Is this crazy, or has anyone...

[dizneefan13]

CT Yankee, thanks for all the fantastic information! appreciate the time it took to explain all of this.
I love going to historical sites on the east coast. Does the guide in the link you posted include some of your recommendations?

 

[ilikecarrentals]

I agree with the others here, an RV rental would be really expensive (and personally, a nice air conditioned hotel room with a comfy bed each night is my preference)
May I suggest another alternative, book your flights as an "open jaw" or 2 one-ways. By this I mean fly in from Australia to CT then make the return flight from Orlando (or somewhere in Florida). This will save you having to back track all the way to CT at the end of the vacation.
Then book a one way car/SUV rental between the CT and the Florida airport (MCO = Orlando).
Pick out your points of interest along the route.
Book a night or two hotels based on your POI's
Last few days spent at WDW and then fly home from MCO.

We frequently plan this kind of trip as we like the "roadtrip" part of the vacation, but hate having to backtrack at the end of the vacation (the end of the vacation is depressing enough without having drive a bunch to take a flight back home).
This Feb, we flew into Miami, went on a cruise, picked up a rental car at MIA and drove up to Orlando for the "Parks" and flew home from Orlando.
Last year we flew into New Orleans, spent a few days in the area, then drove the rental car to Orlando (with a stopover in Panama city). Spent 10 days enjoying WDW, USO, Daytona Beach etc then flew home from Orlando

If you do the one way rental down to Florida, you can get some really great rental prices from CT to Florida after labor day - September to December. Dates vary somewhat but just something to keep in mind. Here is a link to a promo Hertz ran last year. Started at $5/day plus taxes and fees last year as rental agencies want to move vehicles to Florida during this time.

 

[BecBennett]

We live in CT and made the drive down to WDW three times. If we had more time to vacation, we would not hesitate to do it again - especially since our two kids are now driving age and can pitch in with the driving. At the risk of repeating some of the sentiments already expressed by previous posters, I'll share some of the tips and lessons learned from these drives:

Thank you so much for all your tips!

But be sure to check the cost of the RV rental vs airfare. Depending where in CT you are you could have the option of a number of airports such as TF Green in Providence, Bradley near Hartford, Newburg- Westchester- JFK, or Laguardia in NY. I second what the PP said about not needing an RV to do the drive, unless of course that's part of the lure for you.

Usually we fly out of Bradley because they have direct flights to MCO, but I was just looking for something different.

I don’t get it. Why would you voluntarily spend so much of your vacation sitting in a motor vehicle?

To see the country, experience something a little different,

As others have said, RV rentals are pretty expensive. (think $100-200/day) Plus gas for them and RV camp site fees. If you have money to blow, then you could make a trip of it if you wanted to do camping type trip, taking a few extra days to travel. But otherwise, if want to drive, getting a regular rental car and hotels would be cheaper. Even flying would be cheaper.

Yes, roads and traffic are not the funnest in the North East.. Know my parents had taken their RV up to CT back in the day, but I wouldn't want to drive a large vehicle like that on some of the back roads or traffic on the major ones.

Driving through the country side and mountains of VA looks nice, but can make for a boring drive.. even more so on I-81/84/78 through PA as they are major truck routes but nothing much to see.

We'd probably take 4 or 5 days to do the trip, it's not about getting there quickly or cheaply, it's about doing something and seeing something different. I'll look into cars and hotels too, however I think my husband would go more for a campervan.

I agree with the others here, an RV rental would be really expensive (and personally, a nice air conditioned hotel room with a comfy bed each night is my preference)
May I suggest another alternative, book your flights as an "open jaw" or 2 one-ways. By this I mean fly in from Australia to CT then make the return flight from Orlando (or somewhere in Florida). This will save you having to back track all the way to CT at the end of the vacation.
Then book a one way car/SUV rental between the CT and the Florida airport (MCO = Orlando).
Pick out your points of interest along the route.
Book a night or two hotels based on your POI's
Last few days spent at WDW and then fly home from MCO.

We frequently plan this kind of trip as we like the "roadtrip" part of the vacation, but hate having to backtrack at the end of the vacation (the end of the vacation is depressing enough without having drive a bunch to take a flight back home).
This Feb, we flew into Miami, went on a cruise, picked up a rental car at MIA and drove up to Orlando for the "Parks" and flew home from Orlando.
Last year we flew into New Orleans, spent a few days in the area, then drove the rental car to Orlando (with a stopover in Panama city). Spent 10 days enjoying WDW, USO, Daytona Beach etc then flew home from Orlando

We usually book our flights in a round trip - SYD > LAX > JFK then Bradley CT (can't remember the code) > MCO > LAX > SYD So LAX and SYD are the only airports we stop at twice.

