Driving to Disney

[dvczerfs]

Abuse? We leave the Poconos at around 12:30 - 1 am. The kids sleep! We stop when they have to use the restrooms and let them run around for a bit just to stretch the legs and then back in and on the road! How does she figure it is abuse? Airfare prices are out of control and driving is so much cheaper even with the prices of gas. You need to make sure you have things to keep your children happy. Take movies or coloring pages or whatever you can think of. We also make sure we have snacks and drinks with us. I don't consider driving to WDW abuse at all on our children. We enjoy the drive even though it is long. Good Luck but in no way is driving to WDW abuse on your children!

you have a great point snowman! the kids do sleep and we have to stay awake and drive. (never driven till you drove pot hole pa.!) its more abuse on the adults. my dd is turning 16 in feb. and i keep telling her when she gets her driving lic.(cant believe shes going to be 16 already) she can do the driving and my dw and i are sitting in the back of the van and sleeping and when arte we eating! we got lucky, shes a great traveler,always was. even when she was little. shes almost grown up, and ill always remeber the great times we had driving to wdw every year!

 

[snowman1035]

Riding is not that bad today as when we were younger as I said before. It is not abuse till you have to peel your skin of the vinyl seats in the Florida sun as we did back in the 70's. I can still feel the pain.

I know NC and VA for the most part have decent rest areas that are clean and come fairly often in areas without a lot of stops off the interstate.

Does anyone have any great ideas for DD to kill time as we drive? Other than DVD player and color sheets? She is 5

I print off a packet of things for our kids, it includes word searches, question games on each of the parks. I think I got them off of mousesaver. My kids really like them, but by now I think they would be getting tired of them since they do them each trip we take! I guess I will have to find something new soon.

 

[coastermom]

Riding is not that bad today as when we were younger as I said before. It is not abuse till you have to peel your skin of the vinyl seats in the Florida sun as we did back in the 70's. I can still feel the pain.

I know NC and VA for the most part have decent rest areas that are clean and come fairly often in areas without a lot of stops off the interstate.

Does anyone have any great ideas for DD to kill time as we drive? Other than DVD player and color sheets? She is 5

We have a 6 year old boy and we have a nintendo DS for him with some games , I just bought some books on tape and also i got colorforms for him . I couldn't even believe they still made them . ..

Keep some of the stuff a suprise , it keeps them happy when they get a suprise in the car.

 

[coffeehousemom]

kappman does your DD have a Leap Pad? we got those for our kids & they are awesome. Helps w/ reading skills in a very fun way. Tons of Disney stories. They are great because they do the stories plus have some games to keep them happy. Also Nintendo Game Boys do have quite a few games geared for little ones candy land etc. Also books on tape or cd are great on cartrips. We have these 4 in 1 book storybooks that have a cd w/ them my kids kisten to the lion king & read along in the book at the same time. hope these help have a great time car trips can be fun!! also we do the typical license plate games etc too

 

[snowman1035]

you have a great point snowman! the kids do sleep and we have to stay awake and drive. (never driven till you drove pot hole pa.!) its more abuse on the adults. my dd is turning 16 in feb. and i keep telling her when she gets her driving lic.(cant believe shes going to be 16 already) she can do the driving and my dw and i are sitting in the back of the van and sleeping and when arte we eating! we got lucky, shes a great traveler,always was. even when she was little. shes almost grown up, and ill always remeber the great times we had driving to wdw every year!

You got it!! Pot holes in the Poconos and Lehigh Valley are crazy! DH is a truck driver so he doesn't mind the drive but when he stops you gotta go and do your thing, stretch and then be ready to go! Our kids who are older now have the routine down. It will be different this year since our DGS2 is going for the first time, so stopping might be longer to let him burn some energy. It's bad enough now, every day he asks us if we are going to see nemo and gotta tell him in a couple of more days and 5 mins later the same thing, so it ought to be fun!

 

[dvczerfs]

You got it!! Pot holes in the Poconos and Lehigh Valley are crazy! DH is a truck driver so he doesn't mind the drive but when he stops you gotta go and do your thing, stretch and then be ready to go! Our kids who are older now have the routine down. It will be different this year since our DGS2 is going for the first time, so stopping might be longer to let him burn some energy. It's bad enough now, every day he asks us if we are going to see nemo and gotta tell him in a couple of more days and 5 mins later the same thing, so it ought to be fun!

im not a truck driver but i am an outside sales rep. and yes, the left lane is for following the leader,(75-80). and we use to stop at the va welcoming center but that was under const. the last few times,now my dw and dd have to wait till we get to warrenton va to use the bathroom. i drive all the way down and most of the way home. driving down south is alot dif. and easier than driving around here. have a good time in aug.!! (i go to tannersville every mon and thur. what are they putting in at the old truck stop on 80 and 611?)

