Lancaster PA

[jam at akl]

Is anyone from or near Lancaster, PA? Have you driven to DW? Did you drive straight through? Any suggestions about where to stop/stay over night on the way? Thanks!!

 

[justjoannj]

I have driven twice from Lexington, VA. From there it is a 12 hour drive with no stops. It has taken us about 14 hous with stops. We have 3 drivers (me, my daughter and my son-in-law. This last trip also included 3 small kids (1,3,5)) Both times we have left about 2 or 3 a.m. to go down, but coming back we left after check out at about 10 or 11 a.m. We decided that if we do this again we will leave about 7 or 8 a.m. and drive during day light. With 2 stops for food and letting the kids run off some steam it worked much better. Hope this helps and have a GREAT time.

 

[Skip Wiley]

We're a couple hours west of you in Johnstown, probably drove the trip a dozen times over the past four years before flying the last couple of trips. We always enjoyed the drive, and after experimenting with different routes, stops, etc., settled in on driving to Florence, SC the first day and then on to Disney the 2nd day for our trips.

Florence has a couple of Marriot properties right off the exit, I usually have Marriot points to use so we either stay at the Residence Inn or Springhill Suites, they are right next to each other. There are restaurants very close and it's literally a mile from the exit.

Our normal routine would be to get on the road at 8 - 8:30 in the morning, stop for a sit-down lunch, say an hour to break up the trip, and get to Florence at 5:00 - 5:30, eat, swim, and bed. The next day if we left at 8 - 8:30, stop again for lunch, we'd be in Disney by 3:30 - 4:00. We'd repeat the route on the way home, it was really an easy trip and we actually enjoyed the time to talk, could get there faster by eating fast food on the way down but we always enjoyed taking a break for lunch.

 

[kwdw]

I'm a little south of Lancaster.

I plan to drive this fall for the first time, and I have been debating about this all, too. It's just too far for us to handle in one day anymore. Right now, the plan is to leave after Baltimore/DC rush hour (going to leave after work on a Friday night) - and drive at least 4 hours. Probably stop in southern VA or NC someplace. Crash at whatever hotel we can find, get a few hours sleep, and then up and out early to get to Orlando in time for dinner. Gonna pack just a little bag to take into the hotel overnight that has the main valuables and a few toiletries/change of clothes for the overnight so we don't have to unpack the car at the stop.

On the way back - I'm a bit more torn. We might try to do it non-stop - but that means we can't be exhausted - which is tough after a week of touring! Or - we might leave later in a day on the Saturday (maybe late afternoon) - drive as far as we can, stop, and finish on Sunday.

The plan might change, but I don't want to waste vacation time from work GETTING there and back. I'm also planning a Sept. trip - so I'm not really worried about finding a place to stop at without a reservation. I'll do some looking online shortly before we leave to pick out some options of hotels based on how long I expect we might drive - but for one night - I'm not too picky.

 

[dadio]

Skip,
Thought I would add....I'm from Johnstown as well!

so hello from one dvc member to another from flood city!

 

[jam at akl]

Thanks all! I cant decide whether to leave at 5pm and drive straight through, or stop overnight. Sounds like stopping 1/2 way may be best!

 

[hakepb]

Yea Landcaster!
My grandparents summer home in Mt. Gretna. I could go for a Jigger and a Birch beer

There's a Landcaster St. around here, but everyone pronounces it wrong (land-cast-er) if I try to say it correcly (Lank-est-er) nobody understands me.

But sorry, I never went to WDW from there so I'll let you go back to thread.

 

[WDWisTheBest]

Thanks all! I cant decide whether to leave at 5pm and drive straight through, or stop overnight. Sounds like stopping 1/2 way may be best!

I would highly suggest that you stop overnight. Are you going to use I-81 and I-77 to I-26 to I-95? Good luck.

 

[ness1996]

We live right outside of Hershey. We are planning on driving down this September. A friend of ours drives down about twice a year and takes the I-81 to I-77 to I-95 route. Its a little longer but we'll miss the whole Washington traffic thing. We are actually making the ride down part of the vacation and going to take it leisurely, depending on weather we might do some of the Skyline Dr on the way down. We are actually going to spend 2 nights on the road, leaving on a Sunday morning we are going to just see how far we get and find a hotel. We will easily make it to Orlando Monday night and I have a room booked at the Howard Johnson nearby. We will then be able to check in to Disney first thing Tuesday, be relaxed and enjoy a full first day.

 

[jam at akl]

Yes, that is what I think we will do! The more I think about it, the more I think we need to stay over rather than drive through the night. This is our first trip as DVC members, driving, and to AKV!!

 

[Uncleromulus]

We live in Glen Rock--just south of York. We always take I-95, but leave very early in the morning to beat the DC traffic.

