California to Disney World Florida?

ken07734 wrote:
1 week to go! and then we head south to WDW Fort Wilderness! This will be our second time there but first time in our 2013 Z-1. We have done several camping trips at the local RV park and I'm pretty sure we have all the kinks worked out. I'm guessing the trip will take us over 24 hours and I'll have to stop many times for Gas and rest. Bringing 8 people so the weight limits will be stretched.... Thank goodness for our several warranties in place and our AAA and Good Sams Elite membership. See you down there!

Have you done a long drive like that in the past? With my truck, it works out to about 1/4 tank of fuel per hour... so I plan on filling up every 3 hours (my F250 doesn't have a huge fuel tank, especially when long distance towing). In between fuel stops, I found that we inevitably pull into a rest stop about every 1 1/2 hours for bathroom break, rest, stretch. If you feel tired, just pull off and take a BREAK. You are on vacation, don't make your trip miserable by "pushing it".

We found that stopping for an overnight in South Carolina worked well for us. There is a Holiday Inn Express in Florence, SC that is easy highway access with plenty of room to park a RV in back. Good place to stop if you want long showers, lol!

For a camping overnight, we stayed at the Florence RV Park in South Carolina on our second trip and it was very good for us. Some of the more recent reviews of it (RVParkreviews) are not great, so it may have changed.

As to travel times, you might make it to mid-South Carolina in about 10-12 hours (15 hours for us from Connecticut). From South Carolina to Fort Wilderness it is about 10 hours.

Have fun Ken!

Good luck and didn't meant to highjack your thread, bellolove!

Ironically our kids always do better on the trip home and I attribute this to their being so worn out that they sleep most of the drive! ha ha. I would probably rent a cabin over someone else's RV. But good to know there are options. I still think it would be great to do the trip cross country but waiting until they are a bit older is probably best. We'll just do a couple more trips to Disneyland Anaheim.. no complaints there.. for the price we'll be saving staying in our RV we can probably stay a lot longer and take more frequent trips.

1 week to go! and then we head south to WDW Fort Wilderness! This will be our second time there but first time in our 2013 Z-1. We have done several camping trips at the local RV park and I'm pretty sure we have all the kinks worked out. I'm guessing the trip will take us over 24 hours and I'll have to stop many times for Gas and rest. Bringing 8 people so the weight limits will be stretched.... Thank goodness for our several warranties in place and our AAA and Good Sams Elite membership. See you down there!

TPUC wrote:
Have you thought about renting an RV?

This is what came to mind when I read what you are wanting to do. There are a couple companies you can book a rental with that will setup everything onsite (some even provide themes for the campers bedding etc)for you. All you do is show up and camp.

You want days "on the ground" at Disney World. I consider 5 days to be a minimum, and you probably won't be able to see and experience everything in that time. Disney World is HUGE. I would definitely think about flying in, to have more time there.

We've been twice in the past 6 years. 2 day drive from Connecticut to Disney World. Basically took 9 days off - 2 days to drive there, 5 days there, 2 days to drive back. Drive there was pretty cool and went well. Drive back was no fun... we were tired and just wanted to get home, and had 2 days in the truck to look forward to. In the future I would try to schedule a couple days stop somewhere on the way back to break up the trip.

Fort Wilderness in Disney World has the rental "cabins", which are basically fancy campers. I have not been in one, but have heard and read that they are very nice, just like camping except you have maid service! I think the people are called "Mousekeepers" - as opposed to housekeepers. I think the price is about the cost of a mid-level Disney hotel room, but with a heck of a lot more room and a kitchenette to use.

There are some people who you can rent campers from, such as a fifth wheel. My understanding is that they make all the arrangements for the camper and set it up for you. I know at least one person was reachable through DisBoards forum, but it's been awhile since I've been on those forums.

Your kids are 4 and 2? You might want to consider waiting a couple years until they get older to be able to really remember Disney World. Our kids were early teens, they had a great time, and remember everything.

Have you thought about renting an RV? I think there are a few people who will set up the RV on your campsite and it will be there and ready when you arrive. You would still get to stay at Fort Wilderness yet get to fly. Disney will pick you up at the air port and take you to he Campground.

Thanks everyone.. yikes 6 days of driving, 10 hours a day.. not sure we can do that with our kids this little and get the full enjoyment out of our stay. We just might have to fly! I'm thinking trips that long might be better when my kids are older or were retired. I'm going to wait and just see how well the kids do. The hotels seem awesome.. I've just always had this dream of camping there.

I would choose to fly and enjoy the time in WDW instead of two weeks just to get there and back.
We flew there last Oct. Got a package deal to stay in a Disney hotel. As mentioned above, you do not even have to mess with your bags. Check you bags at your home airport with Disney baggage tags on them, arrive at Orlando airport, go to the bus, comfortable ride to your hotel, bags delivered to your room, shuttle bus from hotel to the various parks, ready to go home, check bags at hotel, get on bus back to airport.
If you time it right you can get a free Disney dining plan as part of your package. Well worth it if you can do that as it saves a LOT on food. Have a travel agent handle it for you. Hotels come in various price ranges. Not cheap, but enjoyable way to do Disneyworld when you are that far away.
There are several Disney related (but not Disney affiliated) web sites devoted to visiting Disneyworld to help answer questions and do planning.

I can tell you from personal experience living just North of Sacramento that we have flown to WDW 15 times. The on property hotels are amazing. They are available at every price level. You can book your trip, put name tags on your baggage, and when you arrive at the Orlando Airport your luggage will be picked up without you having to chase it down. You will get a nice ride in a beautiful bus to your hotel.

We too will be in Orlando in a few months. Our new mailing address is Pensacola Florida at a mail forwarding service.

My point is you will need a lot of time to make the trip and not make a miserable trip of it. Spend ten days at Port Orleans, the Contemporary, or any of their hotels. They have a free transportation system that is easy to use and a lot of fun. You can ride boats, buses, or monorails.

Just one break down along the way could ruin your trip.

Google Maps from Disneyland to Disney World says it's about 2,500 miles. For me, with a 9 year old and a 1 year old, 400 miles per day is my max. I greatly prefer 300-350 mile days (ok, I lie- these few days of 150-185 miles per day were pretty awesome, but we weren't going far!).

At 400 miles per day, I'd likely be looking at 10 hours of driving per day after stops. We stop often and lose a half hour the moment I pull off of the road if anyone's awake.

So, for me to make that drive at a preferred pace would be 6 days of driving.

That said, we went from Maryland to Disney World (925) in a straight 20-hour shot of driving. We were knackered when we got there, but we got it done. Depending on how many drivers you had (we only used 2, but had the option of 4 drivers), you could cut down on the time. Might not be terribly enjoyable at that.

IMO, this is a 3-week trip, at a minimum. Almost a week to get there, a week and a little to play at WDW and then a week to get home.