Weekend Trips??

[CoolBama]

This is our first year of having annual passes and now we are wanting to go every chance we get(can never get enough of Disney).

We we're thinking of possibly leaving Friday after work and coming back Sunday. It's about a 7 hour drive for us. We've never done just a weekend trip to Disney before so I was curious if anyone has taken a true weekend trip to Disney that had a 7+hour drive to get there. If so, how was it and was it worth it?

 

[MakiraMarlena]

I do this a lot usually Saturday - Monday and I'm flying, not driving. It's only a 2 hour flight but everything combined with flying takes a good bit longer than that. If I could drive I'd do it even more.

 

[CoolBama]

I do this a lot usually Saturday - Monday and I'm flying, not driving. It's only a 2 hour flight but everything combined with flying takes a good bit longer than that. If I could drive I'd do it even more.

We've thought about flying but the cost to fly down there from where we're at is significantly more than driving.

 

[gap2368]

I have a good friend that lives 4 hours away we will go for a day trip about 3 or 4 times a year, we wake up at 3 am leave about 3 30 I will do the first part of the drive while my friend sleeps and she takes over the last hour or so. and then we leave the parks at about 8 pm my friend will grab a cup of coffee before we head home. it makes a long day but it is so much fun

I would do a weekend trip you would have all day Saturday and a good amount of time Sunday ( you could leave about 1 pm qnd make it home by 8 pm)

I would pick 2 parks to do one. Saturday and then one half day park Sunday and do what you what your favorite rides or show or whatever

 

[BebopBaloo]

I've seriously considered this and I live a lot further than 7hrs away. If I did live 7hrs away I would absolutely do it without hesitation.

 

[wfjny]

Do what we do.

We live by Charlotte (8 Hour Drive). Our long weekend trips start Friday night, leaving after work, and driving to the Jacksonville area (about 5 1/2 hours). We stay a night at the hotel there, then head down to Disney early Saturday morning (leave the hotel just after 6, arrive at Disney about 8:30).

Depending on where you are coming from, you may want to think about that. See if you can find a hotel two hours from Disney. It will break up your drive, and yet still let you have a full day that first day. Also, a good chance the hotel will be cheaper than one closer to Disney.

For the trip home, you again have several options. We have done them all:
1) Check out in the AM, and just drive home.
2) Check out, hit the parks at RD, and leave about lunch time.
3) Spend the day at Disney, drive part of the way home, grab a hotel, and get the rest of the way home the next morning.

Thinking of a three day weekend, leaving after work Friday night, I like the idea of having a full Saturday and Sunday in the parks. Then Monday morning, hit one of the parks quickly (Animal Kingdom normally has EMH on a Monday if you are on property) in the AM and leave before the crowds start to get big.

If you are doing the quick turn around (a normal weekend), I would suggest the same for Friday night, hit two parks on Saturday, then a third on Sunday, again leaving about lunch time. We normally hit McDonald's on the way out, saving some money and time.

It is totally doable, and can be done without being exhausted (yes, seriously).

Whatever hotel chains you use, sign up for their points plans. Those free nights come in handy. Remember AP have free parking, so you can stay anywhere...

I have found myself waiting for the school calendar to come out so that I can plan our trips. It is amazing how many three day weekends my kids get (at least one every month). Then we have a couple of Thursdays that are half days. I rarely will pull my kids out of school, but if I can pick up my kids by 11:30 on a Thursday and arrive by 7:30 PM, I may just pull them for that Friday.

If you plan properly, have the car packed up, gassed up, ready to go, overnight bag for that Friday night hotel (so you do not need to unpack the entire car), snacks for the car, ipads charged, you will be good to go...

Enjoy your plans...

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

In the last few years I've only been going on short trips that usually consist of 3 park days and no rest days.
In December 2015 I went from a Friday morning to a Sunday morning.
We had MVMCP tickets and a 1 day PH.
We also live in the Buffalo NY area so it was a 2hr40min plane ride.
We had a ton of fun and found it well worth it.

