Anyone ever drive from NYC?

[Alexsmommy]

Hi everyone

I had always flown to WDW but this time I don't think I can get on a plane. I am still kind of shocked from 9/11, especially since I saw the first plane go into the tower that morning (God bless the victims). My DH and 2yo DD are planning on driving down late January, I know this is going to be a long and tiring trip but we were thinking maybe it wouldn't be that bad if we broke up the drive by stopping overnite somewhere in between. Has anyone made this drive down and know where we could stop and enjoy the day and start fresh for the remaining drive the next day?

Thanks so much!!

Maria
1994,1995,1997,1998-Offsite
2000 Grand Floridian
Apr 2001 Polynesian
Aug 2001 Polynesian
Jan 2002 Contemporary

 

[Panky]

Maria,

My DH, DD (who was 3 mo at the time) drove down to WDW in May 2001. It really was an easy drive. We left Long Island @ 2:00 am. We stopped about every 4 hours for my DD to eat (each of those stops was close to an hour each). We also stopped a few times for my DH & I to potty & gas up. We made it to Richmond Hill, GA at 8:00 pm that night we stayed at a Marriott Fairfield INN (my DH has a frequent guest card from business travel, plus AAA discount $69 a nite & free breakfast - there are cheaper places to stay). We were probably only 7 hours from WDW at that point. We got Trip Ticks, Maps, Books from AAA. If you belong to AAA, you should order them now.

We're driving down again Nov 30th. We were supposed to fly as well, but you couldn't pay me to get on a plane now. I've always needed a sedative to fly before because I'm terrified, but now its worse. We've done the drive before and my husband would actually prefer it.

If you just want to go half way, you could stay at Pedro's South of the Border in Dillon, SC. We stopped there for lunch. We're going to stay there overnight when we drive down again in April 2002 (we're DVC members, that's why we go so much). The place is a little run down & pretty cheesy (real tourist trap), but the kids would get a big kick out of it. One of the motels there has an indoor pool.

If you want anymore info, email me at pankyg@optonline.net

Panky a/k/a Brenda

 

[welovemickey]

If you don't belong to AAA, it's time to join! They'll map out the trip for you and send you books with hotels/motels in them by state, then broken down by city/town. Whenever we drive, I check the books about an hour before DH wants to stop and gauge where we'll be, then just call ahead on the cell phone. This works for us because sometimes we decide not to stop or to stop earlier.

It's not a bad drive, just make sure you brink lots of things to entertain the little one!

 

[lisadam]

We did it in October as a matter of fact (and several times before- I have always hated flying so occassionally dh gives in and we drive to visit his family). I livein NJ just outside of Staten Island... dh and I drove thru the night - we left at about 6pm on a friday - 2.5 year old ds slept thru most of the night - he woke up each time we stopped the car but fell back to sleep pretty quickly... it took 22 hours total... but we had a few long rest stops... and we drove 2 hours past Orlando to get my mother-in-law and then BACK to Orlando.

The trip back we broke up over two days and spent the night in North Carolina.

I preferred driving straight thru because my son slept and when he was sleeping he wasn't complaining! DH preferred the trip with the stop.

HAVE lots of toys for you little one - we had stickers, and crayons and new books and a magnadoodle, and a viewmaster - and a bunch of his music on tape. We also packed a small cooler with yogurt, grapes, cheese, jello cups, peanut butter sandwich and had pleanty of crackers and juice and water. We bought milk at the rest-stops.

I would do it again - dh wants to fly next time - I guess we'll take turns!

 

[MaggieMouse]

Well we're doing this in December. I hope the weather stays mild like it is now. I've gotten lots of tips:

AAA Triptix - I got mine already and it gave me roadmaps as well as a little booklet of maps with notes on areas with construction. You can also get tourbooks for the states you will be passing through.

Freetrips.com - maps your journey with hotels and food stops along the way. It allows to you to filter it and just see the info for the areas you might stop in. Also it give you and average gas price.

I-95 exit info - forgot the site name but gives good information on I-95 exits.

That's all I can remember right now. Hope it helps.

 

[Alexsmommy]

Thanks! That was great..I am going to start my research now. Have a great time to all who are going soon!!

 

[Desnik]

We are driving down TOMORROW!!!!!! O.K. so, I'm alittle excited. This will be our 4th time driving, and our 3rd time driving with our almost 4yo DD. We will be leaving at 8am and driving to Manning SC. We usually get there by 8 or 9pm. We stay over at the HI express, right off of I95, exit 119. It is about 4yrs old, clean and has fast food places to eat close to it. It is safe, only about $60 and includes a continental bkft. We will leave the hotel by 8am and it usually takes us 7hrs. to get to Orlando from there. We bring lots of games, toys,etc to entertain DD. She is use to long car trips, so she is usually pretty good. We do take stops along the way and let her burn some energy. We love it and DH won't fly, so we really make the best of it. Good luck planning.

