For those folks driving!

[Happiest mommy]

would love to know if the EzPass works in Florida too

 

[c3h3a3r]

Hi. Apologies if this question isn't suitable for this thread. We are visiting from the UK and renting a car. Do prices for gas vary around Orlando/Kissimee? Where would be the cheapest place for gas? TIA

 

[Judique]

would love to know if the EzPass works in Florida too

No ez pass - you will need a sunpass which you can buy at many convenience stores or the Florida Welcome Center.

 

[Judique]

Hi. Apologies if this question isn't suitable for this thread. We are visiting from the UK and renting a car. Do prices for gas vary around Orlando/Kissimee? Where would be the cheapest place for gas? TIA

Usually right on Disney property is a good price. But check out gasbuddy.com for local pricing.

Currently the price on Disney at the Speedways is 1.65.

 

[c3h3a3r]

Thanks

 

[cranbiz]

We've only driven a few times - twice in fact - since the early 90s. We usually fly and then rent a car while there. We do have a Sunpass however, but I've heard that EzPass will work in Florida soon. Does anyone know if that's tru? We are driving down again in the fall.

EZ Pass is supposed to work after October. Its part of a federal mandate. There is already interoperability with NC who also accepts EZPass so they should be able to get this done.

 

[Woodview]

Look for the WAWA Gas Stations & Racetrack

Remember Price displayed is per Gallon ( Nearly 4 liters )

You should Pre Pay inside for Petrol ( gas ) ..... the price paid is set on Pump ...... then fill .

IF your tank is FULL before you reached your Pre payment you collect a Re fund inside.

This will be done Even if you have used your Bank Card ( Sometimes refund by cash , usually refund back on card )

Just Keep Receipts for checking when you arrive home.

Never use your Bank Card on the Petrol Pump Slot ....... always Inside the Gas station counter & within sight.

 

[mrocco90]

Hi.. My husband and I are thinking about driving from Ct in Oct with our 5 year old. We usually fly but my husband really wants to try driving this time. I don't enjoy driving so the majority, if not all, will be done by him. We're hoping to leave around 730 pm Friday, drive thru the night, get breakfast and continue driving and only stoping for food or bathroom breaks. Hoping to arrive in Disney Saturday night. His plan is to sleep all day Friday and wake up when it's time for us to go. Coming home were thinking of stoping somewhere half way for the night. Does this plan seem possible, also any advice would be great! Thanks!

 

[muchado]

I apologize if this has already been asked (I admit I didn't read 115 pages) but we are driving from Raleigh, NC to Kissimmee. We were thinking of starting around 9-10 pm but then we would be in Kissimmee in 9 hours and our rental place won't let us in before 4 pm. So, just looking for the best way we can plan this. I also don't have any clue about tolls. Do I need to buy a pass before we get to Florida?
Thanks!

 

[CherylA]

Hi.. My husband and I are thinking about driving from Ct in Oct with our 5 year old. We usually fly but my husband really wants to try driving this time. I don't enjoy driving so the majority, if not all, will be done by him. We're hoping to leave around 730 pm Friday, drive thru the night, get breakfast and continue driving and only stoping for food or bathroom breaks. Hoping to arrive in Disney Saturday night. His plan is to sleep all day Friday and wake up when it's time for us to go. Coming home were thinking of stoping somewhere half way for the night. Does this plan seem possible, also any advice would be great! Thanks!

We also drive from CT. We have found for us that doing the straight through drive is very unenjoyable. We love to drive but we plan a stayover on the way down and one on the way back. Especially since your husband will really be the only driver. We leave CT at 4 am, stop overnight in Walterboro, SC. Start out the next day by 7 or 8 am and that will have us at Disney by 1 or 2 pm. On the way home we are leaving Disney at 4am and stopping overnight in Fredericksburg VA. On the road the next morning about 8am and we should be home to CT about 1 or 2. We did the drive last year and really enjoyed it so we're doing it again! If you decide to go with the overnight stay and want some advice on cheap but decent hotel stops let me know I've researched most of them!

That said I know people who like the straight through drive from CT. My cousin likes to leave about 2 or 3 pm and drive straight through. I think a lot of that depends on if your husband is the type who can sleep at off hours, so get in a long nap in the afternoon before you leave and also if you and your son are able to fall asleep and stay asleep on a car drive. Because if your son doesn't sleep pretty much the whole night portion of the drive you're all going to be miserable (speaking form experience!)

