Driving to Disney - Your Thoughts?

[wickedfan07]

Hi Everyone!

i'm hoping I can find some opinions here about driving to WDW. My family (5 people: my parents, myself (17), my sister (15), and my grandmother) are planning on driving down at the end of June. We live in northeastern Pennsylvania. We were originally considering driving straight through, stopping every few hours for a stretch break, gas, food, etc. However, we're now looking at stopping for the night somewhere past the halfway point, breaking up the travel time, and possibly allowing us to do something the night we arrive at WDW instead of just recuperating from spending the last 18-20 hours in a minivan. (we will still have some rest time though.)

So, if any of you have driven to Disney from the northeast, wha would you recommend? Can anyone recommend decent places to spend the night in South Carolina or Georgia? Any tips?

In case it matters, we will be staying at our timeshare off-site for 7 nights (June 23-30). (We tried to exchange our timeshare week for a week at a DVC resort, but it turns out we're not allowed to since our timeshare is too close to Disney property.)

Thanks!

 

[maryszhi]

I would never drive. I have never drove to disney, nor my parents. We always fly , pick up a car then drive to our on property hotel. It is stress free. Why take time to drive hours, when you can be in the park in a few hours?
~a dream is what your heart makes~
~when you wish upon a star~
PS but if thats what you want to do, do it its fun no matter how u get to disney or where you stay, as long as theirs magic!

 

[maryszhi]

opps i mean there is

 

[k.hunter30]

I would never drive. I have never drove to disney, nor my parents. We always fly , pick up a car then drive to our on property hotel. It is stress free. Why take time to drive hours, when you can be in the park in a few hours?
~a dream is what your heart makes~
~when you wish upon a star~
PS but if thats what you want to do, do it its fun no matter how u get to disney or where you stay, as long as theirs magic!

"Why"? When you're paying for the trip, it can save quite a bit of money - especially if you have a number of people in the car.

 

[tigsmom]

I would never drive. I have never drove to disney, nor my parents. We always fly , pick up a car then drive to our on property hotel. It is stress free. Why take time to drive hours, when you can be in the park in a few hours?

:lol:


First of all, not everyone can afford to fly and stay at WDW. Secondly, the trip is part of the vacation. Have you never traveled to see the country? Visit the historical sites?
Some people hate to fly, some have medical problems and driving is easier.

 

[k.hunter30]

:lol:


First of all, not everyone can afford to fly and stay at WDW. Secondly, the trip is part of the vacation. Have you never traveled to see the country? Visit the historical sites?
Some people hate to fly, some have medical problems and driving is easier.

Well put. :animwink:

 

[garyhoov]

:lol:


First of all, not everyone can afford to fly and stay at WDW. Secondly, the trip is part of the vacation. Have you never traveled to see the country? Visit the historical sites?
Some people hate to fly, some have medical problems and driving is easier.

That's why Ryan is insisting that we drive down this year. We may try to fly back, but he likes the feeling of adventure of driving.

 

[goodolgm]

I took the AutoTrain down and back for my college program. It's about $200 each way w/ AAA discount...if there's extra family members, not sure how much it is per extra person, but I recall two seperate fares...one for you and one for the car, surely children can't be charged for car storage, lol.

You're not going to sleep well on the ride, but still beats a 20 hour drive from NJ lol.

 

[tigsmom]

Much like anything else, there are different prices for different levels of comfort. Check out their site, you can price things out at different levels...

Click Here

 

[Frosty689]

Funny I also live in Northeast PA, and prior to the past couple of years the only thing we have done is driven to Disney World. It's an experience, I'm not sure if you've ever driven, it can get a little crazy. Planning on driving all the way thru is gonna be tricky, and long but rewarding of course cause you get to disney at the end! But in my personal opinion, i believe you all should get a nice little break, or atlesat stop at your hotel before going to the parks. You will be tired, from being so bored. haha have a good time =D

 

[wickedfan07]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions! We have always flown to Orlando in the past and this will be our first time driving down. We haven't set anything in stone yet, as we haven't had a lot of time over the last few days to think about the trip, but your suggestions will certainly help us make a decision. We have kind of silently decided to stop overnight though, but whether we stop mid-way or go straight through and find a room for the night in Orlando remains to be seen.

