Who drives to WDW

[mykidsintow]

We have driven thus far.

2 thinks keep us from flying:

1) cost of airfare for our family of 4

2) I am terrified the airlines would break my daughters power wheelchair


If anyone has solutions to these issues we would *love* to fly!

 

[TSMAMI]

My grandparents retired to Florida from upstate NY when I was a kid. They made the trip back and forth every Christmas and for the summer for 20 years (Grandpa was afraid to fly - plus it enabled them to have their car with them when they got here). Though I have flown plenty of times to visit them, when we decided to go to Disney we weighed the options and decided to drive. We left at night and drove non-stop, splitting the time between DH and I. We usually rented a mini van in Albany and it would take us about 20 hours or so from there. The cost of renting a van and gas didn't add up to the plane fares for four people traveling at Thanksgiving time (when we usually go) PLUS we had the added convenience of having a van while there, being able to pack food and a cooler to save on meal expenses, and not worrying about how we were going to cart or ship home our souveniers. It also enabled us to save money by staying off site some trips. The kids slept most of the ride and they really enjoyed seeing the different states - my youngest gets totally psyched seeing the "Pedro" signs as your approaching the border between NC and SC! Seeing all the states was also a fond memory of mine from my childhood trips. We also took advantage of being able to travel around Florida during our stay, spending a day on each coast and seeing the beaches and sites other than Disney.

When the kids were younger, I packed their handheld games and made them bags full of dollar store "to do" stuff like games, cards, puzzle books, disposable cameras, etc. We rented movies and brought the DVD player. I also made them activity books from printing stuff I collected on the net that were Disney related - coloring pages, puzzles, etc. In it, I added pages for journals for each day of their trip so they could write their thoughts and favorite things.

The one thing we had on our last trip this past November that we found the most valuable was the GPS. It made it effortless to navigate especially while we were in Florida.

Whatever you choose, be safe and have fun!

Hey neighbor...Albany N.Y here. We drive every year!

 

[dizzi]

As we live just 3 hours from the MOUSE!
But when we lived up North ( Maryland)and(Ohio) we used to drive it.

And then we did fly the last couple times.

We now FLY back to see family. And i cannot imagine having to drive back!
To me it is a BIG HUGE waste of my HARD EARNED Vacation Time!
I only get a certain amount of days a year and DO NOT WANT TO SPEND it DRIVING!

But when i could not afford to fly, and my kids were younger this is what we did!
Our drive was between 13 and 18 hours LONG!
We Would pack up everything the night before and make the van VERY comfy for sleeping kids.
Then I would go to bed and DH would keep the kids up as late as possible like Midnight! ( as i always drove first!)
I would get up at @ 1:30 and get the final items in the van and move the kids to the van...........off we went with Dh and kids sleeping. Usually stopping for gas in about 2 hours to REFIll so it was STILL dark and kids would not wake up!
Kids and Dh would wake up and get moving around at @ 7:30- 8:00 kids were not restless or needing out for another 1/2 hour to hour.
By then we were about 1/2 way there.!!!!!!!!!!!

Let kids out to get food drink and potty......CHANGE drivers!
Kids would watch movies and play games and color what ever for at least another 4-5 hours while i slept! ( RENT NEW MOVIES!!!)

When i woke up i would keep them occupied with VARIOUS different games and things i had come up with!

One thing i came up with once they LOVED was......I taped about 30 noises...and played it in the car. They had to guess what the noise was.They had to write it down and then they WON DISNEY DOLLARS for the game
someone the noises were.......
toilet flushing
porch door squeeking
dad snoring
dad farting
water running
etc.....

VERY fun and took a good 45 minutes to play!!!!!

NOW WE LIVE 12 minutes from the airport and our flight back to visist family is 2 hours!!!!!!!!!

 

[Amyz00]

One thing i came up with once they LOVED was......I taped about 30 noises...and played it in the car. They had to guess what the noise was.They had to write it down and then they WON DISNEY DOLLARS for the game
someone the noises were.......
toilet flushing
porch door squeeking
dad snoring
dad farting
water running
etc.....

VERY fun and took a good 45 minutes to play!!!!!

That's great! I love the dad farting noise. My kids would get that one all too quick!

That is a great idea though. I could probably get noises from the web and download them to a disk for our drive in a couple of months! Thanks for the idea!

 

[bolo]

we're driving from syracuse , ny...about 20 hours. we're leaving around 4pm then we'll drive to the north carolina welcome center (it'll be about midnight)...very well lit and busy. perfect place to park and sleep for about 4 hours. then back on the road. this works well b/c dh is NOT a night driver so i don't sleep at all unless we're stopped. kids all sleep pretty well in the car...probably doesn't hurt that i give them all dramamine before we leave! yeah, i have kids who get carsick on long trips (found that out the hard way! )

we try to bring lots to do...activity sheets, dvd player, ds, etc.

another fun thing i've done is wrapped up a surprises in tissue paper. one surprise can be opened up each time we get to a new state. anything from a game to a dvd to a fun snack. my kids think it's great and def helps!

 

[dizzi]

That's great! I love the dad farting noise. My kids would get that one all too quick!

