For 2,000+ mile round-trip drivers only!

[joyfulscrapper]

Well, we made our first 2,000 mile round trip and made it home safely on Friday last week! It really wasn't nearly as bad as DH or I expected with 3 young children. We all did really well, especially DH who drove the ENTIRE way! This is approximately what we did...

We left our South Jersey home around 1:30 am on a Tuesday (election day, in fact). Stopped for gas pretty much right away and some coffee for DH. We drove non stop for quite a while since all the kids were asleep (though it did take them a good hour to get back to sleep after waking up to leave for Disney!) and stopped for breakfast around 7:30-8 am for about an hour. We made it through DC with absolutely no problems, but of course, it was only about 4am. We stayed on 95 right through and didn't bypass it at all. Then we drove on until we stopped for lunch and dined in for about an hour again. Then we decided we'd try to find a hotel for the night at about 3pm, which we did, in Hardeeville, SC, just north of Savannah, GA. The next morning we left around 9:30am and made it to our resort around 2pm. With 3 kids, we know we need to stop often for the bathroom, but we always tried to make the stops as brief as possible. Still, that and the long sit down meals, obviously made our trip a little longer, but I feel it made it more bearable too.

On the way home, DH was really homesick and wanted to drive straight through. I thought he was crazy, but we did it. We left the resort around 11am on a Thursday. I don't remember when we stopped for meals on the way back, but we did a drive through for lunch and Cracker Barrel for dinner. We made it home around 5am the next morning. Amazingly, all 3 kids went back to sleep quickly after getting home and slept until around 9:30am! I really didn't expect that. I can't believe DH did all the driving himself - I was willing to do my share, but he wanted to do it all!

We did see 3 bad accidents in our travels, though, so I feel blessed that we were spared from being involved in them. The first was on the way down. It had just started raining. And we saw a FedEx tractor trailer across 2 lanes of the highway with it's cab over the edge in a ravine. The second and third were on the way home. They were both really scary and upsetting. The first involved a motorcyclist and a Hummer. The cyclist was lying in the median with others involved around him. No emergency vehicles had arrived yet and I just prayed he'd be ok. The second involved several vehicles, one was upside down and another on its side, and others as well. I kept thinking how there were a couple of cars several miles before that had passed us doing very high speeds and wondered if they were the reason for the accident. Luckily my kids didn't see any of them because they were sleeping or watching a movie. But I still pray those involved were able to recover. It kind of made me wonder if I'd be willing to make the trip again...

Thanks, everyone, for the inspiration to make it through the drive! Reading all of your posts help me be less stressed about it and gave me a lot of helpful information!

 

[MinMouse]

Joyful -- so glad to hear you all had a good trip and were spared any involvement in the accidents you saw. Coming back from WDW a few years ago we saw the remnants of an accident that involved a u-haul. It was terrible this family's stuff was all over the road. It looked like the u-haul had been cut open with a can opener. Fortunately it appeared no people were hurt. We were still in Florida and it was a sobering thought driving all the way back home. Glad you home safely!

 

[shafke]

While falling crude oil prices continue to translate at the pump in the form of sub-$2 per gallon prices, there seems to be no corresponding drop in airline ticket prices.

The airlines have been bleeding money for so long that I would not expect any drops in prices.

One thing I have not been tracking is if all those companies that have been adding fuel surcharges have been dropping the surcharges as the price og oil hasropped.

 

[RobnRud]

I am in no way trying to defend the airlines (especially since I can't find decent fares for March). A friend thought they read somewhere that back in the summer when oil was high, airlines locked in prices thinking the price was still going to continue to increase. So now they are stuck with the liocked in prices from before!! Maybe someone out there knows about this more than just my heresay (but it does kinda explain the high fares).
Robin

 

[Fwd Facing Tentacles]

I know us drivers are all happy about falling gas prices but there is one other thing to consider. Some of us also own stocks and right now the stock market and the price of oil are completely tied together. So what's better: $4 gas and 14,000 Dow or $1.50 gas and 6,000 Dow? I don't mean to put a damper on cheap gas, especially since we're driving down soon ourselves, but there's another side to everything. Just something to think about.

 

[BC1836]

I know us drivers are all happy about falling gas prices but there is one other thing to consider. Some of us also own stocks and right now the stock market and the price of oil are completely tied together. So what's better: $4 gas and 14,000 Dow or $1.50 gas and 6,000 Dow? I don't mean to put a damper on cheap gas, especially since we're driving down soon ourselves, but there's another side to everything. Just something to think about.

