Are there any Marylanders out there driving to Disney?

[wdwluver]

Airlines and rental cars are just too dang expensive for the Christmas season, so I've finally accepted the fact that we will be driving to Disney this Christmas and am looking to see how others in the area have done it. The last time we did the drive was 6 years ago, so I'm definitely rusty.

Did you leave early in the morning and drive straight through or make it a 2 day trip? Any advice on hotels along the road?

We are 2AD and 3CH - 14, 10, 9. I must admit I am a little nervous about it. I will be doing most of the driving 'cause DH has trouble with falling asleep at the wheel.

I'm looking forward to seeing Pedro on those South of the Border signs.

 

[bookwormde]

I am a straight through driver who does not mind night driving on the interstates. I leave 10pm and drive most of the way with DW taking over if I get tired. We make it in about 15 hrs with the required kids stops. The best thing is we are past half way when the kids wake up.

bookwormde

 

[4Seasons]

We've done it both ways, but are now at the point we make it a 2 day trip.
It just got too hard on my and DH's body to either leave at 3am or leave the evening before and drive all night, catch a few zzzz's at a rest stop early AM then continue on.

We now will drive to Savannah (about 9 hours from us), spend the night at one of our favorite Hampton Inn's and drive the remainder the next day.

That way we aren't spending the next day or so recovering from the straight drive (and being grouchy!).

 

[tmccullough]

The last time we did it from MD, my kids were the exact same ages as your kids. We left around 7:00 in the evening and drove it straight. To our amazement, after about 10:00 once we passed Kings Dominion, the kids slept pretty much the entire way so we didn't stop for the restrooms until we hit the FL rest area. By the way, tell your kids not to get too excited when you hit the FL state line, because you still have almost 3 hours to go! HTH

 

[GranddadTom]

We live just north of Washington. In addition to loving WDW, our daughter and her family live just north of Orlando so we make the trip 4 or 5 times a year. We always drive just because we'd prefer to avoid the hassle and uncertainty of flying. We usually wait for rush hour to settle down then get on Rt. 270 around 9:30 am. That puts us at the VA/NC border around 12:30, with Pedro before 3:30, comfortably on Rt. 95 in SC at evening rush hour, entering Florida at 7:30 pm and at WDW by 10:30 pm. Oops - last month it took 30 minutes longer because traffic was stopped for that long on Rt. 95 in Georgia at milepost 30 because of bridge construction. Yep, I know what you mean about the Florida border. That's milepost 383 in Florida. Get onto I-4 at milepost 260. It's a much easier trip now than it was in the 60's before I-95 was open!

 

[Uncleromulus]

Been a couple of years since we've driven, but we used to do it on a regular basis. Left WAAAY early in the A.M.(3:00 AM to be exact) to beat the DC horror. Took the by-pass around Richmond and Jacksonville. Made it a 2 day trip (way too tired when we used to drive straight thru). Stop in Brunswick Ga. on the way down, stay at Hampton Inn. On the way back stop in Emporia Va. also at Hampton Inn.
PS: Tho not in Maryland, we're just over the line. And lots of driving trips when we used to live in Perry Hall.

 

[DisGal520]

wdwluver -

just noticed your signature. Now why the heck do you want to drive!!! We got some really good SW fares and yep - its just 2 hrs and 10 min by plane to Orlando.


We arrive so much more rested than driving and save 2 days down and 2 days back that can be spent in FL.

But good travels to you which ever you choose

 

[lindal]

DH will not fly so we always drive. Last year was the first time we have done it since having kids. I have twins and they were three at the time. We left right around lunch time on a Friday and ended up spending the night in Florence, SC. We made the trip back a two day trip also. We'll be doing it again this year when the kiddos are 4

Before we had kids we would just leave around 6 or7 in the morning and drive all the way through but that just doesn't work now.

 

[WillCAD]

I've made the drive many times from Baltimore. From the Ft McHenry Tunnel, it's 930 miles and takes about 14 hours, depending on traffic and stops. I've always driven straight thru, no overnight stops. But I've always had two drivers, and a couple of times I had 3, to share the choores. Switching off every 2-3 hours really takes the stress off.

