Driving home in April to New England~ hotel reservation or not.

[SilverMickey]

After a day in the parks we plan to head north around 6-8pm. We would like to drive part way to NC our first night so we have time the next day to visit with family in the afternoon.

I asked my hubby where he would like to stay that 1st night... He said he wants to "WING IT" he doesn't know how tired he will be or how far he will want to drive)

Any one have any luck finding a hotel this way and were the prices wild?

Thanks!

 

[debster812]

We drove FROM New England, to the Ft Myers area in February of 2010. It was our plan to drive straight through (4 adult drivers). However, the the weather and the Commonwealth of VA had other ideas. At about 2am after spending 1 hr going 1 mile due to snow and snow removal equipment across all lanes of I95, we fired up the GPS, found a hotel near our location, called them, and found rooms.

Where you don't know how tired you'll be, and how far you'll make it, I'd wing it as well.

 

[pepe of ohio]

We haven't driven to WDW in slot of years (we use Amtrak now) the last trip we were going to drive straight thru like we used to do in the 70's and 80's and thought we'd wing it.....well we got tired and decided to find a motel.....let me tell you....blowing down the interstate late at night looking for a known or decent motel is not fun......finding one with vacancies is tougher....all the best ones are full up because others stopped before you or had prior reservations.....never again....if we drive again, we'll measure a decent distance, pick and reserve at motel and when we get there....stop and be satisfied and happy......we're taking 1100 miles to WDW for us and don't like surprises and won't rely on GPS units to book a night....old adage...bird in hand...

 

[ccgirl]

Now that we have GPS's and cell phones it makes it a lot easier. I would just wing it. When he is tired, look for the nearest hotel on the GPS. Call them and see if there are openings. Good luck.

 

[SilverMickey]

Thanks for the opinions!

I have printed our route and then looked at hotels/prices/rating/stars on our route. Printed out names of hotels/ phone numbers/ hours from Orlando/website.

Updated my GPS.

So now I feel I have a plan for being with out a plan. The "winging it" while not "winging it"?

 

[dznymom1]

I do the drive a couple of times a year from NH to FL. I prefer to wing it because you never know what weather and traffic will do when you put yourself on a strict schedule.

The only time I had a problem was when there was a NASCAR race in Virginia (not a fan so I forget where) and hotels were booked up for many miles. I suggest checking for big events like that so you won't get surprised like we did!

Have a great trip!