 

[snowman1035]

dvczerfs: don't know what they are doing with the truck stop, but there in front of Kohl's they are putting in more stores. i am sure that is what they will do with the truck stop. DH likes driving south compared to up here. The roads here are crazy. This state must have the worst roads!

 

[MandM-Mom]

Is there anyone who will be driving to Disney August 22/23? We leave the Poconos at around 1:00am and drive straight through. DH is a truckdriver and doesn't mind the drive. Well if anyone will be driving 95 on those days look for our Mickey heads in the windows! Be sure to honk!!

We are!! First time drivers to Disney, we always fly but airfare for 5 this year was outrageous!
We are going to leave our area around 11:30 pm friday the 22nd and drive while the girls sleep. My husband wants to drive as far as we can while they sleep so he doesn't have to hear "Are we there yet" Planning on getting hotel on Saturday afternoon and leaving around 2 or 3 am for the final trek in to orlando to check in at POP. I am planning on decorating our car some how too, I will be on the lookout for some other DISERS

 

[njcamper95]

We are a little south of you we are in central Nj but we pull our 32 ft trailer so we probably go a little slower and stop for gas more then you
we leave here at 3 am and so to the GA border we stay in a koa campground in savanha we usually get there around 8 pm then travel the next day to disney which is easy from there maybe another 5-6 hrs depending on traffic worst is usually on I-4 but by that point your so close who cares the disney magic starts to infect you and you start to just don't care about the traffic (as much)you get this smile that you have a hard time getting rid of til you have to travel home

 

[Momejules]

We are leaving somewhere around noon on the 23rd and driving straight through. We live in Levittown, Pa, just outside of philly. Can't wait!!!

 

[dvczerfs]

ok, we are down to 95 days and counting!! i had to go on youtube and listen to willie sing on the road again!!

 

[dvczerfs]

ok, we are down to 95 days and counting!! i had to go on youtube and listen to willie sing on the road again!!

and if that dont do it for you, jerry reed and east bound and down will!!(it always helps me get into the spirit!)(my wife )

 

[snowman1035]

and if that dont do it for you, jerry reed and east bound and down will!!(it always helps me get into the spirit!)(my wife )

Those our my DH first words when we pull out of the driveway, but he says south bound and down!! I just sit there and smile.

 

[MandM-Mom]

Thought I would give a bump to this old thread since it is getting close for quite a few on this thread for there road trip! Safe travels fellow Disers, I will be looking for some Disers on the road!

 

[dvczerfs]

Thought I would give a bump to this old thread since it is getting close for quite a few on this thread for there road trip! Safe travels fellow Disers, I will be looking for some Disers on the road!

i wish i only had 6 days! im down to 51. it looks like the gas prices eased up alittle anyway. have a safe trip and have on oj for me at the florida welcoming center!

 

[tiggerx3]

i wish i only had 6 days! im down to 51. it looks like the gas prices eased up alittle anyway. have a safe trip and have on oj for me at the florida welcoming center!

AHH dvczerfs - I have a question for the expert!!

My husband is looking for a way to get off I-4 well before hitting downtown Orlando. Any ideas?

 

[dvczerfs]

AHH dvczerfs - I have a question for the expert!!

My husband is looking for a way to get off I-4 well before hitting downtown Orlando. Any ideas?

hi tiggerx3, i stay on 4 all the way to the downtown disney exit.(first one) i never had a problem getting threw orlando. we hit it around 11am on wednesday mornings.i have a freind who drives down 3-4 times a year and he takes 427 at lake mary and i think you hit 417 to get around orlando.(just check the map) youll see it on the map. he always goes that way, says theres less traffic. i hit int4 and its a bee line in the left lane,lights a blinkin and horn a blowin for us! we also stay on 95 at richmond and jacksonville. we have the trip timed so we dont hit these areas at rush hour. good luck and if you cant find were im talking about just pm me and i can give you the exact rts etc... have a save trip.

 

[tiggerx3]

Thanks so much dvczerfs! I'll pass this on to my husband.

We leave on the 29th....I can't wait to ge back to the world!!!

 

[fsmith2845]

Thought I would give a bump to this old thread since it is getting close for quite a few on this thread for there road trip! Safe travels fellow Disers, I will be looking for some Disers on the road!

This time next Sunday we will likely be hitting the FL state line!! depending on how early we get started Sunday morning from Savannah!!!

Can't wait!!!

 

[sunshine43]

Just chimming in here cause I see I have some "neighbors" making the drive to Disney I am also in the Poconos and am in WB about once a week.

DH, DD and I will be making the trip in January, and I can't wait. It's also nice to see that others go via 17 cause that is the way DH wants to go.

robin in the poconos