So we are driving after all

[FamilyGuy]

We used to drive down all the time from NY before we got the itch to move here.. the kids loved it.. especially seeing the South of the Border signs

LOL

When we were loading up our van at SSR a few weeks back, preparing for the drive home, we started chatting with a family who moved from Long Island NY to Melbourne FL about a year ago. They were telling us how they used to drive down from NY - now they are less than 2 hours away! They love it in FL and Disney was part of their decision to move!

We don't seem to mind the drive at all. Even with a 15 month old we seemed to do fine (thank god!). With the need to buy 6-7 plane tickets if we should fly, the decision to drive is mainly an economic one. Plus DW hates to fly.

Absolutley no complaints from me though... don't have to worry about security, luggage making it there, unexpected flight delays or changes, the kids possibly annoying others on the plane, etc, etc

 

[kribit]

We drove for the first time last trip and will probably never fly to Disney again. We had a wonderful trip.

Sounds fun, after being stuck on a tiny island for 3 years, we are seriously considering driving to WDW from California! We were thinking of taking a week to get there, stopping at checkpoints along the way for the night and do a little sight seeing, stay for 9 days, drive back, so about 3 weeks total! Everyone else thinks its nuts but hey, DH has never been to the Grand Canyon and I haven't been to Louisiana since 2000 and cajun food sounds good to me!! Have fun on your drives!!

I hope I can convince DH to drive cross country to California at some point.

 

[Scot-n-Michelle]

We leave in 9 days and are driving also from Ohio - we did it last year also - have 2 kids 5 and 3 and they were EXCELLENT - popped in the dvd's and they were happy - did not start to hear are we there yet till Georgia!!! Good Luck to everyone who is driving too.

 

[minnierocks]

We drive from OH...it takes about 18 hours...
The last time we drove there were 8 of us. We took FIL's RV and drove all night. We had a great time! It was the highlight of my (then) 12 year old's trip. We are going back in November and taking the RV again.

 

[disneymom06]

We have been driving down for a couple of years. Aside from the financial savings in a family with 4 children, IMO it is less stressful. No pressure on time, what is in the suitcase for security purposes, the logistics work nicely for us. It does take longer but try to do a good part of the driving when the children are sleeping. DVD's work great as do the corny car games. The kids love the anticipation of the arrival. Enjoy the trip!!!!

 

[MomofKatie]

We always drive- luckily, we are only 8 1/2 hours away. DD is a really good traveler- she stays busy with music, DVDs, art projects, books, etc. DH and I take turns driving so nobody is tired and cranky when we arrive at WDW. We usually leave home around 4am and pull into our resort at around 12:45.

 

[Tink's Pixieduster]

We'll be driving this year, too. Airfares are just too ridiculous, and the stress of how to pack and getting through security will be avoided, as will worrying about possible last minute glitches such as weather, traffic problems getting to the airport, long lines at the airline check-in and security, etc. It will be 12-13 hours for us and not the first time driving, but it has been about 5 years since our last road trip. I'm actually looking forward to it.

 

[bar1jp]

we are driving too I love road trips!!!

 

[CanadianGuy]

We're from New Brunswick Canada and we're driving down in 2008! 7 or 8 adults and possibly 5 kids aged 2-6! Its going to be nuts! But fun! I can't wait! A long drive for sure but so much cheaper than trying to get THAT many flights out of Canada!

Also from NB -- Fredericton to be exact.

Drove down last year.. and doing it again in 5 days.

We get a rental car in Portland, Maine. This year for 9 days of rental car.. its 222$ for a full size at Alamo. Better that .. than to put 7000km / 4000 mi on my own car.

Last year we put 4235 miles on the rental. Heh heh.

J

 

[byoung]

Hope you have a safe trip!

 

[kribit]

Also from NB -- Fredericton to be exact.

Drove down last year.. and doing it again in 5 days.

We get a rental car in Portland, Maine. This year for 9 days of rental car.. its 222$ for a full size at Alamo. Better that .. than to put 7000km / 4000 mi on my own car.

Last year we put 4235 miles on the rental. Heh heh.

J

Wow, that's a great price. A couple of the quotes I received were $600... Dh is insisting we take our own car again, but I don't want to rack up the miles (the car is almost paid off and I don't want another car payment).

 

[summerlandjeff]

We have driven from Southern NJ 2 times and here are a few observations:

1. Leave in the early morning. I mean 2:00AM! The first year we drove we left NJ @ 7:00AM. We hit Washington DC around 10:00AM. We finally got through DC around 12:45 !! I-95 around DC is a mess. The year we left at 2:00AM we hit DC around 4:30 and zipped through (around) in 30 mins. !

2. If you want to break up the trip, Santee, SC (Exit 98 on I95) is a 12 hour trip from South Jersey. There is a nice motel called the Clark's Inn that has a room and breakfast special . Santee is about 7-8 hours from WDW, so if you leave around 6:00 AM you'll make WDW by 2:00PM just in time to check in!

3. If you want to drive straight through, try to time it to arrive at check in. Check in is around 3:00, it takes 19-21 hours (if you run all the red lights, lol ) to get to WDW so... leaving at 7:00PM on Thursday will put you there at about 3:00 PM on Friday.

4. Watch for construction on I95! Several times we got stuck in mini back ups that lasted any where from 10 mins to 2 hours! The worst was the junction of I95 & I4 around Daytona, what a mess!!!!

Good Luck!

