Any DVC Folks drive from the east coast?

[tjhsr]

Do you think we can make GA by 10 or 11 at night if we leave at 2:00 or is that pushing it??

You might only make northern Ga. We always tried to get within 4 hrs from WDW. You might be 5 hrs out. Only problem might be monday morning with everyone going to work. so you might want to leave early monday.

 

[kaelarad]

we leave at 2:30 am and usually get to WDW by 4:30 in the afternoon. granted we do not have kids and there fore only have to stop for gas, food and restrooms.

Would never be at disney without and car and have to rely on disney transportation. Far more freedom. we just got back last week and the food was horrible so our trip at Christmas will not involve any meals in the parks or Restaurants. With the car we save major bucks on food and its better

 

[ssawka]

Funny you say that. We drove ONE time from MD and that was in Nov. 02. A very long time ago. After that we have only flown down. Now it was NOT bad going but coming back it was HORRIBLE. We were at DISNEY during Thanksgiving week. We departed the Sat. of Thanksgiving weekend. It took us forever to get out of FL. We could not find a hotel on the way home to spend the night. I think we found one at like 1 or 2 in the morning. Then the next day on Sunday 95 was a nightmare with lines in the parking lots of rest areas. Needles to say we never drove. NOW fast forward 7 1/2 years later and OUR KIDS WANT TO DRIVE. Our oldest is dd 19, ds 16 and ds 11. ALL THREE WANT TO DRIVE IT. They want to ROAD TRIP. Plus our oldest son wanted a beach trip too so we combined Vero and Disney. Also, he wanted to visit a couple of the water parks off site. SO...we are driving. It might be the first and last summer road trip to FL...we shall see.

School Holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter) are about the only times that I would even consider driving. For our family of 3, it is just not economical to drive. We live in the DC area, so flights out of here are generally inexpensive and usually direct. So, price is usually not a consideration, and our choice is get on a plane for 2 hours + 2 hours at the airport, or get in a car for 16 hours. I'll take 4 hours and dealing with the airport thanks! Yes we don't have a car when we are at the World, but we really do not mind Disney transportation, and it is one of the reasons we bought at BLT. Besides, driving in DC traffic everyday makes me long for our trips to the World so I can park the car for a week.

 

[edk35]

we leave at 2:30 am and usually get to WDW by 4:30 in the afternoon. granted we do not have kids and there fore only have to stop for gas, food and restrooms.

Would never be at disney without and car and have to rely on disney transportation. Far more freedom. we just got back last week and the food was horrible so our trip at Christmas will not involve any meals in the parks or Restaurants. With the car we save major bucks on food and its better

Funny that you say that about the food. I am finding the more we go...we too are eating less and less TS meals in the parks. There are only a few that we like anymore. The prices are so anymore too. SO we are looking forward to eating a few early dinners off site before heading back into the parks.

 

[edk35]

Hi!

We always drive down, straight thru, from Maryland...takes 14hours - piece of cake!! Wish we were driving with you!

ha ha Laurie....but you all leave at zero dark thirty

 

[JenSop]

Eeeek!!!

We did the drive from southeastern PA last summer and it was NOT a good experience! Well, the drive down was rough, but doable. The drive back home was some new form of torture. (Both directions, we drove straight through overnight.)

In fact, it was so bad, it became the name of my last Trip Report ("Whose Bright Idea Was it to Drive to Disney Anyway? Oh wait - that was me.")

When DH suggested that we could maybe drive this year too to save some money, I made it my personal mission to find a decent enough flight to make the money issue a NON-issue. And I eventually found a great rate from Southwest direct from Philly to Orlando. I am so glad to be doing a 2 and a half hour flight versus a 17 hour drive!

 

[tjhsr]

When DH suggested that we could maybe drive this year too to save some money, I made it my personal mission to find a decent enough flight to make the money issue a NON-issue. And I eventually found a great rate from Southwest direct from Philly to Orlando. I am so glad to be doing a 2 and a half hour flight versus a 17 hour drive![/QUOTE]

Thats why we use our SW visa for everything. We need from 2-9 tickets twice a yr or more. And a little over 2 hr flight beats 2 days anytime or even 14hrs in a day Been there and not going back.

