Driving from NEPA

Anyone drive this far ? Northeastern PA to Orlando? Tell Me the good the bad the ugly ...
Thanks!

Well we drive from central NJ and I can tell you the good and bad. We have done it alot and my kids are done with it.
The good is you can bring your own food, water bottles and save some money. The bad is that it feels like forever driving. Going there isn't bad because your excited for vacation but going back is awful. Sometimes their is traffic. The places to stop to eat are mostly fast food.
I usually check airfare and if the price is crazy high, we drive. If its not that high than we fly. Figure out price of gas(usually cheapest in South Car.) which for us is $400 r/t. Plus food, tolls and one night stay coming home at hotel. Their is 5 of us. If flying is under $1250 we fly. Also we drive at night going down, the kids SLEEP, my husband and I take turns. So much bette that way. Going home we stop so we don't ruin our relaxing vacation. Any questions just ask.
Also it depends where your going, if Disney flying is better because you don't need a car really, but if your going to universal or cruise, it's better to have a car to get to and from. Taxis are alot of money.

81-77-26-95 (I think anyway)----just stay away from the 95 route all the way down. It is a disaster.....

Now, we don't drive to Orlando but, do drive to HHI which is about 6 hours from WDW. A friend hooked me onto the above route after years of 95 torture. All though it is a few miles more, it is hours less (normally 3-4).

We do it twice a year....will do it in 5 weeks. Try to drive during the week day. And as said, I-95 is a disaster now a days. It just isn't a nice drive. The way down is not too bad but the trip back is horrible. On the way back, you must hit Washington before 2pm. If you don't then plan on it being bumper to bumper from Washington to Delaware. We drive it in two days down. Stay the first night in Florence SC and the second in Kissimmee. This way we can check into disney by 9am. The drive home we do in three days with the second night staying in south Virginia. This way we hit Washington around noon and home by 4pm.

I know this is "Late" to this thread, but we have made the trek a couple of times now. However, we have done it towing our camper, so we have sleeping accommodations with us. That being said, We will leave the evening after work. (typically a Tuesday) with the objective of getting PAST the DC Beltway. (As others have said, it is a disaster even at that late hour, just not as bad). We have stopped twice now in "Ashland" Virginia for the night. There is a nice truck stop right off the exit, and in the AM there is a Cracker Barrel where we get our breakfast. The next day we do a "Power Drive" to get almost all the way to Fort Wilderness (where we stay). We have stayed in the last rest stop in Georgia for the night and we have also stopped at a rest stop about an hour from WDW. Either way, we get up in the AM (Early) and get into the Fort and get checked in and go about our day.

Going home we do the reverse except we typically do it in about a day and a half as opposed to almost 2 days (depending on how I feel as I am the only one driving it). Again, as mentioned, the DC Beltway is HORRIBLE. The one year we were coming back and hit the beltway around lunch time on a Sunday and thought it would be okay. WRONG! I think it was worse than a Monday Morning Rush hour. Last time we went "Around" the beltway. Don't remember the exact route, I just let the GPS handle it.

So really the best advice I think you can get is to avoid the DC Beltway.

(PS, I come from Plymouth PA)

Another NEPA resident here!

I haven't done it since college because it was nightmare coming back (ice storm from NC through VA). Like the person from Jersey said, if you can get airfare decent, it is worth flying. I use our local Wilkes-Barre-Scranton (or Avoca as the locals say ) airport.

The last time we drove we did the route mentioned above that eliminates DC. Down it wasnt bad, we switched drivers and drove through the night. That is always how we traveled to Florida as kids. The whole "South of the Border" thing is entertaining even if you don't stop. The signs for hundreds of miles entertained us. My vacation time now is too limited to spend days driving.

dalmatian7 said:

The whole "South of the Border" thing is entertaining even if you don't stop. The signs for hundreds of miles entertained us.

Click to expand...

The first time I drove down, a buddy of mine was telling me about "South of the border" and how I would definitely know it when I saw it. Yup! No doubt about it.

We never stopped. Quite honestly, it looked a bit "Sketchy" kind of like an old style "Circus" that would epitomize P.T. Barnum's famous quote. You know... One of 'em is born every minute....

It just looked like they were more about getting your money and less worried about up keep. Alas, it was entertaining reading the signage.

We've done it.. and I kind of hate it LOL. If it was anywhere near costs, I'd definitely choose to fly instead, but!

This year, we skipped going 95 all the way and went around DC, and it ended up being around the same time even though it was longer, because we missed all the crazy traffic. That was actually a nice ride! We generally stop somewhere on the North/South Carolina border and stay there for a night, then go again in the morning.

Good luck!

(And we're right between Scranton/WB)

Originally From Tunkhannock (Those not from the area, I dare you to try and pronounce it! )
Currently in Plymouth.

did it twice as a child with my parents, and once with my own family. never again! Way too long. The only good thing was the huge bag of GA pecans we were able to bring home. We towed our trailer and stayed in FW

Fortunately today, we have things like portable DVD players (or built in ones), Tablets and Laptops. Not to mention built-in inverters to provide electricity to all these devices.

I am not fond of the long drive, but my DW is really against flying for a multitude of reasons, plus dollar for dollar except for time, it's cheaper for us to drive.