 

[CinRell]

Sounds fun, after being stuck on a tiny island for 3 years, we are seriously considering driving to WDW from California! We were thinking of taking a week to get there, stopping at checkpoints along the way for the night and do a little sight seeing, stay for 9 days, drive back, so about 3 weeks total! Everyone else thinks its nuts but hey, DH has never been to the Grand Canyon and I haven't been to Louisiana since 2000 and cajun food sounds good to me!! Have fun on your drives!!

Ooooh I'd love to be stuck on your tiny island for decades! lol!

 

[dizzienoodle]

Let me preface by saying that I have never been on a plane for a family vacation ever as a child, and yet had been to 39 of the fifty states plus mexico and canada. We were a road tripping kind of family I guess.
So, I guess I didn't even think twice about how we would get to Disney. We would drive... pack up sandwiches and a small cooler for snacks, and stop along the way.
It doesnt hurt that we have family to stay with in South Carolina, and are leaving on a Friday evening so that the tikes will be sleeping for most of the trip, but we drove from Philadelphia to Atlanta last summer and it was such fun.
I think with so much to look forward to the kids will have a great road trip.

 

[themudd4]

My DH says God still has not gave him wings so he ain't flying. So that means a 14+ hour drive each time we go to Disney.
We take DVD's, travel games, gameboys, music, books, and 100 mile gifts. They are usually nothing major, but for each 100 miles we hit we try to have a little gift/surprise for the kids. Usually a little snack, or a thing from the dollar store or something. Just helps pass the time a little.

I took seek and finds, hand held poker, magazines, and soduko books for me to do.

 

[kribit]

and 100 mile gifts. They are usually nothing major, but for each 100 miles we hit we try to have a little gift/surprise for the kids. Usually a little snack, or a thing from the dollar store or something. Just helps pass the time a little.

We do this too...it worked out quite well. Our kids LOVED the road trip and are looking forward to driving again.

 

[dopeyprincesses]

We're driving too! 20 hours but flying is not for me! DH friend's suggested that he fly down with the kids (9 & 5) and I drive alone
The plan is to leave about 4am and stop for the night around 8pm then pull into DW the next day.

Love the 100 mile prize ideas!!

 

[dfherrera]

I prefer to drive down and do so every year. My wife prefers to fly so we usually drive down for our "long" vacation of the year and fly down for a long weekend.

The benefits to driving in my opinion are:

1. Unlimited space (almost) for all the gear we buy while down there.

2. Do not need to "trim down" our gear we plan on bringing with us including bikes or whatever.

3. No airline hassles - This is a BIG one for me. I travel often for business and it drives me crazy when I get delayed at an airport so bad that I could have actually driven and gotten there about the same time.

4. I like to stop and buy fireworks on the way back.

5. Family time (this one can go either way )

6. Much cheaper - Airlines run us about $1100 for the three of us verse driving down at about $275 roundtrip!

Cons:

1. Family time (sometimes it just gets a bit much)

2. If the flights are on time, you can't beat 2 hours to Disney!

Not sure what your plans are but I leave at about 4:00am in the morning and try to drive straight through on the trip down and we stop and sleep somewhere on the way back. Usually we get down there between 10:00 and 11:00 pm the day we leave. If we are checking in on Saturday, I will leave first thing Friday morning. We will either stay with family Friday night or at one of the low cost hotels just outside the park for that one night then check in refreshed Saturday morning to enjoy our vacation.

I have also tried all the short cuts and re-routes but unless there was a big accident, they never seemed to pay off for me.

Good luck

 

[summerlandjeff]

I prefer to drive down and do so every year. My wife prefers to fly so we usually drive down for our "long" vacation of the year and fly down for a long weekend.

The benefits to driving in my opinion are:

1. Unlimited space (almost) for all the gear we buy while down there.

2. Do not need to "trim down" our gear we plan on bringing with us including bikes or whatever.

3. No airline hassles - This is a BIG one for me. I travel often for business and it drives me crazy when I get delayed at an airport so bad that I could have actually driven and gotten there about the same time.

4. I like to stop and buy fireworks on the way back.

5. Family time (this one can go either way )

6. Much cheaper - Airlines run us about $1100 for the three of us verse driving down at about $275 roundtrip!

Cons:

1. Family time (sometimes it just gets a bit much)

2. If the flights are on time, you can't beat 2 hours to Disney!

Not sure what your plans are but I leave at about 4:00am in the morning and try to drive straight through on the trip down and we stop and sleep somewhere on the way back. Usually we get down there between 10:00 and 11:00 pm the day we leave. If we are checking in on Saturday, I will leave first thing Friday morning. We will either stay with family Friday night or at one of the low cost hotels just outside the park for that one night then check in refreshed Saturday morning to enjoy our vacation.

I have also tried all the short cuts and re-routes but unless there was a big accident, they never seemed to pay off for me.

Good luck

Some great points on driving from NJ! But after our last trip by car, I now prefer to fly! On our way back we had tire trouble, a brand new tire had a "bubble" on the side wall. We got off I95 at Daytona and searched for the tire chain we got it from. No such luck . A local place said they could fix it but it would void the warranty. Another place would replace it but had to order it! SIX hours later we were back on the road and CRAWLED from FL to GA! We limped into Santee SC to rest 13 HOURS after leaving WDW . Never, I MEAN never again will I drive from NJ to WDW! 2.5 hours from ACY to MCO, you can't beat it!

 

[dfherrera]

You must be using Spirit Air???

My wife prefers that option. This year we are headed down twice, in June we are driving for our "long" trip and we are headed back down in December for a short trip at Christmas and will fly Spirit for that one.

Sorry to hear about the tire issues. There is always an unknown when traveling.