 

[homesick187]

We drive to the World at least once a year. This year we went in February with the kids (14 & 12) and are going in August again, just the two of us. We usually make it to St Augustine in 18 hours and spend the night, driving into WDW early the next day so we're not exhausted. Flights from Rochester Ny to Orlando are never cheap enough to justify the expense. And we like the drive

 

[Vickis3js]

We drive down every Dec from South Jersey. We just can't justify the cost to fly with 5 of us, especially when we go for Christmas airfare right now would be around $2000 rt plus baggage. We leave around 2-3am and drive to Savannah and stay over night then we have no more then a 5 hour drive the next morning to WDW. Room for the night is less then $100 and I earn gas cards all year long from either CC points or shopping sites. Right now I have $150 in gas cards $100 more and gas is paid for. Can't beat that.

 

[edk35]

We drive down every Dec from South Jersey. We just can't justify the cost to fly with 5 of us, especially when we go for Christmas airfare right now would be around $2000 rt plus baggage. We leave around 2-3am and drive to Savannah and stay over night then we have no more then a 5 hour drive the next morning to WDW. Room for the night is less then $100 and I earn gas cards all year long from either CC points or shopping sites. Right now I have $150 in gas cards $100 more and gas is paid for. Can't beat that.

Good idea with the gas cards.

 

[Disney Spaz]

We used to live in Columbia, MD but now southern PA. This past Christmas DS, me and DD left from Columbia around 2pm and hit the first exit of GA around midnight. The drive wasn't bad and we left the Sunday after the first big storm of the year with 20+ inches. I think if we didn't have the snow issues in VA and on 495 that we did we would have gotten to GA earlier. The firt and only time in my life I have seen 495 down to 1 lane due to huge piles of snow. DH couldn't go as he is a snowplow driver and his leave was revoked. We stoped at a really nice Hampton inn for around $85-$90 plus deluxe cont. breakfast. We were in WDW by 1pm the next day. It was very nice. We have also in the past made the drive straight thru. It really takes a lot out of use when we do. Especially the primary driver. I have now learned the stop is worth the money and even dare I say the 1 lost day at WDW.

 

[honeymo78]

We are doing our first drive this fall from just south of philly. I will be watching this thread for tips and how your trip goes. We are planning to drive straight through.

 

[JenSop]

We are doing our first drive this fall from just south of philly. I will be watching this thread for tips and how your trip goes. We are planning to drive straight through.

You can see how our straight-thru trip (from PA) was on my trip report. Be warned. That's all I can say. (The link is at the bottom of my post.)

 

[WilsonFlyer]

I drive from NC to Orlando 4 times a year. You must be near Raleigh, as we don't have Southwest. The drive takes between 8 and 8.5 hours and we don't have any kids in the car, so it's managable. I've flown a few times as well.

Driving is nice for three reasons:

1. We can bring whatever we want - we just throw it in the car - no need for an Owner's Locker
2. We have a car and don't have to rely upon Disney transportation - we can go off property for groceries
3. Don't have to deal with airports and airlines!

Amen. I'll probably never fly again. Love having my own transportation and we hardly ever use any Disney transportation when we're there now unless it's the monorail or boats to the MK.

It has gotten RIDICULOUS to fly out of RDU, even on SouthWest for a family of 3 IMO. $600 minimum and more like $800. It's just crazy seeing how close we are. People fly out from all over the country cheaper than RDU. It's crazy.

We leave at about 4:00am and arrive about 2:30ish making normal stops along the way and the girls sleep most of the early part of the drive. I gotta tell you; it's not that tiring at all and our room is usually ready shortly after we arrive if not when.

I gotta say, unless $100 round-trip airfares come back (and they won't), I don't ever intend on flying again.

 

[katmittens]

We live in NE Pa. near Scranton, and we drive all the time. We make 2-4 trips per year. We leave late afternoon, maybe 3 or 4 and stay in Winchester, Va, sometimes we make it to Fredericksburg, Va. The next day we leave and either go to Kingsland, Ga, or St. Augustine, Fl. at the World Golf Village. We get to Disney by 11:00 the next morning. On the way home we stay in Kingsland or Savannah, Ga. and in Fredericksbury, Va the next day and then home the next day. We use to leave early in the morning at 4:00 and then stay over and on the second day get to Florida, but anymore we take our time. If the kids are with us (they are older) and they don't have as much time as us we don't take as much time getting there.
I don't work anymore due to my rhemutoid arthritis, and DH gets a good amount of time for vacation so we enjoy the ride down and back. I love being able to pack whatever we want, and we have our van with us so we hardley use Disney transportation and we can get our own groceries. Hope you have a great trip.

