First time drivers from PA - what do we do?!? :)

[SheilaHeartsDisney]

So my family and I have been to Disney World many many times but we have always flown. Well this year we decided we are going to try to drive from the Philadelphia area. What tips can you give for 1st time drivers? Here are just a few tid bits about us to help......

Family of 4 with two 8 year olds.
2 drivers
Looking to do an overnight stay in one of the Carolinas
Not opposed to nicer hotel for the over night stay
Any fun places to stop and eat along the way?

(



Thanks for all your help!!

 

[kanerf]

95 is horrible for much of the drive. Have you looked into the Autotrain from the DC area?

 

[RanDIZ]

We do it all the time from Philly. Leave after rush hour and traffic is fine. And with 2 drivers it’s even better. Drive straight through stopping twice for gas. Once at Kenly, NC and another at a Loves in GA. Can be done in under 16 hours. Only trouble spot tends to be I-4 in FL with all the roadwork. We’ve never stayed overnight so can’t help you in that dept.

 

[bakerworld]

We've tried both the train and driving.

The train we used when our eldest was moving to Florida and taking her car. It is a nice experience that kind of reminded me of being in a 50's movie. The train might seem expensive but it includes snacks, beverages, served 3 course dinner with 1 beer or wine, served breakfast, and a movie.

The two times we drove we stopped overnight, once at Savanah and once at Hilton Head DVC resort. Savanah was only 15 minutes off 95 where HH was a good 40 minutes from 95. DH often talks about driving but for me after 4 hours in the car I start getting a bit 'Are we there yet?'.

 

[bakerworld]

We do it all the time from Philly. Leave after rush hour and traffic is fine. And with 2 drivers it’s even better. Drive straight through stopping twice for gas. Once at Kenly, NC and another at a Loves in GA. Can be done in under 16 hours. Only trouble spot tends to be I-4 in FL with all the roadwork. We’ve never stayed overnight so can’t help you in that dept.

So you drive thru the night?

 

[MICKIMINI]

I'd be wary of wandering too far off the beaten path these days. Official rest stops are probably the safest bet now where you can gas up and get food all at the same time. Starbuck's seems to have the cleanest bathrooms.

We've stayed at Disney's Hilton Head (we are owners) on the way to WDW. It is a bit out of the way but we enjoy it!

Have a safe trip!

 

[SheilaHeartsDisney]

95 is horrible for much of the drive. Have you looked into the Autotrain from the DC area?

We did look into auto train but just to expensive for us at the moment.

 

[RanDIZ]

So you drive thru the night?

Yes. Leave after 8pm. 2 quick stops for gas and stretch and keep moving. Works out well.

 

[RanDIZ]

I'd be wary of wandering too far off the beaten path these days. Official rest stops are probably the safest bet now where you can gas up and get food all at the same time. Starbuck's seems to have the cleanest bathrooms.

We've stayed at Disney's Hilton Head (we are owners) on the way to WDW. It is a bit out of the way but we enjoy it!

Have a safe trip!

We always consider diverting our trip over to HH but wasn’t sure if it was worth it for 2 days before continuing in to FL.

 

[amylevan]

We’ve done it 3 times, it’s about 16 hours.

You need to be south of DC either before or after rush hours. So we’ve left at 2 am and made it to the other side before morning traffic ramps up and drove all day, arriving around dinner time.

We’ve also left at about 7 pm and driven over night. The traffic of an overnight drive is far better, but you have to be able and willing to drive at night.

When taking 2 days, I would wait to leave until after all morning traffic is done and plan on stopping somewhere in SC.

 

[MICKIMINI]

We always consider diverting our trip over to HH but wasn’t sure if it was worth it for 2 days before continuing in to FL.

WORTH IT!!

 

[pianomanzano]

So my family and I have been to Disney World many many times but we have always flown. Well this year we decided we are going to try to drive from the Philadelphia area. What tips can you give for 1st time drivers? Here are just a few tid bits about us to help......

Family of 4 with two 8 year olds.
2 drivers
Looking to do an overnight stay in one of the Carolinas
Not opposed to nicer hotel for the over night stay
Any fun places to stop and eat along the way?

(



Thanks for all your help!!

We’re doing this drive in two weeks from Philly with our little ones. Our plan is to leave really early like 1 or 2am to avoid any traffic in places like Baltimore and DC and plan to stop at a residence inn just outside of Savannah GA. Takes about 12 hours without stops so figure we’ll get in around 5 or 6pm. Then a decent 5-6 hour drive the next day to Orlando.

 

[CarlyMur09]

We’ve done the drive down once (last min.) and the drive back three times (two were planned. One was last min, but a different trip). And we plan on doing one more soon. We live about 30 min east outside Pittsburgh.