 

[StacyStrong]

I've done Thursday night to Sunday, but I fly in from Chicago.

 

[holden]

We do Friday (evening flight after school) til Monday when the kids have off on a Monday. We fly out of Philly.

 

[Shanti]

This is our first year of having annual passes and now we are wanting to go every chance we get(can never get enough of Disney).

We we're thinking of possibly leaving Friday after work and coming back Sunday. It's about a 7 hour drive for us. We've never done just a weekend trip to Disney before so I was curious if anyone has taken a true weekend trip to Disney that had a 7+hour drive to get there. If so, how was it and was it worth it?

I would not personally be willing to drive 7 hours each way for a weekend trip. However, I have no problem flying for weekend trips. We do that occasionally and love a nice weekend getaway.

 

[Haley R]

We are thinking about going next weekend from Thursday-Sunday. We live about 19 hours away so will have to fly. Plane tickets are not the best: it’s either cheap with bad times or expensive with decent times but layovers.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Driving would be 13 hours. Not good for weekends. 7 would be easier to handle.

 

[kathy884]

This is just me, but to make it a worthwhile trip I would want one full extra day due to the amount of driving. My parents, for example, live six hours away from where us (similar distance to what you are from Disney), and sometimes we drive down Thursday after work, stay all day Friday and all day Saturday (two full days) and drive back Sunday, and I'm fine with that. But without that extra day to me it feel like too much driving for such a short stay and is something I'd personally just do in extenuating circumstances. I did a weekend only once for that six hour trip each way, but that was to attend my grandmother's funeral (a situation in which I had limited time off, but really wanted to be there - what I would call extenuating circumstances).

I have flown to Orlando and only been there for 24 hours. But in that situation I had direct flights that were two hours each way and a relatively quick drive to the airport on each end. I was a little concerned with that as if I had flight delays, that's just too short a visit, but all went smoothly and it was really fun being there (really enjoyed that super short stay).

Do you have any options for three day weekends? That would be much nicer for you in my book.

 

[glassslippergirl]

We’ve done all kinds of weekend trips and love them, but it’s only a three hour drive for us:

• Up and back in one long day
• Drive up Friday night or early Saturday morning and leave Sunday afternoon (we like to get home by about dinner time)
• 3 day weekend

Sometimes we’ve even done multiple (our record is 5) weekends back to back.

It honestly works best with a long weekend. When we had AP’s, we went nearly every long weekend we had, and you’d be surprised how many there are— like someone said before, nearly one per month. Look for ways that you can extend a long weekend even further; like when Veteran’s Day falls on a Thursday or Tuesday, we would take off the Friday or Monday for a four day weekend.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

We have done it, but usually try to take Monday off - Leave a little early Friday and come back monday night. We live in Maryland, so fly Southwest down and use DVC points for the hotel and have Annual Passes, so we can do a weekend trip with the only cash out of pocket being a couple of "wanna getaway" tickets on Southwest. We watch southwest for deals and can often get tickets at about $79 each way.

The only thing I don't like about it is the weekend is the absolute worst time to see Disney.

 

[wfjny]

I would not personally be willing to drive 7 hours each way for a weekend trip. However, I have no problem flying for weekend trips. We do that occasionally and love a nice weekend getaway.

So, in our circumstance, we basically did a race last year. Friends were meeting us for a longer weekend (4 days). Despite what I said earlier about stopping after about 6 hours of driving, in this circumstance, we were able to leave a bit earlier in the day, and drove straight thru. As mentioned, truck packed, gassed up, ready to go. 8 hours door to door, including a quick dinner/gas stop. I have all the luggage I want, I have my own car, we are good. My daughter has her special pillow, My son has two light-sabers, and my wife has a suitcase full of just Disney hats.

