Book hotels in advance or just stop on drive to FL

[wendyt_ca]

we are driving to Orlando in October and we are trying to make decisions on how to do our stops. We drove a couple of years ago and booked them in advance. We were planning to stop for 2 nights in NYC then Myrtle beach on the way down however I just lost my job so we need to keep things cheap... Other than the drive everything else has been paid for so that's why we are still going. And we have some money set aside for the trip.
So now I am trying to keep costs down so instead of doing 2.5 days down we are considering doing 2 days straight but can't decide. Then I'm trying to figure out how far we could reasonably make it on the first day (about 26 hours overall to FL). Is it difficult to find hotels along the way and what about pricing if you walk in?

 

[uccats97]

Depends on the day of week, location, what local events could be going on, etc. I always book in advance with a rate that can be cancelled without penalty if I drive. We have made the 923 mile drive in one day, but it's a loonnggg day! You could make your long trip in 2 very full days, if you have the patience and endurance. I realize your current situation (sorry) but you may find a steal on airfare from Frontier. They run specials all the time, though not sure if they are near you. Good luck!

 

[Skjhjb]

We drive from Southern Ontario (north of Toronto, about a 21-22 hour drive) and we just stop along the way, no pre-booking.

We usually drive down I75, and I have found the Along I-75 book extremely helpful in planning. Each page of the book is about 20-30 minutes of drive time, so I will flip through and use it to estimate where we aim to be by the end of our driving day. It will list what hotels are in that area.

But I drove with my Mom in November last year, and we took the 77/95 route. Less hotels along the way, but we made it work quite well.

We've always found driving to be less expensive for sure - there are 5 of us, so even cheap $300 flights would cost way more than packing up the van and driving for us!

 

[MommyRobin]

We have always stopped at the welcome centres as soon as you enter each state. They give out booklets that have hotel coupons in them and we've gotten great deals that way.

 

[Veronique]

Last summer, we prepared everything the night before, went to bed at 8 PM (well at least I tried lol *last minute planning*) and woke up and left at 3 AM the next morning. This way, you can do a very long first day of driving with stops for restroom only and skip the line at the border. We ate in the car with prepared lunch and snacks the first day (saved a lot of $$). We did 14 hours, but we had a 4 months old baby and had to stop every 3hours for 15-30 minutes for breaks! I'm pretty sure we could have done 16 hours without the baby. We prefer a long first day and "shorter" second day instead of 50/50. The second day is too dreadful if it's not less then the day before lol!

We did not book in advance, but I made a list of hotel / motel along the way that were under 100$/night (and look reviews on tripadvisor). With Google maps, you can identify cities along the way. I had hotels adress from 10h to 16h from departure. We had a GPS with us, so it was easy to input the adress on the way. October shouldnt be a "high season" anywhere on the way. We had better price in "smaller" cities.

We left at 6 or 7 the next morning and were at our hotel around 8-9 PM if I remember. Again, we made extra stops for the baby.

If you are only adults, I would save more money and sleep in my car in a wal-mart parking lot!

 

[wendyt_ca]

Depends on the day of week, location, what local events could be going on, etc. I always book in advance with a rate that can be cancelled without penalty if I drive. We have made the 923 mile drive in one day, but it's a loonnggg day! You could make your long trip in 2 very full days, if you have the patience and endurance. I realize your current situation (sorry) but you may find a steal on airfare from Frontier. They run specials all the time, though not sure if they are near you. Good luck!

Thanks! Flying isn't an option. Frontier isn't near us and flights from where we live are roughly $550/pp. Last time we drove it cost us under $400 in gas for the entire trip. And this way we don't need a rental car for a week of the trip

If you are only adults, I would save more money and sleep in my car in a wal-mart parking lot!

It is only me and my husband, no kids. I have considered this but I get a bit scared sleeping overnight in the car lol! And I'm not sure if we would be allowed to sleep in a Walmart parking lot without an RV.

All this info is super helpful though! Getting the books at the welcome center is a great idea!

 

[Disneylover99]

We just drove down a few days ago for the first time. We drove 77/95 and we didn't pre book anything. We had an idea of where we would stop and as we drove I just looked up deals on the Internet. We easily found hotels for under a $100 a night.

 

[Pinkgurlshubby]

We are leaving in a few days for the trip. We've flown and driven so there is not much of a difference for us. We are used to a 12 hour drive anyways just to visit relatives so a long drive for us is not unusual. We have done the drive straight through, stopping in a hotel parking lot for about an hour somewhere near Columbia I think. OK I would not recommend ever doing that again even if we made record time. For this trip we have prebooked our hotels at about the halfway point. Now we have goals we have to meet so tired or not we have to keep driving because the hotels are already paid. I'll decide in a few weeks if it was worth it

 

[bankr63]

Now we have goals we have to meet so tired or not we have to keep driving because the hotels are already paid. I'll decide in a few weeks if it was worth it

And this is why we don't make ressies in advance. Even with cancellable reservations, you get delayed, you get tired, you keep driving because it is easier to go to the reservation than it is to cancel and make a closer destination, and then "that's when the trouble started...".

