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

[awoogala]

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.

we never rent, just drive our minivan. the cost of the rental does make things a tad higher. I would do the overnight, if you decide to do it.
My kids slept fine in the car at 10 and 7 this year. we left at 7 pm, arrived at noon the next day, had very few stops (like 2 in the morning for bathroom and breakfast drive thru)
I might fly in your case, though- as you said, your savings won't be that great, and two little kids may be fine on a quick flight.
We drive for major savings, ($1000 to fly, $350-500 to drive, deending on gas prices) and the fact that my kid is scared to death of planes, and made our last plane trip a misery of crying. I wouldn't inflict a plane full of people to that again, if I can help it!

 

[awoogala]

oh, and get premier aaa, just in case. One tow of up to 200 miles, and regular tows up to 100 miles. Also trip interruption expenses. Worth every penny.

 

[Figgy1]

oh, and get premier aaa, just in case. One tow of up to 200 miles, and regular tows up to 100 miles. Also trip interruption expenses. Worth every penny.

aaa also has Disney discounts and you get prefered parking!!! The parking is great no tram! Parking is by the gates!

 

[icecreamrules]

Another option is to drive down to Washington, DC then get the Auto Train - will save driving stress for you and you still get to have your car at Disney! The cost isn't too bad either, roughly $350- $400 one way for a family of 4. A lot easier to get up and walk around on a train, and they have snack cars to go sit in as well, and formal dining cars too. You could even spring for a private bedroom compartment & pretend you are off to Hogwarts! http://www.amtrak.com/auto-train

 

[Mrsdonaldduck]

We have vacationed at wdw the past 5 years and this past trip we drove. It was great! We live in nj and have 3 little ones. We stopped in sc for the night. The things we liked about driving were
The freedom, not having to go through airport security, bringing whatever want, being on our own time schedule, having our car, playing the license plate game, playing Disney music and movies, and saving the cost of five airline tickets!!! It was really a great experience and we are looking forward
To doing it again this year!

 

[scrapjem]

We plan to drive as well with our kids this fall, ages 2, 5, 6. We live in Albany, NY. We plan to do a lot of the driving at night when they're asleep. We're not even telling them where we're going until we're halfway there so I think it will be fine. On the way home we plan to stop halfway though to visit friends. It's just to expensive for the five of us to fly.

 

[Figgy1]

We plan to drive as well with our kids this fall, ages 2, 5, 6. We live in Albany, NY. We plan to do a lot of the driving at night when they're asleep. We're not even telling them where we're going until we're halfway there so I think it will be fine. On the way home we plan to stop halfway though to visit friends. It's just to expensive for the five of us to fly.

I'd wait til Florida to tell them! No need for anxiety too early in the trip!

 

[wdisneyw2000]

This Aug will be my 7th time driving down from PA. This year i'll have 8 mo DS, also along with the 2 DD 6 & 3. Yes DVD players, music, toys, Snacks, & ofcoarse the cooler for the drinks. The best thing they made was travel DVD players. Cost is definately cheaper & less hastle then flying, you can bring whatever you want that makes the trip cheaper. Plus if you plan on stopping to eat along the way or whatever, on interstate 95 website, i even made copies of every Rest area mile marker for each state, as well as there are restaurant listings for every exit of each state. It's a great helper if your hungry you look off the sheet to see whats coming up, anyone has to stretch or go to bathroom, you can say this rest area is this far. It helps us out alot, plus always remember to fill up in South Carolina, & even top off the tank there before you leave, gas is always cheaper there, & yes on the I95 site is a gas tracker as well. We usually leave on a sunday morning to get on the road, & allow for plenty of stopping to stretch, & potty breaks. We also stop usually along the way between south of the border & GA a few hours to sleep. We carry triple A & always put travel ins on our WDW package thru the travel agent. Going thru our travel agent is cheaper then doing the package online or thru AAA

 

[jkl2000]

Even if flying with kids is stressful (doesn't actually stress me out that much), it's over within a few hours.

 

[3BratsToDisney]

We are also driving down again this year from NJ along the PA border. We save a lot more money by driving, when DH did the calculations from our last trips there was a difference of 1500 compared to flying. There is also a nice app I found for iphone called iExit, it lists all the hotels/places to eat/fuel/rest areas along your route and seemed up to date when we used it each time. There was another app I think specific for I-95 but we found it to have wrong info on a few exits. We also stop in SC on the way down. What we found to work is stopping about every 3 hours for a potty break or just to stretch some legs. Our kids vary in age but they always handle the car ride really well. While flying is more convenient and if it was economical we'd do it, but for a family of 5 the price to fly is just a bit too much for us so driving it is and we have a blast, kinda make it like a mini vacation within a vacation.

 

[experiment624]

Don't sweat the people on the plane. NOBODY likes a crying kid even when they're your own, but hey it's part of life.
I know If I was on a plane heading toward Disney I know I wouldn't be worrying about some kid crying!
Now if it was the way home.......