 

[bluezy]

Hi.. My husband and I are thinking about driving from Ct in Oct with our 5 year old. We usually fly but my husband really wants to try driving this time. I don't enjoy driving so the majority, if not all, will be done by him. We're hoping to leave around 730 pm Friday, drive thru the night, get breakfast and continue driving and only stoping for food or bathroom breaks. Hoping to arrive in Disney Saturday night. His plan is to sleep all day Friday and wake up when it's time for us to go. Coming home were thinking of stoping somewhere half way for the night. Does this plan seem possible, also any advice would be great! Thanks!

Is your husband used to being awake at night (meaning, does he typically work 3rd shift?)? If not, personally I find it very difficult to change my regular sleep routine and just randomly sleep all day one day so I can be awake all night. My son and his wife worked 3rd shift for many years (7pm - 7am) and whenever they needed to function on a "normal" schedule (awake during the day, sleeping at night) for vacations or special events they needed at least 3 days of transition time to be fully adjusted. If your husband isn't used to sleeping during the day, he's probably not going to be able to get a decent amount of sleep the day you're leaving -- at least not enough to be fully awake and alert during the night time drive that can get very monotonous and hypnotizing. I wouldn't be able to get any sleep either because I'd be worried about him falling asleep while driving. Then we'd end up at Disney World both ready to sleep for a day and there would be a well-rested child who wants to swim and go to parks. Personally, I'd break the trip up over two days -- leave Friday morning and do the majority of the driving that day; spend the night in SC or GA; get a good night's sleep and make the rest of the trip on Saturday. You could arrive at Disney in the afternoon and have some time to unpack and unwind at the resort. Then you could once again get a good night's sleep and hit the ground running on Sunday. If you really want to do the drive all at once, I'd stick to your normal sleep schedule and maybe leave at 4:00 or 5:00 a.m. which would get you to Disney by about midnight or so that night. The last thing you want is to arrive at Disney World exhausted. Or leave late afternoon/early evening and drive a few hours and spend the night. Then finish the drive the next day. If you're worried about keeping your 5 yo occupied during the drive, there are plenty of tips people can offer to help with that. We've made the 1,000+ mile trip to Disney several times and our kids have ranged from 4-25 during those drives. I have plenty of tricks up my sleeve to keep them occupied but I don't usually need to use them as the kids tend to sleep most of the time even though we're driving during the day (I let them stay up late for a few nights before we leave but still continue to wake them at their normal times in the morning).

 

[Scrooge's Accountant]

My DW, DD5 and myself will be driving to Disney in December from the Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton area of Pennsylvania (aka the Lehigh Valley) and are seeking suggestions on our travel plan. We will be leaving late Friday 12/2 or early Saturday 12/3 for a Sunday 12/4 arrival date. Wondering what time we should leave and where we should stop overnight along I-95? Something clean and safe. Thanks in advance.

 

[cranbiz]

I apologize if this has already been asked (I admit I didn't read 115 pages) but we are driving from Raleigh, NC to Kissimmee. We were thinking of starting around 9-10 pm but then we would be in Kissimmee in 9 hours and our rental place won't let us in before 4 pm. So, just looking for the best way we can plan this. I also don't have any clue about tolls. Do I need to buy a pass before we get to Florida?
Thanks!

I responded in your separate thread. You will need tolls if you choose to travel on SR417 or if you are on the Osceola Parkway outside of Disney. Buy a NC Quick Pass. That is accepted by all FL toll authorities and is also compatible with all EZPass facilities.

 

[muchado]

I responded in your separate thread. You will need tolls if you choose to travel on SR417 or if you are on the Osceola Parkway outside of Disney. Buy a NC Quick Pass. That is accepted by all FL toll authorities and is also compatible with all EZPass facilities.

Thank you. I will get the NC Quick Pass.

 

[mrocco90]

We also drive from CT. We have found for us that doing the straight through drive is very unenjoyable. We love to drive but we plan a stayover on the way down and one on the way back. Especially since your husband will really be the only driver. We leave CT at 4 am, stop overnight in Walterboro, SC. Start out the next day by 7 or 8 am and that will have us at Disney by 1 or 2 pm. On the way home we are leaving Disney at 4am and stopping overnight in Fredericksburg VA. On the road the next morning about 8am and we should be home to CT about 1 or 2. We did the drive last year and really enjoyed it so we're doing it again! If you decide to go with the overnight stay and want some advice on cheap but decent hotel stops let me know I've researched most of them!

