Driving from Pa to Disney world....

[StirlingSilver83]

We drive from NJ...We drove down last year and with gas, snacks and hotel stays we spent about $700 round trip. Still cheaper than flying because there are 4 of us. We also drive a gas guzzling machine (Large SUV) lol, and Gas prices were way higher last year than this year. Plus I love the convenience of driving, you can leave when you want to there are no time restrictions you get there when you get there and you always have your own car and don't need to rent 1. If we were to fly we would have to rent a car bc my hubby doesn't do buses lol, so we couldn't do the Disney Transportation so its way cheaper for us to drive than to fly. We are getting ready to head back to the World in a week. We are driving again but I think our price it going to go way down this year bc gas prices are at an all time low. You will find though that you will most likely get better gas mileage driving to FL than driving around town bc its all highway from here to down there. At least thats what we figured out. I think we have to fill up 4 times in total. 2 times on the way down and 2 times on the way back.

 

[emilayyx0]

Hi new to the boards but not to Disney. I am however new to driving there. My question is we're driving from Pa to Disney world and was wonder if anyone drove about the same distance and about how much did you spend on gas? We figured it would be cheaper then flying.

Last July, gas prices were almost $3.50/gal and we drove from Jersey and spent a little over $250 round trip. That's as much as one person's plane ticket. It's definitely cheaper to drive.

 

[emilayyx0]

Last July, gas prices were almost $3.50/gal and we drove from Jersey and spent a little over $250 round trip. That's as much as one person's plane ticket. It's definitely cheaper to drive.

If you dont have e-z pass i recommend it or you'll spend over $60 in tolls

 

[darrius1st]

We drive from Baltimore every year and round trip, it is about $200. If you are going on a weekend I suggest you leave about 8 pm, you will make one bathroom stop then by 10 or 11, the kids are asleep for the night and you can fly. Once you get through Virginia, you make great time and hardly anyone on the road.

 

[Ginny Favers]

We drive every year, too, from the Allentown area. At first we were wary but now we'll never fly. We do take two days and stay overnight in SC. However, depending where you are coming from, I recommend avoiding 95 until you get to SC. Route 81 to 77 to 26 to 95 has less traffic.

 

[PSUTraveler]

We drive every year, too, from the Allentown area. At first we were wary but now we'll never fly. We do take two days and stay overnight in SC. However, depending where you are coming from, I recommend avoiding 95 until you get to SC. Route 81 to 77 to 26 to 95 has less traffic.

I am thinking of driving from the same area for our September 2016 trip. We'll do it over 2 days with a stop near Wilmington NC to pick up my parents. That stop splits it nicely into two 8-ish hour drive. It sounds totally manageable and good to know someone else is doing this drive from the same distance!

 

[keelyhealthnut]

Last month we drove about 900 miles one way (so a similar distance) in our crossover vehicle and it was about $100 in gas each way. It was just me and my 3 and 4 year olds going to meet my husband in Florida and it was pretty brutal doing it all in one day by myself, but it was so worth it! I think we spent less money for our entire trip than it would have cost us to fly. I'm estimating $300 roundtrip gas cost for our 2016 trip since the gas prices fluctuate so much.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

The gasbuddy or similar calculators should help. The good news is gas prices are down compared to years past, so that should help a lot. If you're deciding vs. flying, also factor in tolls (not too much from PA), lodging for a night or two each way, the impact of depreciation on your vehicle (2000+ miles is a measurable percentage of your vehicle's life/value), etc. To me, the biggest factor is time. Driving takes a minimum of a day (or more) off each end of a trip. Not so bad if you're going for a couple weeks, much more so if a week. Another way of looking at it is: to get the same amount of time (vs. flying) at Disney, you would need to add at least 2 days to your trip (and thus valuable vacation time)...or, for the same trip duration, have less days at Disney.

While true, it cuts both ways. What we save in travel expense (by driving) ALLOWS us to take much longer trips.

 

[Ginny Favers]

I am thinking of driving from the same area for our September 2016 trip. We'll do it over 2 days with a stop near Wilmington NC to pick up my parents. That stop splits it nicely into two 8-ish hour drive. It sounds totally manageable and good to know someone else is doing this drive from the same distance!

Yes, you can do it! We've played with it over the years, as far as where we stop-- now that we know how it is we can almost make it to Georgia the first day, but my kids like the Cracker Barrel in Walterboro SC so that's where we usually stop for dinner. We leave early in the morning both days so that we usually end up pulling up to the resort by 1PM the second day. I feel like the money we save on travel almost equals our food bill.

