Who drives to WDW

[dawz1026]

Imagine the thought..first-lugging what you need to the airport (minus what you really need as opposed to what you CAN bring)
entertaining ds-now 19 months...for an hour or two
oh yeah dh would be carrying mostly all luggage...happily I might add Boarding a small enclosed space with my very vocal and demanding ds and dd12..trying to put him in a car seat where he has never been hoping he will not scream or touch and kick other passengers then overcoming my slight fear I have managed to attain since 2002 on my last flight anywhere with my dh who feels quite the same... now the flight lololol....

 

[SuperGurl]

We got back last week - we are 1060 miles from WDW. It cost us just under $350 to drive down and back - including the miles we drove at WDW. We stay off property and a rental car for our 10 days would have been over $1200 and flights leaving Christmas night or the 26th and leaving on Jan 5th would have cost $1250 plus tax (as cheap as I could ever find it) plus another 80-100 in parking. so the cheapest we could have flown for over break was approximately $2700-$3000 depending on taxes and we drove for $350 plus another $50-75 or so in food plus we could take more stuff with us than flying. No comparison!

This was approminately the same for us. Driving saved me money.

 

[bradisgoofy]

We've always driven to WDW, 1200 miles one way. We use to do it in two days but found that we were so tired from the long drive that the first full day was a bust. So now we do it in two and a half days and can start doing things the day we arrive. Now that we camp, we are driving the RV to FW.

 

[yaksack]

We drove from NE NJ once and NW NJ two times. We leave the day before our check in day at 7pm and usually make it to the hotel by one 1 or 2pm the next day.
I am the first driver and usually get tired about 3am at which time DW drives. We stop for bathroom breaks and I insist on stopping for gas whenever we get to half a tank (fear of running out of gas). We also bring a potty for my DD6, as opposed to using a bathroom at a gas station.

We are usually tired when we get there but the excitement from being in WDW keeps us awake until the night, but at night we crash hard! The drive down is easy because you are going to WDW, but the drive back is harder.

We take I95 all the way down. I suggest getting AAA map.


Good luck and take vivarin.

Bring CDs fro the car and a poratable DVD or VCR is also an excellent idea for the kids.

 

[dawz1026]

Actually excited to hit the road! The long 20 hour road!

 

[Arcturus1020]

After checking the most recent airfare for late March/April, I am seriously considering driving down. $370 airfare round-trip per person (and there are 3 of us) from CHI to MCO is a bit insane. Unless I can find it cheaper somewhere, we too will be making the 1200 mile trip down in a straight shot.

Seriously . . . what's going on with airfare lately?!?

 

[MindyLuvsMickey]

As a kid, our family always did the drive from central PA. We would drive over night and did it non-stop.

Since having my own family, we've driven once and flown once. Our son is young and we found that the amount of "gear" that we have to lug is ridiculous. We decided that our next trip will be a driving trip. It just makes life easier for us. When he gets older, we will fly again.

 

[ChicagoMommy2Two]

We are planning on driving but I am hoping that I can find a great deal on a flight and convince Dh that it would be so much less stressful!!

 

[wannabeTinkerbell]

We flew for the first time last February because we were ony going for 3 nights. Here's how it added up for us: Drive to airport, 1 hour plus 2 hours early to airport to clear security, 1.25 hour flight, 45 minutes standing in line for DME, 30 minutes for trip to hotel = 5.5 hours. Time to drive: 7 hours. Net time savings: 1.5 hours.

We decided that it simply wasn't saving us any time and it definitely cost more than the tank and a half of gas it takes. Add that to the hassle of having to use Disney transportation for everything (renting a car for the weekend is cost prohibitive) it turned out to be more trouble than it was worth.

We purchased a SunPass before heading home and we'll be driving from now on. That'll shorten the trip a few more minutes because we don't have to stop and pay tolls on our way.

