Has Anyone Driven to WDW from Toronto?

[livabeth]

My husband and I are planning a late November '06 trip to WDW with our two daughters (7 and 3 yo). We are considering driving there from Toronto, Canada. Has anyone ever done this drive before?? Are we insane to consider it with two young kids? Any tips to make the drive more enjoyable?

 

[orangewarrior]

I'd choose POR over Pop Century or an AS - no doubt, but I really wouldn't worry about it too much. And I don't find too much difference between Pop Century and the AS - although you do save some tax at Pop Century, but my wife is a big fan of avoiding the AS - and she would definitely choose PC. Also as the previous poster said, don't give up other things on the trip, less days, less character meals, no park hopper, or whatever, in order to stay at POR over one of the Values.

Good luck and enjoy.

 

[natalia1681]

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. I have been comparing the cost to drive versus flying and we would probably save approx. $750.00. Flying will be approx. $2000.00 for the 4 of us (including taxes, etc.) and we would probably rent a car to drive down with (our minivan is leased and the long mileage would eat into our limits). The rental car would probably cost about $500, but gas, hotel, food, etc. My kids do pretty well in the car, plus we have a portable DVD player already. I agree that the drive home may be long and difficult ... especially if you run into any bad weather.

Alternately, we may shuffle off to Buffalo and fly from there. The flights are very cheap and i heard that this works very well. Has anyone done this?

We are also trying to decide whether to stay at All Stars Movie, Pop Century or POR. My first choice is POR, but with the money we could say at the value hotels we could do so much more at Disney and fly.

Decisions .. decisions. I can't wait to book everything and then just enjoy waiting for the trip to come and planning on what to take and where to go at Disney.

I would highly recommend flying if you think that you can afford it. Maybe stay at the Pop (which I love, by the way, and think that your kids would probably enjoy, too) to save a little $. Then use that $ to put towards flying.

I just truly believe it is much less worry to fly than to drive for that long (especially the ride back home, because you'll be so very tired). Factor in peace of mind in your budget and the value of your time.

I would also highly recommend flying from Buffalo if it will save you some $. You can usually get a hotel nearby the airport that will allow you to park your car when you stay the night before--that way, you can get to the airport early, park your car for free, fly down and enjoy yourself, then return home.

Check with Disney to find out if they can secure a deal for you on a flight. They are actually very affordable and they had the cheapest flight that I could find!

Good luck with everything!

 

[dandaman]

The 20.5 hour figure would definitely be pushing it, especially with kids. My dad drove non-stop, including gas stops and drive-thru eats, for 20 hours from (let's say Windsor) to WDW. From Toronto, and with kids, I'd actually put the figure at just over a day...

However, it's also totally worth it to drive through the Appalachians via I-77 - I-95 route. Use your best judgement, and remember that no matter what, the reward for your toils will be far greater than most others imagined. :wave:

 

[Chickapin Chick]

I think driving from Toronto is absolutely possible. Take it from me - I drove from Orlando to California.