Tips for driving to Disney from southern Ontario?

[CJK]

A friend of mine is heading to Disney soon and is driving down (from southern Ontario). They want to spend one night in a hotel only, so they're prepared to have 2 long driving days. Any tips on what route to take or hotels to stay in? They want the first day to be the biggest driving day (about 14hrs or so). Any tips would be great. I always fly, so I'm no help to them! TIA!

 

[pigletto]

I could ask my neighbours for you. They make the drive every year. I know they always go get a Trip Tic from C.A.A.
It's really helpful for designing a route and getting info about the things along the way. If they have a membership they might want to give that a try

 

[CindyV]

we have made that drive to disney a few times now. we are in london and we drive I-75. We do our biggest day the first day. We have stopped in tifton georgia and this time are planning on stopping around byron or macon area. Last time we stopped in tifton and were in disney area by lunch the next day (i think it was around a 4 hour drive the next day) so we only have one long driving day. It took 19 hours and 45 minutes total for the drive(including stops) so we did the big chunk the first day.
we leave around 3:30 4:00 in the morning and go for about an hour or so past dinner. we enjoy the drive and like to get as much done as we can the first day, so the second day is just a little drive and we are there
We love the book along I-75. If they plan to drive that way i would recommend getting it. It tells you everything around you so it helps to plan out your stops, lets you know whats coming and i like to follow around to be able to figure out how much longer to go.

 

[iluveeyore]

We always cross in Fort Erie (we live here!) and take the I-77, 79, 26, 19, 95 (probably not the right order, I'm bad at directions), and it is a beautiful 19-20 hour drive - lots of places to stop, not a lot of busy cities (busiest one is Charlotte, but not bad if it's evening or afternoon), really nice rest stops. We usually try to get past Charlotte on the first day (about 12 hours) and drive further if we're up to it. Columbia, NC has some nice hotels along the Interstate, and then you only have about 8 hours into Orlando the second day. I've done the I-75 way and found a lot of city centers to drive through, very busy, and found I preferred the other way much better, and it was shorter as I had to drive 3-4 hours west before heading south on the I-75, so that made no sense!

 

[KarmaLady]

That makes sense. We're driving in August and are about an hour from Fort Erie, so we're going that route. I'm looking forward to the more scenic drive. Are there any specific rest stops you would recommend for stopping with kids? we are planning on eating most meals while driving but will need to stop just to siphon off some energy for the kids. We're taking a soccer ball, but playgrounds would be even better (preferably ones that aren't close to a fast food joint as I'm packing food)

 

[CJK]

Thanks for the great info everyone!

 

[iluveeyore]

That makes sense. We're driving in August and are about an hour from Fort Erie, so we're going that route. I'm looking forward to the more scenic drive. Are there any specific rest stops you would recommend for stopping with kids? we are planning on eating most meals while driving but will need to stop just to siphon off some energy for the kids. We're taking a soccer ball, but playgrounds would be even better (preferably ones that aren't close to a fast food joint as I'm packing food)

Any of the exits that say 'rest area' are not near gas stations/restaurants, just by themselves. They are all very nice with picnic tables, washrooms and vending machines, and lots of room to roam! Each state has a really nice one as soon as you cross the state line, called a 'welcome center' and then there are smaller ones through each state. We have never stopped at any that I would not recommend - all are kept clean and pretty, and seemed very nice to me. I don't remember seeing any playgrounds, just lots of grassy areas. Also, if you are stopping for the night in a certain state, stop at the Welcome center for a coupon booklet as there are usually great one-night rates for travellers along the route.

 

[dancin Disney style]

The way we do the drive is this...

DH will go to bed by 9pm the night we are leaving. I finish packing and stay awake until after we leave. We leave between 2-3am....DH has had a good 5hrs sleep or more. I end up staying awake until after we cross the border then pass out until we get to Erie, PA...DH wants a coffee by then. We then drive until about 9pm only stopping for gas. We have packed all food and drinks in a cooler. We usually get to around Savannah, GA and that leaves us approx 3.5 hrs left to drive the next day.

From home it's about 21 driving hours and we take the 77/79/95 route.

 

[stayhomemom77]

We used to live in Windsor, ON and we've driven down twice. We bought the I-75 book, which we found quite useful.

The first time we split the driving up into two equal days. Never again, that was the worst. We stopped in Dalton, GA (which is a beautiful place) and stayed at Jameson Inn (a wonderful hotel chain...we got a great deal on a room on priceline) but two days of that much driving made it seem sooooo looooooooong.

The next year we drove 15 hours (with stops) to the Georgia/Florida border. It was tiring but not much more so than the 10 (ish) hours to Dalton. We stayed somewhere cheap (Days Inn I think) in Valdosta, GA and only had 3.5 hours to go the next day (which seemed like nothing to us). We did stop in Dalton to eat (they have a Chili's there with AMAZING service) because we just love that place. We also stayed in Dalton on the way home. We hit a park until 4 pm and then drove until about 1 am and stayed at the Holiday Inn.

General Driving Tips:

Ration the fluids (for obvious reasons)

Pack plenty of snacks (if you're making good time and want to keep pushing on, stoping to eat is a big pain so if you have food in the car...you can stretch out the meal stops to more convenient times or just eliminate them totally)

Multi-task the stops (eg if someone has to pee, make everyone get out and go, then walk around stretching for a few minutes, eat if it's near a mealtime and then gas up and get back on the road)

Bring LOTS of things to do (especially for kids, we give them a backpack each and tell them to fill it with stuffies, figurines, colouring items, books, movies, games and electronic devices. And mom and dad bring things for themselves as well. Long drives are boring!)

Make sure EVERYONE gets out to stretch at EVERY stop (it helps keep the crankies to a minimum...weird, I know but it works).

Expect unexpected things to happen. They will. Traffic, the weather, the car, the health and mood of the family members...it could be anything and it could throw you off track completely.

Bring a barf bucket. (Our kids don't EVER get motion sickness but for some reason, DD's nerves get to her when we're headed to Disney (and ONLY Disney) and she gets sick two to three hours into the drive. We flew from Detroit the third time and she almost got sick on the way to the airport!! Never when we've travelled anywhere else though. Some recepticle that can be used when you can't pull over avoids a potential mess and even if you think you don't need it (and DON'T need it) it's just not worth risking.)

Make your progress a game. (The time seems to pass faster and the mood remains more cheerful if you greet each new state as you cross over the state lines and look forward to the city or landmark that's only XX hours/minutes away from your current location.

Wish your friends luck for me!! And I hope they have a magical time.