Any advice for 1st time driving to WDW?

[Sirius]

We usually fly to WDW but with airfare so high, I think we will drive. It's just the two of us. The trip is only 12 hours. And, I'll save over $400.00.

Any advice, hints, insights on driving to WDW?

Thanks!

 

[dzneelvr]

It's a good idea to be specific and ask closer to your travel date exactly what you will encounter on the routes you'll be driving.
We drive 12 hours to Dollywood in eastern Tennessee every other summer--it's a long trip but too short to fly.
If I were you I'd drive all night and get to WDW early in the am so you have the whole day ahead of you. Trade off drivers so the other can nap. I wouldn't waste good daylight in a car. Plus, you avoid all traffic in and around major cities and no possibility of getting stuck in rush hours.
And finally, keep reading the threads on this board. The information is right-on!
WDW ON JUNE 24

 

[Aimeedyan]

We drove from Central Texas about two weeks ago and really enjoyed it. You can do it two ways, really. Make it a true road trip by scoping out cool sites on the way, stopping often, and maybe even staying overnight (though 12 hours isnt worth overnight, IMO). Or you could do a commando trip and drive straight through, eat in the car, etc etc and just GET THERE.

We chose commando - we started on a Fri night and drove straight through. Got there in 17 hours, including all stops. We didn't stop for anything but meals to go and gas. We were in Disney by dinner on Saturday. THe drive overnight was easy and quiet - daytime drives were more congested and frustrating. I'm glad the bulk of it was overnight.

We'll do it again. Tips I can think of:
- shop for snacks ahead of time. Stick the bag of junk food in between the front seats. Gas stations are EXPENSIVE and you'll want to munch on stuff
- bring a cooler full of cokes. We saved a TON from this, and then continued to use our cooler at WDW and never had to buy a drink
- check out some reads from the local library =)
- if you have a laptop, consider bringing it and watching DVDs. We didn't use this as much as we thought we would, but did on occasion
- bring extra pillows and blankets to wrap up in =)
- make sure you have a good map!

That's all I can think of... 12 hours is a piece of cake - I'd do it! You'll enjoy it, and have the added bonus of a car onsite. Good luck!

 

[Sirius]

Originally posted by dzneelvr

We drive 12 hours to Dollywood in eastern Tennessee every other summer--it's a long trip but too short to fly.

It is a Small World after all. I live 30 minutes from Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, etc.

 

[jimmytammy]

We always flew up until our most recent trip. DW or I had never driven more than 6 hrs at a time so it was all new to us. It turned out to be not so bad. We are approx 11 hrs from WDW and made it in 10 1/2 doing slightly above speed limit. It was hwy driving the whole time.

Some friends told us they drive every trip and gave us good tips so I will pass along:

Leave around 2-3am to avoid lots of traffic. We made great time because of this.

Time your journey if traveling during workday to not hit Jacksonville FL during rush hrs, nor do you want to hit Orlando during rush hrs.

Take turns driving.

Once you get to WDW take it easy, and dont try to get a park in. Relax and enjoy a nice meal, swim at pool, do somehing that will relax you. The next day it will make a lot of difference in how you feel. I know, I know, youre in WDW lets go have fun. I will give some insight on how to make up for that "lost" day soon. We wont cram a park in anymore after the drive.

You will enjoy having a car at WDW. It is great for getting to and from DTD. No more long waits for slow buses.

Now about the "lost" day. When you leave WDW on your last day wait til around 4-5pm. Why? Cause you make up that "lost" day at a park. Drive to get over the FL. border, approx 3 hrs assuming you are heading up I-95 to a town called Kingsland GA. Stay over night there. We stayed at The Country Inn & Suites. It isnt very big but is clean and comfortable with a nice complimentary cont. breakfast included. Call them ahead because they book up fast.

Get up next morning refreshed and head home.

It worked so well for us we are going back in Oct being able to afford another trip cause we dont HAVE to fly this time. At a minimum it costs us $800 to fly so driving seems more appealing to us on the plan above.

BTW where are you folks driving from? If coming in our general direction I can tell you which route is best. We have two and one is 45 mins shorter than the other. We drove both to find which was quicker. We live in central NC.

Sorry for the long post

 

[Sirius]

Originally posted by jimmytammy
BTW where are you folks driving from? If coming in our general direction I can tell you which route is best. We have two and one is 45 mins shorter than the other. We drove both to find which was quicker. We live in central NC.

