ATTN. NY Metro Area Drivers to WDW

[artvandelay]

I'm thinking of driving to WDW in April with my almost 3 year old son and had a couple of questions:

1 Have you ever taken a kid that young for the drive to WDW? My son is a good passenger and does not get car sick.

2 How did you break up the trip?

3 Did you leave at night or in the morning?

4 Was it worth the it, as compared to the 2 1/2 hour flight?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Seano846]

Do you have another adult driver joining you?

 

[tigsmom]

Ok, we live 45 miles north of the city...
the first time we drove we tried to drive straight thru, Holy Thursday(Thursday before Easter) along with everyone else on spring break. The traffic was horrible. This past August we drove down stopping in Fayetteville,NC. It made it so much easier. My kids are 15 and 8. We made stops every couple of hours to stretch and make pit stops. They took a laptop and DVDs, books and music. The first trip we left around 5pm, but this last time we left early in the morning...much better. I hate to fly, but after driving down twice I voted to fly again this Easter. Its nice to leave in the morning and be in the MK at lunch time.

 

[artvandelay]

Yes, Sean I'll have a second driver with me.

 

[mrtoad]

I have not done it but when I was a kid we use to drive all the time. I live in Northern New Jersey. We use to take 2 days to get there. We would go about 1/2 way down and then finish the next day. On the way back we would stop at Williamsburg and then DC for a couple of days. Once my parents drove all the way back straight through. They had been making good time and when they got to the area of the hotel they booked they decided to go further and find another hotel. Everything was booked so they drove all the way home. It took about 18 hours.

Even if you have 2 adults to drive to split, I recommend stopping anyway. It is very hard for you to say ok, when we leave I will sleep the first half and you the second. The first person who is suppose to sleep never can very well and you get to tired to drive. Also the next day you are both shot.

So I would go to maybe North or South Carolina and then continue from there.

Enojoy the trip.

 

[figmentbaby]

My parent used to drive my sister and i to Disneyworld every year during August. We started when I was just a year and a half and my sister was 4. Since then, we have driven straight through from Queens 22 times, always choosing a drive over a flight. My parents would take turns and we would get there in about 22 hours. It was fine because my sis and I slept, but I never really noticed any tolls taken on my parents. I would advise it if you want to save money like we did =). Hope you have a safe trip!

 

[artvandelay]

Figmentbaby, how often did you stop to stretch your legs on the way down?

 

[copper]

My family drives to Florida every year for the past 25 years. Our grandparents lived in Florida so we always went Christmas vacation and with a family of six driving was a lot moe economical. The bonus was that we always stopped in WDW on the way down. It was always before the Christmas rush, so WDW was always empty. For 15 years in a row we went before Christmas and I never went to WDW at anyother time of the year. 1999 was the first time I ever flew to WDW, after a 10 year lapse of not going to WDW. In the early days we always spent 1 night at a motel/hotel but one year we couldn't find a vacency so we drove straight through 21-22 hours from Manhasset, NY. As long as there is two drivers your fine. We always find that there was a lot less traffic if you left at night. My sister left for Florida yesterday with her husband and 16 month old daughter in the late morning, and it was the trip from hell! Major traffic in Washington D.C. and they got lost there too! Another caution, the D.C. area can be very confusing even for veterans of many trips like us. They arrived in St. Augustine at around 7:00 am so it was a long trip this time around. They still didn't mind because it was still cheaper then flying and renting a car. I'm flying down to WDW 10/24 because I'm traveling with my 9 year old twins alone so driving isn't an option but if I had someone to drive with I would of driven instead. Florida is like a second home to me so driving isn't a big deal, if you have the time. Driving to Florida afforded us to be able to go to WDW every year, if a family of 6 flew+ rented a car we would not of been able to go to WDW. We always opted to rough it and drive straight through and go to WDW for an extra day! Ah the sacrifices we made for Disney!