That said I know people who like the straight through drive from CT. My cousin likes to leave about 2 or 3 pm and drive straight through. I think a lot of that depends on if your husband is the type who can sleep at off hours, so get in a long nap in the afternoon before you leave and also if you and your son are able to fall asleep and stay asleep on a car drive. Because if your son doesn't sleep pretty much the whole night portion of the drive you're all going to be miserable (speaking form experience!)

Thank you for the advice. If you don't mind sending me the hotel information you found that would be great! Your schedule actually sounds great. I think it would probley be a much better bet for us. I'm glad to hear you had a positive experiance, most people I talk to think I'm crazy for thinking of driving.

 

[mrocco90]

Is your husband used to being awake at night (meaning, does he typically work 3rd shift?)? If not, personally I find it very difficult to change my regular sleep routine and just randomly sleep all day one day so I can be awake all night. My son and his wife worked 3rd shift for many years (7pm - 7am) and whenever they needed to function on a "normal" schedule (awake during the day, sleeping at night) for vacations or special events they needed at least 3 days of transition time to be fully adjusted. If your husband isn't used to sleeping during the day, he's probably not going to be able to get a decent amount of sleep the day your leaving -- at least not enough to be fully awake and alert during the night time drive that can get very monotonous and hypnotizing. I wouldn't be able to get any sleep either because I'd be worried about him falling asleep while driving. Then we'd end up at Disney World both ready to sleep for a day and there would be a well-rested child who wants to swim and go to parks. Personally, I'd break the trip up over two days -- leave Friday morning and do the majority of the driving that day; spend the night in SC or GA; get a good night's sleep and make the rest of the trip on Saturday. You could arrive at Disney in the afternoon and have some time to unpack and unwind at the resort. Then you could once again get a good night's sleep and hit the ground running on Sunday. If you really want to do the drive all at once, I'd stick to your normal sleep schedule and maybe leave at 4:00 or 5:00 a.m. which would get you to Disney by about midnight or so that night. The last thing you want is to arrive at Disney World exhausted. Or leave late afternoon/early evening and drive a few hours and spend the night. Then finish the drive the next day. If you're worried about keeping your 5 yo occupied during the drive, there are plenty of tips people can offer to help with that. We've made the 1,000+ mile trip to Disney several times and our kids have ranged from 4-25 during those drives. I have plenty of tricks up my sleeve to keep them occupied but I don't usually need to use them as the kids tend to sleep most of the time even though we're driving during the day (I let them stay up late for a few nights before we leave but still continue to wake them at their normal times in the morning).

Thanks for the advice. After reading your post and the post from Cherly I think it will be much better if we add a stop for night. My plan was to sTay up all night to make sure he didn't fall asleep and we both would have been exhausted. Any advice on activities to entertain a 5 year old will be great. We have a DVD player and I plan on bringing lots of movies.

 

[bluezy]

Thanks for the advice. After reading your post and the post from Cherly I think it will be much better if we add a stop for night. My plan was to sTay up all night to make sure he didn't fall asleep and we both would have been exhausted. Any advice on activities to entertain a 5 year old will be great. We have a DVD player and I plan on bringing lots of movies.

Here are some of the things I did when my kids were younger:

DVD player with a few favorite movies along with a few new ones
CD/MP3 player with new music
Hand-held video games
Headphones...and a spare set or two
Small drawstring back pack with activities such as: coloring book/pages, colored pencils, pencil sharpener (had a bad experience with crayons melting in a car on an 85 degree day in PA. No crayons in our cars anymore); sticker and/or activity books; tablet for drawing; pipe cleaners or Bendaroos, magnetic play sets (like Colorforms but magnets), Colorforms; small figurines.

I always checked Dollar Tree, Five Below, the birthday favor sections at Target and Walmart, and the Dollar Spot (or whatever they call it now) at Target for fun little things to use in the car. If you have a AAA travel store near you, they usually have some fun little games for the car as well.

I always only put a few "activities" in the drawstring bag. I kept one extra activity hidden by my feet or under my seat and the rest were in a bin in the trunk/cargo space. If the kids got bored with the activities in the bag, I could get out the extra one at my feet. At the next stop, I'd get another one out of the trunk and hide it at my feet again. Some people will wrap each of these items like a gift just to add a little more fun to it. Be sure to keep a few things set aside for the drive home. I always had leftover things at the end of each trip because I'm a chronic over-packer.

