10 days vacation ~ driving from Mississauga? What do you think?

[SandraC]

Hi, Here's Sandra messing around with an early WDW trip. I'm thinking dh and I can swing 10 days off and I'd like to try driving. Is 10 days too short of a time to drive to WDW, visit the beach and drive home. Here is what I'm thinking.

Day 1 Drive half way
Day 2 Arrive in Daytona
Day 3 Drive to WDW in the afternoon
Day 4 MK
Day 5 AK/Epcot
Day 6 Water park or rest and check into another resort
Day 7 Rest up
Day 8 MGM/MK
Day 9 Drive half home
Day 10 Arrive home

Your thoughts? S

 

[NancyK]

Hi Sandra,
We just did this very thing. We got back on Monday (Civic Holiday).
Day 1 - drove 16 hours
Day 2 - drove 4 hours - checked in to ASMu, visited AKL, ate at O'Hanas at the Poly, Belz Outlet
Day 3 - IOA/Universal
Day 4 - AK/Epcot
Day 5 - Downtown Disney/Kids to Disney Quest, visited POR (Dixie)
Day 6 - MK
Day 7 - MGM
Day 8 - Universal/IOA
Day 9 - Blizzard Beach, Downtown Disney, ate at Concourse Steakhouse at the Contemporary
Day 10 - 12 hours driving
Day 11 - 9 hours driving

It was doable for us, but our boys are teenagers and slept through most of the drive LOL! It was a busy week for us, and I'm still tired - but it was worth it. Would I do it again ? You bet!

 

[cdnmickeylover]

We are driving in September and drove last April. We left around 4pm on the Friday afternoon.
Day 1 - drove to Ohio
Day 2 - drove to Georgia - close to the border but the exact place escapes me at the moment
Day 3 - arrived at CBR and visited the Character Warehouse
Day 4 - MK and the Steam Train Tour
Day 5 - MGM
Day 6 - Epcot
Day 7 - Animal Kingdom
Day 8 - MK
Day 9 - drove to Tenn.
Day 10 - arrived home

It was really 9 days b/c we left late on the Friday night. We were tired when we got back home but the advantages of the car are great. We took a case of water with us plus a car fridge which really cut down on our food expenses. The car fridge has an adaptor so that it can be used in the room as well. We are using the same type of approach to the drive down at the end of September.

Cdnmickeylover

 

[disneyvacationmom]

We have actually done it without the beach in 7 days. 2 days down(one night Chatanooga Tennessee) 6 nights in Disney and 2 days back(one night in Knoxville Tennessee) My kids were quite young then so they slept alot. We did that about 3 years in a row. Very doable in 10 days for sure.

 

[disneyvacationmom]

I lied, it was 9 days not 7.

 

[TimNDansMom]

cdnmickeylover, we do the exact same trip down and back, which allows 5 1/2 days at WDW, with an electric cooler, case of water as well!

 

[SandraC]

GEES ~ I think I'll be thinking about this. Thx S

 

[cdnmickeylover]

TimandDansMom,

That's funny about the case of water but I just hate to pay for bottled water esp with our $ the way it is. We also take a lot of snack foods too and foods to make lunches that we take into the parks so that we only usually eat one meal out a day. Our big expense is ice cream and popcorn!

We've used a car fridge for years. We went every year when my DS was young -- he went at least once every year from the time he was 2 til he was 14 and drove all but 2x. The car fridge was great for all the milk that he drank and for cereal in the morning. Luckily I have a great car kid. He didn't go in April (he's now 16 and not interested so I'm glad I took him when he was little) and isn't going in September so my advice is take them when they are little! I hesitated about going in April since I didn't have a little one with me but had a great time with just the two of us adults!

SandraC -- if you have car kids go for the drive. Even with the expense of the hotels on the way down and back it's still cheaper than flying. Of course you give up days in the parks but the drive can be part of the vacation. We usually picked one or two places of interest to stop and look around to break up the drive. One trip I'm sure we stopped at every McD's playland along I-75 b/c that's what my DS wanted to do.

Cdnmickeylover

 

[DisneyLisa]

Hi Sandra,

Your plans are pretty similar to what we just did:

Day 1 Drove half way
Day 2 Arrived in Daytona
Day 3 Beach in a.m./Drove to WDW in p.m./Chef Mickey's for Dinner/DD in evening
Day 4 AK/MK
Day 5 BB/MGM
Day 6 Epcot
Day 7 MK
Day 8 MGM/MK
Day 9 Pool Day
Day 10 Drove half way home
Day 11 Arrived home

As you know, we cut our trip short (should have been leaving WDW on Day 13), but we still managed to do a lot (just not as much as I would have liked & we had to do it with "grumpy" people ). With 5 full days in WDW, you should be able to get a lot done...I just wouldn't go "commando" style...which you probably wouldn't do with 2 kids anyway. Your plans sound pretty reasonable to me & I also consider the drive part of our vacation (but I love driving). Even so, DD & I are going to be flying next spring if/when we go...I'm already checking out rates etc...isn't the planning fun?

 

[SandraC]

Our last two trips were loooooooooooong WDW trips and we got a lot done. I'm looking for a more relaxed WDW trip with a nice beach side trip to start the rest.

