Is Getting There Half The Fun?

[BRER DAD]

I always get up a 3 a.m. and hop in the hot tub a just think about how exciting its going to be when we get there. We usally fly out around 6 or 7 a.m. but this year we are driving down.......it has been a lot of fun thinking of all the things were going to do on the way down there, may be a different story with 3 kids and the wife in the car!! The antisipation is killing me, I want to leave NOW!!!!!!

 

[WDW 3]

I have to say nope. Book tickets on line, a moment of fun. Get to the airport by 4 AM:dazzle:, no fun. Switch planes, no fun. Airport waiting, no fun.

Being there is the best!

 

[Mia319]

we usually drive from illinois and even though it takes a good 18-20 hours, i still LOVE it! i guess i just like road trips, something nostalgic about it.

this september though we are flying. it will be my first time as an adult flying, and i'm not looking forward to it soo much. sure we'll be in disney a whole heck of a lot sooner, but i don't think i'll be in that great of a mood the way down!

 

[B-Ball Vol]

I like it...

Well I'm a bit different when it comes to driving...I prefer to drive overnight to DisneyWorld. It's around a 13 hr drive and the last few times we've left around 5:30-6:30p central and gotten there about 7-8a eastern. We start out with a movie for our 3 kids and everyone's excited, later we pickup a quick dinner, start another movie and keep tr__________'. We'll get gas a couple of hours later along with a potty break. So it's maybe around 10-11p and the 2nd movie is over. The kids settle in and get some sleep in their seats, my wife starts her sleeping too. Not much later we hit Atlanta and start heading south to Orlando.
Here's where it gets a bit tough! I have to get my iPod going and turn it up! It's just me and the road until about 2a and then I start to lose it in the middle of GA. My sweet wife picks up the driving from about 2-3or4 as we trade spots.
At that point though, the worst is over. I'll start driving again and I'm surprisingly refreshed and then it just gets better and better! I love watching the sunrise and it makes me realize it's a new day and people are beginning to wake up. It also means breakfast is coming soon too. So we'll stop in north FL and grab some breakfast. It has become one of our favorite memories of each trip, the kids love doing it and the anticipation of the day ahead gets the adrenaline going. That breakfast meal really is the start of the magic for us and it's an easy trip from there. Everybody's up and talking and it just gets better the closer we get.
That first day we still get to enjoy a full day at the park and we are sufficiently rested. Wow, that was long...sorry.

 

[CBug88]

Most of my visits to WDW begun with an 18 hr drive from Cincinnati. :brick:My parents did create a wonderful tradition of stopping at Cracker Barrel for breakfast/Lunch/Dinner (of course, going over the interary for each day in Disney), depending on what time of day we left. I love driving thru Atlanta, usually with only my Dad and I awake (often drinking Mt. Dew and eating Doritos in the early morning- and feeling it later in the hot, humid Florida weather). But, nothing beats the memories of seeing the gate into WDW- and as soon as we crossed, all of us screaming in the car that we have arrived safe and sound and ready for fun!:ROFLOL:

My last visit to WDW, my sister and I flew down to Orlando to meet my parents who drove and began their vacation a few days earlier (I couldn't originally go w/them due to work). Flying was an exciting, but different experience. I like the fact that we arrived in 2 hours vs 18 hrs of leg cramps in a car:zipit:. The Disney Magical Express gets you in the mood for the Mouse and arriving at Animal Kingdom Lodge to have my parents come meet us, and seeing their faces was priceless!

This year the four of us, and grandma are flying down to Orlando again, and I am looking forward to a new adventure that all of us can share together...and of course, pulling up to Animal Kingdom lodge in the hot Florida sun. 45 days!!!!:sohappy:

 

[sbkline]

Your trips sound like ours! We have about 20-21 hours of driving (depending on how many potty stops we have to make!) We love the drive. We go in October and the mountains of Tennessee are simply breathtaking. I can't imagine flying to Orlando ever again. My husband and I get hours of wonderful "talk time" and our kids love the little gifts we give them along the drive (as well as the plethora of movies to watch along the way!) I definately consider the journey much of the experience of our vacation every year.

I just don't like the journey home as much as the journey there...

I should clarify that I don't like the drive down as much as I used to. The first couple times we went, we left around 3 PM or so and drove straight through all night until we pulled in the next morning around 10 or 11 AM. I would do the vast majority of the driving, and when we did it that way, I would look forward to finding a nice restaraunt to pull off at and eat. That was part of the roadtripping fun.

However, my wife has since put her foot down and told me that we can no longer drive straight through. So the past couple times, I have had to stop off at some point and sleep. Therefore, I try to squeeze in as many miles as I can so as to only have two or three hours to drive the next day. To that end, I have abandoned the attempt to find a nice sit down restaraunt, figuring that to be a waste of time, so I just find a fast food drive through, and find a nice sit down restaraunt on the way home, when I'm not in nearly as much of a hurry as I am on the way down. :lol:

Like I said, I still enjoy the road trip, and I'm sure I'll enjoy it more when we take our son. We'll probably make more stops, such as at the rest areas, for him to stretch his legs and play, and maybe some other fun stops, stretching out the road trip a little. But since he'll be with us and not back at home staying with grandma (like he did on the past two trips), we can stretch out the trip more since we won't have to hurry up and get back home to him.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

Heck yeah!We take about 3-4 to drive to disney and I love EVERY second of it.

