Driving from VA

[tweetie]

Do most of you all drive straight thru or stop over....I think we can do it, but I just want some reassurance...

We thought about flying, but we also want to visit Universal while we were there and go to the mid-evil dinner theater and thought that it would be so expensive to fly and then transfers I am just not sure.

Any advice?

 

[mertschco]

We have driven from VA the last two years. We leave Richmond around 5-6 pm and arrive in Orlando in the morning. We are (somewhere?) in Fla around 6 am and my husband stops at a rest area for a short nap. We check into hotel around 8am for a relaxing day at the pool until our room is ready. Last year, we stayed at Hard Rock and rented a cabana our first day - that was great!

 

[mishoe01]

I have driven from Richmond (solo) many a time - I had it clocked at exactly 12 hours....with stops coordinated for food/restroom/ and gas all at the same time.

I used to leave at 5am, and be in Orlando at 5pm (yes, I know - in time for rush hour traffic ). I then would check into my hotel and go have a relaxing dinner and to bed at a decent hour.

I have done this 2 x (since moving to MD) with an overnight - both times in Santee SC. I thought that was harder to do - beats my body up!!

It's a tough call right now with the gas prices - but it would depend on how many there are in your party.

One thing you could always do if you fly, is rent a car for a few days (do Universal and Medievel Times) and then drop the car off either in DTWN Disney (there are several car companies in the hotels), the Car Care Center, or at the Dolphin. Then you could either do Mears or another 1 day car rental to get you back to the airport.

Not sure if this helps at all, but I tried.

 

[tweetie]

If we fly can you rent a car from the airport and turn it in at the Dolphin and then use Disney transporation back to your hotel on Disney property. Then just use car service or something for our trip back to the airport.

We are spliiting our stay 2 days at universal, so we will have a hotel near there and then 5 nights at WL.

 

[spectromagic fan]

Hi Tweetie, We live in Va. Beach too. Our children are gown, so we now take grandchildren with us. When our kids were young, we always drove--usually stayed in Ft. Wilderness in a camper that we owned. We now fly. SWA's rates can be wonderful, and the non-stop flights get us to or from MCO in a bit less than 2 hours. We're paying $59 ea. to MCO and $39 ea. back to ORF (plus taxes, etc.). In the recent past, we've either rented a car in MCO or used Mears, but we hardly ever used the car while in MCO. Mears will take you to/from WDW/Universal for a reasonable fee. This trip, we're using towncars & limos--a big splurge for us. We're doing a split trip too--Poly, Disney Cruise, Universal. We like the convenience of not having to find our way around, worry about parking, etc. However, it's a really personal decision. You might enjoy having your car, so you don't have to fit everything in suitcases, etc. Do whatever makes you most comfortable. A trip to WDW & Universal is great any way you go! Enjoy.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

Usually rental car companies will charge extra if you rent at one location and drop off at another. It may be different if it's in the same market, but you might contact National to find out. If you think you want the freedom a rental car will give you (to go to Medieval Times or one of the other dinner theatres), I'd get one for the whole stay if you can get a good rate and it's not much more than a car service or Mears.

Another option would be to use Mears/car service/taxi to Universal then to Disney, and do a one-day rental on property if you want to do something off property.

As for driving straight through, we've done it before from Richmond several times. It's usually a 12-13 hour drive, which may vary depending on the number of stops you make.