One of My Ultimate Road Trips: Taking the Family to Disney World

The ultimate road trip I would take for a week off would be taking my family to Disneyworld, which is usually an annual trip for us anyway. Planning usually begins about six months before the trip and includes getting reservations and a rental car. Once the details are worked out with the good folks at Disney off we go. Since we leave from north of Pittsburgh, PA and travel to Orlando, FL the trip is usually broken up into a two-day affair.

I prefer leaving in the early morning hours, usually about 3:00AM. Now I have two kids and my wife with me, so planning for multiple potty breaks is a must. That being said, I usually defer to roadside rest areas. These areas are generally well kept, and offer a quick way to get off and on the highway. That being said, travel time is affected by how much my kids have to drink (and by how much coffee I have had.) All things considered, we do not stop to eat a formal meal until North Carolina.

For meals on the road, we pack a cooler. Experience has taught me that dropping into restaurants can not only eat up valuable time, but also eat up valuable money that can be spent on souvenirs. This would be the same reason why I try to avoid vending machines at the rest areas, but hey the kids think they are cool so I usually bring some change so they can use the machines. However lunchmeat, drinks, candy bars, bread, and chips are usually the best way to go. Generally, I stop for night in South Carolina off of Interstate 26, usually in Orangeburg. This is usually about the five or six o'clock hour, which is a long day on the road, but it pays off nicely. By stopping earlier in the day we are able to enjoy the pool at the hotel, have sandwich or two and head off to bed.

An early rise the next morning is about seven AM, a quick complimentary continental breakfast later and it is back in the car. At that point by two o'clock in the afternoon I am pulling into whatever Disney Resort we have selected for this trip, but my favorite is Pop Century, though I am not quite sure why. After several days in the parks, the return trip is very similar with a stop in Virginia or West Virginia for an overnight. This puts us home later into the next evening, but everyone is usually ready to be home.

The official Mapquest mileage sits at 1014 miles with about seventeen hours of drive time. If the rental car gets 30MPG gas comes in around $95. The hotels we stay in while on the road average $100 a night, with another $100 to stock the cooler both ways. Since a week at Disney World runs into the $1800 range for resort plus tickets and I usually allow $125 a day spending money (cash and junk food and toys, etc) the cost of the trip sets me back about $3100 (rental car included). Of course, it seems like a lot of money, and it is. But the chance to get away with the family is the highlight of my year. Hanging out with my wife and kids is worth ten times that to me, of course I actually pay about ten times that by the credit card bills are ready for the next trip.

source:

personal experience

www.mapquest.com

www.disneyworld.com