We also took either small lap desks or used a rimmed cookie sheet and a travel pillow with a small sheet of rubber gripper shelf liner on top of it to keep the cookie sheet from sliding off. This provided a flat surface for coloring/drawing.

A cup holder or suction cup soap holder attached to the car window to hold colored pencils while using them.

A travel pillow and small blanket.

I also give each kid their own snack bag (again, you can just put a few things in it and refill from a secret stash as needed). It kept me from having to constantly hand out snacks (though I was traveling with 3-5 kids on any given trip). I always controlled the drinks and only handed them out as needed.

When the kids were young, we also made sure to take a frisbee, ball, and bubbles to use at rest stops to let the kids run off some pent-up energy.

I always keep a roll of quarters to use for "special treats" in the vending machines at the rest areas. While most machines take dollar bills, some of them are very fussy about the dollar bills they will accept so I try to save myself a headache and just use quarters. They also come in handy for vending machines at the hotel.

If the restaurant we stopped at for lunch had a play area for kids, I'd take the kids right to that area when we arrived. DH would go get food for me and him and we'd sit and let the kids play while we ate. When we were finished eating, we'd get their food to go and get back in the car to start traveling again. The kids would eat in the car and usually by the time they were finished eating, they'd be ready for a nap.

Pack a separate bag with clothing (including swimming suits) and toiletries you'll need for the overnight stay so you don't have to lug all of your bags in for the night. I made that mistake the first time we drove...and we were doing the drive over 3 days that time. After having to lug all of our stuff into the hotel room that first night, I spent a few minutes rearranging things and made sure we only needed to take 2 bags in the next night. We keep this bag in an easy to reach spot in the car so we don't have to dig for it when we arrive at the hotel. I usually put an extra change of clothes for the kids in this bag in case we have any kind of spill in the car during the drive.

I make sure to have a small pack of baby wipes in the car for sticky hands and other mishaps during the drive. Also an old towel or two rolled up and stored under a seat can come in handy for many things. A roll of paper towels would work as well. I also keep a small Happy Meal size bucket lined with a ziploc bag in the car to use in case someone gets car sick (only happened once...now we know our son needs to eat something before we get in the car in the morning). Keep a few extra ziploc bags in the car...just in case.

You can also go to momsminivan.com to get some more ideas. We always do the license plate game. I print out a sheet for the drive down and the drive back. Our kids are older now (the youngest is 11) so they keep themselves occupied in the car for the most part, but DH & I still do the license plate game. We (including the kids), like to watch for and count all of the South of The Border signs. Unfortunately, there aren't nearly as many as there used to be. When we first started making this trip in 2001, we'd count ~100 signs. On our trip last year I don't think we even broke 50...but it's still something fun to do.

 

[CherylA]

Thank you for the advice. If you don't mind sending me the hotel information you found that would be great! Your schedule actually sounds great. I think it would probley be a much better bet for us. I'm glad to hear you had a positive experiance, most people I talk to think I'm crazy for thinking of driving.

I'll get it together for you and try to post it tomorrow.

 

[CherylA]

Thank you for the advice. If you don't mind sending me the hotel information you found that would be great! Your schedule actually sounds great. I think it would probley be a much better bet for us. I'm glad to hear you had a positive experiance, most people I talk to think I'm crazy for thinking of driving.

I sent you a PM (I think, they now call it a conversation?) Anyway let me know if you don't get it.

 

[mckennarose]

My DW, DD5 and myself will be driving to Disney in December from the Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton area of Pennsylvania (aka the Lehigh Valley) and are seeking suggestions on our travel plan. We will be leaving late Friday 12/2 or early Saturday 12/3 for a Sunday 12/4 arrival date. Wondering what time we should leave and where we should stop overnight along I-95? Something clean and safe. Thanks in advance.

We also travel from PA and on the way down, we stop overnight. On the way home, we usually drive straight through.

When researching hotels on 95 I use this site to look up hotels by exit, then I research on tripadvisor and look up reviews, etc. It all depends on how long/far you're willing to drive.

Some people like to drive during the night, but we would rather stay overnight on the way down so we can jump straight into doing things when we arrive and not be to tired. I'm not wasting one moment! On the way home we will leave the resort around 5 - 6-ish AM and drive all the way. It takes us about 17 hours.