Driving ? attractions to stop at?

[mombrontrent]

We are driving to Disney at the end of April. We live in Barrie just north of Toronto. This will be our first time driving so are new to this. We have 4 and 8year old daughters and an 11 year old son. We plan on taking 2-3 days to drive down, I plan on making my Dh do most of the driving so I don't want to push him to much. He is a truck driver so he is already used to long hours of driving anyways so I don't feel bad Anyways I am wondering if anyone knows of great places to stay along the way or some attractions we could visit. We want to make the drive more of extention of the Disney trip not just a boring drive. It would be nice if we could visit a small attraction either after a morning of driving or in the morning before we start driving again. Also would like to know the best places along the way to stop at a hotel for the night. Thanks.

 

[DisneyFairytale]

Great thread, we will be doing that as well and would love to hear what is stop worthy.

We are coming down from Calgary, but know Las Vegas and come back up through San Francisco. Not sure where else to go. Great thread tho, looking forwards to reading from those experienced drivers.

 

[cslittle999]

Where you stop will really depend on your route. If you're going to drive I75 then I recommend getting Dave Hunter's Along I75. It list many interesting places to stop along the way.

If you're taking the I79/I77 route then I recommend stopping at Emerald Hollow Mine. We had a fun but very messy time panning for gem stones.

 

[dvc deernut]

we have driven a few times. We cross at buf and go down the i79. We usually stay in beckley. Nice mt drive. Beckley is the home of white water rafting. There is a bridge there that once a year they allow you to base jump and jump off with parasail. If your driving in may im not sure if the rhodadendrons will still be blooming. The hills are covered in them in some areas. If you take that route make sure you are doing less than or exactly the speed limit in summersville wv. That is infamous speed trap.if you are stopping along the i 95 stay in the old city of savannah. Very historic from civil war. Paula deans restaurant is there.

 

[mombrontrent]

Thanks for the replys so far. We haven't really taken a good look yetat which route we are going to takebut pretty sure we will probablystick with I 75 as it is the mostdiresct route I believe. Would love to hear more ideas.

 

[nokidz]

We are from Wasaga Beach!!!
We drive down every year. The only difference is that we drive straight through, 22 to 24 hours. We take two cars and have four drivers, so we split the duties up pretty evenly.
We cross at Fort Erie and basically take the I79 to I95 route. I suggest that you stop at the Premium Outlet on I95 at St.Augustine Florida. They have a really nice Disney Outlet store. We bought Disney Cruise Line sweatshirts for $10.99 there. Two days later we boarded the ship and the exact same sweatshirts went for $39.99.
We are heading south for our yearly cruise at the end of Feb. Two cars, two parents and 5 kids. Thank the Gods that my in-laws are flying down!!!!

 

[A&CsMom]

Just an FYI, I75 is not the most direct route. You may want to check out mapquest and put in your start and finish addresses. The route it gives you is the fastest and I believe it is faster than I75 by 2-3 hours. It really comes down to preference and whether the time is a factor for you. Personally, I much prefer crossing at the Peace Bridge and taking the route on mapquest. There are pros and cons with both routes, but either way, enjoy your vacation!

 

[mombrontrent]

Thanks, I will definatley check out map quest.The less time driving in thevan with 3 kids the better. I rather spend that 2-3 hours doing something fun or getting to Disney earlier then in the van.

 

[dvc deernut]

WE FIND I 79 FASTER AND MORE INTERESTING. ONCE YOUR ON THE I 95 YOUR NOT TOO FAR FROM THE COAST. YOU GO NEAR A COUPLE BIG CITIES PITTSBURGH, CHARLOTTE, JACKSONVILLE. WHEN DRIVING THRU JACKSONVILLE YOU CAN TAKE A MORE COASTAL ROUTE TO AVOID THE TRAFFIC. I THINK ITS HWY 9 AND ITS NOW 4 LANES. YOU ARE A FEW MILES EAST OF JACKSONVILLE. WHEN YOU COME HOME YOU CAN STAY ON THE I95 AND GO FARTHER NORTH AND TAKE A ROUTE THRU HARRISBURG PA. YOU WILL GO THRU THE SHENNANDOAH VALLEY YOu MaY WANT TO STOP IN THE LURAY CAVERNS(I THINK THAT IS THE NAME). WHEN YOU GET TO HARRISBURG YOUR ABOUT 20 MIN FRON HERSHEY AND THE CHOCLATE FACTORY. THAT ROUTE WILL TAKE YOU THRU CORNING And you CaN MEET THE I 90 AT BATAVIA NY.

