Who drives to WDW

[GreatLakes5]

We drive from mid Michigan, usually pulling a trailer. This time around we'll stop in Charlotte, Savannah, and then the World.

 

[Mrs Banks]

We have driven now 9 times. Hubby won't fly

It is nice to pack whatever you want and have a car when you get there.
Hubby loves to drive and does most of the driving. We leave Thurs @10 drive all night , we stop for breakfast and lunch and then at about 4:00 on Fri we stop for the night in Ridgeland S.C.

The next day Sat we leave around 6am and we get to Disney 11:00.

It takes along time but I am use to it now. We take alot of DVD's for the kids. I usually surprise them we some new ones that have not seen yet. I also get some books on tape which keeps our attention especially at night. A good book on tape is good for about 7 hours.

We are going again in April, I'll keep you posted how it goes this year with a very active 4 year old boy. He was 2 last time we went and it was OK but he was real sick the whole way home .

GO PATS

 

[creativeamanda]

We have driven now 9 times. Hubby won't fly

It is nice to pack whatever you want and have a car when you get there.
Hubby loves to drive and does most of the driving. We leave Thurs @10 drive all night , we stop for breakfast and lunch and then at about 4:00 on Fri we stop for the night in Ridgeland S.C.

The next day Sat we leave around 6am and we get to Disney 11:00.

It takes along time but I am use to it now. We take alot of DVD's for the kids. I usually surprise them we some new ones that have not seen yet. I also get some books on tape which keeps our attention especially at night. A good book on tape is good for about 7 hours.

We are going again in April, I'll keep you posted how it goes this year with a very active 4 year old boy. He was 2 last time we went and it was OK but he was real sick the whole way home .

GO PATS

YOu stay in Ridgeland? Just a funny location, but whatever floats your boat!

And I just had to say Go Pats! As well

 

[Mrs Banks]

We only stay there because we found a 1/2 decent hotel right off the highway that we have had luck with. There is a swimming pool for the kids and I take the kids swimming to burn off their enegery and DH sleeps because he has just driven 19 hours. We are not site seeing believe me.

GO PATS!!!!

If you know of a real nice hotel anywhere near that location that is right off the highway PLEASE let me know. I have yet to find one. Thanks

 

[DisneyFairy19]

Well I am from South Florida, so we always drive to WDW its only at the most 3 hour drive

 

[Tomh]

I am planning our first family trip to Disney. I've been four times, but the trips were all a long time ago. It will be me, my mother, DW, DS - 4, DD - 19, and DD - 13. We will be driving from the Mid Hudson Valley area of NY. I haven't really gotten to the point of working out our exact route or timing yet, but I am certain that we will stop at least one night, perhaps two so that we will be able to arrive at Disney early in the morning.

 

[Sweedee]

We always drive too! 4 tickets would be a budget breaker for us. We will spend about 250-400 on gas, which is much more workable for our budget. Our kiddos are older (almost 14 and 16), so the drive down there is actually a lot of fun! Many of our family memories come from those trips! It's not often anymore that I have my kiddos as a captive audience, so we make the most of our time together.

 

[Chelley00]

We drove from Central Indiana in 06 with 3 kids (DS10, DD5, DS not quite 2) and then our 4th son 13 flew in during our trip and rode home with us. It was about 17 hours with stops going down leaving at 4am, but took much longer coming home because we were all so tired for 9 park days, it was pouring down rain and we left later so the kids didn't sleep the first few hours of the trip and were more antsy. We'll drive in November straight through down, but will stop and stay halfway on the way home.


Flying 6 of us to Florida would cost as much as our park tickets, plus I just HATE to fly.

 

[Goofin' around]

We are driving from Northern Michigan this June. It'll be our 1st Vacation as a family. Im not sure if I'm looking forward to the drive. But I am looking forward to Disney.

Its 2600+ miles round trip.

 

[GreatLakes5]

We are driving from Northern Michigan this June. It'll be our 1st Vacation as a family. Im not sure if I'm looking forward to the drive. But I am looking forward to Disney.

Its 2600+ miles round trip.

We're in the midst of the drive now - left from Grand Rapids - we tend to take our time on the way down (which is why we left Saturday and I'm still in North Carolina

 

[spiceycat]

boy some of you drive a long way.

like in Ala - most of the time I drive - although sometimes it is cheaper to fly (sw) than drive - so then I fly.

It takes around 9 to 10 hours. Sometimes longer due to traffic, construction or weather.

 

[mjperry]

One thing you can count on always is road construction seemsthere is always a road being built.

 

[creativeamanda]

We're in the midst of the drive now - left from Grand Rapids - we tend to take our time on the way down (which is why we left Saturday and I'm still in North Carolina

Well, from a N Carolinian, we don't mind if you stay awhile and spend some tourism $$$. Good luck with your drive down.

 

[Robert and Kelley]

We have flown once and driven the rest. It is easier when we bring back our souveniers and the bags get extra heavy. It is about a 17 hour drive for us.

 

[wannabprincess]

Our first trip we flew down and it costed about $1700 between the flight and rental car because we were 24. I called the car rental company before I booked because I know most companies want you to be at least 25. I was told there would be a small extra insurance policy I could get, well, that small extra insurance was $500! Wow, but I didn't even have a choice because I was already there. Now we drive straight down from Delaware, 15.5 hours and only about $400 in gas. We also want to try Aquatica this year so having our own car is a must.

 

[GreatLakes5]

Well, from a N Carolinian, we don't mind if you stay awhile and spend some tourism $$$. Good luck with your drive down.

We're still here but leaving for Savannah today.....dh is meeting with lots of folks about re-locating business here. Thanks to rain we spent a bit at a mall yesterday - hope that helps.

 

[Tinkerspell]

We've driven every trip I've taken but the last one. It's about 18 hours for us. I really liked flying and not messing with the long haul in the car, but it would have been nice to have our car available this last trip. (We did a split stay.)

We're probably going to drive the next time we go unless we can get some bargain basement plane tickets like we did the last time. You can't beat $80 tickets, you know?

 

[dis75ney]

We plan on driving down to WDW in May. Airfare is incredibly expensive, plus this allows us to have our own vehicle (I'm paranoid about renting a car!), which will enable us to make a day trip to Kennedy Space Center (my DS loves all things related to space). When we drove to Miami in 2001, we stopped in Orlando for the night, and I think it was about 22 hours - mainly due to MASSIVE road construction in Georgia and an accident on I-4 outside Orlando that closed the highway overnight (a car had taken a nosedive from an overpass to the road below), so we had to navigate our way around it. I did get a chance to go into AKL to ask for directions, so I got a slight Disney fix there!

We're estimating about 17-18 hours this time around. We'll be leaving at 3am and stopping in either Chattanooga, TN or Atlanta, GA (depending on how exhausted we are) for the night, then we'll continue on the WDW the next day and hopefully make it before our 6pm ADRs! If we don't, no biggie - we double booked the ADR for later in the week (DS really wants to go to Sci Fi and eat in the cars)...

86 days and counting!!!

 

[dawz1026]

the drive......oh the drive.....it's once a year so when it comes we are so excited it doesn't hit us until we are like in South Carolina...so close yet so far...usually 17-20 hours for us...diaper changes ya know..

 

[*Dreamin'Dad*]

We drive it each time as well. To us it is part of the fun. Trip takes us about 13.5 hours. From Texas to Mobile Al (where my parents live) is about 6 hours and then we hit the road before sunrise for our 7.5 hour finish.
Tradition is to make the parade at Hollywood and our 4:30 @ Prime Time 50's cafe.

Wish we were driving over there right now