimes dad) usually go with us, they let us borrow their gigantic Navigator (aka apartment on wheels), so there's plenty of room. We play I Spy, Punch Buggy, and various trivia games. This year we're also bringing an iPod full of music and Handy Manny episodes, and a portable DVD player to keep the kids occupied. It's about 11.5 hours for us, so we leave midday Friday, drive to Savannah, and spend the night at the Wingate Inn off 95. There's a Cracker Barrel right next to the hotel where we have dinner. Sat AM we have breakfast at the hotel (really good free breakfast with make-it-yourself waffles, eggs, sausage, pastries, etc...). We usually get into Kissimmee around 3:00 PM, and we don't go to the parks that day.

 

[Disneyanajc]

Hi all, we drive to DISNEY(land) which is about a six hour drive.
BUT
we fly to DISNEY(world) which is about a five hour flight
JC

 

[dbenlee]

I WISH!! We drove once 4 years ago. Now my DW wants to fly because of the time savings. I understand this, but I HATE planes . Oh well, the time saving is a good thing, more time at Disney.

 

[Tigger22]

We drove to the Orlando area from Southeastern CT between Christmas & New Years to see a friend of ours play in the Champs Sports Bowl. Going down we stopped at relatives house in Newport News, VA (which was a little out of the way) - that took us about 9 hours, and then the next day went the rest of the way - which took us 15 hours...mostly because we sat in a LOT of traffic in North Carolina (Semi full of windows and sliding glass doors in a huge accident - sat there for almost 2 hours). That was a long day! We were assured by family that it was about 13 hrs to Orlando from their house in VA. So, combined it was 24 hours, with regular stops to eat.

Coming back we did not detour to Newport News - I think it took us a total of 19 hours all the way (Orlando to just north of Richmond day one) and the rest of the way the next day. Our friends drove straight through and it took them 21 hrs down with rush hour traffic in CT, NY and NJ, and a little longer to get home because of flat tire. We couldn't drive straight thru because I didn't trust myself to stay awake for my driving time with just two of us.

So it's doable from our house, and I have had friends do it (esp with kids). With just DH and I, I prefer to fly, but we didn't have that option this last trip because we only decided to go in early December and didn't want to pay a bazillion dollars to fly that week, if we could have found seats.

 

[dixiedizfan]

We drive ... Takes around 8 hours, including a stop for lunch. Wouldn't go as often if we had to pay to fly.

 

[FatherofFour]

We also drive, it is a 10 hour trip with breakfast lunch and a grocery stop. DW and I have flown when it has been just the two of us, but it doesn't make sense with all four little ones in tow.

If we leave 4am or 5am we get in time to swim/DTD/etc... and save the parks for our first full day.

These year we are taking the extended family (19 in all) and going to MK for the first night for dinner and "Wishes" (over half the group as never been or have not been sense puberty).

 

[Jalva22]

We drove it in 2005 with me, DW, DD (then 9), DS (then 5) from central Oklahoma. 1,300 miles each way. Took us two 12 hour days on the way down (stopping in Hattiesburg, MS). On the way home, we stopped for a couple of nights on the beach at Destin then all the way home from there. It took us about 16.5 hrs from Destin to get home. Wouldn't want to do it every year, but it wasn't as bad as you'd think. Planning on the exact same thing again in June.

My brother and his family of 4 (incl 2 elementary age DD's) did the same drive (but different route) about 2 weeks ago.

 

[lorimc]

My parents always drove. We left WVa around 3 am and arrived in Savannah early enough that Dad felt like driving all the way to Orlando (about 13 or so hours).

This year we (me, dh & dd, dDad, dMom, DU, DA and DCousin) plan to drive as far as Brunswick, GA (roughly 9 hrs) and then sleep late, drive the rest of the way ( around 3 hours) to Orlando, check in, hit Wal-Mart, swim at hotel and then head on to DTD to get a little magic before hitting parks the next week!

 

[tinaluis]

We've driven MANY times and we've flown too. It costs less for us to drive (we're a family of 5, soon to be 6), but it takes us about 19-20 hours of drive time. We usually break it up into two days, stopping overnight in Atlanta, GA and onto Orlando the next day. Technically, we could afford to fly, but we would take far fewer trips if we did. As it is, we've been able to average about 2-3 trips a year. Unfortunately, I'll soon be starting another job and, thus, will have to start accumulating vacation time all over again. (I worked at my previous job for 18 years and was quite used to 4-6 weeks of vacation a year). I'm afraid that once that happens, we'll have no choice but to fly. Whatever route we have to take, we're just happy to be at WDW!