We're going on our 1st car trip to Disney HELP!!!

[soontobewed07]

We are taking our 1st roadtrip with our 2 year old. Boston to Orlando I need some help since this is the 1st trip.

1st- Does anyone have a list of things to bring for the ride? A packing list of sorts? We will be bringing a large cooler so I was thinking unique or not so unique ideas so I don't have to feed DS fast food.

2nd- We will be traveling at night to miss most traffic and we are thinking we will make it to GA for our stop over. Any decent places to stay? I need somewhere clean with a pool that the little man can play in and get tuckered out.

3rd- Any advice? Things I should know? I am a control freak an over planner and need to have everything including tolls down to the last penny LOL. I have my AAA agent figuring that out

Thanks fellow Diser's

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Well the only advise I can offer since we usually fly is that most the toll plaza's in Florida are not maned and several times we have put in the correct amt of coins only to have the machine say we did not put in enough. Hence having to pay more. So pad your toll plaza money by a few dollars. Most people carry their coins for the toll plaza in those plastic container that mini-M&M's come in.

 

[uva185]

If you want to stop in Georgia I recommend going to Savannah. Its maybe 10 minutes from I-95 but the city is absolutely gorgeous and will give you the opportunity to stretch your legs and get some really good food as opposed to roadside fast food.

Let me know if you want more info on lodging, restaurants, and things to do in Savannah.

 

[soontobewed07]

I would love more advice about Savannah I was thinking of stopping there I thought it would be so nice to relax and enjoy the day/night. Do you have a good hotel in mind? I was thinking somewhere between 100-120/night does that sound about right? A great authentic place to eat would make my husbands night!

 

[uva185]

I would love more advice about Savannah I was thinking of stopping there I thought it would be so nice to relax and enjoy the day/night. Do you have a good hotel in mind? I was thinking somewhere between 100-120/night does that sound about right? A great authentic place to eat would make my husbands night!

I'm on my Blackberry at the moment. I'll send you my recomendations for that price range later this evening or tomorrow morning when I am back at a computer.

Besides the historic squares the food is my favorite part about Savannah! Do you and your husband like seafood?

 

[JoeCathyAngelina]

My wife hates to fly.
The first time we went to Walt Disney World, April 2004 with my 3 year old daughter We decided to go to WDW a couple of months before we went with little planning. We rented some points off the DIS forum, checked the airfares a couple of times and picked up a trip tick from AAA.

We drove from my office in downtown Boston to WDW Old Key West stopping only for gas and bathroom breaks.

After the first 3-4 hours in the car driving the rest of the way to WDW isn't that bad; more like a series of short trips.

Our 1st Trip to WDW started Friday, 3/26/04 at 1 pm: Miles, Stopped, Time

Leaving, Boston to Walt Disney World: Friday, 3/26/04, 1:00pm
1, Boston to New Jersey 212 212 6:00pm
2, N J to Aberdeen MD 183 395 9:07 pm
3, MD to Rocky Mt NC 266 661 1:36 AM
4, NC to Florence SC 209 870 4:40 am
5, SC to S Newport GA 210 1,080 7:58 am
Arrived, GA to WDW 251 1,331 12:00 PM

Started, Friday, 3/26 0 1:00pm
Finished, Saturday, 3/27 1331 12:00pm
A 23 hr trip with 5 stops along the way down
76 gallons of gas, $131 for the gas, 17.78 mpg 58mph
Driving around WDW 21

The Trip Home started Friday, April 2nd 11 AM: Miles Stopped Time

Leaving Walt Disney World to Boston:Friday, April 2nd 11:00 am
1, WDW to St Augustine FL 116 116 12:44 PM
2, FL to Savanah GA 178 294 3:55 PM
3, GA to Florence SC 174 468 6:22 pm
4, SC to Battleboro NC 181 649 9:30 pm
5, NC to Aberdeen MD 295 944 2:17 am
6, MD to Bloomfield NJ 181 1,125 5:30 AM
Arrived, NJ to Boston, MA 237 1,362 9:30 am

Started, Friday, 4/02 11:00 am 0
Finished, Sat, 4/03 9:30 am 1362
A 22 1/2 hr trip with 6 stops on the way home
81 gallons of gas $126 for the gas 17.58 mpg 60.5mph
Driving around WDW 62

157 gallons, $257 for the gas, $44 tolls, 17.68 mpg, 59.2mph 2776


The traffic was a mess from Hartford through Delaware on the way down.
It rained from North Carolina to Boston, Mass. on the way home

Me and my wife alternated turns driving our Nissan Xterra when we stopped for gas. My 3 year old held out a lot better than I thought she would on the way down and on the way back to Boston, WITHOUT, tapes, DVDs, video games, just a lot of singing and sleeping.

It's not that Bad!!!

April 2005 we caught a break in fares and flew down and back out of Logan on a non-stop with American Airlines , $504 round trip total for the 3 of us.