First time we drove back was Labor Day weekend 2019, since we had planned to fly back, but a hurricane was due that weekend, so we ended up driving back home over the course of 3 days, and had to avoid the tolls to get to PIT where our car was, so that took a bit longer. Savannah was our first night this trip.

Second drive back was Nov 2019, thanksgiving weekend. Again, 3 days, since we stopped overnight in Savannah GA first night and Williamsburg, VA, the second night. Would have been fine had my DB not ended up with a horrid respiratory illness that gave him pneumonia and landed him in the hospital for over a week.

Third trip, and first trip driving down.. Aug 2020. We had been planning on flying out then getting a one way rental to drive back, but made the decision at the last minute to just drive down, so we packed the car, drove to Fredericksburg. VA that night, then straight down to Orlando the next day. Lost a day in the parks, but after the rough few months prior, we were just happy to be away. So the drive back this time was Florence SC first night and we almost drove straight back home, but we were tired so we stayed in Hagerstown, MD that night.

And we’re doing the trip in Nov/Dec as well. Plan is to stop in Woodbridge, VA first night, Yemassee, SC the second night, then the drive back will be Yemassee, SC first night then Fredericksburg, VA second night. We’ll see how that pans out for us!

 

[disny_luvr]

We typically fly now, but when we drove, we usually stopped in Savannah.

 

[Stratman50th]

For many years we drove. We lived a little further south than you in MD. We would go until we got to Kingsland GA. If I recall it was around the 12 hour mark. Lots of decent hotels to choose from off of 95. We liked Hampton Inn but we always liked that chain. Kingsland is the last exit before you hit the FL line. Only a short 4 hour drive from there.

 

[easyas123]

Any fun places to stop and eat along the way?

Not really, no. It's 95S....honestly, we have made this drive a few times from just about a 45 min. or a hour south of you. Decide when you want/can to leave. Have a EZ pass, you might get lucky if the 95S HOV lanes south of DC are open. Another route to consider is 301S until it hits 95S just above Richmond (95S from Philly, take the exit for Christiana Mall/RT. 1/Delaware beaches. Go over the C&D canal bridge, stay right and take Rt. 301S past Middletown, De into MD and over the Bay Bridge/Annapolis area where 301S will split off from 50. There are stop lights on 301 S but traffic usually keeps moving). We don't usually have a targeted area to stop, depending on when we leave we drive until we can't anymore and stop for the night. Nice thing about 95 is that there are hotels dotting the whole way down and it's easy to just stop when you are ready.
Whatever you do, don't stop at South of the Border, it's nasty. There is a Buc-ees in the Jacksonville, FL area if memory serves me right if that interests you.
Safe travels!

 

[Pooh's World]

You have to clear Phil, Baltimore, DC and Fredericksburg, VA on 95 before the rush hour traffic starts.
If you don't clear Fredericksburg in time you are doomed.

After that it's smooth sailing.

 

[AnnaS]

Two drivers - you can drive straight through. We have done it a few times and my DH was the only driver. He likes to do the drive.

We now always stop overnight. The straight thru drive is more or less over for us. No need to push ourselves and we are not getting younger.

We have stopped in many different locations. We aim for Santee, SC most of the time now (coming from NY). We stay at Hampton Inn or Holiday Inn Express. For many years we never booked the night before leaving home but then many times no vacancies so while on the road, I reserve a room for the night on my phone or make a call.

We pack lunch, fruit, snacks and water of course. We make many stops (between gas and restroom).

Don't speed - good luck and enjoy the ride with the kids/games, videos, crafts.

(p.s.) Have something ready (bottle/boy/girls?) for an emergency in car. It can happen where you can't even pull over to the side when you are stopped, bumper to bumper (accidents on road/bad weather, etc.). Better be prepared.

 

[SheilaHeartsDisney]

Thanks for all the advice. When I was younger my family drove down all the time. I never really paid attention at that age but I always remember my dad saying we need to leave so we don't hit the DC traffic. I wanna say we left about 6am in order to avoid it. It takes about 3 hours to get to the DC area from where we lived meaning we would get there about 9a. But wouldn't that be in the middle of it?

I guess my question is if you live about 3 hours away from DC what time would you leave to avoid that area???

 

[Stratman50th]

This is strictly an alternative route to bypass all the DC traffic. It has it's own down side but I hated dealing with DC traffic enough to use this route.
We lived in Sykesville MD which is a little west of Baltimore. We would take 100 south to 50 in Annapolis. Jump on 50 to 301s and take that all the way to 95. Traffic was stop and go through Waldorf but again it was worth it to bypass DC and northern VA. 301 turns into 207 ant dumps you out at 95s one exit above Kings Dominion. The Harry Nice bridge over the Potomac is a toll bridge (only from MD to VA, no toll on the return trip). Again, nice country drive through VA. Did it for years in the car, and then we did it in a 45' motorhome towing a vehicle.