Do you think we'd need to book accommodation in advance? Or is it the sort of thing you can wing on the day, depending on where we end up?

Drove down from CT to WDW last December after having done it as a passenger in my parents' van many times as a child, and it was perfectly fine. It's not the most exciting drive, but it can be done pretty easily in two days -- or even one day if you split it up with multiple drivers. I was looking to make the best time possible, so I couldn't really recommend any places to visit, but as far as planning splitting up the trip, I'd recommend trying to get at least past Richmond, VA on your first day, so you avoid the major traffic points when you hit the road the next day (though rush hour traffic in South Carolina as you head into Georgia can be pretty bad too).

And yes, avoid South of the Border at all costs. We used to stop there as a family when I was a kid for novelty reasons, but now it's even more of a run-down tourist trap than it ever was.

We'd split it up over several days to spend time looking around each stop.

If you do the one way rental down to Florida, you can get some really great rental prices from CT to Florida after labor day - September to December. Dates vary somewhat but just something to keep in mind. Here is a link to a promo Hertz ran last year. Started at $5/day plus taxes and fees last year as rental agencies want to move vehicles to Florida during this time.

Thanks, I'll definitely look into that.

 

[nacho113]

We usually book our flights in a round trip - SYD > LAX > JFK then Bradley CT (can't remember the code) > MCO > LAX > SYD So LAX and SYD are the only airports we stop at twice.

Do you think we'd need to book accommodation in advance? Or is it the sort of thing you can wing on the day, depending on where we end up?

I would plan out what you want to see and/or attractions in the areas you will be travelling then book a hotel in the vicinity so that you can stop and enjoy/explore.
Allow some time to enjoy your stops; arrive mid-day or leave mid-day the following day.
The journey can be as much fun as the destination if you have a plan.

 

[rdevine10]

This is certainly a "doable" trip! I live in CT too. I will say, I dont exactly enjoy that drive with traffic in the north east going through several major cities.

From SW CT mapquest says it takes about 18 hours straight of driving time. It ALWAYS takes us longer with traffic (about 3 hours longer typically). But, if you were interested in sight seeing, you would go through NY, DC and could hit the carolinas, st augstine etc on way down.

I have never done this trip in an RV and suspect it would take a little longer and be much more expensive than a car. One way car rentals can be expensive and a flight to Florida is only a little over 2 hours.

We have broken up a drive home from FL in the past with a stop in Myrtle Beach area of SC. It was a nice stop and nice beach time post Disney!

Have fun!

 

[CT Yankee]

CT Yankee, thanks for all the fantastic information! appreciate the time it took to explain all of this.
I love going to historical sites on the east coast. Does the guide in the link you posted include some of your recommendations?

Yes we found plenty of good recommendations in this guide. I have not used it in a while because we flew to FL the last few times but this was definitely helpful and had several good suggestions on points of interest along the way.

 

[monorailsilver]

What if you saved a little money and time, not sure how much or if it would save anything but fly from CT/NY/RI to somewhere where there are sites you want to see and then rent a winnebago from there and drive to/from Disney from that airport?

-Speaking of rest stops, give yourself plenty of time to make stops...although UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU WAKE UP KIDS WHEN THEY ARE SLEEPING to make a rest stop. Hoo boy did we learn that the hard way! The major highways have plenty of rest stop options - we have found that Love's Travel Stops and Petro Stopping Centers are clean, reliable and convenient. Chick-fil-A restaurants are also very clean and their service is exceptionally friendly. The state-run highway rest stops in Pennsylvania, Virginia and South Carolina are fantastic and I am actually jealous of them. Any CT residents on this board know exactly what I am talking about.

The cleanest rest stop we encountered in our drive to FL (from CT) was either in St. Augustine or Jax, it was a truck stop. I swear I could eat off the floor.

I will say the newest ones on 95 (Madison/Branford) are fairly clean. I do frequent the Pilot when I am returning home from my moms (Trumbull) in Milford because gas is a little cheaper and they have the BEST ice!

 

[CT Yankee]

What if you saved a little money and time, not sure how much or if it would save anything but fly from CT/NY/RI to somewhere where there are sites you want to see and then rent a winnebago from there and drive to/from Disney from that airport?