I've done it both overnight and early-bird. both ways have pros and cons, but I generally prefer early-bird.

Overnight, you miss most of the traffic, which is a pro. But the cons are - you are VERY tired the next day, and driving overnight through the Carolinas and Georgia, gas stations and rest stops often close in teh wee hours, so you have to be cautious about your gas consumption and bladder control. When I've driven overnight, I usually start at about 3pm, so I can get through Baltimore and DC before the afternoon rush hour starts; that usually gets me to Richmond after the afternoon rush hour is over. But be warned - Friday rush hours begin at 3pm in DC, so if you plan on driving on a Thursday or Friday, wait till about 7pm to leave Baltimore.

Early-bird, I usually like to start at about 3-4am. This puts me through Baltimore, DC, and Richmond before the morning rush begins, and then the roads are pretty empty the rest of the way to Florida. This puts you into Orlando around late dinner time, giving you time to check in, get dinner, and relax for the evening before getting a good night's sleep and starting fresh in the morning.

 

[wdwluver]

Thanks, everyone for your responses. You've given me a lot of great information. I was considering leaving leaving sometime after work on Thursday 12/18, but according to what Willcad has said, we would do better to wait until around 7 to avoid the rush hour traffic. I know Virginia traffic is bad - going 95 south. We definitely want to avoid that, and are also considering starting out on 301 and hitting 95 around the King's Dominion area.

I also am toying with the idea of leaving at 3am on 12/19 to get ahead of that Virginia traffic. Though I would probably have to be sleeping on the way home from work that day just to make sure I'm well rested for that early morning drive. Just a couple more questions.

4Seasons - is the Hampton inn you stay at in Savannah close to 95? That might be a help, and a 9 hour starting drive doesn't sound to bad. We plan on going to Discovery Cove the day after we arrive, so I want to be well rested to enjoy myself.

DisGal520 - I've looked at the Southwest fares for our time period 12/19-12/27 and I just can't get myself to spend over $1000 on airfare and then another $500 on rental car. If you've seen something less, please let me know. I'm probably spoiled by previous fares, but last year when we went, I paid $49 per person each way and want something at least close to that.

Thanks.

 

[DisGal520]

wdwluver - we book SW months in advance and watch for fare to go down via their web-only specials. Then we go onine and rebook at the lower rate. We have a $205 credit per person for the trip in 2 weeks (fares droped 4 times for us). Right now our particular flights are $54 and $99 (the 99 one went back up once from 88 so we left it alone at 88). This means the airfare for our next trip is essentially paid for.

We also use DME so we aren't renting cars at the airport, and use the Disney bus system to take us everywhere. However if you are staying off site, DME is not an option for you. So you would need a rental car or rely on the hotel's limited bus service to the parks (many hotels charge for that service, though not all do). Just something to keep in mind for next trip.

But it looks as though your family is going to be there over Christmas and that is wonderful. You will have a great time - enjoy!!!!


DisGal

 

[Uncleromulus]

If you leave at 3 am, you will probably be able to get farther than Savannah before you need to stop.
Leaving that early we are able to get to Brunswick by 5 PM--and that includes a stop for a full breakfast and a # of rest stops along the way.
When we leave Brunswick at 6:00 AM. we're checking in at OKW long about 10:30--sometimes even at 10.

 

[n2mm]

I'm tried mentioning to DH that it would be interesting to drive, but he refuses. With BWI and Dulles an hour's drive from our house, that's all the driving we do. We decided to do a last minute trip for next weekend and the fares at SW were $54 each way. Sorry OP that your hubby won't fly.

 

[WillCAD]

I'm tried mentioning to DH that it would be interesting to drive, but he refuses. With BWI and Dulles an hour's drive from our house, that's all the driving we do. We decided to do a last minute trip for next weekend and the fares at SW were $54 each way. Sorry OP that your hubby won't fly.

Having made the drive from Baltimore so many times, I can tell you with absolute certainty - it's not an "interesting" drive. It's boring. It's dull. It's tedious. And certain times of the year, it's actually smelly (Georgia swamps along I-95 stink in the heat of summer.)