We used to drive straight thru, but by the time we got to WDW we were beat and too tired to really do anything! So now when we drive, we usually stop in Brunswick Ga. and stay at the Hampton Inn. Next morning we're at WDW NLT than 10:00 AM!!

 

[Jaaron2]

We live in Kirkwood PA, 20 minutes south of Lancaster. We always fly down, I only drive as far as Myrtle Beach SC. Any father than that (which is about 10 hours) we typically fly. The one time we did drive down, which was a long time ago, we stopped and finished driving in the next day. Driving straight through is a long ride to recover from.

 

[bookwormde]

If you are on the south or west side of lancaster you are just about the same distance as we are and we drive straight through leaving in the early evening. 15-16 hours is typcial.

 

[Checkers]

Mechanicsburg here. We have driven down a few times (always fly now) and we stopped in Florence, SC overnight. I think it took us about 17 hrs. total. Arrived early afternoon the next day.

 

[Kimmy]

We lived in the Lehigh Valley (moved to OH 2 yrs ago). We always drive down. It would take us 16 hours. We leave in the evening & drive through the night. Less traffic. Twice we have stopped. Rocky Mount, NC (half way) and Savannah, GA. It was nice staying in Savannah. When we got up the next day I think we only had about 5 hours too go.

 

[katmittens]

We live north of you near Scranton, Pa. We have driven down about 30 times. We take I-81 and then 66 East to 17 near Warrenton, and then get on I-95 the rest of the way until I-4 in Florida. It takes us between 18 and 19 hours. We sometimes leave at four in the afternoon and stay in Va. and then stay the next nite in Kingsland, Ga. or we leave very early like 4 or 5 in the morning drive to Savannah, Ga and then are there the next day. It depends on school and work schedules.
We drove once down 81, 77, 26 to 96 and did not like it. We have stuck with our other route and are so familiar with it that we know where to stay and where to eat.
Hope you have a great trip.

 

[Carl'n'Ellie'sDad]

I would highly suggest that you stop overnight. Are you going to use I-81 and I-77 to I-26 to I-95? Good luck.

We live a little north of you in Berwick, just down the Susquehanna from Wilkes-Barre. I've generally run 14-16 hours of drive time. We have two little ones now, so we're going to try to start TH afternoon this summer and get to DeBary FL BR Fri afternoon, and recuperate from the drive there. We've used DeBary as a "staging area" several times and it works great -- leaves an hour drive to the World, which is easily manageable the next morning, and we often shop for supplies that evening.

Can't recommend WDW's route enough -- it'll seem very strange for you to drive west to Harrrisburg to go to Florida, but it will save you so many headaches in fighting Baltimore, DC, Northern VA traffic. We used to take I81 to US17 to I95 in Fredericksburg, but even the Fredericksburg to Richmond trip is a headache now. The drive through the mountains and Charlotte is SO much easier!

 

[RocketEAR99]

I'm from 45 minutes south of Lancaster. My family has driven down once. If you have more than 2 people going, it's worth it. With 2 or less, consider flying Southwest for a comparable deal. But definitely get an early (3 AM) start to beat the Baltimore, D.C. and Richmond, VA traffic. I-95 will get you there most of the way. We tried to go as far as we could the first day which meant staying overnight near Charleston, SC.

I highly recommend driving over flying at least once every now and then so you get to experience the gradual change in scenery on the way down. Also, be careful pulling off on the shoulder the further south you go (don't want your car to hit a fire ant mound)!!! They are pretty easy to spot at about 8 or so inches high and brown.

 

[Mama2Matthew]

We also live 45 minutes south of Lancaster. Our last flight with a toddler didn't go so well , so we decided to try the drive. We have now done it five times.

We have two drivers and leave in the later evening- usually between 7 and 9. We always tell the kids that the better they sleep, the further we'll go. We have made it straight through every time so far. As long as the passenger gets naps in, the first day in the parks is manageable. Sometimes I will book the room for the night we are driving to be sure that we can get in right away when we arrive. Going overnight, it takes us about 12.5 to 13.5 hours.

There was one trip where we left to come home in the morning. It ended up taking almost 16 hours, and the kids were awake for much of it. I'd much rather go at night, if possible.

 

[supersuperwendy]

I can't get my husband to agree to drive down.
It seems like so many people I talk to around here in PA drive, but we always fly. My parents always drove down when I was a kid and they still do in fact. I think my older kids would enjoy the "road trip" , but I'm concerned our toddler would be a handful on such a long drive. Now with airplanes cracking and TSA gropings I'm more inclined to drive now then ever before. We won't really have the time for the drive for our December trip, but I think for our trip next summer July 2012 I am going to talk him into driving it. Plus, having a car on WDW property would be awesome.

Have a safe drive OP!