for those that drive to WDW....

[GrimmGhosts999]

i live in South Carolina, so i've always driven to Florida. It's about 6 hours to WDW for me....i was just wondering. For those that drive to WDW, what are your favorite snacks to bring along for the car ride?

i like to bring:

-soda / water bottle
-Doritos or Pringles
-some kind of hard candy....like Jolly Ranchers, mints, Lifesavers, etc....

 

[CoffeeJedi]

Goldfish pretzels.

 

[Boray]

Anything that won't get crushed (potato chips, unless they're Pringles, are left at home) and can easily be handed to hungry children. We take fruit snacks, granola bars, individual boxes of cereal (these are a huge treat for the kids - they get to pick their favorites) cheese nips, I'll make cookies before we go and box those up, we also like Teddy Grahams :slurp: .

As far as drinks, we get juice boxes and bags (kool aid jammers) and mini cans of soda. (Wal Mart sells these). I'll also cut up fruit (I use Fruit Fresh on the apples so they don't turn brown.) and wash grapes, etc. Another favorite is individually wrapped cheese (string cheese or small cheese chunks).

We usually drive about 14-16 hours the first day (we drive about 20 hours over a 2 day trip) and try to eat meals in the car (rather than McDonald's or other drive-thrus) so I take lots of food along for the trip like lunch meat for sandwiches.

We usually have a rectangular plastic tub for the dry goods and a cooler for all of the cold items. I may go a little overboard with snacks, but I hate to be hungry! Besides, we usually rent a house off-site, so I just load up the kitchen with the food when we get there!

 

[LVROFDSNY]

My family packs pratically the same things as BORAY does. We also have a very long drive 26 hrs. and we try not to stop often We have a ice chest that plugs into the cig. lighter and works as a refrig. and that works great. We pack lunch meats and sandwhich makings and will just stop at a road side park to eat. Sometimes we drive straight through without stopping. For those trips we take lots of jerky, crackers, and cheese! As far as drinks go we love propel and green tea so we pack lots of that.

 

[shoppingnut]

When we've done the drive, don't anymore, chips were definitely a staple item.

 

[wdwhoneymooner]

Must have my M&M's and Skittles. Also, a cold Coke or Mountain Dew.

As for your 6 hr. drive from S.Carolina - Good lord, man.....we live just north of Atlanta and a good drive for us is 7.5 (including rest stops). You must be pushing triple digits on the speed gun!

 

[shoppingnut]

Must have my M&M's and Skittles. Also, a cold Coke or Mountain Dew.

As for your 6 hr. drive from S.Carolina - Good lord, man.....we live just north of Atlanta and a good drive for us is 7.5 (including rest stops). You must be pushing triple digits on the speed gun!

That or he doesn't allow any rest stops :lol: .

 

[orangewarrior]

Isn't Atlanta basically midstate SCarolina? And also by being that far west, changes the drive quite a bit. 1 1/2 difference seems a little much, but Mapquest says 6 hours 34 minutes from Atlanta, and you can usually beat the Mapquest estimate.

I know we are always trying to get as close to the SC/GA border as possible on our first day, so we only have 5-6 hours on day 2.

Mapquest says 5 hrs 13 minutes from Walterboro SC., so the poster isn't flying. But I doubt they spend too many minutes under the posted speed limit.

 

[GrimmGhosts999]

I'M in charleston, s.c.....it takes 6 hours and that's stopping twice....once in Brunswick, GA (rest stop) or the Florida visitor center that gives out the free o.j....and then i usually stop for gas near the LPGA Blvd. in Florida. arriving in WDW just at 6 hours.....and that's driving 75-80 mph the whole way. If i go with my family...it takes 8 (my dad drives slower)

 

[dizneycrazy09]

As for your 6 hr. drive from S.Carolina - Good lord, man.....we live just north of Atlanta and a good drive for us is 7.5 (including rest stops). You must be pushing triple digits on the speed gun!

we drove from PA, yes PA, and it took us 10 hours to S. Carolina where we slept, and then 5 1/2 from S. Carolina to good ol' WDW.

As for snacks, doritos and goldfish crackers are an absolute must also along with soda. We'll be stocking up for our ride that we'll be taking again in about 97 days.