 

[ellenmiele]

We've driven from NJ several times but this past Dec we flew because it was a shorter trip and my parents were going too and my dad has a bad back which makes driving that distance real tough. But I was a total wreck on the plane - I just hate it! Our kids loved it - which i was really happy about because I don't want my fears to influence them. And DH has no fear but he hates the nuisance of going through security with shoes off, waiting in the airport, etc. So we don't have any plans to fly again any time soon - we'll be driving. And after doing the drive a few times (maybe 4 times in the past 5 years) we've got it down - we leave NJ at about 6 pm, take turns driving straight thru, and we're at our resort by noon. When our kids were younger we took the Autotrain a few times - twice we took it both ways and twice we just took it home - we haven't done that in a while but I think I would like to do it on our return trip next time - it is a lot of fun.

 

[Wit]

We're driving and I am extremely excited!!

I guess my vacations growing up were a little strange. We would LEAVE the Orlando area every summer and head North the the Chicago Burbs I now live in. (to visit family)

It was always an exciting road trip! We would stop off at national parks, go caving, see roadside attractions, anything to make the drive more of an adventure!

Thats what I want to give my kids and DP this year. We are stopping along the way to visit some of my favorite spots growing up. Mammoth Caves, Rock City (Look Out Mountain), Ruby Falls and more.

I have found out, that taking the extra few days to drive and ENJOY it, not only saves the airport/rent a car hassles it gives you wonderful bonding with your family! The drive is part of your vacation, MAKE an adventure of it. (not that the portable DVDS and Nintendo DS's aren't coming for the driving time in between adventures )

 

[Mickey and PSU]

We have been to Disney 17 times since our oldest son was born. In that time, we have flown 2 times. We live in Southcentral PA and because my DH does not like to drive all night, we travel to Santee SC or Savannah GA the first day and then get an early start the following morning. With DVDs and iPods, the boys stay busy and we make a reasonable amount of stops to have them stretch. They throw a football or baseball when we take breaks and then are ready to get back in the car. This has really saved a lot of money for us by being able to carry water and snacks along with us. It also gives us the flexibility to be able to go offsite if we want to. We flew on our last trip because of our schedules and they boys loved it. They want us to do the same thing this year. That decision hasn't been made as of this time.

 

[DisneyCrazy2]

We have driven from IN to WDW 5 times. It is a very long trip with 7 people in a minivan! For some reason each year we seem to forget how bad it was and decide to drive again. Last year I took pictures of us on the ride home to remind me of the misery. It worked because this year we are flying!!

 

[ilisao]

I'm in Maryland and we always drive. Our kids are 8 and 6 and have been driviing since our youngest was 4 months old. We enjoy it. We usually stop for the night in Florence, SC since that's the halfway point for us. Now, we took a last minute Disney cruise in November and actually drove all the way to St. Augustine, spent the night and then drove the last 2 hours. Not something I recommend, LOL!

 

[collcass]

I'd love to fly, but for $2976.22 for flight and rental from CT in July we will be driving My four kids are great travelers, but they've never done something that far before

 

[dawz1026]

I'd love to fly, but for $2976.22 for flight and rental from CT in July we will be driving My four kids are great travelers, but they've never done something that far before

The airfare is high.We had a brief thiught about flying and the rates really helped us decide to drive.

 

[yaksack]

I'd love to fly, but for $2976.22 for flight and rental from CT in July we will be driving My four kids are great travelers, but they've never done something that far before

How many of you are going? We got 4 roundtrip tickets from Newark, NJ to Oralndo for about $160 each on Continental. We booked thru Orbitz.

 

[collcass]

How many of you are going? We got 4 roundtrip tickets from Newark, NJ to Oralndo for about $160 each on Continental. We booked thru Orbitz.

we have 4 children. when we go they will range from 10-3. Newark is probably about 4 hours from us. Cheapest I got was $276 from Bradley and $1326 for the rental.

My sister and cousin are both flying out of Newark. They got $210 pp.

 

[iluvflorida]

We drive every year from 2hrs north of Toronto Canada. I used to drive (with my parents) as a kid before I-75 or other interstates were finished. Love to drive not sure how many trips this will be but probably in the 50 range. Beside the air fare, drive to and from airport, pay to park at airport, then rent a car, insurance etc etc. I'll gladly drive even when I had small kids. I perfer to have my own car when in Florida.

 

[xpor2geechica69x]

Posted Twice...Sorry for the error