 

[BounceyOne]

We've made the drive from Staten Island quite a few times. You might want to consider taking 301 part of the waY INSTAED OF 95 the entire way. They run paralell to each other, 301 just offers some scenery where 95 is trees trees and more trees. The ride down is never bad, its just coming home that stinks

One other thing try to avoid hitting the DC area at rush hour, this could add an extra hour or more onto your trip.

 

[Tomskatt]

Ugh! Yes we have done it and are doing it again in March because you couldn't give me free tix on a plane right now! ( i was a tough sell on Sept. 10th, now NO WAY!) . We too stopped at Richmond Hill, GA each time (Nana lived there). It really isn't too bad if you break it up and have activities with you. VCR?TV combo has saved us amny a time! Good luck and now I can't wait to go!!!!!
Kathy and her boys!
#3 due in June!

 

[sydally9367]

South of the Border must be the place to stop We drove last year from West Point, NY to Orlando with a 3 yo. We also stopped in Florence, SC---a little over the SC/NC border, but not by much..it was just enough driving that day but not too too much for our 3 yo to handle. We were able to get up and leave the hotel at 7 the next day and make it to Orlando by early that afternoon. We stopped at several rest areas along the way to let our daughter let some steam off and we also ate at McDonalds a few times so that she could play in one of the Play Places. She seemed to do pretty well other than asking the eternal question "Are we there yet" Funny thing too, when we finally were there, she was napping and wouldn't wake up Have a great trip!

 

[jh123]

We just got back this morning from Disney. We left Orlando at 3:00 pm on Saturday, stopped for gas, bathroom breaks, and did the drive-thru for dinner to save time. We arrived home in Freehold at 7:30 am on Sunday. On the way down, we left home Friday at 5:30pm and arrived in Orlando at 10:30 am on Saturday morning. Driving through the night really worked well for us. We bought a tv/vcr combo for the car and the kids(DD7,DD3) watched videos until 10:00pm and then fell asleep and slept until about 8:00am the next morning. By the time they woke up, we were almost there which was great for our sanity since there was no chorus of "are we there yet" every 10 minutes! My husband and I took 4 hour shifts driving which let us both get some sleep and we avoided traffic delays by traveling so late.

We were going to stop at a hotel on the way home but we got such a late start leaving Orlando that we decided to just keep on driving. If you plan on stopping on the way down, I would recommend trying to get to South Carolina or Georgia before stopping for the night. roomsaver.com lets you look for hotels by highway exit. It has printable coupons for many hotels also. Florence,SC seems to be a place that a lot of people stop for the night.

Driving really wasn't too bad. As long as the kids stay busy, it should be a smooth trip. Good Luck!

 

[leelee1971]

We drove from Bergen County, New Jersey on 9/12 (always planned on driving). My son was 3 and 1/2. We also did the trip when he was 20 months. We started our trip after a late breakfast (to beat any rush hour traffic) and were on the road at 11:30. We did I-95 the whole way down. You can't go wrong. We stopped for the night in Fayetteville, NC. We stopped for lunch and dinner on the road and a few potty breaks. The next day, we stopped for a nice, leisurely lunch in Savannah, GA. We were going to spend the night there, as well, but it wasn't really a kids type of place. So, we drove to Orlando.

We packed a cooler with water, juice, and jello. We also bought small boxes of cereal, fruit snacks, crackers, etc. And, we went to Toys R Us the week before and bought a bunch of little stuff to give to my son every few hours (e.g., hotwheels, hand-held preschool games, small magna doodle, small etch-a-sketch, etc.). He really did great on the road. We also bought him a little toy when we stopped to eat (only at Cracker Barrell! - my husband loves it here).

I hate to fly, so that was never an option. And, I'll drive again next time we go. It's a very easy (18.5) hour trip!!! We did arrive in Orlando a day ahead of schedule, and took the first full day we were there to rest up for WDW!!

 

[MaggieMouse]

JH123,

I'm from Freehold too! I was very happy to see your report because we are doing this drive in December. It will be our first time driving to Disney but Financially wise it was the only way we were going!

We're planning on leaving early Saturday morning, staying over in Florence or Manning SC and driving through the next day.

Glad you had a good time!

Maggie

 

[jh123]

Maggie,
Nice to find someone else from Freehold on these boards!

This was our first time driving to Disney also. I've never liked flying but I've always done it anyway. This time, I figured that with all the extra time wasted getting to the airport three hours early, we would be spending a day traveling either way so we might as well drive and save some money also!

The trip really wasn't bad at all. Like I posted earlier, overnight driving worked for us but splitting it up over two days would definitely make the trip more relaxing!

Have a great time!

Joan