 

[ssawka]

We live in NE Pa. near Scranton, and we drive all the time. We make 2-4 trips per year. We leave late afternoon, maybe 3 or 4 and stay in Winchester, Va, sometimes we make it to Fredericksburg, Va. The next day we leave and either go to Kingsland, Ga, or St. Augustine, Fl. at the World Golf Village. We get to Disney by 11:00 the next morning. On the way home we stay in Kingsland or Savannah, Ga. and in Fredericksbury, Va the next day and then home the next day. We use to leave early in the morning at 4:00 and then stay over and on the second day get to Florida, but anymore we take our time. If the kids are with us (they are older) and they don't have as much time as us we don't take as much time getting there.
I don't work anymore due to my rhemutoid arthritis, and DH gets a good amount of time for vacation so we enjoy the ride down and back. I love being able to pack whatever we want, and we have our van with us so we hardley use Disney transportation and we can get our own groceries. Hope you have a great trip.

I was just curious why you go all the way over to Winchester, VA? Are you just trying to miss DC traffic? Winchester just seems so far west. You could just take I81 to I83 to 15 and pickup I270 in Fredrick, MD or continue down 15 into VA.

I'm just curious, because I grew up outside of Scranton as well (Lake Ariel) and all of my family is still up there. I'm the outcast because I moved to the big city (DC)!

 

[jimmytammy]

We drive from NC. We have flown on a few trips, but mostly drive. It takes us about 10.5 hrs avg. We have made it in 9.5, but only stopped once. I find myself stopping more these days to stretch, bathroom breaks, etc.

Since you will be traveling I-95, I will give you a couple pointers from exp.

Avoid Savannah, GA and Jacksonville, FL at rush hr. If you do hit Savannah at that time, just keep going, not much way to get around it. Jacksonville, you can bypass, and we do so everytime. JVille has lots of bridges with no exits, so traffic can get backed up real bad.

I suggest taking 9A which is just past the I-295 exit. 9A is the basically the eastern loop around JVille. It takes you no longer to take this, though GPS will lead you to believe otherwise. We have done this many times and love it. I-295 will take you a bit west of town but is a longer trek.

9A will dump you right back onto 95. In fact, 9A stays due the south the whole time though it gives you the feeling you are heading east.

One more tip, avoid Orlando on I-4. Take 417, a toll road that heads you southeast of Orlando. It costs about 6.50 to do but the lack of stress is worth it to me. It takes maybe 2 mins longer to get to WDW this way, but it is clear and free sailing. You will pick up this road maybe 15 mins before approaching the outskirts of Orlando. This will take you to exit 6 or 3. I suggest 3, less traffic, less lights means quicker access to WDW. This will put you into AK area but all areas are easily accessible once on WDW property.

 

[katmittens]

I was just curious why you go all the way over to Winchester, VA? Are you just trying to miss DC traffic? Winchester just seems so far west. You could just take I81 to I83 to 15 and pickup I270 in Fredrick, MD or continue down 15 into VA.

I'm just curious, because I grew up outside of Scranton as well (Lake Ariel) and all of my family is still up there. I'm the outcast because I moved to the big city (DC)!

We have always done it this way for the past 20 years. We started out by trying to avoid the DC traffic. I would rather stay on 81, since 15 is not a major highway and 83 is crazy busy. We make it to Fredericksburg in about 5 hours and 15 minutes. DD's boyfriend is from Waymart, which is near Lake Ariel and I have a cousin from Lake Ariel.

 

[ajf1007]

I've often thought about driving, just for the fun and adventure of it. I thought it would be fun to make stops along the way at different places and just go at our own pace. But then it hit me , the 45 min to 1 hour commute each way to work that I have daily irks me sometimes and I get sleepy around 10pm AND I can't sleep on a plane, let alone in a car.....so having said that, I decided that flying was probably a better option for us.

Maybe one day when we can take two weeks at a shot (we'd need the extra week just to drive there) I'll contemplate it again.

 

[edk35]

I've often thought about driving, just for the fun and adventure of it. I thought it would be fun to make stops along the way at different places and just go at our own pace. But then it hit me , the 45 min to 1 hour commute each way to work that I have daily irks me sometimes and I get sleepy around 10pm AND I can't sleep on a plane, let alone in a car.....so having said that, I decided that flying was probably a better option for us.

Maybe one day when we can take two weeks at a shot (we'd need the extra week just to drive there) I'll contemplate it again.

THIS POST MADE ME LAUGH.