The Long Drive Home

[maciec]

Driving to WDW is full of anticipation and excitement to get there so I would imagine that the long drive down isn't as painless as the drive home.

So my question is (for those that drive 16 hours +) how do you make it home? Or is the quest to just get home keep you going? Honestly, I think that the thought of the drive home is what is keeping my dh from making the drive.

We live on the eastern shore of Maryland so we would be heading south on Rt 113/13 and over/through the Chespeake Bay Bridge Tunnel.

 

[tinkerbell615]

We will be driving down very soon. I do agree the anticipation to get there is so cool. The drive down is one of my most favorite things about the vacation. However, we tend to make it home quicker than we get there. Although we are super sad to be leaving Disney, we are always excited to know we will be seeing our animals and our own bed. We usually can't get home quick enough once we know the Disney fairytale is over.

Have fun and be safe!

 

[mousebymarriage]

My advice to anyone that is driving to Disney is to stop over for the night on the way back. We have made the drive a few times and we definately prefer to drive straight through on the way down leaving early evening and driving through the night. However, coming home is a different story. We have driven straight through on the way back and I am not gonna lie, it is freakin hard! After a week of walking around Disney (more walking than most people are used to on a regular basis), waking up early and going to bed late our butts are dragging. It's so much easier to sleep a little later on check out day, have a good breakfast and maybe hit some last minute shops in DTD and then hit the road. Stopping a little more than halfway home is a much wiser idea for us. We relax, swim in the hotel pool if it's not too late and then get a good nights sleep. We are much more rested when we get home and the drive is not bad at all when you're not exhausted.

Good luck and have a safe trip!

 

[vicki_c]

Um - I go with "driving home sucks," no matter how you look at it! But once we get to Virginia, then we're anxious to get home. Not as anxious as we are to get to Orlando on the way down, but ....

 

[bdoyledimou]

We are driving down from Toronto, and it's an easy straght through 22 hour drive for us.. but on the way home, we hae to make a detour to Boston.. which is going to add 10 hours to the trip.. we will definetly be taking a break on the way home..

 

[sharadoc]

Yea, we're never excited about going home, but we know it's part of the trip, so we just settle in and drive. We get a nice dinner on our stopver, talk about the trip and generally recover. Can't complain because it's our choice to drive!

 

[kidd_freeper]

We're driving straight thru on the way down, but we're taking two days to come back to Connecticut.

We have left our return trip route open. Might stop near the ocean. Might go across the Chesapeake Bay bridge/tunnel. Might stop in DC. Might see some of the parks in the Virginia mountains. Might see relatives. Or we might just spend another half day around WDW.

 

[PSUGuy]

This thread highlights one of the many reasons we fly, quicker to get there and a faster 'withdrawl'.

Bill From PA

 

[shafke]

This year we are making a stopover at Natural Bridge, VA. We'll have a relaxing day seeing the sites there and be refreshed for the last leg of the trip.

 

[maciec]

This thread highlights one of the many reasons we fly, quicker to get there and a faster 'withdrawl'.

Bill From PA

We usually do fly, but I have an itch and want to drive just once to get it out of my system. I don't know when my kids will ever get to see other states south of us (yes, I know, we are only driving through) if we don't drive. Decisions, decisions...........

 

[lucyem]

We drive from New England. This trip we will spend 2 nights at Disney's Hilton Head resort on the way home. It will make the fun last a little longer

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Driving home on Interstate 75 we do exactly the same thing as we would driving to WDW, we stop for the night in Dalton, Georgia and the next day we then stay in Lima, Ohio. Now if we wanted to we could all the way from Dalton back to our house but we then get in at like 2:00 or 3:00 AM, so we figure what's the point of doing that.

 

[Normangirls]

We all kind of just want to get it over with, so we drive straight through on the way home -- if we leave around 5:00 a.m., we can be home by midnight.

I try to spend the time being upbeat with the girls (DD14, DD9 and DD4), talking about their favorite "things" about the trip (What was your favorite meal? What was your favorite show?), just to start thinking about it as a wonderful memory, instead of wallowing in it being over. And I slowly start getting them talk about what we're anxious to get home to: Tinkerbell the cat, their friends, getting to wear that new Mickey t-shirt to school. And yes, we start talking about our next trip!

 

[Normangirls]

Driving home on Interstate 75 we do exactly the same thing as we would driving to WDW, we stop for the night in Dalton, Georgia and the next day we then stay in Lima, Ohio. Now if we wanted to we could all the way from Dalton back to our house but we then get in at like 2:00 or 3:00 AM, so we figure what's the point of doing that.

Lima?!?!?!?! Who stays in LIMA? Just kidding.

But you'd better be careful. East of 75 = O.K. West of 75 = not so good!

I love hitting Lima, because that means we are about an hour from home.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Lima?!?!?!?! Who stays in LIMA? Just kidding.

But you'd better be careful. East of 75 = O.K. West of 75 = not so good!

I love hitting Lima, because that means we are about an hour from home.

We have stayed there a few times and have always felt careful.

 

[taximomfor4]

I read on many threads how the drive home is the longest. For us, that has been the OPPOSITE 100% of the time. We always drive straight through (around 18 hrs). The drive home we are all pleasantly relaxed, and telling stories, etc. The drive THERE always takes too long -- we just want to get there!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I forgot to mention sometimes while driving home I wish we can fly home since it would be a lot faster, but then I remember all the things we bought which would not fit in our luggage and etc.

 

[clkelley]

I only live a mere 12-13 hours from Disney and I have tried it several ways.

We used to have a hard time forcing ourselves to leave Disney property on the last day, then it was noon before we knew it and was well after midnight getting home.

For awhile there we found the solution.

We would check out the day before our driving day spend the whole last day in the parks, then drive a couple hours north late in the evening.

It sure makes it easier to get out of a cheap motel in Ocala the next morning than it is to leave Disney property early in the morning. We usually leave Ocala about 9am and are home by 7:30ish pm

Now with Toy Story Mania being so much fun, we now have a different tactic to getting on the road. We stay on Disney property thtat last night, but totally pack up and hitch up the camper. The next morning, we drive to the Studios, have an early breakfast at Hollywood & Vine (usually an 8:05am ADR), then ride TSM, then we are out of the park by 9:15 and on the highway by 9:30 am.

We are two adults with no little ones, so the characters at H&V mean nothing to us, but the breakfast is GOOOD!!!

 

[maciec]

Well it looks like this time we won't have to worry about the long drive home because we have decided to fly. I just couldn't convince dh to make the trek. Maybe one day!

 

[Mom2boys2]

Our drive is 19 hours, we make a 2 day drive on the way there, but like the other post, anxious to get home, DH tries to make it in one straight shot. Last time left Orlando around 7am, got home at 3am the next morning. It was tough though.

But for all 4 of us to fly, and then rent a car (staying off site) its just not economical.