 

[4Seasons]

This is the Hampton Inn we stay at (3 times so far):

http://hamptoninn.hilton.com/en/hp/...ionid=OKCINMN2HXG1WCSGBJBN2EQ?ctyhocn=SAVNOHX

It's right on I-95 north. Always been very happy with this property.
Small but nice heated pool and spa, and a few restaurants just down the road.

 

[NemoFansMommy]

We're in Harford County and we drove last March. Because my Dad has brain cancer and we were traveling with a 2yo, we broke the trip down into 3 days. I. would. not. recommend. this. The kids (8.5 & 2) did much better than the 4 adults in the car. WillCAD was right, the trip was dull. Other than Pedro (and he gets old after the second or third sign ) there really isn't much to look at.

We stayed at both a Hampton Inn and three different Best Westerns, all of them were very clean and very nice. The Hampton Inn we stayed at in VA was brand new, very nice. We picked hotels that had continental breakfasts since none of us are *big* breakfast eaters and what was offered was more than enough to get us on the road with full bellies.

I used Mapquest to map out where were good places to stop. I put in our starting point and our ending point. From there, you can play around with it to figure out a good place to stop. It's good for mapping out your hotel stop too, I was able to find places right off the interstate.

One thing I will mention, we left on a Saturday morning and we *stupidly* decided not to get on the road until about 9 am. We were slow leaving FL, but once we hit GA we came to an almost complete stop. I'll have to check with my hubby who did most of the driving, but I think for the most part GA was down to just two lanes, in some spots I think it was just one lane. Even though there was no construction going on because it was Saturday, all of the equipment was on the side of the road and it really slowed us down. We were supposed to be in the car for about 7-7.5 hours, we ended up being in the car for 12 hours. That includes our rest stops, but we ended up making the most minimum of stops, even going through a drive thru for dinner and stopping only long enough for the driver to eat a burger real quick.

Sorry about the rates over Christmas, it really is a crime that they up the prices just because it's a holiday!!! Good luck with the drive, I'm sure you all will do fine!

 

[wdwluver]

This is the Hampton Inn we stay at (3 times so far):

http://hamptoninn.hilton.com/en/hp/...ionid=OKCINMN2HXG1WCSGBJBN2EQ?ctyhocn=SAVNOHX

It's right on I-95 north. Always been very happy with this property.
Small but nice heated pool and spa, and a few restaurants just down the road.

Thanks for the info 4Seasons. I'm checking it out now.

 

[FOTM_Ring_Bearer]

With a family of 5, we always drive. We drive straight through from Annapolis.

We've done the leave around 5pm and drive through the night. That just was too hard. You're beat when you arrive. And driving through the Carolina's is boring enough without doing it at 2am.

We've also done the take 2 days and spend the night in Savannah. There are several Hampton inn off I95 in Savannah. We've stayed at the one off Rt207 (I think that's the right rt) But that seemed like a waste unless you want to spend some in Savannah. Which is a very cool place to visit.

The last few trips we've been leaving between 4 and 5am and driving straight through. We try to keep our stops short and arrive around 7pm or so. This seems to work best for us. When we get to Disney, we have dinner and relax.

We also do not take the Richmond and Jacksonville bypasses unless we hit them around rush hour. The Jacksonville one is especially out of the way.

 

[pwdebbie]

I just posted a question elsewhere about Allegiant Air. They just started flights out of Hagerstown, MD, this weekend. They are the ONLY commercial flight coming and going from there. Monday and Friday only. Right now they are running a special of $79.00 each way (hmmm, three days ago I thought it said $59.00). With only one commercial flight, you won't have to worry about luggage getting lost, I would hope. You might want to check out the info here: http://www.flyhagerstown.com . Hagerstown is about an hour from BWI and the DC airports. Might be something to consider.

Deb
POFQ, Oct. 2007

 

[GranddadTom]

As Nemo's Mom mentioned, the return trip takes a little planning also. My experience has been that everyone leave WDW at the same time (after Orlando rush hour dies down) and they all jump onto Rt. 95 at the same time. The result is that they create their own day long rolling traffic jam all the way up Rt. 95. If you can get up early and be on the road by 5:00 am you will be out of Florida before 8:00 am and well clear of Jacksonville before their rush hour. I also do not take the bypasses at Jacksonville or Richmond.