Who drives to WDW

[crazyhusband]

me and my wife drive from phenix city alabama and it only takes about 5 to 6 hours.

 

[dawz1026]

Thank you so much for the vote of confindence!

lol...all in fun lol...I will be hitting the long flat road tomorrow night! Will let you know how it went

 

[dvczerfs]

anyone else get theme song from smoky and the bandit in there head while driving? ok, ill go see the doctor!

 

[dizzi]

No.........But when we used to drive from up North and hit georgia......
I would sing the GEORGIA song from Ray Charles i believe is who sand it msot of the way at least in my head if not outloud until the kids woudl ask me to be quiet.

"Georgia, Georgia, The Whole day through, Just an old sweet song keeps Georgia on my mind................................."

 

[Amyz00]

anyone else get theme song from smoky and the bandit in there head while driving? ok, ill go see the doctor!

No.........But when we used to drive from up North and hit georgia......
I would sing the GEORGIA song from Ray Charles i believe is who sand it msot of the way at least in my head if not outloud until the kids woudl ask me to be quiet.

"Georgia, Georgia, The Whole day through, Just an old sweet song keeps Georgia on my mind................................."

Neither song entered my mind. However, 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall did!

 

[mjbradeis]

anyone else get theme song from smoky and the bandit in there head while driving? ok, ill go see the doctor!

LOL been there done that

 

[momofpirates]

We have just decided that we are going to make the drive instead of flying when we go in January. I was looking at airline prices and it would cost us $1200 for the 5 of us to fly and I would much rather have that money to upgrade our resort or for souveniers. I know we will still be putting out a good amount of money for gas but nowhere near $1200. We have a minivan and the kids have a DVD player and a DS each for the older two so we should be ok.

For those of you that stop on the way down or back, do you plan the stop ahead of time or do you just drive until you can't drive anymore and then try to find a hotel wherever you are?

Kadee

We also drive from Michigan. We are in the Lansing area, so we go through Indiana. It's a much easier drive than taking 75 south through Ohio and it's a few hours shorter. We have driven both of these routes and we will never again go 75.

We usually stay in Macon, south of Atlanta. We have driven straight through, but you end up sleeping the next day, so it doesn't really add to your vacation time. Unless you have a lot of drivers, I'd suggest stopping. We make reservations in advance and just set that destination as our driving goal. The second day driving we spend a little more time stopping as the kids love that first taste of orange juice at the Florida welcome center.

On the way home, we just drive until we can't anymore, and then stop at the most reasonable hotel we can find. One year I called my husband (he didn't go on that trip) a few hours before we were going to stop and he made a reservation on-line which saved some $.

Good luck!

 

[milmom6]

Momofpirates,
I was told by both AAA and my Tomtom that 75 was shorter. We just drove it a week ago from Macomb and I would really love to hear a shorter way if there is one!

Thanks!

 

[Kimi313]

anyone else get theme song from smoky and the bandit in there head while driving? ok, ill go see the doctor!

No not that song but we start every trip with the song "On the Open Road" from the Goofy Movie, it is Goofy and Max singing. It is a great and exciting way to start the trip. We live in northern alabama and we have always drivin. Now that DD is 17 she looks back at it as some of the best time on the trips was the car trip itself. Getting up before light and taking off, then watching the sun rise, playing disney alphabet games, singing disney songs, and I always made her an activity box that had disney snacks in it, disney activity pages that I got from mouseforless.com, disney coloring book, and other disney oriented things I had picked up. Last year she took a few friends with us and she asked if I would still make a box and put enough stuff in it for everyone! I can't imagine not driving.

