Ever driven to WDW from the NYC area?

[tiga]

Looking for advice, tips, etc. In particular: How long of a drive was it? If you stayed overnight - where along the route did you stop? Any short scenic, fun stops along the way (besides South of the Border) - say anything that takes less than 1/2 hour to do? TIA!

 

[Tomskatt]

It is a tough ride, depending on the ages of your group, but in today's climate I am not taking my babies on a plane.....sorry. We usually drive through to Richmond Hill, GA which is the longest part of the trip (about 15-16 hours from Eastern Long Island) and then continue the rest of the way in the A.M. Of course the last time we did this was with a sleeping 9 month old so this is going to be VERY different. We will have a 3 1/2 yr old, an 18 month old and me....6 months pregnant. I have a feeling it will involve alot more "potty breaks"! I'm interested to hear if anyone has any good side trip suggestions too! We are leaving March 1st to to get to BWVs for our March 3rd reservations! Whoo hooo!!!! Can't wait! When are you going?!

 

[BounceyOne]

We have done the drive quite a few times. We almost always stop overnight, the place is different each time, it all depends on what time we started out. South of the border is cheesey, but the billboards help pass some time in the car.
One suggestion I have is when traveling with children, when you stop for lunch, eat yours and let them run around and burn off some energy, give them their lunch back in the car. It will kill some time for them.

Also have you considered the Auto train?

 

[disney0928]

We usually leave a bit after DS's bedtime. We aim to be on the road no later than 10:00 PM on Thursday night. We drive through the night, missing all the rush hour traffic down through DC. We usually do 4 hour shifts, stop for coffee, bathrooms, etc. When DS wakes in the morning, we stop for a good long breakfast, change of clothes, a nice walk. Then, we try to stay on the road until lunch. Lunch is a long picnic with another walk and playtime for DS. We easily make the NC/SC border before dinner.

We get back on the road by 9:00 the next morning, and make it just outside Daytona before dinner. Again, we try to stay on a 4-hour shift schedule, with a nice long break at lunch. From Daytona, it is an hour's drive to WDW!

For our DS, age 3 the last drive down, some htings we brought were: Crayola Wonder markers, magna doodle, color forms, small tray puzzles. These were all brand new, wrapped like presents. Every time he got bored with one, we'd take out a new "present" and start over. Worked so well, he only watched one movie on the TV/VCR we brought! BTW, Crayola Wonders are markers that only work on special paper, eliminating messes form the back seat. We bought the lap desk set. He used it for snacks too, not just his coloring. Crayons are a huge NO! Too melty! We also brought some old faves from home to keep him comfortable and happy. And plenty of snacks!

We camped on the way down, so our places to stop at night wouldn't be of much help to you. Sorry! Hope you have a great trip!

 

[welovemickey]

Hi, we drive from Massachusetts every year. We have 3 DS (11,8 and 3). We have tried different strategies for the drive and have found the one that works best for us is to drive straight through. We ususally leave around 2pm and I drive until around 11pm. The kids fall asleep around 9 or so. At 11, DH takes over and drives through the night. In the morning we stop for breakfast and stretching in SC. We're usually in Disney with our camper set up by 3pm. Yes, we're a bit tired, but for us it's well worth it!