Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Driving to Walt Disney World from Southern Ontario.

What’s the difference between driving and flying to Disney World from southern Ontario. Well, about 23 hours and the loss of some sanity.

We decided to rent a vehicle as our old van is getting up their in Kilometres. We highly recommend using budget Rent-A-Car. They allow you to cross the border easily. They also offer unlimited kilometres and if you book through Expedia you can score a deal like ours for around $250 for the 12 day rental.


The drive down actually isn’t that bad. Everyone is on a Disney vacation high, and the excitement of visiting the land of Mickey Mouse makes everyone happy! Including #mrhappy

Leading up to the trip we met a few times with the Aylesworth crew to discuss the details of the trip including how we would manage our time driving down. Having little kids we knew we couldn’t keep to strict of an itinerary but just had a idea of what each leg would look like.

We decided to leave after the kids were done school on Friday. I’m sure the kids leaned a lot that day. They were certainly over the moon with excitement.

 Sophia and Charlotte ended up being home anyway that day because they were both not feeling the greatest. (I will call it the Disney excitement sickness)
I picked Christopher up about an hour early in order to get himself changed and ready for the long drive. Georgia and Wyatt were picked up as usual and Georgia's class gave her a huge send off.

So cute!

4 PM we pulled out of the Aylesworth driveway and headed down the 401 corridor toward the Thousand Islands Bridge.

We drove straight through to Watertown where we had planned to make a stop anyway. Gas and supper. My kids enjoyed McDonald’s with their Dad while I enjoyed some Chipoltle and 5 Guys with the Aylsworth crew.

Around 7 pm with full bellies and full tanks of cheap American fuel we started our first leg of the journey. With a goal to get to the welcome centre in Pennsylvania.
No problem, our kids enjoyed some Home Alone and I enjoyed sipping my delicious sweet tea.

It was us and the I81. Around 8pm we flew through Syracuse with 2/3 fast asleep.

Around 10:30 we stopped outside Scranton PA. Quick stretch and we quickly jumped back on the high road.

With Jason excited and dreaming about 20 chicken nuggets for $5.00 and Hardee’s burgers we continued on. A stop in the Carolina's in the early morning hours had me woken up from my sleep and asked to take the wheel for a few hours. Behind the the Aylesworth’s decided to do the same.
Jenn’s take the wheel!

 A Few hours later we switched back and made our way into the bottom of SC.

A hour long stop let us refuel on Waffle House goodness. This kids were all rested and ready for a day of driving.


EditWe wanted to make a stop at the welcome centre in Georgia of course. We just had to get a photo of Georgia standing under the sign.

More and more palm trees lined the highway as we approached the Sunshine State .

Here we parted from the Aylesworth team as we had booked at separate hotels that night.
We made the three hour (felt like eternity) drive to central Florida where we spent the night at the old Nickelodeon hotel now newly changed to the Holiday Inn and Waterpark. (Thanks for the sweet deal using my Airmiles)
It was a great location. Located in the World Drive area. Which is very close to Walt Disney World. We spent the evening exploring the hotel. Enjoyed some delicious pizza a swim in the pool and watched a bit of an outdoor movie located in the pool, and finally to bed - Where we all slept really well. I of course was up bright and early at 6 AM filled with excitement because I knew we were going to my most favourite place. We packed up and we’re out of the hotel by 8 AM. We had to make a stop at Publix to pick up a few items I forgot to pack. We made our way through those famous gates to our second home.






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