That's actually one of the reasons we have flown down to Florida the last few times. When we factored in the cost of gas, hotels, meals, tolls and wear and tear on our car, the cost of driving came out to about the same as flying, especially when I could use points or frequent flyer miles to purchase airline tickets.

Thanks for the tip about the Pilot!

 

[ttintagel]

We drove from NY when I was a kid. It was a lot of fun, and interesting to see things along the road. The biggest hiccup was my sister leaving her glasses and retainer in a highway rest stop in South Carolina and having to backtrack two hours to retrieve them.

But given the choice as an adult, i'd choose to fly and have more time at the park.

 

[Franrose]

My parents spend six months of the year every year driving around the US Bec - except for the years where they boat around lol, they have both that they keep there permanently. Back in 2015 my little family and my brothers & sister (and partners/kids) joined them and we did some roadtripping - only from Atlanta to Miami which might be about half the distance you would do, but it was a really cruisy drive that we did over a few days. We'd stop in all sorts of places on the way on a whim and organise accommodation that night, usually staying somewhere for less than US$60/night/room (so certainly never flash, but we didn't pick up bed bugs or witness any crime ). We had cars, but my parents had their RV and would pretend to be booking themselves a room too as we were always needing four - I think we stayed at Super 8s a lot because you can park an RV for free there if you stay - and then they'd sneak back to their own bed at night and not make it obvious they were in there. (You could say my parents like a bargain, so although they stay in all sorts of places, they are no strangers to the Walmart carpark. So there's an option too lol.) The only accommodation we prebooked was a night before a cruise, and mainly just because we were a group of 14 and wanted to make sure we weren't too far away once cars had been dropped off. We travelled in summer (mid June).


It was an awesome trip, lots to see (even little things that to us are just so different, like Armadillos on the highway) and lots of places to stop in. It was all super interesting to us, much as a road trip through Australia would be for our USA counterparts. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

 

[Franrose]

Washington DC would be on your way down too - some parts of that not super easy to access in an RV, but an awesome city to visit (you'd want to allow a day or two)!

 

[resablue]

Our family has done it several times. Most important thing-Leave very early, so you make it through NYC before rush hour. We used to leave around 3:30am-4am. This actually helps when you make your stops for food and breaks because your off schedule with most other travelers. We could usually get in and get out of a rest stop very quickly because the place would be empty, and when we were leaving the place would be filling up with people. When the kids were little I would buy new movies they haven't seen yet and bring them out for the ride. Keeping them very entertained for hours. Now it's easier to play them on a laptop because most cars have the adapter. What I learned on long trips. Don't eat too much junk food on the ride. Don't give the kids too many sweets. Stick mostly to water. Eat light or nothing in the car. You'll be happy you did. We could usually make the first day of driving to Savannah GA. by about 6pm. Enough time for the kids to swim, have a nice dinner and get a good nights sleep. Then the next day leave early and not that much driving left to do before you make it to WDW. Maybe 5 hours.

 

[pixiegoose]

I’d strongly suggest looking into the safety of traveling in a RV before seriously considering it. Here’s a good place to start- https://csftl.org/rv-travel-children/ . Also, the I-95 corridor is not where I’d want to be driving a large, unfamiliar vehicle for the first time.

 

[RolloTomasi]

We live in New York and regularly drive down. While the Northeast I-95 traffic is normally pretty backed up, we never hit it going down because (and I know this isn’t feasible for everyone) we leave reeeeaaaally early. Usually around 4:30 in the morning, before the NYC morning rush hour starts, and we’re into Virginia after the DC morning rush has passed. After that it’s mostly smooth sailing, save for any road work or small backups. It’s really not a bad drive, honestly. There’s plenty of rest areas if people need to stretch their legs, and any stores or restaurants are usually right off the highway.

 

[BecBennett]

I’d strongly suggest looking into the safety of traveling in a RV before seriously considering it. Here’s a good place to start- https://csftl.org/rv-travel-children/ . Also, the I-95 corridor is not where I’d want to be driving a large, unfamiliar vehicle for the first time.

Oh wow, thanks. I'm thinking the laws with seat belts here and there might be different, seat belts here need to adhere to strict safety standards regardless of whether they're in a car or camper van, so I just assumed our child restraint would buckle in to the seat and be safe. I didn't think that the seat belts in a camper wouldn't be anchored to the frame.