Talk to me about the drive from Ontario

[RatherDrive]

One think you could do is to go on line and request the official tourist brochure from each state you drive through. They will usually send you a state map and a book with all the attractions that the state has to offer. Just another tool to plan your trip.

 

[lizzyb]

Thanks for all the tips! We are driving down for the first time in August and planning everything out now.

 

[archdandy]

Thanks for more great tips! I think we've settled on doing the I75 because it seems like its the easiest drive. I'm not very fond of driving in strange places and obviously I will have to if we decide to drive straight through. So an easy drive sounds good to me. It looks like there will be quite a few first timers driving down this year.

 

[wdwgoofydaddy]

Thanks for more great tips! I think we've settled on doing the I75 because it seems like its the easiest drive. I'm not very fond of driving in strange places and obviously I will have to if we decide to drive straight through. So an easy drive sounds good to me. It looks like there will be quite a few first timers driving down this year.

I75 is the best for an easy mindless drive. Just a bit tricky around Atlanta with the by-pass but other then that, it is just "I75 south" you are driving on until you hit the FL turnpike. I found crossing over at the Detroit bridge the easiest because the I75 on ramp is right there on the left after you clear US customs and pay the bridge toll. Just stick to the left pay booth then left on ramp.

Happy driving.

 

[RatherDrive]

Another thing to do is to use the HOV lanes through Atlanta, they will save time if traffic is backed up.

 

[Disneyhabs]

I75 is the best for an easy mindless drive. Just a bit tricky around Atlanta with the by-pass but other then that, it is just "I75 south" you are driving on until you hit the FL turnpike. I found crossing over at the Detroit bridge the easiest because the I75 on ramp is right there on the left after you clear US customs and pay the bridge toll. Just stick to the left pay booth then left on ramp.

Happy driving.

Speaking of the turnpike you can jump off at the first exit and hang a right I believe it is #27 and you can take it straight to WDW. This is the way we go in every trip I have driven it so many times I seriously do not even remember the road number anymore. It takes you past the citrus tower it will be on the left side as you drive south.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Citrus_Tower

 

[Disneyhabs]

Another thing to do is to use the HOV lanes through Atlanta, they will save time if traffic is backed up.

Yes and it keeps you from accidentally getting stuck in the bypass lanes and trying to get back over.

 

[wdwgoofydaddy]

Speaking of the turnpike you can jump off at the first exit and hang a right I believe it is #27 and you can take it straight to WDW. This is the way we go in every trip I have driven it so many times I seriously do not even remember the road number anymore. It takes you past the citrus tower it will be on the left side as you drive south.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Citrus_Tower

Thanks for the tip. I just looked it up on goole maps and it looks pretty good. Will have to give it a try this summer.

 

[Disneyhabs]

Thanks for the tip. I just looked it up on goole maps and it looks pretty good. Will have to give it a try this summer.

No problem at all. One cool thing is there are a bunch of spots along the way with random orange trees by the side of the road we have stopped and grabbed a few oranges if they are ready and had a snack in the car. You will also notice as you get closer the street sign and light posts etc all become painted purple from there you are VERY close to a couple different WDW entrances. Whein we started travelling this route it was a 2 lane road lined with orange groves. Now it is gated communities and golf courses and a 4 lane road.

 

[rjan67]

Oddly enough, when we drive all night for March break, we end up in Atlanta at about 4-5am and it is one of my favourite drives through a city! Very cool! However, not so cool if it's at other times with traffic! Gah!!
We have learned not to book hotel rooms. We always seem to get farther than we think. Around dinner time, we look ahead to see how much farther we will go if we plan to stop - then book (either by cellphone or stop at one at dinner time and book from another hotel). We usually try for Holiday inn express -due to the large rooms, breakfast and indoor pool (most times) - which are musts when travelling with kids. I agree the I77 drive is lovely in May or June - however for a straight forward drive - I75 has my vote. Plus - it seems a little "faster" if you know what I mean. Especially through the mountains at night with the truckers - they are moving! My kids are well adapted to driving - done so since they were very young - and we often will figure out how much time we have left and keep going til our destination. I also agree with stopping at the welcome centers. Often very well patrolled - especially at the Florida welcome center. Often see many people dozing in their cars!

