Driving from NY to BCV

[Dano1182]

Airfare is through the roof.We are thinking of driving to BWVs this year .Any advice on where to stop enroute? We are not looking for a all night drive.

 

[alice99]

It depends on how you plan to separate the trip.


We have stopped in South Carolina, on most trips. We like to do 13 hours the first day then a shorter trip the second day.

When traveling the shorter portion on the first day we have stopped in Chester, Va.

We NEVER book any hotel before leaving home, because you just don't know what can happen on the road. Sometimes traffic can put you 2-3 hours behind.

We learned our lesson the hard way with this .... I booked a hotel for the trip home once, I was driving alone with my 2 small children, we hit a ton of traffic, got to our hotel at 130 am... I planned to be there at 1030-1100 pm. I was falling asleep driving. If I hadn't pre paid the hotel I would have stopped somewhere else, much sooner.

 

[heynowirv]

for an interesting experience that you only need to do once in a lifetime ,try South Of The Border in South Carolina ,

 

[dort]

We drove down this past May and stopped in Dobson, NC. It was pretty much the half way point from our house, we were going to VB. We bypassed 95 for quite aways, didnt pick it up till SC maybe.

 

[Sammie]

It depends on how you plan to separate the trip.


We have stopped in South Carolina, on most trips. We like to do 13 hours the first day then a shorter trip the second day.

When traveling the shorter portion on the first day we have stopped in Chester, Va.

We NEVER book any hotel before leaving home, because you just don't know what can happen on the road. Sometimes traffic can put you 2-3 hours behind.

We learned our lesson the hard way with this .... I booked a hotel for the trip home once, I was driving alone with my 2 small children, we hit a ton of traffic, got to our hotel at 130 am... I planned to be there at 1030-1100 pm. I was falling asleep driving. If I hadn't pre paid the hotel I would have stopped somewhere else, much sooner.

Don't you hate when that happens, but if you don't prebook, then you run the risk of not finding anything left but the dumps.

 

[SabresFan]

We've drive down from Buffalo twice, and have stopped in North Carolina both times. Both times have been on the North side of Charlotte. My goal would be to get to the South side of Charlotte, because then you've missed rush hour when you start up in the morning, but the extra hour drive to get past Charlotte just made for too long of a day, so we always stop a little bit short of Charlotte. Although rush hour wasn't bad either time we went through there the next morning. In terms of miles we've completed about 60% of the trip when we stop.

I'll usually book two or three hotels on the planned route - but just make sure when you book them you can cancel by 6 PM the day of the trip, and make sure you actually cancel the ones you don't use by 6 PM. That way once you're closer you'll have a better idea of what kind of time you are making. We almost always stay at some kind of Marriott - Fairfield or SpringHill our TownePlace, and there are quite a few along that route to pick from, and several are right by the Interstate exit.

 

[MyCathryn]

We just drove down this past week with our 4.5 yr old. It wasnt bad at all. 16 hrs from the Jersey Shore down and 16.5 on the way back up. Growing up we used to drive to Jensen Beach and stop in Rocky Mount, NC right off of 95. Good luck!

 

[Saratoga Springs Tom]

We have stayed in Florence SC and Wilson. Right off 95 there are Country Inn & Suites or Hampton Inns along with Cracker Barrel Restaurants. Staying at these locations will put the long haul on day one and the shorter haul on day 2. We have considered doing the auto train as well. That leaves VA around 4PM and arrrives in FLA the next morning. Kinda pricey though not as bad as flying. We gave up on the airlines awhile ago and decided to add the two travel days down and back and keep control of the trip. Too many times going in the winter months have we dealt with cancelations or delays. Do some research on line and good luck! Have a great trip!

 

[alice99]

Don't you hate when that happens, but if you don't prebook, then you run the risk of not finding anything left but the dumps.

Yes, this is true...... I don't recommend winging it completely, we use the computer to find a hotel about 1-3 hours before we want to stop and make a reservation online or via phone.
If you don't have internet on the road , a handy book to have is "Drive I-95", this book is a complete listing of amenities at all exits..... great resource.

A good friend of mine went from exit to exit searching for a hotel for an hour and a half one trip down..... it took them more than an hour & 1/2 to get a room.

 

[jonesmatNY]

Have done the drive many times, leaving from Long Island at 4am, try to make it to exit 3(Kingsland) in Georgia, usually about 15 hours driving time, next morning, you are at the florida border in 3 minutes and usually about 3.5 hours to Disney. Traffic will always be the biggest factor to your drive times.

 

[Carl'n'Ellie'sDad]

As you can tell from some previous posts, a lot depends if you're from the NYC area or upstate. We're from NE PA; used to try the I-95 route, but since have given up because of the aggressive DC area traffic, and now use I81 to I77 to I20.

Agree with many of the I95 recommendations; Rocky Mount is probably about halfway for you. I'd also recommend Lumberton NC, relatively near the SC border, with plenty of hotels and restaurants at about mile 20.

Traveling on the mountain route, We've had good fortune staying at both Rock Hill and Orangeburg Hampton Inns on I77 and I20 respectively. Rock Hill is about halfway for us. On the way to Disney, we usually overnight in DeBary FL, which sets up about an hour drive to the World -- convenient to WalMart and other stores to pick up groceries before setting up at DVC.

Good luck with your planning and the drive -- if you're staying a week or longer, I really think having a personal car at the World is worth the time spent driving.

 

[sandieb]

for an interesting experience that you only need to do once in a lifetime ,try South Of The Border in South Carolina ,

South of the Boarder is the pits. My grandkids begged us to stop, which we did for a brief time, and it is dirty, weird people, unbelievably awful. That is just for starters.

 

[alice99]

South of the Boarder is the pits. My grandkids begged us to stop, which we did for a brief time, and it is dirty, weird people, unbelievably awful. That is just for starters.

 

[sandieb]

We use the website "Guide to I-95" for chosing hotels and restaurants and such. We drive from Maryland to Hilton Head each year. Next year we are taking an different kind of trip to WDW - we used all our points for a super-trip for our anniversary last year, so we only have enough for a couple nights in a 2 bedroom. So...we are taking our RV down to Fort Wilderness for a week and then spending a couple at the BCV.

I just checked and there is both an iphone and android app for this website.
http://www.i95exitguide.com/

We do make reservations in advance as we usually get a good price.