Indeed, Fwd Facing Tentacles! To be sure, the day after we arrived home from WDW on October 8, 2007, the DJIA closed at 14,164.53, the popular index's all-time high. Since then, it's been worse than a Country Bear Jamboree market! Actually, we had paid $2.73 a gallon at WDW Hess during our week's stay.

 

[Kerlynne]

Hello! We have decided to drive down to our Disney Trip in less than 2 weeks from now!
This will be our 4th trip driving and what we found best for us is to be driving when the kids will be sleeping. So that means getting on the road sometime around 8pm. Takes us about an hour to get of Jersey. And I think 4 hours to get to Virginia. 3 hours per Carolina states and then 2 though Ga, and I think 3 hours through Fl. I know it took about a hour on I-4, so can't remember if that is an additional hour, i think is is. Which places us at our resort noonish. The hardest part for the kids will be when they normally wake up, so say 7am to the time we get there.
I keep asking myself if this was dumb, as I'm not a big car rider. I'm better if I'm driving, but how can you resist the 2 hour flight over 17hour drive. And we did see Spirit has one way $33 flight, but to get the return at the price would get us home midnight Sunday night, which would force our teenager to miss another day of school, which isn't a good idea. Plus now that this "cheap" airliner has hiked the per bag cost, which was a cheap flight isn't any longer.
We flew this past May and it was so stressful! Our 22 month son really did well, but with all the CRAP they need and making them sit for 2 1/2 hours is hard. Maybe it's easier to have the carseat, so they are forced in the plane to sit, but that would mean another thing to haul. And to make matters worse both boys were sick with high fevers on the way home. The baby was crying, sure the air pressure was makeing matters worse.
The biggest reason for driving this trip too was so we can pack whatever we wanted, and having cooler days means more clothes. We can choose to leave and go when we need and if our kids get sick, we can just find another hotel, even off property if needed, to get the boys well, and not be forced to leave at selected time the air was booked.
So glad to see gas prices come down! I love the www.gasbuddy.com site. Shows you were to go to find cheapest rates.
Sorry for rambling...it's a jersey thing!

 

[BC1836]

We believe that several posters on this thread will be making THE drive next week. Yes?

 

[Fwd Facing Tentacles]

We believe that several posters on this thread will be making THE drive next week. Yes?

Yes. It looks like on and off chance of snow showers during the week for the northern part of the trip but nothing too bad. It's too early yet to check the return trip in the 10 day forecast. WDW looks like 60s Tuesday and Wednesday, 70s Thursday and Friday, and chance of showers the following weekend. But any weather at WDW is better than great weather anywhere else. Except maybe for when a hurricane is passing through...

 

[WDisneyWforMe]

Hello all

We'll be making the trip to WDW from Oklahoma City, OK. We leave on December 12th and are really hoping the weather will stay good for the drive. I've made the trip 4 other times with my brother and his family but this will be the first trip with my niece and her two DD's, who by the way are really not car travel people . A bit nervous about the trip but anticipating a great trip nonetheless! We only had trouble on one of our drives, we ran into dense fog on our drive home in Alabama and Mississippi, that was terrible, please wish us luck that we don't run into that this time!

I've not looked back through the messages yet to see if there are any others driving our direction during the same time frame but I plan too. But just wanted to sign on a wish everyone making the drive to see Mickey a very safe and happy trip!

 

[sherry8253]

This is the first time in years we are not driving. But we got such a great price on airline tickets and gas prices were through the roof so we decided to fly. We were just saying at breakfast we will miss driving down this year.

 

[pilferk]

We believe that several posters on this thread will be making THE drive next week. Yes?

Yup, we leave on Wedenesday...arrive on Thursday.

Weather up here looks fine for the start of the drive. Weather down there looks better today (mid 70's to low 80's most days) than it did yesterday, according to the accuweather site for the next 15 days. I know..it's a crap shoot on predicting that far in advance, but even weather.com is showing the temps in the mid 70's for the days we'll be there in it's 10 day forcast.

 

[Julia M]

I'd like to ask some questions of all you "experienced" drivers.

We are planning to drive from San Francisco to Tucson, in summer. It's 868 miles, one way. I am NOT a great distance driver, so this is new to me. We are doing it to save money. So, we don't want to stop for a hotel obvernight along the way.

We will have 2 adults and three kids (ages 12, 14 and 14) The kids can be pretty independent......listening to iPods, watching movies, reading, playing games, etc

How do you estimate how long it will take? What snacks/foods do you bring along? Any suggestions for a "newbie"?