 

[Disneyhabs]

Oddly enough, when we drive all night for March break, we end up in Atlanta at about 4-5am and it is one of my favourite drives through a city! Very cool! However, not so cool if it's at other times with traffic! Gah!!
We have learned not to book hotel rooms. We always seem to get farther than we think. Around dinner time, we look ahead to see how much farther we will go if we plan to stop - then book (either by cellphone or stop at one at dinner time and book from another hotel). We usually try for Holiday inn express -due to the large rooms, breakfast and indoor pool (most times) - which are musts when travelling with kids. I agree the I77 drive is lovely in May or June - however for a straight forward drive - I75 has my vote. Plus - it seems a little "faster" if you know what I mean. Especially through the mountains at night with the truckers - they are moving! My kids are well adapted to driving - done so since they were very young - and we often will figure out how much time we have left and keep going til our destination. I also agree with stopping at the welcome centers. Often very well patrolled - especially at the Florida welcome center. Often see many people dozing in their cars!

We leave and drive through the night and arrive at the GA welcome centre at about 6-7AM we leave home around 7PM. I only ever drive about 108KPH best fuel economy for my SUV at that speed gets me 1200K out of a tank of gas. I always plan our stop in Valdosta and we get there around 3 in the afternoon. Gives the kids time to relax after a long period in the car we also do a couple stops in the day one at the welcome centre and one at the Macon bypass for atleast 2 hours each. I stop at the country inns and suites in Valdosta amazingly large rooms great indoor pool and awesome breakfast buffet included in the AM it is at exit 18 off I75 and it is the first hotel on the right hand side of the road off the exit ramp.

 

[jaimiemarshall]

These tips are all amazing! We are driving down in August for the first time so its great to have so many tips available!!

 

[wdwgoofydaddy]

From what i have read it would appear that there a a lot of people driving to WDW from the GTA in August. Just thought it might be a good idea for some of the newbie to hook up form of the veterans for the drive.

I recall the first time I did the drive about 7 years ago. I was pretty nervous because I never did a drive of that length before and GPS' were not all that great back then either.

Recently we have been slowly introducing our family friend to the drive opposed to flying. We have taken about 3 caravans down with us over the past 2 years. We had 2way radios between the cars and all took turns leading the pack. The kids loved the 2way radios.

Overall the trip took a bit longer then usual, longer stops because more people eating and using the restroom, but overall a good fun drive for all.

Just a suggestion...

 

[archdandy]

That's an idea! So if your going to be driving down from the GTA in August, list your dates if your interested in this so maybe we can co-ordinate a group drive! We are hoping to leave from just north of Barrie on August 16 and arrive in WDW on August 17. We'll be there for 9 nights and will be leaving to come home on August 26.

I thought of another question to ask. We are wanting to leave our city around 10-11am but I've heard a lot of people say they leave either in the evening or really early in the morning. Is there a specific reason for this? If we plan to drive straight through and it takes approx. 23-24 hours with stops we would be in WDW in the early afternoon the next day. Should we think about changing this?

From what i have read it would appear that there a a lot of people driving to WDW from the GTA in August. Just thought it might be a good idea for some of the newbie to hook up form of the veterans for the drive.

I recall the first time I did the drive about 7 years ago. I was pretty nervous because I never did a drive of that length before and GPS' were not all that great back then either.

Recently we have been slowly introducing our family friend to the drive opposed to flying. We have taken about 3 caravans down with us over the past 2 years. We had 2way radios between the cars and all took turns leading the pack. The kids loved the 2way radios.

Overall the trip took a bit longer then usual, longer stops because more people eating and using the restroom, but overall a good fun drive for all.

Just a suggestion...

 

[Disneyhabs]

That's an idea! So if your going to be driving down from the GTA in August, list your dates if your interested in this so maybe we can co-ordinate a group drive! We are hoping to leave from just north of Barrie on August 16 and arrive in WDW on August 17. We'll be there for 9 nights and will be leaving to come home on August 26.

I thought of another question to ask. We are wanting to leave our city around 10-11am but I've heard a lot of people say they leave either in the evening or really early in the morning. Is there a specific reason for this? If we plan to drive straight through and it takes approx. 23-24 hours with stops we would be in WDW in the early afternoon the next day. Should we think about changing this?

We have done a 4AM leaving time and it was ok but I prefer the evening start time. We will be leaving Aug 29 around 6 or 7PM from London if anyone is heading out that time let me know I would be happy to have someone tag along until they feel comfortable to head off on their own. We prefer the evening start time because it allows the kids the night to sleep in the car and it passes quite a lot of the trip for them at night. We arrive at the GA welcome centre for breakfast time and they get to run around for a bit have something to eat and get dressed etc. Plus it allows us t get to our overnight stop before dinner time and a good evening of swimming dinner and a good nights slep so when we arrive at Disney on the Sunday we are fresh and ready to explore.