 

[cheezedoodle20]

we live outside Phila. Pa about 1000 miles, we drive straight through but we do stop for meals. i pack homemade cookies rice krispie treats and soda. we need the caffeine. my husband and i split it. it takes around 18 hrs. this year our son is 17 and he will help with the driving. you need to stop and walk around and eat get a break from the drive, but you know you are so excited about getting there and food will do it's another story for the ride home. i will continue to drive now especially after the latest terroist plot, it may take longer but we find it fun and CHEAPER i don't care about the gas because 1 ticket round trip is equal to what gas will cost. we will be going 2 days before xmas this year for 9 days:xmas: :xmas: :xmas:

 

[tigsmom]

We live in upstate NY (about 45 miles north of NYC) and its a 22 hour drive for us according to Mapquest...never going to happen. I don't think they take into account traffic along 95 or the construction. We usually take the 2 day trip.

We like to bring water, soda, pretzels, peanutbutter crackers & granola bars...the last two can be a quick meal if need be.

 

[nyfrenchy]

I wonder for those of you who are driving from PA or NY, why you do not consider Amtrak Auto Train?

I left from Upstate NY, drove 6 hours to Washington DC, put the car in the train at 3pm and arrived in Sanford, FL 9am the next morning... one hour of driving later we were in Disney World

The cost of the Auto Train was about $300 for a car and two passengers, and the diner was included! Unbeatable deal, especially with the cost of gas nowadays.

 

[bayoutinkbelle]

I drive from Central Louisiana and it takes me about 12 hours. It's not a bad trip, really.

We always have an ice chest ready with water, Cokes and snacks of the salty and sweet variety. I don't like to play around on the road. I mean, the goal is to get to the World ASAP, right? When I stop for gas, we hit restrooms and food joints too.

I usually make my stops at Mobile, to somewhere around the I-75 split from I-10 and then to Orlando.

 

[DisneyDragon]

My drive originates in Toronto, and is heavily dependant on which route I take south...through Detroit or Buffalo. Taking I-75 out of Detroit is about 100kms longer, but it keeps you out of slowpoke PA (is it still 55 mph there?).

Being in the logistics industry, I long ago learned that truckers are, without a doubt, the best radar detectors and traffic advisories out there. Hop on, tell a joke about the drive south, and ask what the routes are like. Let the kids say thanks to everyone, and you will find they will continuously update you along the way. Just keep doing this as they fall out of range, and you'll acquire new friends. For most truckers, the ability to help a kid get to WDW faster makes it worthwhile. I can easily say that I've saved 1-3 hours because of them...

As for driving, we leave Toronto around 8pm, so that the kids will soon be asleep (now 7 and 2), we drive through the night, eating up the miles while they sleep. The next day we take more breaks, but it gets us to WDW in enough time to eat dinner, let them go crazy at a park and/or pool, crash...and then it's off to the parks. Of course, we crash with them by 9-10pm the night before (I normally fall asleep at 2am, so that's pretty early for me).

 

[newfanatic]

I wonder for those of you who are driving from PA or NY, why you do not consider Amtrak Auto Train?

I left from Upstate NY, drove 6 hours to Washington DC, put the car in the train at 3pm and arrived in Sanford, FL 9am the next morning... one hour of driving later we were in Disney World

The cost of the Auto Train was about $300 for a car and two passengers, and the diner was included! Unbeatable deal, especially with the cost of gas nowadays.

Wow! Where did you find that deal? When I checked, it was going to cost us $1300 for 4 people and our car. I only paid $800 for all 4 of us to fly. Also, the drive to Washington is the worst part of the trip. If I am going to drive that stressful leg, I might as well just drive the whole thing. I might have considered the auto train more of a possiblity, though, if I had gotten your price on it. I have friends that take it down every year.

 

[tigsmom]

I wonder for those of you who are driving from PA or NY, why you do not consider Amtrak Auto Train?

I left from Upstate NY, drove 6 hours to Washington DC, put the car in the train at 3pm and arrived in Sanford, FL 9am the next morning... one hour of driving later we were in Disney World

The cost of the Auto Train was about $300 for a car and two passengers, and the diner was included! Unbeatable deal, especially with the cost of gas nowadays.

We enjoy the ride, its part of our vacation. Also we would be 4 passengers... an extra $600 or more that I don't have. Another thing is Orlando (or Sanford) is not our first destination when we go to Florida, we usually visit family first, relax at WDW then head on home to start the school year.

 

[Chape19714]

I always get an early head-start and stop by the Bagel shop for a bagel.:slurp:

On the way home, an Ice-Cold Coca-Cola!

 

[1DisneyDad]

Twizzlers and Starbucks Double Shots. We drive from MD. Takes about 12.5 hours.

 

[gatordoc]

Just a quick tip for those of you heading south - gas prices in Georgia are significantly lower than in Florida, so fill up before you cross the state line (we'll get plenty of your money on the room taxes :lol.