The Cost of the Drive to Disney

[MrsTeddy]

We are from Windsor we drove down when DS was 8 months old we left around 3am and arrived in Orlando around 2am! We drove straight thru only stopping for bathroom breaks and for me to nurse. DH says he'll never drive again I would be fine with driving if we took 2 days, maybe when the kids are bigger!

 

[kimmer]

We've driven from Ottawa for all out trips. We take two down, two days back. Try to make the roadtrip part of the trip, if that makes sense. This year we stopped at Great Wolfe Lodge in Williamsburg, VA for 2 nights on the way home. Was a great way to break up the long, sad drive home...

Gas this year there and back, and including driving around WDW was $680. (we drive an expedition)

 

[susanv]

We've tried driving straight through two times so far and found it worked best when we left at around 5pm (ended up being 5:30 pm before we left - four kids under 9). They all slept really well from about 10 pm until around 5 am, which meant a lot less stopping time. As it was we ended up with 7 hours of potty and food breaks. Definitely easier than leaving around 2 in the morning since not much sleep accomplished, too much excitement for Disney.

 

[KarmaLady]

We're going in August from Simcoe Ontario, so will probably go through buffalo. We're talking about leaving at midnight with DS6 & DD4 sleeping and DH driving the first leg. I don't usually sleep in vehicles due to motion sickness. Any tips?

I don't want to take gravel since it makes me dopey and I'll need to drive when DH gets tired (he can sleep anywhere in about 2.5 seconds). Has anyone tried those motion sickness bands?

If I know I'll be able to sleep, we may leave earlier with me driving the first leg and DH starting at midnight after he has a few hours shut eye. Why hasnt the transporter been invented yet? Beam me up, Mickey!

 

[minnie mum]

We're going in August from Simcoe Ontario, so will probably go through buffalo. We're talking about leaving at midnight with DS6 & DD4 sleeping and DH driving the first leg. I don't usually sleep in vehicles due to motion sickness. Any tips?

I don't want to take gravel since it makes me dopey and I'll need to drive when DH gets tired (he can sleep anywhere in about 2.5 seconds). Has anyone tried those motion sickness bands?

If I know I'll be able to sleep, we may leave earlier with me driving the first leg and DH starting at midnight after he has a few hours shut eye. Why hasnt the transporter been invented yet? Beam me up, Mickey!

I tried the bands on a cruise and they didn't help at all. I did get some relief taking ginger capsules. It won't help with the start of your trip, but in the States you can buy Meclizine tablets over the counter. They're a non-drowsy equivalent to Gravol. If you think you'll need sleep (and who doesn't!!) then I'd go with your last option- you drive the first leg of the trip while your DH sleeps, then take the Gravol and sleep while he drives the second leg.

 

[DisneyFairytale]

I'm amazed it cost so little in gas! I thought with the high prices it would have been about double that.
One day I want to drive.

That's why we always drive. We're just a couple, so no kids yet but once we realized it was so cheap to drive we started sticking to that. Think of what you can do with the money you're saving

Thanks for posting all your info. Hopefully it will help people make a better decision for themselves as to what they do for their next trip.

 

[KarmaLady]

I tried the bands on a cruise and they didn't help at all. I did get some relief taking ginger capsules. It won't help with the start of your trip, but in the States you can buy Meclizine tablets over the counter. They're a non-drowsy equivalent to Gravol. If you think you'll need sleep (and who doesn't!!) then I'd go with your last option- you drive the first leg of the trip while your DH sleeps, then take the Gravol and sleep while he drives the second leg.

Oh man, ginger makes me burp! So sorry if too much info but with 2 kids who think mom burping is the ultimate in comedy show, it may make the trip more fun for them but less for me!

Any other motion sickness tips? I'm definitely going to try Meclizine!

 

[scboyd]

I thought I would add the other travel costs of the trip to disney...

Hotels...
We tend to stay at Doubletree by Hilton when ever we can as I know Im going to get a clean and well maintained room for around $100 per night. We have done the Days Inn route paying only $50 per night but we just found the level of cleanliness and maintenance of the room and property was inconsistent. I pre-book the rooms as soon as I can so we get the best price available and I shop around with Hotels.ca and the hotels websites.