April 2006 we caught a break in fares so we flew down and back out of Logan on a non-stop with Song/Delta , $496 round trip total for the 3 of us.

The 2007 story and stops are pretty much the same as 2004.

We drove from my office in downtown Boston to WDW, Orange Lake Country Club, stopping only for gas and bathroom breaks.

After the first 3-4 hours in the car driving the rest of the way to WDW isn't that bad; more like a series of short trips.

Our Trip to WDW started Friday the 13th of April 2007, at 3:45 pm:

Destination, Miles, Total Miles from Boston, Time

Leaving, Boston to Walt Disney World: Friday, 4/13/07, 3:45pm
1, Boston to New Jersey 208 208 7:49 PM
2, N J to Laurel MD 219 427 11:44 PM
3, MD to Rocky Mt NC 250 677 3:36 AM
4, NC to Manning SC 219 896 7:00 AM
5, SC to Kingsland GA 226 1,122 10:30 AM
Arrived, GA to WDW 203 1,325 2:00 PM

Started, Friday, 4/13/07 3:45 PM
Finished, Saturday, 4/14/07 2:00 pm
A 22 hr trip with 5 stops along the way down
63 gallons of gas, $175 for the gas, 21 mpg


The Trip Home started at 9:45 AM, Saturday, April 21,2007
Destination, Miles, Total Miles from WDW, Time

Leaving Walt Disney World to Boston: Saturday, April 21st 9:45 AM
1, WDW to Kingsland Ga 194 194 12:44 PM
2, GA to Manning SC 226 420 4:16 PM
3, SC to Rocky Mt. NC 218 638 7:42 PM
4, NC to Aberdeen MD 292 930 12:26 AM
5, MD to Newark NJ 170 1,100 3:27 AM
Arrived, NJ to Boston, MA 246 1,346 7:30 AM

Started, Saturday, 4/21 9:45 AM 0 Miles
Finished, Sunday, 4/22 7:30 AM 1346 miles
A 22 hr trip with 5 stops on the way home
62 gallons of gas $175 for the gas 21 mpg

Total miles 2,671, about 21 mpg, about 70 mph
Total gas 125gallons $350
Total Tolls $50

Me and my wife alternated turns driving our Chevy Trailblazer when we stopped for gas. My 6 year old held out a lot better than I thought she would on the way down and on the way back to Boston, WITHOUT, tapes, DVDs, video games, just a lot of singing and sleeping.

April 2008 we caught a break in fares so we flew down and back out of Logan to Tampa, 4/19-4/26, on a non-stop with AirTran , $753 round trip total for the 3 of us.

April 2009 we caught a break in fares so we flew down and back out of Logan to MCO, 4/18-4/25, on a non-stop with Delta , $627 round trip total for the 3 of us.

April 2010 we caught a break in fares so we're flying down and back out of Logan to Tampa, 4/17-4/24, on a non-stop with Delta , $717 round trip total for the 3 of us.

If all goes well,
The creek don't rise,
and there ain't no melt down,
We'll do it all again next year.

Good Luck all,
Joe

 

[soontobewed07]

Joe thank you sounds perfect. We are spoiled by a DVD player in our van just happened to come with it.

We are leaving from Peabody after I get out of work 7pm we are hoping this helps us avoid most traffic and the little man can sleep thru the night. Then when he wakes up we will stop for breakfast and some playtime. Then back on the road. Stop for Lunch and then drive to Savannah and stop. We will relax walk thru Savannah and have dinner then pool and bed. Wake up and head out I am thinking around 6am? how does that sound?

 

[Microcell]

I haven't ever driven to Disney.. we are a solid 20 hours away! I would take a variety of movies, food pre cut up in little bowls an easy access to drinks!

We drove to Western Kansas more times than I can count with toddlers(about 6 hours).. so make sure you have favorite toys too and plan to stop a couple more times than you think you will.

My kids are 11 and 7 and we have to stop on road trips due to car sickness.. it is amazing how much better they do when given chances to walk around for a bit!

There were times where we thought we should drive at night, and sometimes the kids wouldn't sleep as much at night as you would think.. DS woke up several times at that age and his neck obviously hurt, so extra pillows or padding to help prop his neck might be a good idea!

 

[Donald is #1]

I'm trying the New England -> FL drive for the first time myself in September. My sister & I will be leaving from her house in CT near where CT, MA & RI meet. However, I may actually drive from my house in NH to her house that morning. So my drive may be a bit longer.

Anyways, you may want to check out this thread:
2000+ mile round trip drivers

 

[soontobewed07]

So we have decided Savannah is going to be our overnight stop and I have booked the Springhill suites on I95 it is brand new and I got a price of 89.95 for the night. I thought that was a great deal. So it's booked and done and I have an on the road budget of $650 this is for Food Tolls and Gas. How does that sound?