Driving from South Jersey, need help....

[amsafko]

We are planning an Aug. '08 trip to Disney and want to drive. We have 3 kids who will be 6,4, and 2. We would like to do the trip in 2 days with the second day being a lighter driving day - ending in Orlando but staying offsite that night and get in for a character b-fast the next morning after checkin. Can someone who has made a similar trek suggest a stop off (town/exit/hotel)on the first night that would enable us to have a lighter day the second day (maybe a mid-to-late afternoon arrival in Lake Buena Vista/Orlando).

Thanks.

 

[KLL]

In the 1980's we used to drive down I-95 to Disney World from central Pennsylvania. The first day we would leave at 4:00 a.m., travel about 12 hours to Point South Carolina getting close to the Georgia border. We would get a hotel about 4:00 - 5:00 p.m., get a good meal, and rest for the evening, even use the swimming pool. Next morning we would leave at 4:00 a.m., travel about 6 hours and be on International Drive, get something to eat, then checkin at Fort Wilderness about noon. We did this trip twice. It worked for us. We had a popup camper we pulled. Our children were in elementary school at the time. Coming home we traveled 12 hours the first day to Virginia and then 6 hours the next day to arrive home. A good web site that will give exits along I-95 and provide lodging, gas, and food information is: USAStar.com-I-95 . Hope this will aide in your decision making.

 

[Kim&Chris]

We made the drive from the Cherry Hill area back in '02.

We made the HUGE mistake of leaving around 6:30am, which put us right in the thick of Washington DC traffic at rush hour. UGH, never again. Next time I'll leave around 4:00am.

We drove straight through to Savannah, GA. They have an exit off I-95 (I'm sorry, I don't recall the exit number but I'm sure that other DIS'ers will know) that is chock full of hotels, and we chose the Comfort Inn & Suites which was very nice and very clean. Next morning, I believe we only had about 5 hours to drive, which was a piece of cake. We arrived at Disney sometime around noon.

 

[Windjammer]

I know this isn't what you asked but have you considered the Auto train? it would be perfect for traveling with a 2, 4 and 6 year old.

We live in South Jersey and leave our house about 10:00 a.m. for arrival in Lorton VA (just south of Washington) at about 1:00 p.m. We check in for the train and then go have lunch. We return to the station, which has a small play area for the kids, and board the train about 3:00 p.m. The train leaves at 4:00 and arrives the next morning in Sanford about 9:30 a.m. From there it is about at 1 hour drive to Disney.

The cost is generally competitive, for our family of 6, it usually runs $750 to $ 1,000 RT, which includes the cost of our minivan. Dinner and breakfast on the train are included.

If you are interested I can provide some additional information or there are several threads on this board that discuss the auto train.

Steve

 

[postalcop]

we have driven down now for the past few years, with our children, ds-5, dd-3. we leave our house about 2:30- 3 am (we live in Morris county). we just make it before the rush in DC. we stop for the night in Savannah, GA. (exit 94). as Kim&Chris stated there are a ton of hotels right off I-95. we stay at the Marriott Fairfield inn. we get up about 6 or 7. eat the cont. breakfast and we are in Disney about 4 hours later, depending on traffic thru JAX. we are also thinking about the autotrain for this years trip due to work.
well good luck with whatever you do.
~sue

 

[postalcop]

I know this isn't what you asked but have you considered the Auto train? it would be perfect for traveling with a 2, 4 and 6 year old.

We live in South Jersey and leave our house about 10:00 a.m. for arrival in Lorton VA (just south of Washington) at about 1:00 p.m. We check in for the train and then go have lunch. We return to the station, which has a small play area for the kids, and board the train about 3:00 p.m. The train leaves at 4:00 and arrives the next morning in Sanford about 9:30 a.m. From there it is about at 1 hour drive to Disney.

The cost is generally competitive, for our family of 6, it usually runs $750 to $ 1,000 RT, which includes the cost of our minivan. Dinner and breakfast on the train are included.

If you are interested I can provide some additional information or there are several threads on this board that discuss the auto train.

