How far would you drive to WDW?

[ParentsOf4]

How far are people willing to drive to go to WDW?

We live in CT and it's about a 1300-mile drive. Realistically, it means 2 days to get down there and 2 days to get back. We don't feel like spending 4 days of a vacation in a car and so we always fly to WDW.

Admittedly, with airline ticket prices still relatively high, driving is tempting. However, if I take off one week from work, I have 9 days to enjoy a vacation. Yes, I realize we could potentially pull an all nighter, leave on Friday evening, and arrive by Saturday evening. But it sounds exhausting and I don't know what condition my family would be in to hit the parks on Sunday. Then, knowing we'd have to repeat the drive at the end of the vacation seems even more exhausting.

Other people seem to indicate that they drive from much further distance.

What's your "threshold of pain"? How far would you be willing to drive to get to WDW?

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

I love driving trips. If I lived faaaaar away and cost were not a issue, I would not mind the length.

 

[Foolish Mortal]

I live just outside Philly and driving is NOT an option. 2 hours on a plane vs. 18-20 hours driving. If I lived in FL driving might be an option.

 

[DznyGrlSD]

When I did my college program I drove from South Dakota to Orlando - about 1500 miles. I'd do it again if I couldn't find 'cheap' airline prices.

 

[DisneyEverest]

I live in Jersey and used to drive down all the time, the trip is about 18-20 hours, not bad at all.

 

[Susan Savia]

We always drive and its 15 hours. 8 hours one day, 7 the 2nd. 850 miles.

 

[Mr Wizard]

It's 902 miles from my door to Mickeys parking lot. That's enough. The wife takes off half a day and we leave Friday at about noon. A couple hour snooze in a South Carolina rest stop and after breakfast we pull into the motel at about 7:00 Saturday morning.

 

[Mickey&Minnie]

Our drive is almost exactly 800 miles which equals about 14 hours depending on how many stops we have to make. We always enjoy the drive. We usually take two days to get there making a stop in Mobile b/c we can't wait to leave in the morning so we leave right after work. We can however come back in one day. It isn't bad for us at all but then again we don't have children.

 

[mwbrown]

We drove from Peterborough Ontario (about an hour from Toronto) to Orlando twice a couple summers ago, and then flew from Buffalo last year. Figured with gas, hotels, extra food, etc it was about $750 round trip to drive and about $1000 to fly. Don't think we'll be doing the drive again, but it wasn't that bad. Just nice to save a few days and spend more time at my happy place...

 

[xsupaxmanxsfnex]

If I hadn't been in like 10 years and I were to be bringing my family for the first time or something I would drive across the country. I would rather fly but if that wasn't an option then I would probably be willing to drive that far.

 

[chasraz]

I have made to drive many times. I love the trip . but I do find that flying in is making better use of the time I have . I have driven 6 times over the years from California to WDW. That was a total of 4300 miles round trip each time.
I love the Drive, but I like spending the majority of my time at WDW so flying wins out more often.

 

[Tater48]

We used to make this drive every year. 885 miles from our house to PC. Now it only takes us about 2.5 hours once we take off from the airport. I can't really see me driving this again, although there is a lot to see and it's not really a bad drive, but we are at the point in our lives now that we can afford to fly and it's just too convenient not to.

 

[ArielLover]

I am leaving to drive from New Hampshire in about 8 hours

 

[Cubs Brian]

We always drive from sw Chicago burbs. it's 1200 miles from "door to door". With the execption of our next trip in Jan we always drive straight through. We leave about 3:00 am and arrive around 11:00 pm. That is with myself and my wife driving. With 2 kids(9&5) we do tend to make stops more often but still manage to make it in under 20 hrs.

 

[Toveck]

We have taken 2 trips to WDW from the Pittsburgh, Pa area (about 1050 miles and 17 hours) and are planning our 3rd trip for April. We have driven each time and me and my family love it.

As for cost, you can't beat it, with airline costs for 4 people, there's no way we could fly as cheap. Plus, I'm able to go long periods without sleep, always have, so we have actually done the entire trip in one day on 3 of the 4 legs of the 2 trips.

Our first trip in 2007, we booked a hotel at about the halfway point, we booked it over the internet and it looked really nice. The reality was it was awful, the room was small and dingy looking, the pool was indoor but you couldn't see bottom it was so cloudy. We got our money back and I just pushed on and we got to Disney around 9am on our check-in day. As luck would have it, our room was ready early. The wife and kids hit the pool and I took a catnap. After 2 hours sleep, I was ready to go and we hit DTD. On the way home, I knew I could do the straight shot so we did.

This past June we decided to just find a hotel on the way whenever I felt tired. We got to Georgia and found a nice hotel for $99. I did the drive home in one shot again.

Now, for April, we're just planning on doing it straight thru. We're leaving on a Friday when the kids get home from school and we will be in WDW by 9 or 10am on Saturday.

The biggest thing is knowing your limits, and I know when I'm getting tired and need to stop or maybe just need to stop and stretch. I've always driven for my job, so the driving doesn't tire me out.

The only thing we do to accommodate the driving is booking an extra night, so we have the day we arrive as an "extra" day to take it easy if we need to.

I imagine there may come a time as I get older that I may not be able to keep doing this, but for now, it is a great time and lots of fun for all of us.

 

[Scooter]

We always drive from sw Chicago burbs. it's 1200 miles from "door to door". With the execption of our next trip in Jan we always drive straight through. We leave about 3:00 am and arrive around 11:00 pm. That is with myself and my wife driving. With 2 kids(9&5) we do tend to make stops more often but still manage to make it in under 20 hrs.

My wife and I live in Aurora so hello neighbor.
We just hop in a limo to O'hare airport and we're in our Disney Resort before noon.
The only way we would ever consider driving is if we were retired or had two weeks vacation back to back.
Neither one of us are crazy about driving long distances and we both absolutely LOVE to fly.:sohappy:

 

[krankenstein]

Every time I go to Disney I drive. I head out to my truck, throw the bag in and 5 hours later I am normally already checked in and at a park.

 

[wdwCC]

The last time I went with the family we drove from Minnesota which turned out to be around 1700 miles.

 

[jeffk410]

if i had to

If i had to i would deff drive because i love it so much!

 

[Mikester71]

Been twice and drove both times from up here in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada (an hour north of Detroit). We are going again this March and are driving again. I LOVE the drive down there and look forward to it each trip. I love leaving the usually cold and sometimes snowy surroundings up here early in the morning and by nightfall, being able to walk out the door of the hotel without a winter coat on.

Plus, my mother-in-law and brother come with us, so we split the gas and hotel 3 ways and it isn't that bad at all. 105 days and counting until we arrive back home (Pop Century that is). :sohappy: