Tell me about driving to WDW from Central MA :)

[klwdisney]

We are still about a year out but we are weighing the pros and cons of driving vs. flying from Central MA to the Contemporary next Fall.

Is it cheaper? What day (friday/saturday) and what time do you leave to avoid the most amount of trafic? Do you drive straight through or stay overnight? If you stay overnight, can you suggest a hotel and location for an inexpensive clean night's stay?

It would be just my mom and I - no kids - in my mom's CRV most likely.

Any other suggestions or opinions would be appreciated. THANKS!!

 

[Stitch_Is_King]

We have made the trip twice driving from Western Mass. We have done it in an RV so our experience is a little difference from what you will be doing. We prefer to take the Tappan Zee bridge as opposed to the GW as we have found the traffic is not as bad. Of course you can hit bad traffic either way. We would usually get on the road about 7pm and drive until we got south of D.C. Traffic was usually not that bad, although there is usually plenty of construction going on at night, which can take out lanes on the highway, and cause a few headaches.

We would usually stop for a few hours and rest and then get back on the road, drive to Savannah, then stay in a hotel that night. We usually would stay at a Hampton Inn, Hilton Garden, or Courtyard by Marriott and have never had any issues at any of these hotels. The next morning we would finish the drive to Disney.

Traffic can be the major pain and you can hit it anywhere along I-95, although we have noticed once you get south of D.C., it usually is smooth sailing till you hit I-4. It can be a nice drive since you get to see things you will not see at 36,000 feet. Have a great trip.

 

[Run princess]

I believe Jet Blue will be running out of Worcester soon. When it was Direct Air they were very cheap. I haven't checked prices but I wouldn't rule out flying. We've only ever driven as far south as Raleigh North Carolina. Getting around DC is biggest issue, we've always left early enough to get past NY.

 

[happymommy]

For only two people, I don't think driving can possibly save that much versus flying. I would see what the airfare is, and how long of a drive it is.

We drove from the DC area to Disney once, but that was the 4 of us (and it was right after 9/11 when we just didn't want to fly with our kids). It was long - 12 hours. Not too bad, but going home sucked so bad! DH said never again!

 

[dromio42]

We have driven from Western Ma a couple of times, though now we take the autotran - which we love. I think it depends on your length of trip and whether or not you are renting a car. We go for 3 weeks and want to have a car, so driving or the auto train is always cheaper than flying and renting a car.

 

[goofy4tink]

Hello fellow central Mass person!!! I know that many who drive to WDW from the Worcester area tend to break it up over two days, stopping in the Rocky Mt area. Others, much younger than I, like to do it in 24 hrs..but they have 4 or so in the car, so lots of driver changes.
Have you looked into Jetblue out of Worcester? They start flying there in mid-Nov. I have a flight to MCO from Worcester in early Dec...love flying out of this airport!!!
And they are thinking about adding more flights! That may be a very cost effective solution for you.

 

[4kids4karen]

Our relatives drove from Michigan straight to our house in Tampa. You can do it in a day, it is really just up to you. It is cheaper to drive than fly.

Tips: Apply a fresh coat of Rainx to your windshield. Sometimes the rain really limits your visibility if you do not have Rainx. I can tell a huge difference if I haven't reapplied recently. If you are coming during lovebug season, bring some bug remover. I also heard a wet fabric softner sheet works well to remove bugs.

 

[edbo77]

When are you looking to check in at WDW? That will determine when you would need to leave and if you'll miss traffic or not.

Some of the other posters bring up a good point - if there's only two of you, how much $$ are you really going to save by driving? You could fly out of Logan, Bradley or Worcester so you might have some options in terms of cheap flights. We've driven down the past few years, but there's 5 of us and we always go on Feb vacation so the airfares are usually $500+ at that point which makes it an easy decision to drive. Just my thoughts.

 

[klwdisney]

Thanks so much for all your responses!!! I think you're right... we'll stick with flying!! I am very much looking forward to flying Jet Blue out of Worcester and hopefully by next year the prices will have come down a little to make it worth it!