We're close (Knoxville, Tennessee). More than likely, we'll be driving I-75 south.

Thanks for the tips!

 

[NALA 24]

We drove to WDW(1100 miles) for the first time last year. We left at 4 am and got to Savannah at about 7 pm, staying at the Country Inns and Suites. We stopped often and my best advice is to plan for a picnic breakfast and lunch along the way. This is my children's favorite part of the trip. It was actually less stessful driving than flying. In fact, we are driving again this year and also have a trip planned for Nashville(840 miles) earlier in the summer and are planning our stopover in Knoxville.
Any advice from the folks from Tennesse?

 

[Sirius]

Originally posted by NALA 24
In fact, we are driving again this year and also have a trip planned for Nashville(840 miles) earlier in the summer and are planning our stopover in Knoxville.
Any advice from the folks from Tennesse?

As usual, the Tennessee Department of Transportation is working on most of the interstate in and around Knoxville. (As you may or may not know, the orange construction barrel is the Tennessee state flower.)

If you hit Knoxville between 4pm and 7pm on a weekday, be prepared to sit in traffic.

Exit 378, Cedar Bluff, has at least 10 hotels/motels and loads of restaurants. In fact, most of the exits on I-40 west through Knoxville have at least 1 hotel.

I live in Knoxville, so if you have any questions feel free to ask.

 

[westjones]

We've drove through the night and we have broken it up into parts. The one we did last time was get up VERY early and then drive through the day. It is 17 hours to WDW from our home. If we were to get up at 4:00 am and leave by 5:00 am, we would be able to get there by 10:00 or 11:00 (depending on stops) that night.

NOW, we are going again in 5 weeks, and I have decided we are doing to leave in the afternoon on Friday (DH is working 1/2 day) and stop that night, and then drive almost all the way on Saturday and we check into POR on Sunday. I just didn't feel like doing the steady drive. I can do it some times, but this time I feel like taking it easy.

DJ

 

[NCRedding]

jimmytammy: We're from Asheboro, and will be staying at the Country Inn at Kingsland going down on Thursday. Do you recall how long it took you to get home from there? What route did you take--some send us down 220 to Florence, others recommend I-85 thru Charlotte, then 77 to 26 and then to 95. We'll be leaving early afternoon on Thurs. so we're leaning toward the Florence trip, otherwise we'd hit Charlotte at ruch hour and I have no desire to do that.

 

[jimmytammy]

We took the Charlotte route, I85,77,26,95,4. It took us around 10 1/2 hrs that way. It wouldnt have taken that long but I-4 got backed up about 45 mins from Orlando near Sanford Fl. There was construction plus Daytona bike week traffic.

From Kingsland it is approx. 7 hrs with good traffic flow to Burlington.

We came back I95,40,85. Longer route. My parents flew down for a couple of days and rode back so we had to take them to RDU to get their car.

Charlotte at rush hour can drive you

If there is any way to time your trip to miss that part of the day in Charlotte, I would still recommend that route. My experience with 220 has been that you hit all those little towns in between Seagrove and Florence and they have the business traffic also, with stoplights.

If you can bear through the Charlotte thing then the rest of the trip should be pretty easy. Personally, the less time you spend on I95 the better your sanity. Once you connect to 95 in SC it isnt far to the GA border. It makes you feel like the trip is almost over.

If you are AAA members they will provide you with some great info about places to stay, places to gas up. Also this forum has some great driving tips at the top of the page. Be sure to gas up in GA before leaving for FL. They are very proud of their gas in FL, about .20 per gal prouder.

Have fun planning!!

BTW we come to Asheboro a lot. We go to Badin Lake often. We also drive there to eat at Sir Pizza. We dont have any good pizza places here in Burlington other than the chains..Sounds crazy to drive 45 mins for pizza but we enjoy the drive through the country. Asheboro is a really nice town. The people we have met there are really good down home folks.

 

[manning]

the orange construction barrel is the Tennessee state flower.)

No it isn't. It is a mutated dandilion. With a little water(cash) and lots of sunshine they sprout up on paved roadways. They grow all over the country and don't go away until late fall, only to reappear again in the spring.

They are impossible to get rid of. Remove them from one spot and they reappear in another. They are known to grow best along cheaply built interstates. It has been suggested to get advise from Europe on how to vastly control them (not many around) but congress/construction interests have not taken advice (in committee being studied.) It was rumored that one senator from (West?) Virginia said it was the only way to get any bright color in his state.