You drove how far just to get to Disney

[disneycrazi]

Ok question for everyone, how far have you driven to visit Disney....either for World or Land?
Do you think a longer drive time adds to or takes away from the fun of the vacation??

 

[bigbabyblues]

We drive to WDW from Ohio, I think it is 840-ish miles. It takes 14-15 hours, depending on stops, but we don't mind it. We typically leave around 3 in the afternoon and drive straight through. We much prefer driving over flying; I hate to fly, but DH and the boys don't mind it. Our kids are older now but have always done well on long car trips. We live three hours from the airport, and that is a hassle in itself. If (like last June), we end up with an extra day off before we were planning to leave, we can leave a day early. We can pack whatever we want, doesn't matter how much the suitcases weigh or how many we bring, we can bring a laundry basket or two, we can arrive when we want, and leave for home when we want. If we were planning to spend a full day at a park before starting home, but decide we want to get on the road, we can do just that. If we were planning to leave after breakfast but somebody wants to go back to Epcot for a few hours, we can do that. Plus, it only takes about $150 for gas each way; much cheaper than airfare for 4.

 

[gratefulfred]

A little more than 16 hrs from just north of Philadelphia. The drive down is nice and we usually stop overnight. The drive home is a little harder after being tired out from the parks and knowing we are headed back to reality and work.

 

[nono]

We have flown, Auto-Train-ed, and driven to WDW. To drive, it's just about 1000 miles. For my family, the travel is a big part of the fun. Everyone is different. You may like it; you may not. We find the drive home just as fun as the ride to WDW. We love talking about everything that happened, and the hours fly by! (We usually have friends with us in WDW -- driving home, we can catch up on everything we missed during the visit).

 

[disneycrazi]

We have decided that we enjoy driving more than flying. Our drive is right about 16 hours but we plan for it and drive straight thru. The excitement builds as we get closer and the scenery is now part of the fun. We also like the money savings, being able to bring snacks and drinks and it costs less in gas than airfare. BUT my favorite reason to drive is........I can shop and buy whatever I want and don't have to worry about fitting it in a suitcase on the plane!!! We have also began to do a wee bit of exploring outside the Disney walls, that's fun too!!

 

[Ladygoldenhair]

1100 one way. Two 10 hr days.

Twice we did AutoTrain with rooms once on the way down, another on the way back, That is pricy even if you save over the gas and hotel. Novelty is really nice experience to watch the US go by and try to sleep to the rocking.

I'm not a person to spend two days on the road each way when a local flight is 2 hrs.

 

[deb010305]

About 1,200 miles one way from near Boston, MA. We try to do 12-14 the first day down and then 8-10 the second day. And on the way back we try to do about 11 hours each day.

 

[supergoofy]

Have done Disneyland many times and it was a 6 hour drive.

Now we are looking at 14 hours.

Nice part was I had family that lived a couple hours from the Land so we would visit them and do the arks and visit before going home.


The World is on the order of 3,500 miles and no way I will be driving it anytime soon. Someday soon I would like to do a couple month trip to the World.

 

[CNYDisneyFan]

We used to drive from Syracuse, NY. It took about 2 days.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

It's crazy expensive to fly anywhere anymore. We live in central nj and it's about a 17 hour drive but we will be stopping over night in SC since we have 2 little kids. I love driving and seeing all the scenery that u can't see from a plane. Plus I think it's a lot easier to just throw everything in the back if the car and go rather than deciding what u can put in a carry in bag and what u need to out in a checked bag. There are just so many rules that u have to investigate for flying. In my opinion flying just adds on another stressful thing to add to your vacation planning. It's already a big enough job planning a WDW vacation so I would rather not have the extra stress of flying.

 

[monorailsilver]

About 2 hours...ok...about 50 min to the airport and about an hour on DME.

So while I have never driven to WDW (or DL) we sort of did.

Last year we drive from CT to FL and that drive took us way to long!

The first day we left at about 6 and were over the GW bridge and in NJ by 7, hit traffic south of DC/north of Richmond and called it a night in Santee, SC.

The next morning we left at about 6:30 and we were in Orlando at about noon (as in I-4, the city of, high rise buildings).

We were already pooped at that point just because if the long days of driving. We arrived at my sisters at about 3:30 and while she and her dh were ready for the beach, my husband just wanted to pass out since he was tired.

