When I think of driving all that way......

[#1 Pocahontas]

Last month we drove to WDW from Indiana. It was about a 17.5 hour trip. We left after dinner and drove straight through. It was no where as bad as I thought it would be. Our car has a dvd player and I bought the girls new coloring books to take so they stayed busy and happy, and since we drove through the night they slept a lot as well. We only stopped to use the bathroom and we ate breakfast in the car. I think we spent around $330. Most of that was on gas, some tolls, fountain drinks and candy bars along the way to help me stay awake to drive.

We stayed at a hotel on the way home. We had planned to do that because we knew we'd be tired.

I have to say that I LOVED having our van at WDW. I have been totally spoiled now! Being able to get in our own van with tired kids after a long day in the park. Not having to fold up the stroller in a frenzy and trying to hang onto it and sleeping kids on the bus. Oh, it was wonderful!!

 

[Aliceacc]

I didn't read the responses, but would the autotrain be a possibility? I think it leaves from the DC area and takes you fairly close to Orlando.

 

[CastleCreations]

The auto train for us was not fun, and very expensive.
I would say, just drive it. I've made the drive, from the Mouse to Jersey alone with 2 girls, a few times, and it wasn't awful. It was long, but we found fun things to do along the way, and when we took our rest stops, they played and ran around, had a snack at a picnic bench, kicked a ball around and bugged all of the other travelers . They were very well behaved and enjoyed watching their movies, and eating snacks in the car, (which they normally aren't allowed to do) and it was a good trip. I wouldn't say great, because I'm a single mom and had to do all of the driving, but with 2 parents, I say go for it.

 

[mjones73]

We've done the drive to Orlando to visit friends before when our first born was 2 years old. We live in North East, MD which is about 950 miles one way to Orlando. We left around 6 PM, stopped for dinner in Virginia then drove though the night just stopping for the occasional rest stop. We hit the Orlando area around 9 AM. The major downside for me was I crashed early the night we got there because of lack of sleep.

We'll be driving down in June this year mostly because we are staying an extra week in the area to visit friends again and we'll need a car to get around. Out first will be 6 and her sister will be 2 at the time. I'll probably do the overnight on the way down again so the kids will sleep for most of the trip. We are checking in on a Sunday and hitting the parks on Monday, that'll give me the day to recover and my wife will probably take the kids out to the pool or whatever at the resort. We plan to split the ride home in half, driving during the day with the kids may be a little rougher.

 

[SqueakyMouse]

We have found that it's far easier for us to drive to WDW with our 3 kids than it is to fly. Don't get me wrong. After the first 15 minutes, the drive is NOT fun; and we have a 15 hour drive, at best. However, when we fly, travel time is often even longer. We are 2 1/2 hours from our closest major airport...and it's in another time zone (We're Central, and it's Eastern.). The most convenient (and only direct) flight TO MCO leaves around 7 a.m. ET. Do the math, and you'll see that we have to leave home around 2:30 am CT. Delta usually has the best deals and times going, but the flights are VERY often delayed or even cancelled. (We've been stuck MANY times.) If we can't make the direct flight, we have HUGE layovers in Atlanta. (Not my favorite airport to visit) The last time we flew with all of the kids, our outgoing, nonstop flight was cancelled. We waited 4 hours for another flight, then had a 3 hour layover. When we arrived, our reserved minivan had been given away, even though we had kept the rental company posted as to our changed arrival time. To make matters worse, we were bumped from our returning flight. Did we get ANY compensation for our inconvenience? Nope. Not even a free drink. Thus, we drive with the kids. Enough said.

 

[manlscott]

We drove last year when we went. Only about a 17 hour drive but the cost of flying was just too much added onto everything else. Have you possibly considered Greyhound? I know it's not the most glamourous way to travel, but it's cheap, and no wear and tear, no hotel stay, and everyone gets time to sleep if they need it (even the "driver"). Just my $.02.

 

[m2kg]

Air tran just lowered their web fare. We are flying from DFW to Orlando end of Sept '08 an got tickets for $79 a piece.

 

[snowman1035]

We live in the Poconos (PA) which is about 1/2 hour from Allentown and the price for us to fly was crazy (over 200.00) and about the same to fly out of Philly. When flying out of Allentown, you don't get a direct flight. You have to change in Altanta. Philly you do get a direct flight but still high in price. We have driven for years and have done it with our kids and isn't all that bad. This year we are taking 2 year old grandson and plan on doing the same things. We do however leave at midnight or 1 and that way they sleep and there is less traffic on the road. We usually get to WDW around 4 in the afternoon.

 

[kandb]

We are driving in the beginning of April from NY with our twins who are almost 5 years old. We have driven 2 times and took the autotrain 1 time before this trip. We do not mind the drive and we love being able to take whatever we want with us and not be limited. We make the drive part of the trip, it depends on your attitude towards it as well. I bring a lot of things for the kids to play with and of course we have a dvd. If they gets antsy, we stop and let them run around. The first day we are leaving at 4am and plan on making it to Savannah, GA. (probably around 15 hours), they will sleep for some of the time and we'll make a few stops. We'll leave Savannah around 9:00 am and get to Orlando at around 1pm. We liked the autotrain but it's expensive. Linda

 

[Julie*]

We have driven from Vermont to Disney 3 times in the past 4 years and plan to do it again next year.
It is really expensive to fly out of Burlington especially now that we are on the school vacation calendar and we love having our own vehicle, car seats etc.
We leave Thursday after work and drive until about 1am and stay in a hotel in Delaware. We drive the rest of the way the next day. The last 2 times we have driven home straight through. Our kids love the car ride- they watch movies and we try hard to make it all about them.
We may fly as they get older- we'll see.

 

[Harley-Mouse]

that is how much it will cost for us to fly. We have made the trip to Hilton head 3 times 12 1/2 to 13 hr. So going to WDW is no big one for us. I will drive all the way doring the night. looking to hit the road at about 9:00pm from NJ. I have a room in Orlando booked but I can cancell if we stop before we hit Florida. with trafic we have done road time of 16 1/2 hous once and kids were fine. You have to drive when thay are sleeping for most of the trip. I can drive all night with out any problems Dw might drive in the morning or to get us started. But $$$$ is saved by driving. + no rental car $ more $ saved. Time off I have it so I will use it.

PS I will post in July to tell you how it went.

 

[DawnM]

I drove from CA to NC with just me and the kids!

It was LONG, but not as long as PA to FL. It can be done. It really is up to how comfortable you are with it.

I remember also driving from SoCal to Seattle and back when the older boys when they were 4 and 2, alone.

Dawn

 

[eeyorethegreat]

WE have driven from Maine to Forida/WDW with four kids twice and will be doing it again in July. The key for us is to have activity books, travel games, books on CD, music and a dual screen DVD player. The ride is long yes but it really isn't that bad so long as we plan for it. Last trip the dvd player broke and I have to say the kids did great even without it.

 

[carissanboys]

We've driven from Maryland to Florida twice now and I found it to be a breeze, seriously. We have a DVD player in the van, the older two had Game Boys on this last trip and we take 2 days to drive down and 2 days to drive home (more like a day and a half since we're in the parks on arrival and departure days). Most of the drive is pretty stress free (around D.C. and Baltimore will be the worst part). I just prefer driving over flying with young children.