 

[richmo]

While true, it cuts both ways. What we save in travel expense (by driving) ALLOWS us to take much longer trips.

True. I'm coming at it from the point of view of having a fixed number of vacation days, like myself. The ability to save a couple extra for something else or another trip is valuable in a way that isn't necessarily measurable in dollars.

 

[TLBlair]

I drove last week from mass to fl in a sonata spent $70 on Gas no lie each tank I got 540 miles. 95 for hotel room in roanoke rapids nc. (Usually get further but I was tired). Like others have said depends on the car. Max full tanks in previous years was 4 from PA no more than 3 tanks. In Georgia gas was 2.06 last Thursday but avg was about 2.25
hope that helps.

What route did you take? I'm driving from Maine in a couple of weeks.

 

[elfandrents]

95 mostly when going down the mass pike we got on 87 thru Connecticut. There was a accident so 87 saved us 1hr. we did leave at 3 30 am to avoid traffic worked out pretty well at that time got the ny NJ dc and Maryland without traffic

 

[amylevan]

We leave from the Lehigh Valley (pulling our 5th wheel, so mpg is horrendous and max speed is lower than if we weren't towing) around dinner time and pull into WDW early afternoon.

We've gone straight down 95 (although we have to go around Baltimore since the 5th wheel can't go through the tunnels) and we've done 81/15/270 to 95 and to be honest, driving overnight like we do, the traffic is negligible so DH just prefers to hop on 95 in Philly and stay on it.

We have now decided that we won't drive the camper to WDW for less than a 2 week vacation, it's just too time consuming (and stressful pulling the camper...but that's another story) for shorter trips. We are heading down next year for a week, so we aren't taking the camper, and haven't decided yet if driving is an option for us.

 

[Ladygoldenhair]

Driven from PA 3 times. Not a bad trip at all. I'm upstate PA near Scranton. We usually leave around 2 or 3 pm and drive straight through the night and make it to our Disney resort around 8 am.
Getting back to your question about gas. It is definitely much cheaper than flying. I believe last year we spend around 500 to 600. I cant remember what gas prices were last May. This year with gas being down it should be more like 400 to 500. Gas heading down there is alot cheaper. We always stop in Harrisonburg VA. Gas there was about 30 to 40 cents cheaper per gallon.
If you have any other questions about the trip let me know.

Have you considered Allegiant from ABE or closer to you is AVP? I found flights from $37 to $82 one way into sanford. The rental car was a mini van and another trip a Chrysler 200. It's just over a two hour flight. For about the same cost as driving we have flown,

 

[AnnaS]

We drive almost all the time. I hate flying. We do not do it to save money since it's usually just hubby and I. Just to give me something to do in the car, I write down gas totals, meals, hotels, etc. We also average $500 - $600 round trip. Price of gas, meals, # of people traveling and hotels determine the amount. Gas prices go up and down, meal $ depends on where you like to eat, do you bring any snacks, drinks, food and hotel prices vary also - we have stayed in rooms priced $109 to $159. Some stay for a lot less. Good luck and happy traveling.

 

[Avalmot]

If you are from Eastern PA, there is at least one great book and one great app, along with different websites that specifically cover driving the length of I-95, including what's available at each exit as far as lodging and food, traffic, road closures, etc.

Hi, thanks for the great info. I live in eastern PA and am driving down with my family (twin 4 year olds) for the first time this summer. Do you know the title of the book you referred to above? Thanks!

 

[richmo]

Hi, thanks for the great info. I live in eastern PA and am driving down with my family (twin 4 year olds) for the first time this summer. Do you know the title of the book you referred to above? Thanks!

I don't know about a book, but I've seen guides at rest stops along the way...I'm not sure if they cover everything or just a state.

There's also a useful guide at www.i95exitguide.com . I believe they also have a mobile app you can use enroute.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

About $65 each way on gas when it was more expensive...

Everyone should drive a prius (or something better)...period

 

[mrsap]

I don't know about a book, but I've seen guides at rest stops along the way...I'm not sure if they cover everything or just a state.

There's also a useful guide at www.i95exitguide.com . I believe they also have a mobile app you can use enroute.

I love that website! We use it to plan where we're going to stop for food and gas!!

 

[ajwolfe]

We always drive - about 17 hours for us and find it's definitely much more cost effective for us. We've done it both ways were we have driven straigh thru or where we stay for a night - we tend to like to stay for a night.
We like the drive. The kids enjoy seeing other states and the differences between them and we like to have a car while we are there so it's a win/win for us.