East Coasters/Drivers - could use help planning

[Liljam]

We are leaving in twelve days and we always drive. Typically, we leave in the middle of the night from Western MD and catnap at a truckstop once or twice before finally calling it a night in Jacksonville then we make our way to WDW the next morning. This year, we are leaving earlier - heading out two days ahead around 7 am and plan to drive a good distance for a few reasons. This is where you guys might help (we're hoping to maybe stop off and do something different the first night.) I was thinking about stopping in Savannah for The Lady and Sons lunch the following day before we head on down to Orlando. My main questions are:
1. Is it far off of I-95 (it doesn't appear to be more than 30 mins)
2. for Savannah locals or people in the know, is this even doable or with Paula Dean being, well, Paula Dean, is it hard to get in - I read they don't take ressies but do have Priority Seating.
3. How far is Orlando from Savannah? The maps say we'd have about a 5 hour drive, but the maps suggest it takes 15 hours and 30 mins from my house to the mouse.

We'll be arriving a day ahead of reservations - we're pretty spontaneous

Any help you can give me would be great. I didn't know if this would get moved to the travel board, but I know a lot of DVCers seem to go at a leisure pace sometimes so I figured I'd start here! Thanks!

 

[LorieDisneyLover]

I don't have any answers about Paula Dean ...

but it IS about 5 hours from Savannah to Disney World ... just might make it a little less than that depending on the traffic in Jacksonville.

 

[robertdangelo]

St. Augustine, Florida is a great place to stay too... I would suggest visiting it sometime on your way. A lot of great sights to see!
I'm from Western NY... we usually fly down now, with a little one. When we would drive, we would stay in Fayetteville, NC... plenty of affordable places off I-95.
Have fun!

 

[gracelrm]

Not sure about all of your questions, but I have been to The Lady & Sons three times. All three times, we got there two or three hours before the meal time to get our name on "the list". It seems as though the website tells you what time they begin taking names for lunch or supper. So you would need to plan accordingly. Savannah is a great place to visit and I would highly recommend spending a day in Savannah!

 

[RangerPooh]

I don't know about Lady and Sons, but we have made that drive a few times. We lived in southern MD just outside of DC and used Savannah as our stop for the night. The next morning we woke up early and made it to WDW in about 6 hours...we have little ones who need potty break.

 

[DizMagic]

i second a stop in st augustine. it is amazing - a destination in itself. and only about 2 hours from the mouse.

 

[robertdangelo]

i second a stop in st augustine. it is amazing - a destination in itself. and only about 2 hours from the mouse.

If ypu go to St. Augustine... I highly Recommend The Gypsy Cab Company... My favorite Restaurant outside WDW! http://www.gypsycab.com/

 

[chum]

Savannah is close to I95 via 16 and worth a visit. If you can't get into Paula's then there are plenty of other options for lunch.
Great city!

 

[Antonia]

I personally would not try to stop and eat at Paula Deen's. It is a madhouse with a line around the block just to get your name on the clipboard. When I was there you had to be there at like 9 a.m. to get in the line just to get your name down for lunch. And I have heard the food is not even that good. If stopping in Savannah, I would enjoy the ambience of the city maybe with a trolley tour and have lunch at the Boar's Head on River Street and you might get to see a ship passing by!

 

[ajf1007]

St. Augustine, Florida is a great place to stay too... I would suggest visiting it sometime on your way. A lot of great sights to see!
I'm from Western NY... we usually fly down now, with a little one. When we would drive, we would stay in Fayetteville, NC... plenty of affordable places off I-95.
Have fun!

Robert - your probably just the guy to help me. We're actually going to St. Augustine for vacation this September and live outside of Philadelphia. Taking a year off to save points for our big WDW vacation next year.
Here's my dilemma, it appears much cheaper to drive vs fly and there are 3 of us. Between the flights and renting a car for a week it's gotta be cheaper to drive right? I have been researching all day and not quite sure where 1/2 way is. I was thinking we would leave at 7pm on a Friday night and drive as far as we could. Any suggestions would be so helpful. My husband is really not a fan of driving but I don't mind so if I do it, I need to know what I'm volunteering for.

 

[rcchello]

Interesting about the lines, because last May we stopped there at lunch time and the wait wasn't long at all. I think the line to leave your name was less than 5 minutes. The wait was less than most Disney waits with priority seating.

Guess, we showed up on a slow day!

I would recommend Mrs Wilkes Dining room if you are there when they are open for lunch. That is a real treat!! http://www.mrswilkes.com/

 

[Liljam]

Robert - your probably just the guy to help me. We're actually going to St. Augustine for vacation this September and live outside of Philadelphia. Taking a year off to save points for our big WDW vacation next year.
Here's my dilemma, it appears much cheaper to drive vs fly and there are 3 of us. Between the flights and renting a car for a week it's gotta be cheaper to drive right? I have been researching all day and not quite sure where 1/2 way is. I was thinking we would leave at 7pm on a Friday night and drive as far as we could. Any suggestions would be so helpful. My husband is really not a fan of driving but I don't mind so if I do it, I need to know what I'm volunteering for.