So why not start at travel date list and put it in the OP of when people are leaving and we can try and connect that way.

Our trip is Aug 29 leave London Leave Florida to head home Sept 6

 

[tanyam76]

Okay, so we are going to be driving from about 1.5 north of Toronto to Disney World in August and this will be our first time driving. I need to know ALL of your planning tips and tricks and advice. I feel like it's a huge undertaking and will require tons of planning. Where should we stop for rest stops? Where is a good place to get some food? Best route to take? We are two adults planning on driving straight through. Has anyone done this before, any tips on keeping yourself awake enough to drive? Obviously we would take turns and nap in between. And if we need to we will stop but I'd rather drive straight through. Google maps says its 20 hours of driving but I assume it will a bit longer with stops and traffic and what not. I'm also thinking of maybe stopping at a Walmart or Target before we arrive in Disney and possibly the Disney outlet store as well. Any tips for those idea's? Is there a good Walmart or Target to stop at on the way? I feel really lost with planning this. Any help would be appreciated.

Ok so I drove down with my mom and daughter (an hour north of Toronto) through buffalo and stopped in Charlotte to spend the night. My daughter was 5 and my mom was 62. I felt they needed to get out and rest properly. The pro's were that it gave us time to be out of the car. The con's was that it took longer to get there. I have to say that you could not tell we had a child in the car. She would watch her movies on her dvd player and then drift off and sleep for a few hours. We were going for a Disney Cruise so we were driving to Port Canaveral.

Then I drove straight down with a friend, her mom, her two kids and my daughter, not staying over night. The kids ages were 3 6 and 7. We had portable DVD players set up for them to watch their movies. We stopped for breakfast and lunch, picked up snacks at gas stations and continued on (we were going to Sarasota). Pro's your there the next day. Cons, everyone needed to shower rest and freshen up.

I personally do not like the drive as I get Migraines when I hit the mountains area although really beautiful. Its terrible for me.

The road trip aspect is fun so if it works for you, that's great and it saves money plus you have a vehicle down there!

Enjoy

 

[RatherDrive]

I am always of the mind to put a long 14+ hour drive in the first day then get a good night sleep. The next day we will arrive early afternoon and arrive still somewhat fresh.

If you are worried about where to get gas and food, the I75 route seems to have stops at every exit. The I77/79 route seems to be more spread out but a nicer drive IMHO. We like to time our breaks to lunch and gas stops that way we minimize out stoppage time.

 

[Ken_Breadbox]

I am always of the mind to put a long 14+ hour drive in the first day then get a good night sleep. The next day we will arrive early afternoon and arrive still somewhat fresh.

If you are worried about where to get gas and food, the I75 route seems to have stops at every exit. The I77/79 route seems to be more spread out but a nicer drive IMHO. We like to time our breaks to lunch and gas stops that way we minimize out stoppage time.

I-75: if you have Dave Hunter's book, you know the location of preferred radar traps as well. We found the 77-79 route much more scenic but it also took a LOT longer than Bing or Google Maps said it would....and it seemed longer still. (We're in Waterloo). We left at 3AM--my wife is the sole driver and her reasons for leaving that early were (a) to get across the border without too much of a wait (30 seconds in our case) and (b) to get the long drive out of the way, as RatherDrive just noted. Taking 77-79 with minimal stops, that long drive was a killer. We hit Charlotte at 6PM and it *still* took ten hours from there to WDW. I'll never do 77-79 again.

 

[lizzyb]

I-75: if you have Dave Hunter's book, you know the location of preferred radar traps as well. We found the 77-79 route much more scenic but it also took a LOT longer than Bing or Google Maps said it would....and it seemed longer still. (We're in Waterloo). We left at 3AM--my wife is the sole driver and her reasons for leaving that early were (a) to get across the border without too much of a wait (30 seconds in our case) and (b) to get the long drive out of the way, as RatherDrive just noted. Taking 77-79 with minimal stops, that long drive was a killer. We hit Charlotte at 6PM and it *still* took ten hours from there to WDW. I'll never do 77-79 again.

Seems odd that it took longer… mapquest shows it being the shorter/quicker route also.

 

[RatherDrive]

Seems odd that it took longer… mapquest shows it being the shorter/quicker route also.

While the I77/79 is around 90 km shorter and according to mapquest over 1 hour faster than the I75, it all depends on driving styles. Personally the I77/79 is faster for me but my parents who live close to me always have a faster time on the I75.