Driving to Disney

Thinking about Driving to Disney from NY this December, has anyone drove?

traveling w a toddler and need to stay over 1 night

looking for places to stay over, to break up driving

Re: Driving to Disney

We have driven from NY to FL.

We broke it up by staying 2 days with friends in Savannah on the way down and we stayed one night with family in VA on the way back up.

Driving to Disney

You couldn't pay me to drive to Disney. Waste of 4 days of your vacation IMO

Re: Driving to Disney

Re: Driving to Disney

We live in FL and have made the drive to NY twice with our 2 kids. The kids were amazing and gave us no trouble (ages 2 and 6 and then again 3 and 7) however both DH and I thought it was horrible. We tried both driving straight through, 19 hours, and breaking it up with an overnight stay - sucked both times. We vowed to never do it again but my dad broke a bone in his back right before Christmas and couldn't fly down last minute and so with it being 3 days before Christmas, we had no choice but to drive bc airfare was outrageous.

It's horrible, don't do it. Such a waste of time, there is nothing good about the drive.

Re: Driving to Disney

Re: Driving to Disney

Of course it is easier to fly for 2 hours (the whole process takes more like 6 hours nonstop without delays), but there are plenty of valid reasons to drive... a kid with ear infections, fear of flying, to save $, to have your own car with car seats (a good friend of mine who flies often solo does this with the family as she has 3 small kids, one who used to have medical needs).

On the way down, we would stop at Virginia Beach and Myrtle beach. With 2 stops, it made it feel like less driving & we would start at 5AM, so we'd have the day there. Raleigh and Savannah are interesting places to visit too. Roanoke and Williamsburg are good if your child is older. On the way back, we would stop anywhere.

I never detested the drive. With shorter time off from work, I can no longer do it... but it's doable and even fun if you stop by someplace you would. It necessarily travel to as a destination.

Re: Driving to Disney

I'm a teacher so my summers are flexible...we have drive down a few times. We don't mind the drive...we do NY to Savannah the first day (we usually leave around 3-4am) and then Savannah to FL. On the way back we usually try to get past Richmond before we stop for the night (we usually leave between 6-8am that day). My kids are great travelers and we do like to have a car. Renting a minivan is usually so expensive so it just makes sense for us. I would be careful of traveling on 95 around holiday times..,it is insane. We did it for Easter once and we only got to the GA/SC border from West Palm Beach driving from 9am-11pm.

Driving to Disney

If you are going for longer than a week it might be ok. My parents live in FL so we have done the drive and I hate it but yeah if you have to so your vacation works then i'd do it but only if you had more time because for a week you will spend more time in the car than out of it.

Driving to Disney

We could never do the drive because my daughter would go insane in the car that long and neither my husband or I enjoy driving long distances but we have been looking into taking the train. DD will not fly anymore and we don't want to push it (she has special needs). Not much cheaper than flying but if you can get a sleeper car it doesn't look too bad.

Re: Driving to Disney

We have done it the last 2 summers. DH does not want to get on a plane. It wasn't too bad, or we just forget how bad it was lol...my kids were 3 and 5 and then 4 and 6. I like to drive as close to Disney as possible so that in the morning we only have about 3 hours to drive and can still do stuff at a park on day 1. So our usual stop is darien GA. We have decided to do it again this year but we are tacking it on to a weekend trip to Virginia so we will be starting off in Virginia and most likely not stopping from there.

Re: Driving to Disney

Driving to Disney

I have no problem driving if it's a longer trip. 1st time we drove we stopped in I think Kent, NC which was our 1/2 point. The next time around we went farther. We were trying to drive straight thru. It was totally a spontaneous trip and we did not leave at a good time and wound up stopping in Georgia in the middle of the night. I would shoot for SC if you can swing it so your past the 1/2 way mark.

I prefer to fly but my husband prefers to drive. If he is coming along and it's possible we drive. Also in December I'm sure the flights are ridiculous if it's the holiday week. GL! It's not terrible:)