I figured I'd try to held answer this one too since we always drive then I'll get to the "thank yous" for getting some awesome info !! From Philly, your halfway point should be around Fayetteville, NC if my thinking is correct. Halfway from where I am (in MD) seems to be about South of the Border or Dillon, SC. So I could be a little off there. I've stayed near both places on the drive down or back though. We love driving btw!

Now on to the "thank yous!"

I love St. Augustine and plan on a stop there too, maybe just for the day! It's a favorite of ours actually! I will check out some of the suggestions though because since I've been grown up, we've really only had time for a quick stop and then we move on. I did get a sip from the Fountain of Youth in 2008, hehe!

As for Savannah, the hotel costs look a little pricey there for a night, so we might check the outside area. It looks like such a beautiful place and I've never been so it'd be fun to do some photography in the morning and evening!

Thanks again. 5 or 6 hours away seems like a nice place to stop too!

 

[Liljam]

I checked out the links too - Thanks!

Both Savannah restaurants sound great! Did you see the lamb chops on the boar's head site - whoa!! And the gypsy cab place in St. Augustine looks great too! There was a little seafood shack place near Daytona my brother is hoping to locate but he is heading out a day before me. I'll give him these ideas too! Maybe I'll just stop at Paula Dean's store. My MIL said they tried to get in and it was packed but they loved so many other things in the area!

Thanks again!

 

[Leleluvsdis]

We are leaving in twelve days and we always drive. Typically, we leave in the middle of the night from Western MD and catnap at a truckstop once or twice before finally calling it a night in Jacksonville then we make our way to WDW the next morning. This year, we are leaving earlier - heading out two days ahead around 7 am and plan to drive a good distance for a few reasons. This is where you guys might help (we're hoping to maybe stop off and do something different the first night.) I was thinking about stopping in Savannah for The Lady and Sons lunch the following day before we head on down to Orlando. My main questions are:
1. Is it far off of I-95 (it doesn't appear to be more than 30 mins)
2. for Savannah locals or people in the know, is this even doable or with Paula Dean being, well, Paula Dean, is it hard to get in - I read they don't take ressies but do have Priority Seating.
3. How far is Orlando from Savannah? The maps say we'd have about a 5 hour drive, but the maps suggest it takes 15 hours and 30 mins from my house to the mouse.

We'll be arriving a day ahead of reservations - we're pretty spontaneous

Any help you can give me would be great. I didn't know if this would get moved to the travel board, but I know a lot of DVCers seem to go at a leisure pace sometimes so I figured I'd start here! Thanks!

We did this 2 years ago, and I was a FABULOUS way to start our trip. We drove to Savannah on Thursday night, and stayed at the Wingate, I think it was at gateway. It was a very very nice hotel, only a couple years old and VERY clean. We got up the next morning and get there when you could get your name on the list. We strolled around a maybe 30 or 45 mins until they started calling names. We were in the 2nd group of names they called which was about 15 minutes after they started calling names. I think it was well worth it however I wish I would have gotten something off the menu vs the buffet. Don't forget to stop at her store. It has some GREAT stuff!!!

 

[ajf1007]

I figured I'd try to held answer this one too since we always drive then I'll get to the "thank yous" for getting some awesome info !! From Philly, your halfway point should be around Fayetteville, NC if my thinking is correct. Halfway from where I am (in MD) seems to be about South of the Border or Dillon, SC. So I could be a little off there. I've stayed near both places on the drive down or back though. We love driving btw!

Now on to the "thank yous!"

I love St. Augustine and plan on a stop there too, maybe just for the day! It's a favorite of ours actually! I will check out some of the suggestions though because since I've been grown up, we've really only had time for a quick stop and then we move on. I did get a sip from the Fountain of Youth in 2008, hehe!

As for Savannah, the hotel costs look a little pricey there for a night, so we might check the outside area. It looks like such a beautiful place and I've never been so it'd be fun to do some photography in the morning and evening!

Thanks again. 5 or 6 hours away seems like a nice place to stop too!

Thanks for the info! You know, it seems all well and good for the ride down, since we'll all be excited and stuff. I'm just a bit worried about the drive home. My DH doesn't have that Monday off so it's alot of driving on Saturday and Sunday only to run back into work on Monday. I just don't know...so torn! We check in on Saturday at 3pm so I was thinking that we'd leave Friday night around 7pm and I would drive us 1/2 way. We'd get a hotel and then get up in am and drive the rest on Saturday morning. Our vacation is Saturday to Saturday and unfortunately, my husbands vacation days are pretty strict so there's no room for a day or two extra. I volunteered to do the driving since I'm going to take of Friday and then Monday of the following week. We're taking my mother-in-law as a gift for her and when I started looking at flights and rental cars, I'm figuring its about 1500.00 just to get there and rent the car. That's what lead me to driving. What do you like about the driving aspect? Should I be looking at this differently? I don't mind driving, I'm just worried that coming home will feel like a nightmare since your in the "go home" phase.

We love St. Augustine! This will be our 3rd or 4th trip there, it's just soo relaxing and such a beautiful city. My DH, whom can never relax, goes into a glazed over, relaxed state that sometimes I check his pulse! LOL.. Anyway, I am very interested in Savannah too, we drove through there last summer from Jacksonville to HHI but unfortuantely didn't get to spend any time or see anything.