Driving Home From Disney

[NALA 24]

What time do you leave WDW for the trip home and how far do you drive? Leaving for Disney at 4 am is easy. Leaving a beautiful Disney Resort early is much harder. I hope to leave by 8 am and use I-95 North. I am trying to select a stopover location. Last year, we stopped in Florence, SC, but I am hoping to go farther north this year. Any suggestions on particular hotels, restaurants, exits, etc.?

 

[wannabee princess]

We drive slowly on the way down, stopping over after about 11 hours, then finishing up the drive (about 3 hours) after spending the night in Valdosta, GA. I like to do this, so we arrive by lunchtime, we have a full day of all things Disney and no one is exhausted.

On the way home however, we leave when it is still really early - maybe 7? and head straight through to home. I hate the thought of spending another night away and not being in the World of Disney! I can't justify it in my mind that could have been another day at Disney!

By the time we get home, we are just ready for bed, and glad to see our house, so that it doesn't strike so hard that we have left the magic.

 

[bcinohio]

We too have a long drive. We live in northeast Ohio. It takes about 18 hours to get to WDW. We have stopped in the past but the last trip and the one in 3 weeks we are driving straight through. We leave Ohio about 8pm Friday night and drive throughout the night. On the way back we usually get on the road around 9 or 10. We arrive back in Ohio early Sunday morning. In the past we have driven to around Charlotte and stopped for the night. That left us about 8 hours until we get home. The only thing with this is we arrive Sunday evening and then have to get up for work on Monday.

I hope you have a great trip!!

 

[clkelley]

We have found that it is near impossible for us to leave early in the morning when we stay the last night at a WDW resort, so we don't even try.

We check out the morning before and spend the entire last day in the parks, then drive up to Ocala to a Super 8 and spend the night there.

It is much easier to leave the boring Super 8 and head on home than it is to leave WDW property.

Carol

 

[natt]

We have a slightly shorter drive than you in NE PA, but here's what we've done for the past two trips:

Going down, we shoot to leave by 4AM (which usually means 4:30 ) We drive as far as Kingsland GA and have stayed at the Country Inn & Suites. From there it's only 3 hours to WDW.

Coming home we leave between 10 or 11 AM. Both trips we've stopped over in Lumberton, NC but have not been real impressed with our hotels (Holiday Inn and Country Inn & Suites) My AAA book also lists a Hampton Inn, Comfort Inn &/Suites, Fairfield Inn in Lumberton. I believe the Florence exit is just a bit further, so next trip we may try that. PM me if you'd like phone numbers for any of these places. Happy Driving!