Driving from PA - Where to begin with planning

[Disneyplanners]

We have made the decision that we are going to drive to WDW this June from western PA (south of Pittsburgh). We usually fly with Southwest, but we want to try Universal one day, and just really want to have a vehicle down there. It will be myself, DH, DS8 and DS6. One challenge we have is that DS8 gets car sick sometimes, particularly when he tries to do an activity or watch a movie. We are going to start trying out some motion sickness medicines (like bonine) on short trips around here to see how it will work. Our plan is to leave on Friday afternoon, stop around 10/11 for the night, and finish the trip the next day. So, what I'm hoping to find are any helpful tips for us. I found the sticky thread for driving, and the 2000 miles + roundtrip thread and have been reading a little, but the threads are really long!! Are there any links to places along the way to stop and stretch our legs, or parks close to the interstate to let the kids get some energy out? I'm also looking for a list of recommended hotels along the route? Mostly just looking for some direction on where to start looking. Thanks!!

 

[la79al]

I picked up this website on here at one point http://www.i95exitguide.com/index.php, but what I really wanted to suggest was books on CD for your son. I would be rolling my eyes too except last year, I got some books on CD for my DD to listen to during longer carrides and my stepdaughter (age 10) ended up loving them. Oh and as a side note, when we have driven, the kids have always gotten a kick out of looking for unusual bugs when we stop for stretch breaks. They are not the type to be into bugs at home but somehow we find some really really neat ones when driving to Florida. And sometimes the little rest areas on the side of highways have provided the best stretch breaks.

 

[Disneyplanners]

Thank you! I love the tip about looking for bugs! Our library has a good selection of books on CD, so we planning taking out some Harry Potter books and a few others.

 

[myboymic]

I've driven many of times from southwstern pa near pitttsburgh with small children i always found it better to leave around 4-6 pm and drive staight through stopping for gas i usely stopped out side of jacksonville fl for a half hour then staight to the world i have made it in 14 and a half hours not a bad drive i took 79 souuth to 19 south to 77 south to 26 east 95 south to i 4 west to the world there are plant of hotels gas station reststops on way

 

[chartle]

We live just outside Pgh in the North Hills.

Last trip we left after work at around 5:00 PM and drove until around 10:30. this gets us just over the WV line.

Next morning we left too late for me and got to WDW at around 10:30 with a stop at Walmart.

I don't have to worry about little kids since my "kids" are 19 and 21.

I never really found anything to stop for along the way. As for where to stop here is what I do when planning a car trip with a stop.

Use Google Maps to get your get your route. Add a stop some where where you think you would stop. If you plan on driving until say 10 or 11 add it somewhere in NC. You do this by right clicking the route where you want the stop and pick "Add Destination".

It will add a stop to the directions and tell you how long of a drive it is to that point. Move the stop up and down the route to add or subtract time from the first leg.

Now here is how I find a hotel. Zoom into the stop and type "hotels" in the search bar. It will find every hotel on the map. Try to find clusters of hotels as this will give you the best selection and if there is a few it should keep the cost down due to competition.

Zoom into a cluster and you will see them listed on the left. Look at the reviews and I just pick one that looks good and has two queen beds. I don't worry about things like free breakfast because I know that we will eat a heartier breakfast somewhere else anyway. Also if you pick a location with a cluster of hotels you will more likely have a better selection for places to eat. We have been picking Microtels lately.

Sorry I can't help with the car sickness.

 

[N365PA]

Disney Planners,
If I lose you feel free to PM me. My family and I have made the drive from South Park (Allegheny / Washington County border) about 25 times so heres our route.

I-79 South

US Route 19 South

I-77 South

Depending on time of day I-77 through downtown Charlotte or I-485 (Beltway) west / south to join up I-77 on other side of city
Charlotte is roughly the halfway point

I-26 East

I-95 South

I-4 West to Disney World


In our past drives we would leave about 4-5AM with a trailer (you'll make better time without one) and would arrive on property at about 9-10:30PM. We had a trailer so we would stop at the KOA in Wytheville sometimes. I bet there are some nice hotels in Wytheville, VA. Its about 5 - 6 hours south of Pittsburgh at the intersection of I-77 and and I-81.

Anywho as for things to see on the way...Lake Norman is in North Carolina and I bet would have some pretty parks. If you get to the florida border before 5pm (I think?) the visitors center is open and gives away free orange juice. We usually marathon'ed it down so we would be passing this point at 5-7PMish on our nonstop drive to orlando so only rarely did we ever get to stop . Savannah, GA is also a nice place to get off the highway, grab a sit down meal on the waterfront, enjoy a shop or two, then hop back on the highway for the 5 hoursish from Savannah to Disney.