Our friends flew. Gave themselves an hour to get to the airport and park. Planned to arrive two hours before the flight to gather their luggage, get thru security, and reach the gate. Three hours into the process, and they are still on the ground. They packed light, not a bad thing, just saying. The Flight is about 1:30 - 1:45. Five hours into the process, they have their luggage, and are at the car rental agency. In short, it was just about 6 hours door to door for them.

Granted, they were not all stuck in a car for 8 hours. But my family got to bring what they wanted, eat what they wanted, take their shoes off if they wanted, and it was significantly cheaper for four of us to drive than fly.

Best part, we took some of their luggage back with us so they could save the luggage fee. Too bad we did not think of that before we started the trip.

Here in Charlotte, about once a year the TV news will ask the question "Is it better to fly or drive to Atlanta". The answer each time is that it is about 4 hours either way.

 

[Minniefan2296]

I frequently drive 7 hours to visit family for a weekend trip, so I'd have no problem doing it for Disney!

 

[gatorlisa]

I know I've done a normal weekend, but I think I might have flown. Doesn't save any time really, but does mean a lot less driving. And I know I've driven for 3-day weekends (usually taking the Friday off, but still driving down after work and returning after a partial day in a park). I'm in Atlanta, so 7-8.5 hours depending on how long it takes to get out of town. We have two drivers, so that's 3.5 to 4 hours driving per person, which is reasonable for us. We usually get to our Disney hotel between 11 and midnight. And we would typically plan to leave the park on the return day between 1 and 3. If you have someone to share driving duties with, I absolutely think going down for just a normal weekend is worth it. If one person has to handle all of the driving duties, at least if that person was me, it wouldn't be worth it.

 

[Shanti]

So, in our circumstance, we basically did a race last year. Friends were meeting us for a longer weekend (4 days). Despite what I said earlier about stopping after about 6 hours of driving, in this circumstance, we were able to leave a bit earlier in the day, and drove straight thru. As mentioned, truck packed, gassed up, ready to go. 8 hours door to door, including a quick dinner/gas stop. I have all the luggage I want, I have my own car, we are good. My daughter has her special pillow, My son has two light-sabers, and my wife has a suitcase full of just Disney hats.

Our friends flew. Gave themselves an hour to get to the airport and park. Planned to arrive two hours before the flight to gather their luggage, get thru security, and reach the gate. Three hours into the process, and they are still on the ground. They packed light, not a bad thing, just saying. The Flight is about 1:30 - 1:45. Five hours into the process, they have their luggage, and are at the car rental agency. In short, it was just about 6 hours door to door for them.

Granted, they were not all stuck in a car for 8 hours. But my family got to bring what they wanted, eat what they wanted, take their shoes off if they wanted, and it was significantly cheaper for four of us to drive than fly.

Best part, we took some of their luggage back with us so they could save the luggage fee. Too bad we did not think of that before we started the trip.

Here in Charlotte, about once a year the TV news will ask the question "Is it better to fly or drive to Atlanta". The answer each time is that it is about 4 hours either way.

Nevertheless, I personally wouldn't want to drive 7 hours each way. Those long car trips are something I'll only do if there is no alternative. It's uncomfortable, and my son is gluten-free, which makes getting food on the road almost impossible. And since we usually travel as a party of 2 (and WDW would be a 2-day drive for us with a hotel stay required midway), flying is cheaper than driving for us, anyway.

Also, not everyone feels the need to arrive at an airport 2 full hours early for a domestic flight. I certainly don't. I arrive about 1 hour to 90 minutes max before a flight, check my luggage, then breeze through TSA precheck & onto our nonstop flight to WDW.

 

[alicat130]

My sister and I have taken all of our recent trips this way, but we prefer 3 or 4 day weekends. We're from the Raleigh, NC area and it takes us around 8-9 hours. We leave right from work and drive straight down, we're night owls, so don't mind getting to our hotel a little after midnight. On the day we come home, we normally hit a park until 11-12 and come home. I'm not even sure what we would do with a full week now!