 

[dvczerfs]

hi kimi313!, our dd is 15 now. we got a power inverter for the car and brought a 13inch tv with a vcr with us.(days before dvds). she never asked how much longer or anything. we showed her how to read a map so she could follow the signs to see how far we were. now with ipods, and sleeping most of the way shes still a great passinger! we still set the van up like we did when she was little. my dw ask if we are going to still set the van up when she dont go down with us anymore? dd ask what makes you think im going to stop going with you? shes gonna live at home forever!!! (thats ok)

 

[Amyz00]

we got a power inverter for the car and brought a 13inch tv with a vcr with usQUOTE]



That is hilarious because we had one of those as well! We had to buy the convertible system that would allow it stay between the two front seats. Oh, I am so glad that we don't have to lug that thing around, especially the VCR tapes! Rewinding took forever!

 

[dvczerfs]

we got a power inverter for the car and brought a 13inch tv with a vcr with usQUOTE]



That is hilarious because we had one of those as well! We had to buy the convertible system that would allow it stay between the two front seats. Oh, I am so glad that we don't have to lug that thing around, especially the VCR tapes! Rewinding took forever!

the one year,it was about 3am and my dw decided to plug the coffee maker into the power inverter. try to find a fuse at 3am so the headlights would work again. never fail,next exit was a walmart!! they had it!!! 12 years later we still laugh everytime we get to that exit on 95.we should stop for old time sake.

 

[crazyhusband]

i would rather fly but my wife and mother in law will NOT fly. we leave at 5:30 am and arrive in disney shortly after 1pm. leave from pc alabama to albany ga then on to tifton ga on to I-75 across state line to fla turnpike to western beltway take to exit8 (back gate to disney)in all it takes about 5-6 hours to make the trip. never like to trip back never want to leave!!

 

[Roxy217]

We have driven twice. It really isn't that bad. My children are 13, 9 & 5. We have a DVD player in the minivan and we usually do most of the driving at night so the kids sleep. It becomes quite expensive with a family of 5 especially now with the rising cost of airfare. I have to admit the I miss the Magical Express but I'd rather spend the money when we get there rather that getting there.

 

[yaksack]

We have driven twice. It really isn't that bad. My children are 13, 9 & 5. We have a DVD player in the minivan and we usually do most of the driving at night so the kids sleep. It becomes quite expensive with a family of 5 especially now with the rising cost of airfare. I have to admit the I miss the Magical Express but I'd rather spend the money when we get there rather that getting there.

So true!

This is the first time we are flying down. We were lucky enough to get four round trip plane tickets from Newark NJ, for $125 each. If they cost more than that I would just drive again like we did the last three times.

 

[abish19]

It makes me feel less crazy to know that other people drive to WDW too, some from even farther away than West Michigan!

Has anyone ever taken the train to Orlando? I'm just curious.

Have a good weekend...

 

[Roxy217]

We have taken the autotrain once. It was too good of a deal to pass up. AAA was running a special where kids go free. We did however have to pay a little extra for the minivan. It was so worth it! My husband wasn'y cranky and the kids really enjoyed the dining car! We have never taken the train with out the car. Where does it leave you off? The Autotrain leaves yoy off at the Sanford station which is about 30 min. from WDW. It was great. We arrived at the station at 8:30 am and were in the Magic Kingdom by lunchtime!

 

[bord1niowa]

OK I admit it, we will be taking a 13" TV with VCR built in but we'll use the X-Box and PS2 for the DVD player. It's a bigger screen than the 7' or 10 " DVD players. Of course there's always the internet to keep them busy on the way too...lol. $30 for 2 weeks of unlimited internet is cheaper than $10 a day at the fort. Thank God for lap tops!

 

[goofydad99]

We drive from Oklahoma. It is a long drive but cheaper than flying.

 

[Amyz00]

OK I admit it, we will be taking a 13" TV with VCR built in but we'll use the X-Box and PS2 for the DVD player. It's a bigger screen than the 7' or 10 " DVD players. Of course there's always the internet to keep them busy on the way too...lol. $30 for 2 weeks of unlimited internet is cheaper than $10 a day at the fort. Thank God for lap tops!

Where did you find the internet service? That would be great to have for our trip.