 

[nokidz]

I75 adds about 3 more hours to your trip. It is a more populated route. The i79 to i95 route is a less populated and is through the mountains. You need to watch the weather when going that route. I find it much more scenic and quicker. Just watch for deer and speed traps in the Beckley area.

 

[PanamaMike]

The last time I drove - Toronto/Orlando

Trip down via 1-75 (late February)
Distance:2, 247 km
Time on road 24:20
Time spent driving: 22:35 (deducting rest stops, gas stops, border crossing wait)
Avg. speed 99.8 km/h

Trip back via I-77/79/90 (mid-March)
Distance: 2,164 km
Time on road 24:00
Time spent driving: 22:00 (same deductions)
Avg. speed: 98.3 km/h

As for something to see, I suggest a visit to Rock City near Chattanooga, TN.
http://www.seerockcity.com/

 

[Bertie9396]

I'm from Barrie too!!! We were supposed to go the end of March but stuff happened at work and I'm really not sure what's happening now. Thank goodness I haven't booked anything yet!! One boss says its OK, the other says its not. GRRR.

Anyway, I was talking to someone at work who drives down almost every year and he said that I-95 was the route he preferred with kiddies. More scenic and more places to stop and let the kids run around for a bit. I went to Mapquest and it seems to be the shorter route as well.

Good luck and have fun. I'll be peeking in at this thread to see your other responses.

 

[dvc deernut]

I'm from Barrie too!!! We were supposed to go the end of March but stuff happened at work and I'm really not sure what's happening now. Thank goodness I haven't booked anything yet!! One boss says its OK, the other says its not. GRRR.

Anyway, I was talking to someone at work who drives down almost every year and he said that I-95 was the route he preferred with kiddies. More scenic and more places to stop and let the kids run around for a bit. I went to Mapquest and it seems to be the shorter route as well.

Good luck and have fun. I'll be peeking in at this thread to see your other responses.

We always used to take that route. We would cross at the Peace Bridge. It is more scenic and a couple hours shorter. Like i said before on your way back you can stay straight on the I95 farther and head thru Harrisburg area and visit the Herseys Chocolate Factory. You can also go to Myrtle Beach or Virginia Beach if you have the time. There is a HUGE naval base in Norfolk you can tour. Williamsburg is not far away. Busch Gardens is in Williamsburg also.

 

[Canadian Girl 77]

We usually fly but are thinking about switching it up and driving and doing more than just Disney.

 

[canadaman]

I have only drove once and planned on seeing some stuff on the way there and way back. We took the i75. As it turned out though on the way there we were to excited to get to disney that we only stopped when we had to and didn't take any extra time. On the way home we just wanted to get home so again didn't make any extra stops.

Don't get me wrong we did see a lot from the car windows but just didn't want to make any more stops then we had to.

 

[mermaid&cinderella]

This past summer we took I75 down b/c we wanted to stop in Atlanta Georgia. There is an amazing aquarium there and DD LOVED IT. Only place around to see whale sharks! Then on the way home we took I77 because we spent a few days in Myrtle Beach and we stopped in North Carolina to see the docked navy ship, DD thought it was pretty neat. We took a bit of a detour b/c we wanted to show our DD the White House, US Capitol, Washington Monument, etc. I am glad we took separate ways up and down, that way we don't see the same things and we got to go through different States, DD thought that was cool

 

[lady_bug_888]

I second going to Hershey Pennsylvania! I looked at Mapquest and it doesn't look that far out of your way (an extra hour?). You can get a tour of the chocolate factory and there is a theme park there as well (although I didn't go to that...I just did the tour). Driving in the city is also cute...they have hershey kisses as the street lamps which is cute.

Might be a good place to pick up some licorice and other goodies for the trip. You can get a lot of neat things here so give the kids a small budget...don't want them filling up on junk! LOL

Have fun! I hope we are lucky enough to drive one day...I would love to take my kids there. We are from AB though so we will probably end up going there when we go to NYC or something.