How many people drive to Disney?

[tjlamphere]

In a week, we will take our 10th trip to Disney World, spanning from 1990 - now. We always drive, as I am a confirmed non-flyer. And when we had 4 of us in the car, it was much cheaper. It is a 21 hour drive for us from Upstate N.Y. We drive to Manning, S.C. the first night, then onto The Villages in Fla. for a few days, before heading onto the happiest place on Earth. Some people can't imagine driving to Florida from N.Y. State, but to each his own. Works for us.

 

[JiminyCricket59]

We almost always drive too. It's about 18 hours and we drive straight through.

 

[twins4disney]

We are driving for our April 07 trip, airfares were just not going down enough for us, so we decided to stick with driving. Of course if we see a really good fare it will be hard to turn down. It will be nice having our own car there and not dealing with a rental. I jsut talked my DH into drivng straight thru today. We decided that if we leave at 4:30 am, pack up the kids we will get there around 11:30 pm, if all goes well.

 

[izzys4]

About a 21 hour drive from Northern New York.....we found a hotel we like in Florence South Carolina we like to stay at ......we drive every time.

 

[bytheblood]

We do not - it is 24 hours without sleep.

 

[steffali]

We drive every time we go to WDW.

 

[DisneyDarlings]

We have driven every time. It is a 12 hour drive. Our family loves to travel by car and the DDs have always been great car travelers. Our tradition starts with the trip to Walmart to purchase snacks the evening we leave. Everyone gets their favorites. We usually depart around midnight and are sooooo excited no one sleeps for several hours. (except DH). DW does most of the driving. We drive straight until we see the first Cracker Barrel open for breakfast. We arrive sometime after lunch and stay offsite, very close to Maingate, at a free hotel room we have earned through Hilton Honors. We usually hit the outlet malls that afternoon, have a relaxing supper, and get to bed early. (but I don't think we get much sleep). We get up VERY early and are at our resort to check to get or Keys to the World and it's on to the parks!

 

[Ladybugsy]

We drive every year. We're in North Florida, and it takes us a little longer because we usually take my quadrapalegic uncle and his wife with us. They love it too. Year before last we left at 5 pm and arrived at POP at 1:30am. No problems getting a room, although it WAS September. Last year, we took along alot more of our family...(11 total) ...in 3 cars, and parked them on the first day, and didn't move them again till we left 10 days later. I love Disney

 

[FirstTimertoDiz]

Hmm, this post has been interesting. I had not really considered driving, but now I may have to look into it a little further!

I see a lot of people mention the savings- are we talking a lot, or just a few dollars? Is this factoring in everything (hotel stays en route, snacks/meals, oil changes, tolls, etc), or just gas prices?

For us, Mapquest has us listed about 16 hours for the drive, and we have a Chevy Blazer, which is just ok on gas mileage. I am not sure on actual mpg on it though. We normally get airline tix out of Baltimore for $79 each way, which ends up being about $580 total with taxes. Then BWI parking is about $100 for the week. I have a rental car already reserved for $180 for the trip. Do you think our savings would be significant if we drove?

I guess our last factor is traveling with ds, who will be 4. He tends to get carsick, and so do I occasionally, so I don't know how that will go- I don't want him to be miserable.

I would be really grateful for any input on this- it is very intriguing, especially if it means savings!

Thanks!
Lisa

 

[mickey12810]

We were suppose to drive (22hours from MA) for our April vacation trip but I found flights that were not too bad online ($323RT). DH works for UPS as a driver so when he is on vaca if he does not have to drive he is much happier. Granted the flights are 7 hours including a 3 hour layover in NY but it is around dinner time on the way down and lunch time on the way back. So we can get a bite to eat and kill some time. Driving down is fun....driving back is the pits.

 

[carissanboys]

Our kids have let us know that they value our tradition!

Your post was really sweet Thanks for sharing!

 

[drewc]

We have both driven and flown, but with a family of 5, it is usually cheaper to drive. This spring, we're driving down with our pop-up for the first time.

Our record from upstate NY (north of Albany) was about 19 hours. Usually, its more like 22 hours or so. We usually go straight through. Our kids are great passengers for the most part, so it works well for us.

 

[Freyja]

We have both driven and flown, but with a family of 5, it is usually cheaper to drive. This spring, we're driving down with our pop-up for the first time.

Our record from upstate NY (north of Albany) was about 19 hours. Usually, its more like 22 hours or so. We usually go straight through. Our kids are great passengers for the most part, so it works well for us.

When you say "straight through", how "straight through" do you mean? Do you stop for meals? How many toilet stops? Do you drive all night?

 

[drewc]

Here's what we usually do when we drive overnight, straight through...

We leave in early evening (usually a little after 5pm). Either me or my wife has taken a couple hours off of work to get everything packed and ready to roll. Then when the other one gets home from work, we're off. My wife does the driving for the first leg, while I try to get a little sleep (emphasis on "try"). Kids get to watch one movie during this stretch.

We usually pack some kind of dinner meal (this year we'll pack some subs), which lets us get a good amount of distance in before our first stop (maybe around 9pm or so). Bathroom break, a little stretching, and then back in the car, and I take my turn driving. The kids usually drop off within the hour and are good til morning. My wife usually falls asleep pretty quick too. Now, I listen to my music or books on cd. All the reststops for the next few hours are related to Mountain Dew or Redbull and yours truly. I get a lot of complaints from my sleepy passengers when I do stop though, so I try to limit this as much as possible (time it with the gas stops).

Then, around 5 am or so, my wife is usually awake again, and we do a quick pit stop to change drivers. We'll go on for another couple of hours and then find a place to stop for breakfast. This is usually our longest stop, maybe an hour and a half. We're usually well into SC or even GA at this point, so we're "getting close"! This prompts my son to ask what state we are in ad nauseum, until we get into FL. To counteract this, we usually put in another movie at this point.

From there, we can usually pull in to Orlando in the early afternoon.

We're generally averaging about 75 mph. This year it will probably be slower with the pop-up behind us (for safety reasons).