First Night:
DoubleTree (2600 Yorkmount Rd Charlotte NC)
$92 canadian

First Night on way back
Holiday Inn Express (211 Lanneau ct Columbia SC)
$101 canadian


Second Night on way back
DoubleTree (340 racetrack dr Washington PA)
$97 canadian

Food:
We purchased muffins, cereal and snacks for breakfast for driving and we would stop for lunch and dinner. We also purchased buns, cold meat and cheese and a small jar of mayo for two lunches on the way back. Our cooler was filled with water, milk and juice.
For dinner we stopped at Red Robin, Chick-a-fil, and Denny's
Total for all of this food other than drinks which we purchased prior to leaving was $ 284.00 american

The kids are also given $15dollars each way to spend while traveling on little toys while we stop to stretch and rest at Walmart/target etc... This keeps the kids entertained for part of the day while in the car...

Total spent
Fuel: $405 american
Hotel: $290 canadian
Food: $284 american
kids $60 american
total: $1039 mix currency but dollar was very close to par at the time...


So basically it cost us $260 dollars per person to travel to and from Disney. I have considered the wear and tear on the vehicle but I can't justify including any costs associated with it because we actually don't drive that much when we are at home.

 

[CindyV]

we do the same with booking. we stop for dinner and book online as it tends to be cheaper. We tend to stick to a certain brand of hotels as well. We spend around the same for a night. We pick marriott brand as most of them include breakfast, so we dont need to stop for breakfast and the price is included and they are clean as well.

 

[Tower]

I thought I would add the other travel costs of the trip to disney...

Hotels...
We tend to stay at Doubletree by Hilton when ever we can as I know Im going to get a clean and well maintained room for around $100 per night. We have done the Days Inn route paying only $50 per night but we just found the level of cleanliness and maintenance of the room and property was inconsistent. I pre-book the rooms as soon as I can so we get the best price available and I shop around with Hotels.ca and the hotels websites.

First Night:
DoubleTree (2600 Yorkmount Rd Charlotte NC)
$92 canadian

First Night on way back
Holiday Inn Express (211 Lanneau ct Columbia SC)
$101 canadian


Second Night on way back
DoubleTree (340 racetrack dr Washington PA)
$97 canadian

Food:
We purchased muffins, cereal and snacks for breakfast for driving and we would stop for lunch and dinner. We also purchased buns, cold meat and cheese and a small jar of mayo for two lunches on the way back. Our cooler was filled with water, milk and juice.
For dinner we stopped at Red Robin, Chick-a-fil, and Denny's
Total for all of this food other than drinks which we purchased prior to leaving was $ 284.00 american

The kids are also given $15dollars each way to spend while traveling on little toys while we stop to stretch and rest at Walmart/target etc... This keeps the kids entertained for part of the day while in the car...

Total spent
Fuel: $405 american
Hotel: $290 canadian
Food: $284 american
kids $60 american
total: $1039 mix currency but dollar was very close to par at the time...


So basically it cost us $260 dollars per person to travel to and from Disney. I have considered the wear and tear on the vehicle but I can't justify including any costs associated with it because we actually don't drive that much when we are at home.

Thanks for all your 'field notes'! We drove as a family once when the kids were 2.5 and 6 months old. We were going to a conference in Jacksonville so we took my cousin's daughter to babysit the kids while at the conference and then drove to MK to treat our kids and the sitter. We followed your route and fell in love with it, but I didn't have real numbers for gas anymore since our trip was in 2004.
My brother bought a house in Kissimmee in November and renting it out . I think I can get a 'family rate' on a future drive for November 2013. Youngest would be 6.5 by then and his older siblings would just have to keep him occupied. Nintendo, portable DVD player and well-planned stops would be on the agenda. We would leave at around 8PM, close to bedtimes and dark outside so that when we cross the border, it should be easier for the sleepers to sleep with less 'Are We There Yets'.