Thanks

Julia

 

[garmich]

I'd like to ask some questions of all you "experienced" drivers.

We are planning to drive from San Francisco to Tucson, in summer. It's 868 miles, one way. I am NOT a great distance driver, so this is new to me. We are doing it to save money. So, we don't want to stop for a hotel obvernight along the way.

We will have 2 adults and three kids (ages 12, 14 and 14) The kids can be pretty independent......listening to iPods, watching movies, reading, playing games, etc

How do you estimate how long it will take? What snacks/foods do you bring along? Any suggestions for a "newbie"?

Thanks

Julia

When I plan a road trip, I always go to Google Maps: http://maps.google.com/
To get the distance and approximate time, click on "Get Directions". You'll get a step-by-step routing to your destination. This will give you a good estimate of the travel time. I usually come close to the estimated times and lots of times I will arrive earlier (when it's all interstate highway). You can also change the route by dragging the blue line to another road. The distance and time will be adjusted accordingly.

According to Google Maps, the approx. time for your trip would be just under 13 hours, which is about what we do on the first day of our trips to Florida. For us, it's an overnight stay at a motel. 20 to 21 hours is a bit too much for me.

 

[RoadWarrior52]

We've done the 3000 mile round trip at least once a year since 1975 (New Hampshire to Florida)! Back in those days I-95 was only partially completed (Virginia and the Carolinas were still building portions) and The Magic Kingdom was the only park! It seemed like an eternity ago. But that first trip remains the most magical.

 

[pwdebbie]

This is the first time in years we are not driving. But we got such a great price on airline tickets and gas prices were through the roof so we decided to fly. We were just saying at breakfast we will miss driving down this year.

Are you flying out of MDT? Air Tran? I'm interested to hear your experience. We will be flying for the first time next November. But the more we talk about it, I think we are quickly talking ourself out of flying. We are halfway between MDT and the Hagerstown airport (where Allegiant just started non-stop flights to Sanford).

Deb
POFQ, Oct. 2007

 

[loribell]

Hello all

We'll be making the trip to WDW from Oklahoma City, OK. We leave on December 12th and are really hoping the weather will stay good for the drive. I've made the trip 4 other times with my brother and his family but this will be the first trip with my niece and her two DD's, who by the way are really not car travel people . A bit nervous about the trip but anticipating a great trip nonetheless! We only had trouble on one of our drives, we ran into dense fog on our drive home in Alabama and Mississippi, that was terrible, please wish us luck that we don't run into that this time!

I've not looked back through the messages yet to see if there are any others driving our direction during the same time frame but I plan too. But just wanted to sign on a wish everyone making the drive to see Mickey a very safe and happy trip!

Lots of luck coming your way for a great drive down and back. What part of Oklahoma are you in? We have started driving out I-40 until we get to Nashville and then heading South. I like that drive a lot better. Of course that could be even more iffy during a winter drive since it goes through a bit of the mountains.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[BC1836]

Let's see: Fwd Facing Tentacles departed today and Pilferk is departing on Wednesday. We're not going to be left out of this northeast caravan much longer! Our short-term countdown has begun!
Perhaps, the OK crew will be headin' out, too!

 

[pilferk]

Let's see: Fwd Facing Tentacles departed today and Pilferk is departing on Wednesday. We're not going to be left out of this northeast caravan much longer! Our short-term countdown has begun!
Perhaps, the OK crew will be headin' out, too!

Yup, we fueled up the van last night (it's going nowhere the next couple of days). Grand total for the fill-up, which was close to 20 gallons.....38 cents. Yup, you read that right....38 cents.

Our grocery store (Price Chopper) offers, for every certain amount you spend, a per gallon discount (which accumulates) at a local gas station. We'd been "saving up" the discount for just this purpose. They can't give it to you "free"..they have to charge something like 1.9 cents per gallon...but our discount basically brought the cost down as low as legally possible.



Tonight: Packing the car and prepping the house.

 

[loribell]

Yup, we fueled up the van last night (it's going nowhere the next couple of days). Grand total for the fill-up, which was close to 20 gallons.....38 cents. Yup, you read that right....38 cents.

Our grocery store (Price Chopper) offers, for every certain amount you spend, a per gallon discount (which accumulates) at a local gas station. We'd been "saving up" the discount for just this purpose. They can't give it to you "free"..they have to charge something like 1.9 cents per gallon...but our discount basically brought the cost down as low as legally possible.



Tonight: Packing the car and prepping the house.

Now I like those gas prices! Have a great trip. Will be looking forward to hearing all about it afterwards.