Driving to the World

[abish19]

We just got back from driving down to WDW from Michigan. It was 20+ hours, and we stopped once on the way down and back, but for us it was fun. Like others have said, this is the way my family did it growing up and I have such fond memories of driving south and watching the world get warmer and greener as we drove! This time we had an almost-4-year-old and a one-year-old. It wasn't perfect, but pretty close, and my husband and I had a chance to read and talk together. (And with the weather the way it is here, I'd do it again right now just to get some sunshine!).

 

[WebmasterBob]

Hi Folks, Just to add some background to my 24 hour statement on the podcast. I have driven at least 8 times from Massachusetts to Orlando and back for 7 of the trips.(My last trip I stayed for good)

I do have many memories of those trips. Lets see, I remember almost leaving my mother in law in Conneticut on the way home when she asked if I had her suitcases where I could get them out first because she just had to see her dog that we have been away from for 12 days. She also was the one when you ask if anyone has to go to the bathroom says "No I am all set" And not two exits down the road says" I have to go to the bathroom really soon" Diana had to talk me down from that one.

Oh I remember another family memory having to do with my son Brian. We had just announced we had crossed the border into Florida. Next thing I hear is him getting sick in the back seat (no container for him). Spent the next half hour cleaning up the mess in the car. Oh the good times.

Or the time we went in a convoy of three cars and one car decided to not pay attention to the directions I gave them. I woke up from a nap(yes I do take an occasional nap) hearing someone in the car say the light is changing RED you need to stop. We were suppose to be on I-95 at the time. (Yup Pennsylvania really is a pretty state in the summer.)

I won't mention the time one cars air conditioning decided to freeze up and stop. (I didn't mention it because I didn't have to ride in that car)

I mention these items because as much as you plan ahead for a trip like this you need to be prepared to accept the fact that stuff happens around all those good time memories of the trips.

I will give you an example. I have a friend and his family that is actually driving down as I write this post. I had told him to allow at least 24 hours to 27 hours to make the drive down today. The reason I gave him that amount of time is the road and weather conditions down the East Coast today and over night. There is no way you can safely drive at night in the winter down the east coast at 70 miles an hour. Every bridge has a sign on it that says Bridge freezes first caution ahead. He said NO WAY I can make that drive no problem in 18- 21 hours. Well I just got off the phone with him and he has been stuck in traffic in Providence, RI because of the bad weather and road conditions for 45 minutes. TICK,TICK, TICK "OH THOSE FAMILY MEMORIES" He is still only 30 miles from his starting point. TICK,TICK, TICK

Ok when I give an estimate on how long it will take. I know that yes if you hit all the green lights and don't run into traffic, make very fast pit stops, eat in the car with your scarf around your neck blowing in the breeze. You can make the trip fairly quickly. But my job is to point out all the things to consider that might 1. slow you down or 2. Cost you money you may not have budgeted for the trip.

Oh and there was the trip I was driving down a truck for someone moving to Florida. "OH THE MEMORIES". It was just a month after 9-11 and we went over the George Washington Bridge at night to beat the traffic. Has anyone ever stood on the GW bridge? We hit a inspection stop in the middle of the GW bridge. Do you know what it is like to bounce a bit as you get out of the vehicle? One second the road is there and the next it had dropped a little bit. "OH THE MEMORIES".

Once you are on the road you can't wave the magic wand and POOF you are in Florida.

To my friend Victor TICK,TICK, TICK :
Drive safe I will see you tomorrow night.

 

[Tonya2426]

When I was little, we used to take the Autotrain from DC to Sanford, FL. I think it made my father happier and more relaxed to arrive in Florida on a train with the car in tow than to drive hours and hours and hours with 3 squabbling children in the back seat of a un-airconditioned station wagon. (Remember the days before 3 seated minivans and when a car only had an AM radio and no DVD players. And there were no Nintendo DS to keep kids occupied either.) My family still teases me with the phrases "Mom, he's touching me!!!!" and "Mom, she's over the line!!!!"

 

[Masonic Mouse]

Yes I remember the old days. When I was a kid we would drive from Munice IN to Portland ME straight through in a Dodge Dart. I would share the back seat with our dog MiMi. I would eat all the space food remember. the peanut flavored space snakes and the sake a pudin? Bob you are an old time Grocercery Store guy you must know. By the way who did you work for?