So much fun to sit in the car and think of where you are going...

 

[KaliSplash]

No, getting there is NOT half the fun. But it is an identifiable portion!

I always drive the 8 hours. I can tell you each 10 percent of the journey from Columbia to WDW. Getting to Brunswick Ga., is a good thing, you're halfway there.

But getting to the Florida Welcome Center is even better. Always stop for the free orange juice sample, as well as the latest brochures.

Turning off 95 and onto 4 means we're going to WDW and not the in-laws!

Then, of course, pulling onto the property and sailing under the gates.

We always have Disney music to play on the journey. I always try to roll the Main Street Electrical Parade about the time we hit Orlando. I also slightly jog the wheel left and right to the beat of the music until my wife notices

There is a tremendous buildup to taking the Disney exit.

And then the real fun begins!

 

[lilclerk]

If I'm going by myself or with people that don't hate flying - it's at least part of the fun but certainly not half.
If I'm going with my boyfriend, it's the absolute worst part of the trip. The first time we went was his first time on a plane and we found out that he's... slightly scared of flying. -cough- So this year we tried a bus. We knew it would be horrible, but knowing it will be doesn't make it better. Honestly, it really wasn't as bad as it could have been, it was just exhausting.
But it was so worth it

So next trip, we're either taking the train or driving ourselves with a stop in the middle. We'll see. We'd like to get our friends to come down too so we can all rent a house together, and it would be cheapest to drive in that situation anyway.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

No, getting there is NOT half the fun. But it is an identifiable portion!

I always drive the 8 hours. I can tell you each 10 percent of the journey from Columbia to WDW. Getting to Brunswick Ga., is a good thing, you're halfway there.

But getting to the Florida Welcome Center is even better. Always stop for the free orange juice sample, as well as the latest brochures.

Turning off 95 and onto 4 means we're going to WDW and not the in-laws!

Then, of course, pulling onto the property and sailing under the gates.

We always have Disney music to play on the journey. I always try to roll the Main Street Electrical Parade about the time we hit Orlando. I also slightly jog the wheel left and right to the beat of the music until my wife notices

There is a tremendous buildup to taking the Disney exit.

And then the real fun begins!

I do the same thing!:lol:

 

[Texas84]

It's part of the fun! We have several milestones on our 6-hour drive:

1) Crossing the Florida state line
2) Stopping for a Whataburger in Gainesville
3) Turning left off I-75 on to the turnpike
4) Turning off the turnpike onto the Western Beltway
5) Going over that hill and seeing SSE and other landmarks
6) Passing through the Western Way gate then past ToT
7) Pulling into our home at OKW
:sohappy:

 

[dandaman]

^ +1 for the Whataburger.

 

[Clark Griswold]

For ten trips over the years my family has driven to Disney, but this year will mark the first vacation in which we will fly to Orlando International Airport. I absolutely loved the drive from Illinois to Florida, in particular getting to see the mountains in Tennessee, eating the famous Krystal burgers, chowing down at Sonny's Real Pit BBQ, and of course, sampling real Florida orange juice at the Welcome Center. Unfortunately, we won't be able to do those things this year, but I'm sure it will be yet another memorable trip...as Clark Griswold says..."The trip is half the fun."

 

[ChrisQ]

Sort of. We drive all night long, so the day before we leave is full of anticipation and excitement.

 

[Disneybird]

My excitement can never start until I get through Atlanta.

I always take a CD of Diisney music from the parks to play once I get into Florida. I use to look forward to turning the radio on to a station that played continuous Disney information somewhere around Ocala, but it must be extinct now. And I always plan bathroom breaks to coincide with the Florida Welcome Center. The longest part of the trip seems to be the Florida Turnpike.

Thanks for all the compliments about the beautiful mountains of Tennessee. I agree completely.

 

[dandaman]

As Clark Griswold says..."The trip is half the fun."

"Holiday roooooaaad..."

 

[stingrock23]

Always. I have a 10 hour drive, but it doesn't seem that long. Pending traffic, I can make it there in 9 hours. It's just a slow build to a great vacation for me.

 

[JustPlainBill]

For me, I wouldn't say the drive down is "half" the fun, but I would agree that it is at least part of the fun. I like to drive, there's a freedom I feel when I just pull out of the driveway the morning we leave the house for the 1,200 mile journey to WDW. The drive down relaxes me and the further and further I put distance between myself and my everyday life the more relaxed I become. I feel this more when I drive than I do when I fly. I am one of those kinds of people that when I'm on vacation I do forget about everything I leave behind.
An employee where I work that reports to me just returned from a motorcycle trip vacation he took to from Illinois to Colorado and his discription of the road trip got my juices flowing for my road trip to WDW coming up in 9 days. I can't wait!

 

[LilMommyBug]

We have an 8-8 1/2 hour drive down. I love not being able to sleep the night before, getting up at 5 am & everyone is in a great mood!

Driving down kind of sucks, but it's worth it when we start seeing those purple signs!

 

[tinkerblonde11]

Well, we have about a 23 hour drive. I love it though. Definitely right when we hit Florida, and right when we're gonna hit Disney. All of the billboards that are for Disney gives me such a rush of excitement. I love it. The ride is definitely half the fun.