Driving to Disney

[goofyguy1958]

We will be driving to WDW in June for the first time - driving that is. Usually we fly, but this trip is going to be long (17 days) and we decided it would be much more cost effective to drive. My question is, has anyone driven from the Philadelphia, PA area and how long dooes it take? Also, any suggestions on hotels in the Savannah, GA area for a one night stay? We plan on driving to Savannah and stopping for the night then continuing on to WDW the next day. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[SueV]

We drive from South Jersey 3 times per year! My DH is afraid to fly!! We drove before we had kids and it took us about 15 hours, the speed limits are around 70 in the southern states!!! Now that we have kids, with making stops to eat and stretch our legs, it takes more like 17-18 hours now! But that does include all the stops! We usually stop for a nice breakfast on the road, and bring sandwich fixins for lunch. We also don't do the drive straight through we usually stop either in SC of GA, depending on when we leave! The ride is not that bad and with the right planning can even be painless!!! Do you have AAA, you can get a triptiks which will plot your course and gives you state books so you can look up hotels, restaurants ect.! I just relized you ask for hotel suggestions in Savannah, GA area, we have never stayed in Savannah if we stay in GA we stay in Brunswick GA(exit 36) it's closer to the Fl border and only about 4 hours from WDW! there are several hotels and restaurants in that area!

 

[disboo]

Make sure you miss DC at rush hour - that is a gridlock area!!!

We've driven down a couple of times and the other posters times match ours.

 

[cobbler]

We live in MI and we drive all the time otherwise we wouldn't be able to go.

We usually break it down over 2 days, stop halfway in southern TN or in GA - we try to get south of Atlanta as we have figured it is 12 hours from our home to Atlanta.

Then we finish up the next day. We pack a cooler for food and drinks and we stop for bathroom and stretching when we get gas and no other time unless necessary.

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

Someone I know travels to family in Sanford, an hour east of Orlando. She usually stops in Florence SC for the night. It usually takes her about 18 hours of driving.

We drove straight-thru, stopping often for breaks and took our time. It took us about 24 hours with stops from Reading. For our next trip I plan to have an overnight stay, one itinerary has us in Jacksonville, FL another scenario in Dillon, SC.

 

[tci1212]

We usually drive also. It takes around 16 to 17 hrs straight through. In August we stopped in Savannah because of Hurricane Charlie. We stayed in a hotel right behind a Cracker Barrel restaurant. I can't remember the name but it had free continental breakfast. It was a fairly new hotel. It was off of exit 94. We only had about 6 hrs of driving left when we headed out in the morning.

 

[CoolDisneyCat]

Are you talking about in the town of Savannah, or the exits for Savannah off I-95? It is around 45 min. into Savannah from the Interstate.

As some one mentioned above, AAA guidebooks are wonderful. They have the exits listed and you can see what hotels are where. There is a great website called http://www.usastar.com/i95/homepage.htm which lists hotel info and road construction warnings.

 

[riopooh]

There is lots of info on the transportation board.

We prefer driving - saves money and I love having our mini van (and everything we need) right there with us - so much easier with the kids.

The drive is easy - I95 is very convenient. We neve plan where to stay - there are lots of Comfort Inns, Travelodges and Days Inns so I just drive until I feel that I need to stop and we stop!

We flying this time because we are bringing my parents - we're spending $1300 in airfare and another $500 for the minivan rental - yikes!

 

[goofyguy1958]

Thanks for the help everyone. What I was really interested in for the Hotel was any suggestions for one that my 5 y/o ds and 8 y/o dd would enjoy. You know, one with a nice pool and place that kids would enjoy eating at.

 

[goofyguy1958]

Has anyone ever stayed in the Brunswick GA area? If so, how much more of a drive is it to WDW from there? Any suggestions on Hotel/Motels?

 

[39CINDERELLA]

we drove the 1st trip last yr and flew the 2nd trip, our dd will not fly again so it looks like we are driving this spring. We will stop in NC.
Do a mapquest it will help you.
Also get AAA if you don't have it, it is worth it.

 

[Desnik]

You have to check that link provided for the I95 info guide. It lists all the hotels at each exit with reviews and some have pictures. They have links to the hotels and rates. They also sell a guide, which we use. It has all the info in it so you can take it on the road with you. I like to know what lies ahead at each exit so I can plan on where to stop to eat. It lists all restaurants/fast food and hotels, and gas stations at each exit. Also has all rest stops and which have food and which are just bathrooms.

We drive all the time, DH won't fly. Before kids it took us 17 hours, we live an hour and a half north of Manhattan. Now that our kids are 22mo and 7yo it takes us about 20 hours with all the stops! We usually drive straight through leaving our house at 3am, we arrive at 9-10pm. We found this works best for us. We have stopped over night, we have driven straight through at night. Those didn't work well for us. In June we are driving to Vero Beach and we will stay over one night on the way down. Probably in GA. I would sy do most of the driving the first day. Go to the I95 site, look at the hotels in SC, then get their address. Then go to mapquest and get the driving direstions from your home to the hotel, then the hotel to WDW. That's how we pick a hotel. Along with reading reviews on that site and tripadvisor.com, and looking at pictures. Just stay away from the South of the Border motels. Really cheesy and not so clean, or safe.

I would also do a search on the transportation board. This question has been asked alot over there in the past.

 

[LeoGrrrrl1982]

As a kid, my family ALWAYS drove to Disney World...and now Im continuing that tradition (2nd trip as the head of the Disney trek).
We're in Delaware which isnt too far from you and it takes us about 18 hours total (including gas ups, food stops, and bathroom breaks).
Some might call us crazy (including most of our closest friends ) but my fiancee and I love the drive. One tip we have is books on tape....makes the trip go by like you wouldnt believe. Crackel Barrel has these and you actually buy the tape or cd outright then return it for a full refund less 3 bucks for up to a WEEK! You can return it to ANY crackel barrel and get a new one if you like....

 

[WDW LOVR]

We stayed in Brunswick Ga a couple times and if I remember correctly it's around 3 1/2 hours to WDW.

I don't remember which motel/hotel we stayed at but there are a number of them right off the interstate. I know it was either a Holiday Inn Express or a Marriott Courtyard or Fairfield as those are the ones we always look for.