Jeff

 

[DisDarling]

We have driven twice from WI to Orlando, once was straight through- NEVER again!!! Second time, we got smarter, and stayed overnight in GA- MUCH better!! I would have to say that driving was fun, we took alot of pics of the mountains, the hills, the Waffle House signs - all in all, we would do it again!

 

[angelmav]

We always drive from Colorado. Its not bad, we have a conversion van so its reasonably comfortable and with a family our size, its a whole lot cheaper than flying! Plus we still have our vehicle if we would rather drive to the parks than take the bus. Oh and while Kansas isnt particularly interesting, we get a kick out of stopping at the Oz museum!

 

[DisneyKevin]

Hi Folks, Just to add some background to my 24 hour statement on the podcast. I have driven at least 8 times from Massachusetts to Orlando and back for 7 of the trips.(My last trip I stayed for good)

I do have many memories of those trips. Lets see, I remember almost leaving my mother in law in Conneticut on the way home when she asked if I had her suitcases where I could get them out first because she just had to see her dog that we have been away from for 12 days. She also was the one when you ask if anyone has to go to the bathroom says "No I am all set" And not two exits down the road says" I have to go to the bathroom really soon" Diana had to talk me down from that one.

Oh I remember another family memory having to do with my son Brian. We had just announced we had crossed the border into Florida. Next thing I hear is him getting sick in the back seat (no container for him). Spent the next half hour cleaning up the mess in the car. Oh the good times.

Or the time we went in a convoy of three cars and one car decided to not pay attention to the directions I gave them. I woke up from a nap(yes I do take an occasional nap) hearing someone in the car say the light is changing RED you need to stop. We were suppose to be on I-95 at the time. (Yup Pennsylvania really is a pretty state in the summer.)

I won't mention the time one cars air conditioning decided to freeze up and stop. (I didn't mention it because I didn't have to ride in that car)

I mention these items because as much as you plan ahead for a trip like this you need to be prepared to accept the fact that stuff happens around all those good time memories of the trips.

I will give you an example. I have a friend and his family that is actually driving down as I write this post. I had told him to allow at least 24 hours to 27 hours to make the drive down today. The reason I gave him that amount of time is the road and weather conditions down the East Coast today and over night. There is no way you can safely drive at night in the winter down the east coast at 70 miles an hour. Every bridge has a sign on it that says Bridge freezes first caution ahead. He said NO WAY I can make that drive no problem in 18- 21 hours. Well I just got off the phone with him and he has been stuck in traffic in Providence, RI because of the bad weather and road conditions for 45 minutes. TICK,TICK, TICK "OH THOSE FAMILY MEMORIES" He is still only 30 miles from his starting point. TICK,TICK, TICK

Ok when I give an estimate on how long it will take. I know that yes if you hit all the green lights and don't run into traffic, make very fast pit stops, eat in the car with your scarf around your neck blowing in the breeze. You can make the trip fairly quickly. But my job is to point out all the things to consider that might 1. slow you down or 2. Cost you money you may not have budgeted for the trip.

Oh and there was the trip I was driving down a truck for someone moving to Florida. "OH THE MEMORIES". It was just a month after 9-11 and we went over the George Washington Bridge at night to beat the traffic. Has anyone ever stood on the GW bridge? We hit a inspection stop in the middle of the GW bridge. Do you know what it is like to bounce a bit as you get out of the vehicle? One second the road is there and the next it had dropped a little bit. "OH THE MEMORIES".

Once you are on the road you can't wave the magic wand and POOF you are in Florida.

To my friend Victor TICK,TICK, TICK :
Drive safe I will see you tomorrow night.

You now have all the reasons why John and I always take our own car when we go anywhere with Bob.

 

[cgcruz]

We love driving to WDW. Its not too long of a trip. Less than 14 hours from our home in Manassas, VA. Since we live just south of the Washington, D.C. area we can easily avoid that big mess. The rest of the trip on a weekend day is pretty clear of traffic. It's a lot more bearable too driving during the day. Leave here at 7am, be there by 9pm. Looking at the sights keeps your mind busy. Plus its nice to have our own car when we get down to orlando. No need to spend more money on a rental.

 

[robertgp124]

We get squirrelly driving the two hours from Morgantown, WV to Pittsburgh. The last time we were in Florida we drove from the World to Pompano Beach to visit relatives. While we had no problems with the car, there is no way in heaven we'd make the drive. I'm with Bob and Pete. Fly!