 

[kal1484]

Ahh, Car Rides! I'm very used to them. I live in Michigan, so it's not NY, but it's still about 24 hour when my dad drives. heheehe I've been driving it since I was about 2. We usually stop every two hours, and stop at a hotel at night that has a pool. This breaks the trip up very nicely. When I was younger, we always stopped to eat, instead of drive though. This made the trip nicer, and if you can, find a Playpark at a fast food restaurant. When I was about 5 however, we did get a conversion van that we could watch movies in. We differed in when we left. Most the time it was really early, like 5 in the morning, but sometime we left at night so we would be sleeping for most of the trip, but if we left at night, we drove straight through usually. As for the plane, personally I would go for it, but that's only because I wouldn't be paying for it, and after driving there over 20 times, I'd love the chance to fly. Well, now that I've blabbed on. Hope the trip goes good, either way you get there! :sohappy:

 

[Redvette]

I used to drive from Baltimore to WDW straight through, by myself. It makes for a very long day, but it can be done. Add three hours to that trip, NYC to B'more, and that is pushing it too far for a straight through run in my opinion, so an overnight stay in NC/SC/GA is advisable. Actually there are a bunch of nice inexpensive accomodations right off the freeway near Savanah GA that works out well. You know about NYC metro traffic, but be advised that Wash DC rush hour traffic is some of the worst in the country, so you want to time it not to be anywhere near Wash/Balt from 7-9 am and 4-8 pm. Also Orlando rush hour is brutal. My recomendation; leave your house at 10:00 am, drive til well after dark, stop in SC/GA. Get up next morning finish off 300-400 miles get to WDW hotel right at check in time. On the way back, do the same thing except spend the night in the Richmond VA area.

You do have to remember that there is no such thing as a 2 1/2 hour flight to Orlando, tack on all the time in the front and the back and you are looking at a more like a 6 1/2 to 8 hour trip.

 

[johnvree]

We did it last November. In addition to my wife, we had our two kids, 2 and 4.

Two words: "T" "V". Ok, that's one word, but you get the point. Rent or borrow a television/vcr combo. My kids were great the entire trip. They watched Disney movies the entire way down.

We live in Northern NJ. We left around 9 a.m. We took breaks every few hours and eventually stopped in NC around 10 p.m. and stayed at a motel. We reached Orlando around 5:00 the next day.

We actually enjoyed the ride. In fact, we are going next May and will be driving again.

It would be nice if there was something exciting to see around the halfway point, like the world's biggest ball of yarn or something. There is "South of the Border". My advice, don't stop; in fact, speed up -it's a dive. The only good thing about SoB is I think you can sell one of your kids there to pay for your Disney Trip. We didn't; haven't ruled it out for our May trip though.:lol:

 

[tigsmom]

Originally posted by johnvree

It would be nice if there was something exciting to see around the halfway point, like the world's biggest ball of yarn or something. There is "South of the Border". My advice, don't stop; in fact, speed up -it's a dive. The only good thing about SoB is I think you can sell one of your kids there to pay for your Disney Trip. We didn't; haven't ruled it out for our May trip though.:lol:

I love South of the Border...and all those signs!!! (there are about 100 signs posted...each way).
Tourist trap yes, but a fun place to stretch your legs and get some really strange pictures. :lol:

 

[Seano846]

From Westchester County I leave about 8 P.M. and drive straight through, usually I average 17 hours to International Drive about 2-3 P.M the next day . I do the Drive myself while the others sleep. With 2 drivers doing 8 hrs a pop it should be no problem. You will fill your car up about 3-4 times during the trip which will allow you to stretch your legs, bathroom, eat, and so on. I then usually check in at the Doubletree Castle on I-Drive take a nap, then we go out to dinner and enjoy all I-Drive has to offer.( which is alot of fun). After a LONG restfull sleep we then drive to WDW the next morning bright and early, eat breakfast at the Polynesian and wait for our room. I found this way better than driving straight to the Poly and paying $250-$300 just to sleep the first night