Now we live about 8 days drive from Disney and its kinda wierd not being able to hop in the car one morning and be at Fort Wilderness that night

 

[Disneyplanners]

We live just outside Pgh in the North Hills.



Use Google Maps to get your get your route. Add a stop some where where you think you would stop. If you plan on driving until say 10 or 11 add it somewhere in NC. You do this by right clicking the route where you want the stop and pick "Add Destination".

It will add a stop to the directions and tell you how long of a drive it is to that point. Move the stop up and down the route to add or subtract time from the first leg.

Now here is how I find a hotel. Zoom into the stop and type "hotels" in the search bar. It will find every hotel on the map. Try to find clusters of hotels as this will give you the best selection and if there is a few it should keep the cost down due to competition.

Zoom into a cluster and you will see them listed on the left. Look at the reviews and I just pick one that looks good and has two queen beds. I don't worry about things like free breakfast because I know that we will eat a heartier breakfast somewhere else anyway. Also if you pick a location with a cluster of hotels you will more likely have a better selection for places to eat. We have been picking Microtels lately.

Sorry I can't help with the car sickness.

Thanks you for the information about google maps! I tried it last night and it was really helpful. I like how it tells approximate time of the first destination and it allowed me to drag the destination along the route to see where we'd be if we wanted to drive a little longer.

 

[Disneyplanners]

I've driven many of times from southwstern pa near pitttsburgh with small children i always found it better to leave around 4-6 pm and drive staight through stopping for gas i usely stopped out side of jacksonville fl for a half hour then staight to the world i have made it in 14 and a half hours not a bad drive i took 79 souuth to 19 south to 77 south to 26 east 95 south to i 4 west to the world there are plant of hotels gas station reststops on way

Disney Planners,
If I lose you feel free to PM me. My family and I have made the drive from South Park (Allegheny / Washington County border) about 25 times so heres our route.

I-79 South

US Route 19 South

I-77 South

Depending on time of day I-77 through downtown Charlotte or I-485 (Beltway) west / south to join up I-77 on other side of city
Charlotte is roughly the halfway point

I-26 East

I-95 South

I-4 West to Disney World


In our past drives we would leave about 4-5AM with a trailer (you'll make better time without one) and would arrive on property at about 9-10:30PM. We had a trailer so we would stop at the KOA in Wytheville sometimes. I bet there are some nice hotels in Wytheville, VA. Its about 5 - 6 hours south of Pittsburgh at the intersection of I-77 and and I-81.

Anywho as for things to see on the way...Lake Norman is in North Carolina and I bet would have some pretty parks. If you get to the florida border before 5pm (I think?) the visitors center is open and gives away free orange juice. We usually marathon'ed it down so we would be passing this point at 5-7PMish on our nonstop drive to orlando so only rarely did we ever get to stop . Savannah, GA is also a nice place to get off the highway, grab a sit down meal on the waterfront, enjoy a shop or two, then hop back on the highway for the 5 hoursish from Savannah to Disney.

Now we live about 8 days drive from Disney and its kinda wierd not being able to hop in the car one morning and be at Fort Wilderness that night

Thanks, this is the route we will be taking. We'll be leaving about 5 PM on friday, so Wytheville was one of towns we've talked about staying in for the night. I was hoping to get a little further into NC the first night though. DH and I have talked about driving through while the boys sleep, but neither of us like to drive when we're tired. We are in Greene County

 

[chartle]

Thanks, this is the route we will be taking. We'll be leaving about 5 PM on friday, so Wytheville was one of towns we've talked about staying in for the night. I was hoping to get a little further into NC the first night though. DH and I have talked about driving through while the boys sleep, but neither of us like to drive when we're tired. We are in Greene County

When we did our trip we actually stayed in Wytheville as it seemed to be the first major cluster of hotels. Sorry I don't remember we we stayed. Like I said it had two queen beds, no reports of bad service or bed begs, it was close to the hi way and had a Cracker Barrel close by. It was dark when we got there and we left at 10:00 AM.

If you can, I would try to go a little further like Jonesville, NC. The second day was very long and you will get in late unless you start very early. We stopped there on the way back.

ETA: Oops I see you are leaving later than I thought so Jonesville, NC is about another hour. In hind sight we could have done it since my one son had at least his Learners Permit (he had it 3 years and was 19) and could have driven later than my wife or I could have since he rarely gets to bed before 1:00 AM.

 

[keishashadow]

good luck, it's a looong drive.

beware the speed trap in beckley, WV and try to avoid Charlotte during rush hour.

re car sickness for DS, sometimes a cracker/sip of water/fresh air from cracking the window helps, otherwise an audio book or music might be better than a movie.