Steve

hi-- just curious is $750-$1,000, is that for the rooms or is it coach. because i think that is cheaper than driving. i was just wondering because we are thinking about the auto train this year.
thanks.
~Sue

 

[tmatthews]

The time we did it we drove straight though! It actually wasn't that bad. My kids were 2,9,13. It was actually worse the next year when we drove to Jacksonville! DS3 got sick in VA off of I95!!! NOW TALK ABOUT A LONG RIDE! From those I knew that drove and stopped it was usually Savannah.

 

[Drcell01]

We have driven to WDW many times both when we lived in the Philadelphia area and also from here in Syracuse, NY. When we lived in Philly we drove to Santee, SC which is about 90 miles north of the SC/GA border. Since you can't chek into most hotels until 3 or 4 pm we would arrive at WDW just about the right time.

There are several nice places to stay in the Santee area. Out favorite is the Ramada Inn at exit 98. It is right off of I-95, easy off/easy on and it is usually reasonable and always clean. You can also get a great breakfast across the street at Shoney's!

Have a great trip!

 

[NJDad18]

Granted, this is my opinion, but I too live in South Jersey and I've been getting summer tickets into TPA for around $115 per person from PHL on Southwest. We're a family of 4 and it just does not pay to drive when we can get the airfare so cheap. Yes, we need to rent a car but DW has a knack of getting great rates. Last summer we rented a Highlander for a little over $200 for 8 nights. I do realize that the air travel plus the rental car is more money, but the fact that after the 2 hour flight and the 1 hr 15 min ride from TPA to WDW is nothing and I won't have the headache of the kids (11 and 6) driving me crazy for hours in the car.

Good luck to you in whatever you choose.

 

[cglaura]

Granted, this is my opinion, but I too live in South Jersey and I've been getting summer tickets into TPA for around $115 per person from PHL on Southwest. We're a family of 4 and it just does not pay to drive when we can get the airfare so cheap. Yes, we need to rent a car but DW has a knack of getting great rates. Last summer we rented a Highlander for a little over $200 for 8 nights. I do realize that the air travel plus the rental car is more money, but the fact that after the 2 hour flight and the 1 hr 15 min ride from TPA to WDW is nothing and I won't have the headache of the kids (11 and 6) driving me crazy for hours in the car.

Good luck to you in whatever you choose.

If you do decide to fly and are near ACY / Atlantic City, be sure to check Spirit Air prices also. We got ours for $88 RT, but that was for December, not sure about August. They have a nice new multi level parking garage now. For those that have used ACY you know what I mean....whoo hoo, no more trekking!

But we did drive it, and like alot of posters, leave 3am/4am and stop in Savannah.

 

[amsafko]

Thanks for the help - right now we are looking at either stopping in Savannah or driving straight through. The autotrain was on my mind but I think my kids would have a hard time behavior-wise taht might drive the other passengers crazy. I don't know who will be more excited to get there, my husband and I or the kids - we had so much fun in '06. Thanks again!

 

[tmatthews]

Here's another option...we are taking the train down to Orlando from Philly and looking into renting from Hertz (in orlando's station) or getting transportation to ASmo. The trip was only $333 (one way) for 4 of us!

 

[DougandBeth]

Just my opinion but I would definitely not drive and do the auto train. Look at it this way you drive spend about $300 r/t at a minimum in gas plus food and hotel. When you get there you will be tired and a back hurting. We have taken the auto train 4 times in the last 3 years and it is fabulous. We took it last year with 2 adults and 2 children and was $635.00 r/t.

Includes: Passengers, your car, seats, food, drinks and even has a movie theatre at night.

As far as the kids they will actually have planty to do as there are many lounges where they can play games, color, watch dvd's, etc.

The other plus if the train is not crowded everyone can take two seats so you essentially have a bed.

I would look into it, you will love it

 

[hobogary]

If you havn't already, go to www.usastar.com/i95 for tons of information about the road and all the exits http://www.usastar.com/i95/homepage.htm Sorry, looks like its now www.i95exitguide.com