April 2001 trip, we started in Ormond Beach and it was perfect. We eased into Disney. April 2002 we hit the ground with 10 Disney days and nights. On top of that, our 15 year old cat died 3 days before we left. It took a couple days to get going because I was sad. So next trip will be different. More relaxed and driving. S

 

[maryliz]

Oh Sandra ... go for it !!! We've gone twice where we've only stayed 5 days at the resort. Although it was a pretty rushed week, a trip to WDW is always worth it! And since you've just been recently for a very long Disney stay, you will find 6 days there plenty since you will be particular about what you really want to see and do only those things. My kids (2 and 5) have been going to WDW since they were 5 1/2 months old. We have always driven, and only one incidence of car-sickness for each of them (and they were each under a year old when it happened -- no problems with either one since). My dd is 5 and her trip number 6 is coming up in just 7 weeks. She was disappointed we missed some local fireworks last weekend, and I just had to laugh because she has seen more incredible fireworks in her little life than most do in an entire lifetime. If you and dh can manage the 10 days off, by all means, go for it. I look at my sister who just left this am with her 2 youngest dd's for a surprise trip, and how her 3 older teenagers really don't want to go anymore. I will be very sad the day my kids tell me they don't want to go, so I figure I just might as well go as often as possible while they are little. I think my ds is the same age as yours, and dh and I have talked about this trip in October, and how since we will have AP's the need to get in a 2nd trip. After that, we've talked about waiting until ds is out of diapers/carseat and is big enough to go on the 3 "mountains", etc. That of course will remain to be seen as I start to go through disney withdrawl as soon as we are checking out. I don't think I can go for much more than a year or so without visiting the world. I think the key to driving is ensuring you stop enough and for long enough periods to let your kids run a bit. Telling them they have exactly 7 minutes to go to the bathroom and be back in the car will only make them hate the drive down. Our rest stops are always longer than we anticipate but maybe that's why our kids don't complain about the long drive for 2 solid days. Just go ahead and book the trip ... and let us know the details!

Mary Liz

 

[abbyndrewmom]

Sandra, i agree with driving, it is just so nice being able to bring everything you want and then having your own car while you are there. My FIL is a pilot so even though we can fly for next to nothing (it is usually much cheaper for us to fly depending on the car rental prices) we still like the drive. We consider the drive part of the trip and enjoy going through all the different states. If you can leave right after work the first day and get over the border and into PA by the next day you can get pretty close to the GA/Fl border and then it is just a 4-5 hrs drive the next day to Disney. We did this in June we left at 6:00pm on the Friday night and stayed just outside of Pittsburg (we really pushed it and didn't stop driving till after 1:00am.) but we were really happy when we arrived in Orlando early Sunday afternoon. I always use this time to hit the outlet malls and stock up on souveniers we also stop at the Daytona Walmart as it is right off the Interstate and less crowded then the one in Orlando. After doing our shopping we usually go have dinner at one of the WDW restaurants and go to Downtown disney to get in the mood.

Another thing to consider if you are trying to save money is staying off site. I was a firm believer of staying on-site but this year without the EE Dh really wanted to save the money and stay off site. We stayed at the Radisson parkway which is really really close to Disney, the rooms were beautiful overlooking a very tropical courtyard, the beds had duvet comforters on them and the pool area was great with two seperate pools one with a water slide and then this beautiful hot tub tucked away in a corner with a waterfall. I was really worried about the whole "magic" thing but we were so close that I didn't feel we lost anything. We drove back and forth several times a day the distance was no different then the Coronado or the All Star. I was surprise how much easier it was to get to things like the outlet mall and other shopping by staying off site.

Good luck with your planning I hope you can squeeze it in, I am trying to squeeze in a quick trip in after new years but before the kids go back to school. We are going to be a MIL in Tampa for Xmas to New Years and then i am hoping to drive to Orlando and check in New years day and stay through the 3rd or 4th which will mean we will have to fly to get back to school on time.

Allison

 

[DSNY FN]

Well we were there this past Dec we drove down
Day 1 Left London @ 6:30PM drove to Valdosta Arrived @ 3:00 PM
Day 2 Left Valdosta @ 9AM arrived @ ASMo 12 noon
Day 3 shopping @ Belz and groceries check in @ BWV
Day 4 Pick up inlaws @ Airport swim @ BWV
Day 5 MK
Day 6 BB Chef Mickeys
Day 7 Epcot
Day 8 AK Check out of BWV and into ASMu
Day 9 MGM
Day 10 MK
Day 11 MGM Check out of ASMu and check into WLV
Day12 AK Drive in laws back to Airport
Day 13 Shopping
Day 14 BB
Day 15 Family mini golf day
Day 16 Drive from WDW straigt home left @ 8:30 Pm
That is how we do it

 

[mary lou]

We figured it out that for 6 of us to go down, flying vs renting an RV and driving, we could spend 3 days driving down and see the sights, stay a week at FW and take 3 days coming back and still spend less than flying down and staying at All Stars.
So we figure we will go I95 down and I75 back
may be a while though cause my car just died
mary lou

 

[SandraC]

Hey Mary Lou, there is something about these boards that's making all our cars die! Mine died too in July! We will be renting a car for our next trip. It's not as $$$ as I thought and it will be nice and vacationy to drive a newer car to WDW! S