Driving from NC

[mickeyluv]

We are thinking of driving from NC this trip. We live in Eastern NC. For those of you that have driven from NC before, do you have any tips? should we try a straight thru drive or go about halfway the 1st day and the rest the 2nd day? what would be the halfway point? about how many hours is it? (my husband said he thought it was about 11 hours but he's not sure)

How about sites to go to get information on mileage and directions (other than mapquest)? Thanks!!

 

[MulanMom]

<Chuckle>...NC was our halfway point when we drove back to PA from WDW! With a few stops for breaks and food, I believe we got to Raleigh (airport area) in 7-8 hours.

 

[mickeyluv]

I hope your memory is correct. Raleigh is only an hour and a half from our house so that would mean about a 9 & 1/2 hour trip. That would be fantastic!!

 

[Onceler]

From Raleigh the trip is about 9-1/2 hours assuming that you stay within 5-10 mph of the speed limit. I've driven it stright through by myself and it isn't too bad. I usually stop for food and gas near Savannah which is more or less the halfway point.

AAA is a pretty good site for trip information.

 

[MulanMom]

I'll ask my DH tomorrow to make sure I'm remembering correctly.

 

[CarolynNC]

From Raleigh the trip is about 9-1/2 hours assuming that you stay within 5-10 mph of the speed limit. I've driven it stright through by myself and it isn't too bad. I usually stop for food and gas near Savannah which is more or less the halfway point.

AAA is a pretty good site for trip information.

I would agree with the 9.5 hour estimate. I live about 1.5 hours from Raleigh and it takes me about 11 hours to drive, or at least it used to before Southwest brought their great airfares to RDU.

I can make the drive down in one day but there's something about the return trip. I always have a hard time staying alert and awake and have to stop overnight or at least pull off for a long nap.

 

[mickeyluv]

I would agree with the 9.5 hour estimate. I live about 1.5 hours from Raleigh and it takes me about 11 hours to drive, or at least it used to before Southwest brought their great airfares to RDU.

Hey, I live about 1.5 hours east of Raleigh. In what direction are you from Raleigh? We flew SW last year and didn't have a good experience so my DH says this year we're driving or flying Delta or a different airline and I can't seem to find a decent fare for the three of us so I guess driving it is!! Driving we'll be kind of fun anyway. I told our DD that it'll be an adventure within itself !

 

[MulanMom]

Asked DH. He estimated between 8-9...no more than 9, though. I know we got there much earlier than we had planned as BIL said it should take about 10 hours. We traveled the first Saturday of December...so we didn't have traffic issues to deal with.

We travel to Emerald Isle, NC every summer. The time for that ride has varied between 9 to 11.5 hours depending on traffic and time of day.

Have a great trip!

 

[K&K]

we live in Winston and when we drive it takes around 10 hours.

 

[NCRedding]

We live in the center of the state and our drive took about 9.5 hours (DH drives alot faster than I do). We stopped on the way down in Kingsland, Georgia, which is the last stop in Georgia before Florida, and then arrived at WDW around 1:30 the next day (didn't leave Kingsland til about 10:15)

We drove back in one day, leaving about 8 am and arriving home at about 6, with two stops on the way back.

 

[CarolynNC]

Hey, I live about 1.5 hours east of Raleigh. In what direction are you from Raleigh? We flew SW last year and didn't have a good experience so my DH says this year we're driving or flying Delta or a different airline and I can't seem to find a decent fare for the three of us so I guess driving it is!! Driving we'll be kind of fun anyway. I told our DD that it'll be an adventure within itself !

I live northwest of Raleigh. Sorry you didn't have a good experience with Southwest. I've always had great service and flights out of RDU.

We travel to Emerald Isle, NC every summer. The time for that ride has varied between 9 to 11.5 hours depending on traffic and time of day.

I love the Emerald Isle area. We used to have a trailer down at Salter Path but lost it during a hurricane. We still have lots of friends down there we visit.

 

[mickeyluv]

Thanks everyone! Hope everyone that's going to Disney this year from NC (and everywhere else) has a safe and magical trip!! I will anticipate about 10 hours from our house. We are only about 45 minutes from I-95!!

Now just need to look at the map and decide where to stop over to stay the night on Friday before arriving on Sat. We will not drive straight through. Our DD does not really like to ride and I think a stop over for the night would probably be best. No need to get the vacation started off on the wrong foot (whine, whine, whine).

 

[MulanMom]

I love the Emerald Isle area. We used to have a trailer down at Salter Path but lost it during a hurricane. We still have lots of friends down there we visit.

It's a great place, isn't it? Been building up quite a bit over the years, but it still retains its charm. Sorry to hear about your trailer. The area we stay in is close to Salter Path and around the old Indian Beach (?) Pier. If EI were only a few hours away rather than a day's drive....ah, one can dream!!!!

 

[mill4023]

Yahoo Maps says it's 9 hours from Raleigh to Orlando.

 

[ccw]

I have driven from Raleigh to Old Key West in 9 hours and 15 minutes without going much (if any) over the speed limit. Not a bad drive even all in one day with just one driver but we prefer to drive to the World Golf Village area south of Jacksonville (St. Augustine), have a decent dinner, spend the night (Comfort Suites is VERY nice for the $$$), and get up kind of early the next morning to drive the remaining two hours to Disney. That way we are not paying premium prices for just an overnight at Disney but we can still be in the parks before lunchtime and get thru the traffic around J-ville at an off peak time.

 

[holcomb-mania]

After our January cruise on the Wonder, I made the drive from Port Canaveral to Winston-Salem in less than 9 hours! Once I hit I-26, the timing was gonna put me in Charlotte in the middle of evening rush hour. Couldn't let that happen.

In the past, we stopped in Jacksonville to visit with friends, spend the night, get up early and get to Orlando by 10am and hit the parks before lunch. But for our Dec trip I saw the awesome DING fares CarolynNC mentioned above and we're definitely flying out of Raleigh this time. Got my fingers crossed for those $24 one-way fares to repeat this Nov!