Driving from CT (about 1100 miles) to the world, thoughts?

T

thomas998

Well-Known Member
Nemo14 said:
We used to drive it every summer (fromRI) when our kids were little. My DH loves the drive - I hate it. We'd do a lot of night driving while the kids slept, and usually stop halfway down. The advantages are that you can bring more with you, it's considerably cheaper, you have use of your own car. The disadvantage, besides the long drive is that it's much safer, statistically, to fly. We were lucky in that our kids are great travelers, but if your kids need constant entertainment, it can be really difficult.
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You do realize that by using statistics you find that it is also safer to walk a tight-rope than to fly... The trouble with statistics is that they are easily manipulated... That said, there is a couple of question only the OP can answer, what time of year will you be driving and on what days would you be heading out... I ask that because I personally don't enjoy driving in the dark and if its a winter trip you don't have a lot of daylight... If its a summer trip then it isn't a problem... But when you are heading out can be a big concern since he lives on the east coast. I know when I lived in Connecticut I was very careful when planning long trips through the NY/NJ area because the traffic during certain times is maddening.

The other question is can you afford to lose 4 days on the road... Not sure how long the total vacation is but if you are going to give up 2 days down you will also be giving up 2 days back... will that hurt your total vacation?
 
HatboxGhost

HatboxGhost

Well-Known Member
My wife and I drive from CT to Disney and we love it. Its about 20 hours with me driving the first 12 and my wife driving the remaining 8. We are even thinking about doing that when we go to Disneyland. Crazy, I know.
 
Britt

Britt

Well-Known Member
Id love to live close enough to drive! We kind of toyed with the idea earlie this year and laughed at ourself. It's a 30+ hour drive, not including staying at hotels, eating and sanity breaks. That's 4 days of my vacation, ONE WAY, in the car. Heck no! I'll take the 4 hours of flight, even with a rowdy 2 year old. And believe me, you give me a dirty look on that plane, I've mastered the stink eye and you'll get it right back. I don't wanna deal with the fuss any more then they want to hear it and I do my best to prevent it. LOL
 
mousebymarriage

mousebymarriage

Active Member
We are a family of 4 (me, DH, DD16 and DS11) and we live in Bergen County, NJ (1106 miles from our driveway to Disney property). We have been to Disney many times and have flown and driven down. I have to say that I definately prefer to drive. We usually drive straight through the night which is preferred by all, even the kids. We have stopped over for the night in Santee, SC which is approx. 12 hours from our house. We are planning to make the drive again this June and will be driving straight through again. I prefer driving down because :

1) cost (last year our cost driving was approx $350 round trip gas and tolls vs. $800-$1000 to fly) .
2) I like having use of a car and if we drive I don't have to spend the money on a rental.
3) I like the freedom of being able to leave when I want (which really came in handy a few years ago when we left home 12 hours earlier than planned to beat an approaching blizzard).
4) I am just not a huge fan of flying in general.
 
T

thomas998

Well-Known Member
Britt said:
Id love to live close enough to drive! We kind of toyed with the idea earlie this year and laughed at ourself. It's a 30+ hour drive, not including staying at hotels, eating and sanity breaks. That's 4 days of my vacation, ONE WAY, in the car. Heck no! I'll take the 4 hours of flight, even with a rowdy 2 year old. And believe me, you give me a dirty look on that plane, I've mastered the stink eye and you'll get it right back. I don't wanna deal with the fuss any more then they want to hear it and I do my best to prevent it. LOL
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Wow where do you live? We are about halfway between WDW and Disneyland and are only about 18 hours from WDW... maybe you should consider Disneyland next time it might be closer to you.
 