We make no plans. Pick up hotel coupon books at the state welcome centres like MommyRobin. I carry the CAA/AAA guides to check the hotel rating, but also have data on my phone, so could do the TripAdvisor check route. The only time this didn't work for us was trying to stop near Savannah GA on St Patty's Day weekend. Who knew it was such a big event in the south? But we just drove another 45ish minutes and had no problem finding a hotel.

 

[ottjdub]

DW and I normally take turns driving from the Ottawa area (23hrs) and go straight though on the way down. On the way back we will stop at about the 12-13 hr mark depending on how we feel. We use an App called Hotels Tonight. You can only book up to 7 days in advance and usually at a great discount. Mobile App is only way to see and book hotels. The website is not used to book. https://www.hoteltonight.com/

 

[Pinkgurlshubby]

We're back!!!
OK for the ride down the hotel is 9 hours away and we left around 4:30 pm after my wife finished work. This was perfect but the next day was a bit rough because even if the GPS says it's only 10 hours you also have gas food and comfort stops. We arrived at our hotel in Cocoa beach around 1:30 am. Our return trip was more insane. We are used to long drives so this is not that much of a bother for us but we booked an airboat swamp tour and after lunch and gas we left Kissemmee around 1:30 pm so we arrived at the hotel around 3am. I probably would have booked a hotel a hundred miles prior to Beckley west Virginia for the return trip. I do know some people who also do not book anything in advance and use their phones to search hotels on the way when they are tired. We were after reward points and booked ahead. I have no regrets

 

[stayhomemom77]

I always book in advance and so far we've never had a problem. I've gotten pretty good at estimating when/where we will need to stop. Yes, sometimes you have to drive when you are starting to feel tired or just want to get OUT of the car, but the ONE time I decided to just wing it, we had a dickens of a time finding something and ended up driving father than we planned anyway. We were so exhausted, it was ridiculous! Much better (for us) to be sure of a room and just power through until we get there.

 

[DavidL]

We have made the trek to Disney World the past 4 years in a row. We've learned that it is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT to have a hotel booked in Orlando on a Saturday night - don't just wing it.. We've been stuck going from hotel to hotel on a Saturday night at midnight trying to find a room - never again.. If you know for sure which day you are arriving in Orlando, book a room - even if you don't book any other rooms along the drive down..

 

[Skjhjb]

We have made the trek to Disney World the past 4 years in a row. We've learned that it is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT to have a hotel booked in Orlando on a Saturday night - don't just wing it.. We've been stuck going from hotel to hotel on a Saturday night at midnight trying to find a room - never again.. If you know for sure which day you are arriving in Orlando, book a room - even if you don't book any other rooms along the drive down..

Totally agree!

That is the one hotel we booked ahead. We have only gone twice, but we stayed off site our first night in Orlando (arrived mid-late afternoon), had dinner & a quiet evening, then got up early, checked in at our Disney resort and hit the Magic Kingdom for rope drop. Once our room was ready, the second visit it was not, but we had a vehicle so we just left all our luggage in the van and hit the park!

 

[youngb1978]

We drive from Southern Ontario (north of Toronto, about a 21-22 hour drive) and we just stop along the way, no pre-booking.

We usually drive down I75, and I have found the Along I-75 book extremely helpful in planning. Each page of the book is about 20-30 minutes of drive time, so I will flip through and use it to estimate where we aim to be by the end of our driving day. It will list what hotels are in that area.

But I drove with my Mom in November last year, and we took the 77/95 route. Less hotels along the way, but we made it work quite well.

We've always found driving to be less expensive for sure - there are 5 of us, so even cheap $300 flights would cost way more than packing up the van and driving for us!

Which route did tour prefer. We arw leaving orlando Sunday and debating on taking the other way instead of the 75

 

[Skjhjb]

Which route did tour prefer. We arw leaving orlando Sunday and debating on taking the other way instead of the 75

Hmmmm - we really found it to be 6 of one, half a dozen of the other - I75 does have way more along it as far as hotels and such. But since it isn't snowy, the other route is a bit faster I think. Lots of hills, so not great for winter driving. But since it isn't winter - it does make for a nice change!

 

[youngb1978]

Hmmmm - we really found it to be 6 of one, half a dozen of the other - I75 does have way more along it as far as hotels and such. But since it isn't snowy, the other route is a bit faster I think. Lots of hills, so not great for winter driving. But since it isn't winter - it does make for a nice

It has less larger cities it looks like.