If I drove to Disney, I would not do a park that day we arrived and I would plan on at least one if not 2 more rest days before we head out.

So yeah for me it would take away some of the fun just because we would be dazed from the drive.

But at the same time, we do an early flight so that means we are up early. Actually we lucked out in August because our flight left at 8:30 so we left out house at 6 so we weren't up too early and my kids actually heard us awake and got dressed with out us having to tell them. We still did a pool day and chef mickeys when we arrived.

 

[goofy4tink]

Currently in the Delray Beach area, on vacation. Will be driving 3 hrs up to WDW on Wednesday. Having lunch with a friend from home, in Celebration, then to WDW. Got a room at Pop at a good rate so get to spend the night and then back to Delray after lunch on Thursday.

 

[figment_jii]

This was a long time ago, but members of my family (not me) drove from LA to WDW in a little over 46-hours. They rotated three drivers and only stopped to get gas, food, and go to the bathroom. They were supposed to take four or five days (I think), so it was a surprise when we got a message saying they were in the lobby (this was in pre-cell phone days). Me, my max driving tolerance is probably around 9-hours. I'm not a fan of driving, so long drives are a necessary part of travel, but they aren't something I find particularly fun.

 

[pershing]

22 hours this past Christmas Day. Highway was empty until afternoon. Flew over the George Washington Bridge. Wash DC was a breeze.

I got my second wind and my son did some driving so 18 hours later we stopped in Savannah GA even though our original plan was Florence, SC. Next day, we only had 4 hours more but I-4 was a parking lot once we hit Orlando.

I have two words for avoiding I-4: Palm Parkway! Lifesaver around Christmastime!

Way back was more cause we did 3 day Magic Cruise out of Miami. Took forever to get out of Florida. Ended up only being 3 hours more at 25 1/2 hours. We did stop in Florence SC this time. I filled up at a Pilot Gas Station for $2.98/gal in Florence, $3.17 Jersey Turnpike.

It was about $600 total to drive both ways-tolls, food, gas, hotel but you have to minus the cost of a rental car since we had our own car to use once we got there.

Fill up in New Jersey, NC, preferable SC though, and top off in GA before hitting FL. Use Love's and Pilot Gas Stations in the South. Cheap! Cheap!

We really enjoyed the drive and plan on doing it again. Although next time I'm gonna avoid as many tolls as I can while keeping the driving time as down as possible. I did a straight shot down I-95. I'm a single mom, first time driving to FL, I didn't want to experiment. Next time, I will! About $50 in tolls each way.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

1,070 miles each way. I'm used to driving on vacation wherever we want to go, so it's no big deal. As a kid, we took a 7,500 mile round trip to CA (that included 2 days at Disneyland) by car

 

[pepe of ohio]

We're northeastern Ohio.....1050 miles from WDW....we've driven g back in 1977....taken the Auto Train once, flew a couple of time and used regular Amtrak quite a few times....

We're back to driving again, just for time sake....I won't fly again and Auto Train is too far for us to board and regular Amtrak, which I prefer, has a 8 hour layover in DC which makes that route 36+ hours....

By car, which is a pleasant drive, 18 hours or less...We sort of drive straight thru, we stop at the Florida Welcome Center and rest fir 3+ hours and then continue on to WDW arriving around 6 am giving us a whole day of fun....we've done this the last 3 trips down and loved it...

 

[disneycrazi]

1,070 miles each way. I'm used to driving on vacation wherever we want to go, so it's no big deal. As a kid, we took a 7,500 mile round trip to CA (that included 2 days at Disneyland) by car

Wow 7500!! That's a lot of riding in a car BUT I bet it was a great adventure!

 

[jakenjess]

We've done the trip from Maine four times, a little over 1400 miles each way, takes 23-24 hours. We go straight through, taking turns driving and sleeping. It's worth it with sky-high vacation week airfare, but I'm very glad this year we are flying!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Wow 7500!! That's a lot of riding in a car BUT I bet it was a great adventure!

It definitely was. We took 6 weeks and saw a LOT

 

[dvczerfs]

I have driven it a few times.

sorry...... its a sickness.

from 1973 and the rest stop plazas, 76 truck stops, howard johnsons and i95 not completed to the 2013 rest stop, welcoming centers and the cracker barrels at every exit......... the great times we had on the road (and still do)...............
if I could turn the clock back and do it all again, I would!!!!!!