Figgy1

Figgy1

Well-Known Member
We drive from ne Pa about 17 hours if we go straight through. Last trip we left somewhere between 7 & 8 pm and went straight through. No problems once the kiddies fell asleep they slept almost into NC. Hand held video games and plenty of Disney movies didn't hear a word until we arrived. I also told them if they disturbed the driver we would drop them off at the nearest airport and ship them to grandmas. The only Disney they'd see would be emailed pictures.
 
cynic710

cynic710

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
pocahontas1231 said:
i plan on making the trip from NY to the World in january im nervous it will be 3 adults and 7year old 10 year old and a 2 year old!! we are trying to do a straight shot with three drivers and at least one adult to care and entertain the children if needed! been down there a million times everyone else will be their first excited because its my first road trip ever down there i usually fly but it is a lot cheaper to drive then fly with the amount of people we have going .. not to mention more flexability when down there with your own car!!
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i was wondering how your trip went with the driving, any updates? how did it go?
 
cynic710

cynic710

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
so, if i go this year (which will be the week of june 24th fyi) my DS will be 3 and my DD will be 9 months old. do you all think that driving through the night so they sleep for a chunk of the ride is better? or drive during the day with stops along the way? if i left at 7pm, and they both fell asleep around 8-8:30 (usual bedtime for both) and they slept their usual 12 hours, I would be only about 5 hours from the world, that doesnt sound too bad.

i guess my point here would be the faster we get there the better, theres not too much to see on 95 once you get out of the virginia area. but my concern is the comfort of the kids, is sitting in that carseat too much on my sons 3 year old body? have any of your kids at 3 years old slept through the night in a carseat?

also, i got a quote for $400 for the week for a minivan, and added an estimated $350 to that for gas. currently, the chaepest flight would be just over $1000. so am i making a too big a deal over $250?? if i fly were not renting a car down there but rather taking advantage of magical express so thats not too much of an issue.


thanks for making this an ongoing thread all, you are all really helping me a lot. :)
 
flynnibus

flynnibus

Premium Member
You'll find having the van be so worth it beyond just the $250 savings.. so don't forget those intangibles. Easier packing, ability to move freely, avoiding buses when you want, etc.

Sleeping overnight in the car seems to work well for the little ones - just make sure it's not too much for the adults. Driving overnight is harder than some might think. But there is a lot to be said for not having to keep the kids entertained :)
 
Figgy1

Figgy1

Well-Known Member
cynic710 said:
so, if i go this year (which will be the week of june 24th fyi) my DS will be 3 and my DD will be 9 months old. do you all think that driving through the night so they sleep for a chunk of the ride is better? or drive during the day with stops along the way? if i left at 7pm, and they both fell asleep around 8-8:30 (usual bedtime for both) and they slept their usual 12 hours, I would be only about 5 hours from the world, that doesnt sound too bad.

i guess my point here would be the faster we get there the better, theres not too much to see on 95 once you get out of the virginia area. but my concern is the comfort of the kids, is sitting in that carseat too much on my sons 3 year old body? have any of your kids at 3 years old slept through the night in a carseat?

also, i got a quote for $400 for the week for a minivan, and added an estimated $350 to that for gas. currently, the chaepest flight would be just over $1000. so am i making a too big a deal over $250?? if i fly were not renting a car down there but rather taking advantage of magical express so thats not too much of an issue.


thanks for making this an ongoing thread all, you are all really helping me a lot. :)
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We used to drive through the night when my kids were younger and never had any problems!! If you are staying at a value a car for getting back to the resort may actually be a big plus!! Good luck traveling with little ones!
 
NYwdwfan

NYwdwfan

Well-Known Member
Weather_Lady said:
When I was growing up, we always drove from Upstate NY (~20 hours), split into two pieces with an overnight (or just a pull-over-at-the-rest-stop-and-sleep-in-the-van) break built in. This was in the days before portable DVD players or the Nintendo DS. Walkmans existed, but we weren't allowed to bring them. It was just Mom, Dad, me, my sister, an old 8-track player, a CB radio, and whatever books and games my sister and I brought to amuse ourselves with.
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Holy flashback - I TOTALLY forgot about the CB!! My sister and I had our own handles. I was a big dork.

