Anyone ever drove from NC?

[Jennifer Hemric]

We are planning a trip in Feb 2007. With everything going on in the airports these days, we have decided just to drive. Has anyone ever drove to Disney from NC. We will have a five year old and a one year old. I am just looking for driving tips. Are we crazy?

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

We drive from NJ every year. Its not bad unless you are driving with my DH. I find that I am alot closer to God by the end of the driving experience. I find that I pray quite a bit.

Best advice, especially for a short drive from NC, drive through the night and let the kids sleep. Have a safe trip.

 

[Jennifer Hemric]

Thanks for the info. We had thought about leavign at midnight and the kids could sleep at least half of the trip.

 

[becca011906]

How many hours is that drive??? we drive down from IN it's about a 16 hour trip one way, we had drove down 2 times before the last time in sept was our first attempt in driving night time and stright through.. it was HE** we will be stoping over night on the drive down in Feb.

 

[coolbeans]

We drove from NC in 2004, left about 1am and traffic was not a problem. The only problem we had was from using the directions on Mapquest (we wound up in a shopping center by following the directions.)

 

[!@#$%]

We go to WDW 3-4 times a year EVERY year. We always drive from Lexington/ Winston Salem NC. Exactly 10.5 hours including bathroom breaks. I use Microsoft Streets and tips. I ONLY PRINT the driving directions, NOT the map. MSS&T gives you the number of miles from one exit to the next, so we just hit the odometer button as we exit the ramp, and when it gets close to the number of miles for the next exit we start looking for that exit. Piece of cake. NOT a bad drive if you drive on Sunday. Saturday isnt bad either, but weekdays.... NEVER AGAIN!!! Between Charlotte NC and Jacksonville FL your bound to hit a traffic jam. Sundays are easy driving. We only go Sun to Sun, and wont do it any other way. We once spent 4 hours in a Jacksonville traffic jam. If you HAVE TO do a weekday its worth a little of your time to try and plan around work traffic.

 

[kellyg403]

We drive from Wilimington NC area..about a 10 hour trip for us. It takes about 2 hours just to go west enough to pick up 95. We usually leave around 5 pm, when school or work is over and then spend the night in Savannah. There is an exit that has about 6 hotels in a cluster right there? My kids are older but that means we are too. Can't do the whole thing in one drive like we used to. The kids watch videos and we usually stop around 10 or 11 p.m. Get up in the morning and finish the drive. The kids are so excited to be in Disney they want to check in and get to TOT. We learned we were more tired and cranky if we tried to drive straight through. And that is a bummer for the kids.

We didn't run into any traffic really. There did seem to be some construction around the Lumberton area if I remember correctly. That slowed us a down a bit. We also only leave on Friday nights and come home on Sat.

Kelly

 

[kaysmommie]

We drive from NJ every year. Its not bad unless you are driving with my DH. I find that I am alot closer to God by the end of the driving experience. I find that I pray quite a bit.

Best advice, especially for a short drive from NC, drive through the night and let the kids sleep. Have a safe trip.

I can relate!

 

[tammy1210]

We'll probably be driving next summer from the New Bern area - unless flights go way down - but, we decided with a 7 year old and a 3 year old that we'd rather splite the drives up - we're going to spend the night in Savannah, GA going down and in Charleston, SC coming back - plus get a brief view of those places that we've never seen!

 

[!@#$%]

Short drive??? Are you insain??? (kidding) Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?

True its short compared to what some people do. Every trip we meet people driving from NJ, NY, MA, and Canada, and THATS a REALLY long trip!!!

Weve considered flying many times, but I see it like this... 2 hours drive to Raleigh (the hub where most of the Disney deals are from), you gotta (now) be there 2 hours early BEFORE your flight, 45 minutes to 1 hour boarding the plane and waiting for the last scragglers to get to the hub... and about an hour IN the air (?), then another 30 minutes to unboard and find a taxi, and 45 minutes in the taxi. Thats 7 hours give or take, and we can save the money, and do the drive in 10.

 

[Maleficents_Revenge]

With the higher airfare, we considered driving this year (Winston-Salem), but decided against it. We booked Southwest for $88 per person each way so I felt like it was worth it.

Yes. it might only save tyou a few hours after you add in the wait in line and things like that, but perception is that you saved a ton of time. We will catch the Disney Express and even though you are on a bus, it feels like the vacation has already started.

If you do drive, I highly recommend investing in a DVD player for the car. It might be the difference between sanity and insanity. At least then when you go nutso in the car, you can blame it on Jacksonville or I-4.

 

[3DisneyBuggs]

We drive from NC- once we get there from NYC! We're doing it again the end of September. This trip we are planning on leaving around 6am and having a nice drive, straight through though. We plan on stopping for breaks and DH can nap. I'll drive a few hours too. Hopefully the kids will have their movies, Leapster, DS, Gameboy and PSP to keep them quiet. Oh and snacks, they must have lots of snacks to keep happy.

 

[!@#$%]

We used to leave the resort around 11:00 PM, and drive as far as we could, then stop for the night and resume the night before.
While it made the drive not as bad... It also caused a few other problems. The highway hotels worry me. All dark and dirty. Dimly lit parking lots are a den for thieves. Plus it was a letdown to pay $80 - $90 a night for those skanky places when we just stayed at All Stars or POP for $50 a night.
Then there was the time we did this and it was Daytona race week. Every room in every motel from Miami to northern SC was booked. We slept in the car. Not something I want to do again.

 

[!@#$%]

With the higher airfare, we considered driving this year (Winston-Salem), but decided against it. We booked Southwest for $88 per person each way so I felt like it was worth it.

WERE NEIGHBORS. We live in between Lexington and Winston salem.

 

[wewantmore]

We only Drive. It's not that bad.

 

[laceemouse]

Any drive less than 12 hours is short to us! We drive to WDW from Dallas, we used to drive from Chicago. We always stop and have a hotel booked. I do not trust myself or dh to drive exhausted! The plusses about driving....we have our own vehicle, we can take anything we want to, we watch movies and listen to music/books on tape in the car, and we avoid the hassle (and scary stuff) of flying! Our kids have done it since they were babies so they are used to it. On the trip over they are happy/excited. On the trip home they sleep a lot! Anything less than 12 hours I would leave early am and do it in one day. Stopping at night at gas stations and rest areas is risky....JMO!

 

[prestonsmomma]

We drove it last year with a 3 (nearly 4) year old. He did great. He watched Nemo almost the whole way there. It's a 12 hour drive for us. We are driving again in December.

 

[WDWAurora]

We're from the Asheville area. I've been over 30 times and never flown (to disney anyway). It takes around 12 hours, give or take based on stops. Not that bad. We usually leave at 6, eat lunch in Brunswick, GA, then drive on down. After we check in around 4 or 5 (takes less time to get there than to get back) we go to DTD for the rest of the night. It works really well for us.

 

[Jennifer Hemric]

Could you possibly send or email a copy of the directions. I live in Pilot Mountain so I will probably be going the same way you do. Do you think I will still hit alot of traffic if I leave at midnight?

 

[SandrainNC]

We drive too! I am not a flyer. We usually leave around 1:00 a.m. so our son can sleep, but it gets a little hard on DH driving that far since he has a hard time sleeping during the day before the trip (I get lost easily so am no help ) so for our next trip we have already decided to stop halfway going and coming back. We will plan our hotel ahead of time though. We won't lose any days at Disney so it works out fine.

Sandra