That is a great idea though. I could probably get noises from the web and download them to a disk for our drive in a couple of months! Thanks for the idea!

YOUR WELCOME!

 

[Mckymousefn]

We drive down from the Chicago area. Husband will not fly!!! We usually leave our house and drive to TN., spend the night there and then get up in the morning and finish our drive to WDW. First time the kids went.. they were 3 & 1. Then the 2nd time we went... plus we had another child... they were 7, 5 & 3... believe it or not, the only issues we had, weren't the kids.. it was construction in GA. I like the drive... but i would like to get there quicker!

 

[tink8jr]

We drive from SC its about 8 hours so its not to bad, I hate flying so that is out, plus if I fly I would want to rent a car so by the time we fly and rent its about the same as driving

 

[Amyz00]

We drive from SC its about 8 hours so its not to bad, I hate flying so that is out, plus if I fly I would want to rent a car so by the time we fly and rent its about the same as driving

I would love to say that we live only 8 hours from WDW instead of 17!

 

[dawz1026]

Me too 20 hrs is a loooong trip...If it gets me there its ok though!

 

[mykidsintow]

Your 17 and 20 makes me feel *much* better about 12 hrs

 

[DisneyEqualsLove]

My boyfriend and I have driven every year. There are a couple of reasons for that: we love being able to have our car with us, the ride is (mostly) relaxing, and this year my mom and dad came with us and my mom hates flying.

It took us about 16-18 hours each time straight through, but my dad is not a fan of the drive. I think it makes the whole vacation feel much more anticipated and it gets me very, very excited for the minute I can run into my room and finally BE THERE!!

 

[WildernessBride]

Our family drove down last year and plan to do so again this year. We enjoyed the trip down, it really was not as bad as I thought it would be. We come down from NJ so we have a fairly long trip. It was nice not to worry about trying to stuff all of the things we bought into the suitcases, we could pack the truck up too.

 

[aspramn]

Dh and I use to drive to florida all the time when dating. We are leaving in 10 days from Minnesota, about a 25 hr. drive. This will be my 1st attempt to drive by myself with 2 children (9 & 12). I have plenty of old and new dvd's for them, a travel book with activities etc. gameboys and I have pre wrapped gifts for them. They get one a day.

I am taking my time driving down there so the car ride shouldn't be to bad, about 8 hours a day, that way if we run into bad weather or anything we still have the last day to get caught up in driving.

 

[dizzi]

You are going to have soo much fun!

A trip with just kids and no spouse or other adult is a GREAT GREAT GREAT experience!

It is totally different....You get to focus on the kids and sometimes if they are doing a ride togther you can sit on a bench and just REST! and be alone in your htoughts it is quite nice!

I took 2 of my kids when they were.....6 and 10.
Just the 3 of us.
We also drove as we lived close to DC at the time and we did it straight through.

HAVE A BLAST!!
i cant wait to see your trip report!!!!!

 

[Amyz00]

Your 17 and 20 makes me feel *much* better about 12 hrs

I am so glad that we could help.

J/K!! The whole anticipation thing is just so exciting! My DH likes to coundown the milage by the 100's. Every 100 miles, he exclaims "Another 100 miles gone!" I don't the like drive through Mississippi, though. I-10 leans to the right too much. It makes you feel so lopsided!

 

[aspramn]

You are going to have soo much fun!

A trip with just kids and no spouse or other adult is a GREAT GREAT GREAT experience!

It is totally different....You get to focus on the kids and sometimes if they are doing a ride togther you can sit on a bench and just REST! and be alone in your htoughts it is quite nice!

I took 2 of my kids when they were.....6 and 10.
Just the 3 of us.
We also drove as we lived close to DC at the time and we did it straight through.

HAVE A BLAST!!
i cant wait to see your trip report!!!!!

Actually hubby is going, but he's flying..lol..He can't take that much time off work, plus he hates driving..Fine by me..Then we can stop at souvineer shops etc.. without being rushed..lol

Just hoping the weather changes over the next 10 days, Tenn. goergia seems like they have been getting nailed with bad weather and I certainly don't want to get stuck driving through severe weather...

Ty

 

[dizzi]

Actually hubby is going, but he's flying..lol..He can't take that much time off work, plus he hates driving..Fine by me..Then we can stop at souvineer shops etc.. without being rushed..lol

Just hoping the weather changes over the next 10 days, Tenn. goergia seems like they have been getting nailed with bad weather and I certainly don't want to get stuck driving through severe weather...

Ty

Oh wow
that is different!
But you will still have a GREAT TIME!

BE SAFE!

 

[eternaldisneyfan]

We have driven almost every time except on my wish trip.

In my siggy you'll see my trip report where we drove 6000 miles with more stuff than LaLa.

I lived in Oklahoma until I was 16 and we drove to WDW three times.

 

[IdoBeliveinFairies]

We have always driven to Fl because there have always been so many of us (around 12). However, this year we are flying because it will only be my family with my sister so only 4 and we are looking forward to being there in less than 20 hours. Last year my husband drove almost straight through(from Ohio to FLorida), and I think he is a mad man for that.