 

[SewIn2Disney]

I'm from central NJ and we've been driving down since I was 3. When I was younger coloring books and crayons kept me entertained for the whole ride. Now that I'm older, I usually bring my laptop with some computer games, DVDs, and of course the vacation planning video for me and my sister to watch. Like someone mentioned before, if you can get a laptop or portable TV, it makes the trip more enjoyable. You and your partner can also sit in the back and watch TV too, to relax, if need be. Plus when you drive down think of all the cracker barrels you can hit! There's one every 30 miles or so. That is all we eat for two days when we drive to FL. If you don't know what a cracker barrel is, it is half country food resturant and half country store. They have the BEST food ever. EVER Take a look here http://www.crackerbarrel.com/

Its a great place to stop because a- you won't get sick on stopping for fast food all the time b- it is very resonably priced (almost as cheap as fast food) and c- you can take some time out to shop and strech your legs. Even though each store may look the same, they all have a few things that are different. And, don't forget to look up. They have many antique items for sale hanging from the celing. Also, they always have a game of checkers set up in a number of places around the store so you could always "sit for a spell". Oh, and they have really clean bathrooms, which beats any gas station hands down.

Have a wonderful trip!:sohappy:

 

[artvandelay]

Sean, leaving at 8pm and driving straight thru sounds good.
Sew, I've never been to a Cracker Barrel, but I've heard great things about them from my parents. Thanks for the link.

 

[surfsupdon]

From NJ--about 18 hours away from WDW.

We have driven 13 trips, flew once. I hate flying so we don't do that.

Two parents, 2 kids in back with all luggage and foods in a jeep loredo....(other cars we drove down in include lincoln towncar and 2 different types of minivans.)

What we find as best is to leave early, early morning, like 2 am. ONLY stop at Maryland House, random stop in NC, and then again in Georgia. Drive straight through!!

Honestly, the best is to drive straight through.

 

[figmentmom]

Personally, we've always preferred to fly instead of drive. We're schoolteachers, so our vacation time has some very tight parameters. However, we have friends who drive from northern New York straight through to WDW every April, and they maintain that driving straight through is the way to go. Whenever you leave, make sure you avoid the major cities at rush hour; hitting heaavy commuter traffic can add HOURS to your trip.

 

[marypopmom]

We only fly. Our ds are now 15,13 and 11. We took the baby for his first trip when he was like 18 months and we flew then too. I realize it is an economic necessity for some familys. My aunt and family have driven all the way from central NJ. They had their family of 4 and my aunt. They also drove straight through and switched drivers during the trip. They usually leave after the dinner rush on a week day. That way kids are sleeping for quite a while which helps alot. God Bless them. We would never consider it. Our one ds has asthma and I have back problems and I feel my ds works hard enough so he should enjoy himself. His co worker drives also. They do the straight through and switch drivers too. Their kids are 12,10 and 4. I like the idea of getting into the mk by lunch or 1 at the latest. Our van has 160K and no ac so it wouldnt make it for our aug. trips. I budget the airfare and look for the cheapest flights that are direct from either ISP,LGA or JFK. You could also consider newark. Good luck. Take lots of snacks, videos, music tapes etc. to keep the little one entertained if you drive.

 

[Kingdom Konsultant]

Mr. Toad and johnvree where are you in northern NJ? I was just wondering because that's where I am.

I never drive, I always fly. I want to have every minute of my vacation available to me. I would much rather spend 2 1/2 hours on a plane than 24 in a car. I take an early flight down and a late flight back usually. I just can't get enough Disney....

Pam

 

[mkt]

another alternative that we took going to NYC from Orlando is the Amtrak Autotrain. It goes from Sanford, FL (literally just north of orlando) to just outside DC. It really doesn't save much time or money, but it does save wear and tear on your vehicle.