driving to dw from PA

[bridgetb125]

We are going to DW in a few weeks and we're driving there from PA, near the Lancaster area. This will be my dh and kids first time and I haven't been there for over 15 years. We are leaving at about 5pm on a Friday night and check in at the pop century is set for the next day. I want to drive as far as I can Friday night and stop at a hotel and sleep, then get back on the road early. Where is the halfway point, or a good place to stop? Any tips? Anyone know first hand how long of a drive i'm looking at?

 

[padisneylover]

We are going to DW in a few weeks and we're driving there from PA, near the Lancaster area. This will be my dh and kids first time and I haven't been there for over 15 years. We are leaving at about 5pm on a Friday night and check in at the pop century is set for the next day. I want to drive as far as I can Friday night and stop at a hotel and sleep, then get back on the road early. Where is the halfway point, or a good place to stop? Any tips? Anyone know first hand how long of a drive i'm looking at?

Hi,
I live about 3 hrs north of you (Scranton/Wilkes Barre area) and when we drove it took us approxametly 20 hrs. That was with no going over the speed limit and included rest stops along the way for coffee. We did live in Florida for a while not far from Disney and drove straight through with stops for breaks for coffee/food and potty and it took about 18 hrs.
I assume you will be taking 81 to 95 and if so I would look for a place to pull off south of Dillon which is just over the SC border to the Georgia border. There is a large lake which you will see on the map in about the middle of SC and that has a lot of nice motels right off of its exits. Can't think of the name of it now and that would be a good spot to stop and would get you to Disney the next day in about 6-8 hrs depending on how fast you drive and how many stops you make. Have a safe trip.

 

[bridgetb125]

Hi! Thanks for all your tips! I'm not sure about 81, but i'm going 95 down. Is Dillion a good place to stop, or should I try to go farther? How far is DW from there?

 

[marksommerville]

We drove from Harrisburg to WDW last March, left at 3:00am and made it to Brunswick, GA by 4:00pm.

We stayed generally about 10mph above speed limit and stopped for breakfast and lunch and the traffic was very light. I was quite surprised.

We took 15 South to 270 to DC and 95. At that time, we hit DC at 6:00am and there was no traffic at all.

We went around Richmond on 295 (?) and had no problems.

We left Brunswick and had a 3 hr ride to WDW. We did hit traffic in FL from just South of Jacksonville to Orlando, but opted to go through Jacksonville rather than around.

If you plan on travelling until too tired to go on, I would suggest go as far as you can, or the kids will let you, there are plenty of hotels on 95 all the way down.

Hope this helps, but look at it this way...YOUR GOING TO DISNEYWORLD !!!

enjoy

 

[Deedlbugg]

Hi! I live between Lancaster and Reading! I have heard from various people it takes 16 3/4 hours stright. Good luck!!!

 

[Uncleromulus]

Our experience over the last 7 driving trips is just like Marksommerville's--we live in Glen Rock (S. of York) and leave on Friday AM at 3:00. With a full breakfast and many gas/rest stops, we are easily in Brunswick Ga by 5:00 PM and stay at the Hampton Inn there. Next morning (depending on traffic of course) it's 3 to 3.5 hours to WDW.

 

[Hef4545]

Brunswick is a very nice area to stop. My suggestion, like others is to go as far as you can the first day. We travel from Long Island and usually get in 16 hours of driving time and then stop for the day. Last year we made it to Brunswick, Georgia and stayed at a Embassy Suites, very clean and nice..the kids were able to watch TV and have fun because they had a seperate room while us geezers collapsed from the drive. You only have 3 hours to go the next day. We have also stayed in Savannah many times. There is a nice Country Inn and Suites right off of that exit with an indoor pool if you think you may like to take a dip. Although all hotels have pools, I usually go for the indoor so Mother Nature does not spoil the fun...rain or thunderstorm...
There is a great website with lots of exit information and I usually go through and look it over and pick different exit stops 30 minutes apart....so hard to predict traffic or bad weather or when everyone has had enough for the day.
www.usastar.com/i95/homepage.htm
You get exit by exit information about hotels and restaurants and forums where people give their feedback about the hotels and areas. Have a great trip!

 

[bridgetb125]

Thank you all for your replies! I wish we could leave earlier on Friday, but my kids and dh are going to school/working that day. So, we are leaving as soon as they get home. Do you make your hotel reservations ahead of time for where you are going to stop? Or do you think I would be okay just showing up somewhere at maybe 2am to stay for the night? I would prefer to do it that way so I can drive as far as I can and then stop. Do most of the hotels have a late night check in like that?

 

[mickeyfan2]

We are going to DW in a few weeks and we're driving there from PA, near the Lancaster area. This will be my dh and kids first time and I haven't been there for over 15 years. We are leaving at about 5pm on a Friday night and check in at the pop century is set for the next day. I want to drive as far as I can Friday night and stop at a hotel and sleep, then get back on the road early. Where is the halfway point, or a good place to stop? Any tips? Anyone know first hand how long of a drive i'm looking at?

5 pm is a bad time to leave especially on a Friday. That will put you at Baltimore about 6:30 and you will be in a traffic jam on I-95. We live near you and leave our home at 7 pm. We try to get to Euphoria, VA on the NC border (about 5 hours later) and stop. We can make the final drive to WDW in 11 more hours.

 

[mickeyfan2]

Thank you all for your replies! I wish we could leave earlier on Friday, but my kids and dh are going to school/working that day. So, we are leaving as soon as they get home. Do you make your hotel reservations ahead of time for where you are going to stop? Or do you think I would be okay just showing up somewhere at maybe 2am to stay for the night? I would prefer to do it that way so I can drive as far as I can and then stop. Do most of the hotels have a late night check in like that?

There are plenty of hotels to choose from. We just drive and start looking for a hotel when we get tired.

 

[keishashadow]

A true road warrior , good luck.

At all costs avoid the Lumberton, NC, area (slightly north of Dillon area) - made the mistake of staying @ an EconoLodge - oh, sooooooooooo creepy. Evidently, the area's near military bases and the whole area was party central the Saturday we stopped.

Believe it or not, we've had good luck staying @ South of the Border. The preferred rooms across the street from the main area are cheap, clean & there's a big security presence...plenty of diversions to tire the kids out for a few hours, too.

We despise the 95 corridor to the point where we take a longer route via I-70/77 (from Pittsburgh) and even through Stauton, Va, 81 picking up 295 outside of Richmond. The extra miles/time are worth it to me to avoid the insane clown drivers of DC. (no flames, DH's family is from Arlington - they hate the traffic too!).

After factoring in our stress level along with the hotel, food, gas, etc.; we've found it a better value to fly a disc. carrier down.

 

[mom2boys]

I plugged your trip into my Streets program. I also plugged in leaving Lancaster at 5pm & stopping at 2am. According to Streets, that puts you in Santee SC - assuming you are doing the 95 corridor. We have stayed at the Hampton Inn there. We didn't have any complaints.
One word of caution about hotels along I-95 in the South. We have found that the AAA diamond ratings are not equivelant to what they are in the Mid-Atlantic. Our rule of thumb is nothing less than a three diamond in the South - at least along I-95.
BTW stopping in Santee leaves about another 5 1/2 hours. All of this assumes 70 mph on the Interstates - adjust accordingly.

 

[bridgetb125]

Thanks for looking that up for me. I was looking around some sites about I-95 and now they have me a bit nervous. Is it safe for us to be driving until 1-2am and then do a search for a hotel (preferably a hampton inn) at that point? How do we know where it is safe to even stop for a bathroom break? I read some stops you shouldn't stop at.