I back this up 100%. I'm from central Florida, I fly in and out of Orlando all the time on business and when I'm on my way home, the last thing I want to hear are crying kids, but I keep in mind, they're going to see mickey and be a princess or pirate, and I smile and then I get over the crying real quick. "Don't sweat the people on the plane", everyone will deal and if they turn out to be wonderful on the plane, all the better for you.

 

[PurplePizza1]

We are driving from Texas. Stopping overnight in Tallahassee, and on to WDW. It's going to be a long drive, but we're saving over $1000 in airfare and the airport security hassle. But we're going to have fun! I have tons of stuff for her to do in the car, and even have this handled tote for her to pack with whatever she wants and needs. This little tote keeps everything organized and in her reach, so no reaching over a seat to try to find things.

(My suggestion is to get a car charger for any electronics. God send for us!) I love driving, and while we've done lots of long drives, this will be the longest one with our DD. I'm hopeful, and planning on stopping when she needs a break.

 

[Hot Lava]

2) North Carolina and Virginia. You have to get through these 2 states to get there. No way around it. I am pretty sure their entire state budgets are allocated to unmarked police cars. You can't drive 2 miles without seeing them pulling someone over. The tricky part is that they ramp the speed limit up and down by 10 to 15 MPH the whole length of 95 just to try and trap drivers who miss the signs. This is especially true of N Carolina

Also, In VA there are "speed corridors" (VDOT calls them "safety corridors"). I cannot recall if it is between DC and Fredericksburg or Fredericksburg and Richmond (maybe both now ). But if you get stopped for speeding within that corridor, the fine is doubled.

 

[Figgy1]

Just did the trip from the High Point NJ area! Drove down 81 to avoid a tropical storm coming up 95. We loved the road trip, but we did stop ever night in Ga. I guess we just like having the freedom of having our own car. Even with using it everyday , for 12 days down there the total for gas, parking and lodging was only $490 or so. Lots less than $800 at least in airfare not to mention the other $250 or so we would have spent getting there plus the shuttle cost for 4 to Kennedy!

 

[Pixie Duster Mom]

We have always driven (from the Philly area) with our four kids. Tips - use the rest areas. Pack picnics (breakfast, lunch or dinner - pack a dollar store tablecloth, too). Take a Frisbee or ball to play. When my kids were little, we would play Simon says (Simon says, run in place... Simon says, do jumping jacks). You get the idea. In the time it would have taken us to eat in a restaurant, we could have a picnic (where I knew exactly what they were eating/drinking) and play! Dad could join us for playtime or catch a cat-nap, whichever he preferred.

 

[Monorail_Red]

I've made the drive from CT to WDW many times, both as a youth and as an adult. One time I went non-stop...left at 1:30am, went right down 95, and arrived at Pop Centrry at 8:30pm. If you leave any other time than early morning, I would recommend going 84 to 81 to bypass that section of 95. As long as your passengers are occupied and comfortable, it will be an enjoyable drive.

 

[tare]

Growing up we drove from wi alot. But we planned alot of stops along the way for fun stuff. We made it a two week vaca. But I would prob spend the money no matter what to fly. That's what we always do now. Delta and sun country are non stops for us.

 

[disneyfriend32]

After hours of extensive research, it is cheaper to fly. We live in NYand have 3 kids,3, 6&13. It cost about $400 less. You need to book an extra hotel, and all the food thete andback. Even if you have breakfadt at home and pack lunch for the first day of driving. I do think a road trip would be awsome,a chace to see the world and funto stop at beach for a day, I will save for when my 3 yr old is 5 or 6. If you do drive pizza it an inexpensive option for dinner. I will be happy to break down the savings for you, let me know.

 

[disneyfriend32]

If i drove i would do the same thing, book a hotel outside downtown. So when we checked into disney we would be ready.

We're driving down next friday evening (yea 9 days!). From Ohio we're looking at almost 17 hours with 4 young kids (6,4,2.5,1). Our plan is to eat dinner early and head out around 5 then drive straight through with sleeping kids hopefully most the trip. First night we're booked offsite at a hotel by DTD so we can sleep and then roam before checking in Sunday morning. This is the "plan", if anything goes haywire, we'll readjust along the way. Like any trip with young kids you just have to be flexible.

 

[flynnibus]

After hours of extensive research, it is cheaper to fly. We live in NYand have 3 kids,3, 6&13. It cost about $400 less. You need to book an extra hotel, and all the food thete andback

$400 more to drive for a family of 5? That doesn't sound quite right.
Approx 1200 miles (estimate).. 20mpg = 60 gallons of gas $3.80/gal = $228 each way so $458
That's about 16hrs of driving.. which is doable in one day, but if you wanted to break it up.. add $100 for a hotel each way.. $200
figure 3 meals each way.. $30/meal = $180
Add about $20 for tolls

So that's $858. even if you bumped all those costs 20%.. that's still only about $1k.

Flying is going to be $200-$300/head minimum... so $1000-$1500

How did you come up with driving costing $1500+ dollars?