We drove EVERY year from the time I was 4 to when I was 18. A good portion of those years were in a Plymouth Fury with an ENORMOUS back seat covered in vinyl - fun to sit on vinyl when you get to those hot weather states. o_O My parents packed a cooler for us that we kept in the back - just food - they had a second cooler in the front that had drinks in it. We always left at 4 AM and stopped in South Carolina on the way down and North Carolina on the way back. I have great memories of those drives - and this was BEFORE portable DVD players, handheld games, ipads, etc. We brought mad libs, coloring books, maps of the US to log license plates we saw, etc. Driving can be a blast for kids - as long as they know going in that they will be in the car for a while!!
 
Clowd Nyne

Clowd Nyne

Well-Known Member
Driving to WDW feb 26 from Michigan with seven people. A 4 year old, a 2 year old and a 5 month old. Estimated 350$ in gas. 18 hours in the car. DVD player, snacks and tunes. Gonna drive straight through but we have four drivers. I will update everyone on how it goes.
 
NYwdwfan

NYwdwfan

Well-Known Member
flynnibus said:
con:
risk of breakdown and putting your trip plans in a tizzy...

It can happen, and it's not pretty when it does happen. We broke down in GA on our last trip. 5pm on a saturday is not a great time to find solutions in rural georgia. It took about 45mins in calls to get a plan together.. a tow-truck hauling all of us to a dealer.. an hour long taxi ride to the nearest rental car location.. and then a weeklong minivan rental.. and then of course reversing that on the way home.
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We broke down in Georgia one year - it was the year it snowed and they were NOT prepared for it - the roads were a mess. I fell asleep and when I woke up, after an hour, my dad said we had gone 1 mile. To make matters worse, my sister was away at school in Boston and flew direct. I was so mad. We were stuck at a gas station in Georgia for about 5 hours while whey fixed the car. There was one restaurant in town - attached to the gas station - called the Wayfarer Inn. We walked in the door and I told my mom I would rather starve and walked out. Yeah - we laugh about it now but that trip was a DISASTER.
 
flynnibus

flynnibus

Premium Member
My van broke down in georgia.. luckly we got to a gas station.. there was a dealership we were able to get the van towed to without TOO much hassle, but there was no rental car agency in town.. the closest one was jacksonville over an hour away. So we had to work on getting the van towed, figure out how we'd get the group from the gas station to the dealer, then figure out how to get from the dealer to jacksonville, get a rental van, and then get to Port Canaveral. Oh, and then had to figure out how to communicate to the car dealer on Monday and through the week, when I was going to be on the cruise ship! Oh and then on the way home, had to drive to georgia, get my van, drive both vans back to jacksonville to return the rental, and then drive the way home :)

In the end, we actually made it all work without major hiccups, but it was certainly could have gone very very wrong :)
 
Clowd Nyne

Clowd Nyne

Well-Known Member
We've drove almost every time I've been to WDW the 1200 miles from the mitten. We have never broke down. That being said get a tune up before you go. If your car isn't road worthy when you leave it won't be when you get there. Allow a couple of buffer days in between your drive days and your park package. I'd rather spend two days in Daytona than pay for WDW for a night that I'm not there. Also try and leave at a time that will put you going through big cities like Atlanta inbetween rush hours. Research which cities have carpool lanes on the major highway you are taking and use them. Hope I'm helpful! Cheers to drivers!!
 
NYwdwfan

NYwdwfan

Well-Known Member
flynnibus said:
My van broke down in georgia.. luckly we got to a gas station.. there was a dealership we were able to get the van towed to without TOO much hassle, but there was no rental car agency in town.. the closest one was jacksonville over an hour away. So we had to work on getting the van towed, figure out how we'd get the group from the gas station to the dealer, then figure out how to get from the dealer to jacksonville, get a rental van, and then get to Port Canaveral. Oh, and then had to figure out how to communicate to the car dealer on Monday and through the week, when I was going to be on the cruise ship! Oh and then on the way home, had to drive to georgia, get my van, drive both vans back to jacksonville to return the rental, and then drive the way home :)

In the end, we actually made it all work without major hiccups, but it was certainly could have gone very very wrong :)
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That is a lot of pieces to have worked out OK - glad it didn't put a damper on your trip!!
 

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