If you have any other suggestions, please post them! I hope this thread can help someone else too. Thanks again.

 

[maryszhi]

Sorry I didnt mean to seem kinda mean , i just meant if u can do it do it, if you cant afford it or medical problems, thats the best way. I just meant for my families situation, that was what we did. Sorry
~when you wish upon a star~
~a dream is what your heart makes~

 

[maryszhi]

driving,boat train,ext

 

[willythelab]

Vacation

My wife Ellen, 2 kids Audrey and Rusty, my wife's aunt Edna and myself once took a trip west to WallyWorld from Chicago. It was quite an adventure. Watch out for those campground places. They can be rough! Also, don't forget to untie the dog from the bumper.:dazzle: :dazzle: :dazzle:

 

[mousebymarriage]

My wife Ellen, 2 kids Audrey and Rusty, my wife's aunt Edna and myself once took a trip west to WallyWorld from Chicago. It was quite an adventure. Watch out for those campground places. They can be rough! Also, don't forget to untie the dog from the bumper.:dazzle: :dazzle: :dazzle:

Very Funny!:ROFLOL:
So sorry you lost Aunt Edna near Flagstaff. I hope your cousin was too mad that you had to leave her in the rain but, hey at least you put an umbrella over her!

 

[KZevchik]

Well I have to say I have done the drive down to WDW numerous times (maybe 20) from Cleveland, OH. About the same distance you are making your venture from. Here are some pointers for the trip:

1) Take 77 all the way down to the exchange in southern GA, this is by far the best route down there.

2) Leave in the evening and have the drivers change through the night (kids just sleep it through), leave about 8 PM, this has the least traffic going down, construction doesn't typically happen at night. If you have 3 or 4 drivers, you can split the drive up in 4 to 6 hour shifts. With this tip you can make WDW in about 16 hours (I have done it many times from CLE!). That way everyone gets their 8 hours of sleep and you will be pulling into WDW about noon or 1 fully rested and ready to hit Spaceship Earth!

3) Eat on the road, I know it sucks eating so much drive through but wouldn't you rather stomach it for 4 meals and enjoy the great food choices that you have in Orlando.

4) If you are staying off grounds, you can park at Downtown Disney and take the bus to all the parks, this will save you about $10 a day in parking and makes park hopping a whole lot easier.

5) Finally, if you do travel by night you can set your cruise a little higher than you would by day. In the states where 70 is the speed, you will have no problem with any statey at 80!

Good luck, have fun, but most of all enjoy every bit of the trip!

 

[Edgar M.]

No post.

 

[bidnow5]

We are in Rhode Island and have driven down 7 or 8 times in all kinds of vehicle's a car my suburban and our motor home. In the car driving straight through isn't fun. In the suburban the others took turns sleeping in the back so it was better and the motor home was great for driving straight through we all took turns driving / sleeping. Now if we take anything but the motor home we will stop overnight in southern South Carolina there are a lot of nice places

 

[KZevchik]

You are correct, they had just changed that last year, you used to be able to take a bus to the transportation and ticket center. However if you know the schedules throughout the resorts and location you can work that so that you only have to transfer twice. IE. Take bus to Contemp. to take monorail to MK.

 

[big stitch]

we drive down everytime we go, this year we are going to leave a day early and make it a day trip it takes about 6 hours to drive to disney not to bad. We drove straight there in 2004 at night i fiqured it would be easier to drive it during the early morning the only down fall I couldn't seem to catch up on my sleep the whole trip.

 

[stalkingmickey]

Rocky Mount forget if its N.C. or S.C. But from Massachusetts this was a good stopping point and there are some good hotels right of the highway