Unlocking The Magic

We talk about Disney World, Disneyland and Universal

Driving To Disney World (Our Best Advice)

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Driving To Disney World (Our Best Advice)

What is more fun than a road trip? Especially a road trip that goes to Walt Disney World! In this episode, we share our best suggestions, strategies, and basic things that you can do to create a great road trip to the most magical place on earth. 

We discuss our best travel hacks that have not only helped us save money but also save our sanity on the road while listing a few of the essentials that we must pack on every trip to make the time pass quickly, and comfortably. Lastly, we list our top things not to do when driving. 

Things to listen for:

Conduct a safety check your vehicle

Safety first on any road trip. Have a mechanic that you trust do a full safety check on your vehicle before you go testing the lights, brakes, tire pressure, etc. 

Travel Hack: Consider purchasing an auto club such as AAA before your trip. This also helps save money on hotel rooms as most offer an auto club discount.

Car rentals

Our “everyday” car can be tight on space, especially for such a long journey on the road. We have been able to successfully rent a larger one in the past that helped make the trek much, much more enjoyable. 

Another alternative would be to invest in a small storage rack that can hook up easily to the back of your car. This has been a great way to keep the interior of the car comfortable while being able to pack everything needed to make the trip a success. 

Travel Hack: Check out rentals at your local airport to get a better rate. Also, play around with the number of days and return times. You may be surprised at how much they can vary, saving you money on the overall rental.

Get packing!

Packing and organizing the car for our road trips are especially fun because we are not greatly limited to what we can bring along. Don’t forget to also download our Packing List before you begin.

 Here are just a few of our favorites:

  • Clear Tote to hold snacks. 
  • Luggage rack (don’t forget bungee cords and tarps)
  • Durable road food. Fruit, granola bars, sandwiches, and plenty of water.
  • Travel pillows and small blankets
  • Disney+ or Netflix app, Audible app or download favorite podcasts
  • Any J’s (Connie’s coined slang for clothes so comfy they could be pajamas but you can wear any time any place 😄 )
  • Gas cards
  •  Disney Would You Rathers
  •  Laminated road map for kids 
  •  Travel journals

Lastly, here are the 6 THINGS TO AVOID WHEN ROAD TRIPPING:

  1. Don’t bring funky smelling food in the car

Growing up my parents would always bring along our delicious yet very seasoned Greek dishes in the car. The car would stink the entire time-all the way there and back.

  1. Try to avoid planning road trips during the snowy months.

Bruce and Iove traveling whenever we can but during the winter months in New England things become very slippery and dangerous when driving. Avoiding a road trip during these months will alleviate the pressure of having to drive in those conditions. 

  1. Don’t push yourself driving

          It is so important to be an alert driver on the road. Planning rest is crucial for yourself and the others around you. We actually prefer to stop as early as possible to make sure we have plenty of energy when we hit the road again.

  1. Do. Not. Speed.

          Speeding tickets in other states are absolutely zero fun so keep safe and drive at the right limit. 

  1. Do not overstuff the *inside of your vehicle

Part of what makes the journey enjoyable is having a comfortable ride. Keeping the interior limited to the absolute essentials will help keep everyone happy and you will never have to hear the words “Mom I’m squished!” from the backseat.

  1. Don’t wait until the day of your trip to go over seating arrangements in the car. 

This one is probably our favorite suggestion. Our kids used to always argue about which seat they got in the car so having a plan beforehand sets expectations from the start.

Thanks For Listening

Hope you enjoyed this episode!

We really love doing these shows. It’s so much fun for us and we hope you like them too. If you could subscribe in Itunes and give us an honest review that would be awesome. 

Email us your question or suggestions for future episodes:Info@unlockingthemagic.com

Also, come talk to us on Twitter & Facebook and see the photos from our recent trips on Instagram. That’s it for now! Until next time, have a great (and of course magical) day.