Beside the thought of Mindy rolling down the highway with her customized RV scares me.

 

[CamColt]

We have done it from MA (Woburn) maybe 5 times now. It has taken us as little as 22 hours and as much as 24 hours.

I have found pros and cons to driving, but overall its not too bad. We usually leave at 10:00 AM. Once we did 3:00 PM-3:00PM and that seemed like 2 days of driving. 10-10 goes well. By the time the sun is coming up and everyone is waking up, we are in Florida and we know its not far then. DH does most of the driving but I usually take over very early morning for him to get a few hours of sleep.

 

[bcvdreamer]

The last time I drove was when I was in college. Imagine six girls squished in a car with all their luggage! Not fun!

We fly...we luv South West...In 2 hours we're in Orlando.

 

[Masonic Mouse]

If I was to imagine six College Girls stuffed into a car going to Florida I think my wife would smack me in the head. Ouch! Sorry dear won't happen again.


Jeff

 

[bcvdreamer]

If I was to imagine six College Girls stuffed into a car going to Florida I think my wife would smack me in the head. Ouch! Sorry dear won't happen again.

This was years before Girls Gone Wild!

 

[DisnyMama]

Last summer my DS and I drove from N. TX to WDW. The 1st. time to ever drive but we had only lived here from So. CA. for a year. I weighed all the pros and cons vs. flying and since the trip was last minute (about 2-3 weeks notice) I couldn't get good airfare.

For us google said it was between 17+ hours. Ok! However, I suffer from something I like to call Road-Hypnosis. Which means I am good for about 2 hours driving straight and then I can't focus on the road any longer. I begin to get really sleepy and lethargic. So I end up pulling into rest area's, get out and walk around to break the cycle for about 15 minutes and then I'm good to go for another couple hours. Sometimes I can only make it 1 1/12 hours but the bottom line is when I have been driving all day I can't drive at night so we planned to give ourselves 3 days (we drove from McKinney to Baton Rouge, Baton Rouge to Tallahassee and Tallahassee to WDW).

I grew up taking cross country driving vacations with my mom, grandmother and sister every summer so doing this with my DS is a dream come true. He loves it and we had the best time in the car together. Actually, the drive from Tallahassee to WDW is a breeze and pretty short so next time I think we will stretch it into 2 days. I can do it as long as I get an early start each day.

I have a 2003 Saturn Vue and really loved having our own car at WDW. It sure made it easier to find my car at the end of the day in the sea of look-a-like rental cars.

One trip we would like to take by car is to drive to D.C. and then down to WDW. DS is getting ready to get his permit. He seems to think that we could drive straight through when he starts driving because we could switch off and I could sleep while he drives. It's a great idea in principle, but we'll have to see about that!

Shannon

 

[DVCJones]

We drive every year from Mass. We really enjoy the ride too. We usually leave around 4pm on Friday, drive until 11pm, stay over in a nice hotel the offers an "extended breakfast" and start out by 8 am the next morning. We usually stop for the night about 2 hrs from Disney.

This works for us because we arrive well rested and ready to enjoy our resort for the day. We also travel with small children and do take all kinds of supplies for the long ride. (DVD player, snacks, games,etc.)

If traveling with small children I would also strongly suggest taking a little potty seat too. Some of the rest area/ gas station restrooms are N-A-S-T-Y. I can't stomach the thought of bringing my DDs in there. They haven't mastered the art of hovering over the toilet yet. I know most men won't understand the "hovering" but women will know what I mean. We did the potty thing last year and it worked out great!!!

 

[fireman1]

My daughter and I are driving it this saturday morning ( around 3 ish)
It's 700 miles from my front door to our hotel down there. I should say I'M the one driving it, she's 13, lol.

 

[mla973]

We're driving down in August from Michigan. We've done the drive three times before. This time, we are relaxing by the pool and not doing the parks. My DSis and BIL and also coming. I hope the car ride isn't too bad. It's about 18 hours, or more like 19 or 20 with stops/breaks, and of course, the Florida tourist center! We try to drive to at least the FL border and then stop when we are tired. Driving there isn't too bad. Driving back is worse, since there is nothing to look forward to, and we're tired from the trip.

 

[rriley25]

We've made the trip from Maryland to Disney World many times, too many to count. It usually takes between 13 and 14 hours. Sometimes we stay over for one night (if we've left late in the day), but most of the time we drive straight through. I do most of the driving and I love it.