For 2,000+ Mile Round-Trip Drivers Only! (II)

[Cin]

Try travelmath.com for a breakdown of not only fuel costs but driving time and mileage too. We're planning the long drive too in Oct. from Corpus Christi. I'm so dreading it as I'd rather fly and be done with sitting still. I hope you have a pleasant drive down to FL and back. Maybe flight prices will come back down and I can fly instead (keeping fingers crossed). Otherwise I guess I get to join the 2000 mile club too. I love to travel I really do, but I get sit-itis something terrible after about 45 minutes. My mom's term, I didn't make it up, really. Anyway, happy traveling!

 

[Cin]

Trip tick or GPS? I do love my gps as it will give me the shortest route off track( great for pee stops with 4 kids coming).I want to order a trip tick anyways but which should I follow?

Don't rely on GPS, it works really well in the middle of nowhere, but when I really needed it and was counting on it to navigate me through DFW to the Fort Worth side, it actually was showing my position as a mile off from where I was and so was giving me directions after I had passed the exit. I ended up in Dallas after all and lost a couple of hours of time due to the "scenic tour" I got from missing the exit. I encountered this in both Dallas-Fort Worth and again in Austin. I never had any problems with it before that or since, I think maybe the huge metropoli with all the electronics and technology and everything somehow messed it up. My husband couldn't explain it either, he blamed it on sunspots and solar flares, but my 18 year old son was in the car with me trying to navigate and he can verify I am stating truth. Bottom line, don't rely on gadgets for reading good old fashioned street signs and paper maps yourself. We learned the hard way. Lucky we were lost in DFW and not in the boonies.

 

[arizonacolbys]

We are making our 2nd drive to WDW from the Cleveland area -it is a total of 2,140 miles round trip. We made the drive back in December & it was actually easier than we expected! We split it up on the way down - drove to Savannah & stopped for the night & then spent a night at the beach near Daytona before heading on to WDW. On the way home, we were trying to beat an incoming snowstorm back home, so we hit the road at 3:30 am & drove straight thru, arriving at home by 8:30 pm. So, we're now planning to attempt straight thru again next week on our way down.

We are leaving Fri by 3:30 am with our 2 1/2 year old & just turned 1 DD's. I know the DVD player will keep my older one entertained, just hoping the 1 year old is equally cooperative & happy on the drive. Per the AAA triptik recommended route, we took the following route last time & are planning to repeat it next week:

271S to 8S to 77S
77S to 26E
26E to 95S
95S to 4W into WDW

I don't remember any major construction slowing us down in Dec (we just made the AWFUL mistake of driving the Sun after Thanksgiving! & got stuck sitting for hours in a couple of random areas which seemed to be due to congestion & possibly the toll roads.) Can anyone that has recently travelled any of these routes offer any advice or tips? Is there anything we should try to avoid or be aware of next week? Thanks so much

 

[dvczerfs]

Hey road trippers! We'll be hitting the road to WDW this June. We are driving from Dallas breaking it up over two days each way. We did the drive once before. We tried to drive through the night on the way there and it was miserable. The drive home with a stop over in Mobile was so much more enjoyable. So we will be stopping in Baton Rouge on the way there and then in Atlanta on the way home (a little out of the way, but my parents are there).



I just tried both for our trip and there is a big difference. We are driving 2200miles RT. Gas Buddy says only $360 whereas AAA says $478. I noticed that Gas Buddy does not count the initial fill up of the trip- I guess they're assuming your car will magically be full of gas when you leave home. They also base their prices on you seeking out their reccommended lowest price station. AAA computes it based on total gallons needed for the drive and average price per gallon.

I know that on the road, my van gets 350 miles and it takes 18 gallons to fill her up. That's about 6.5 fill-ups. At 3.80 a gallon, my own breakdown is $444, closer to AAA than Gas Buddy.

i thought everyones tank is magically full of gas before they leave for wdw.

 

[pamkev]

i thought everyones tank is magically full of gas before they leave for wdw.

I think your right at least that is what Mickey said right

 

[BC1836]

We are making our 2nd drive to WDW from the Cleveland area -it is a total of 2,140 miles round trip. Can anyone that has recently travelled any of these routes offer any advice or tips? Is there anything we should try to avoid or be aware of next week? Thanks so much

Beware of a massive road-paving job in GA. We experienced big delays several weeks ago on our return trip (a new separate thread about this has just been posted). Also watch out for the Ridgeland, SC photo/radar site around the MM 21 overpass.

All the best.

 

[MidgeD79]

I used travelmath.com to estimate cost of gas and it said about $350 roundtrip (@$4.04). I figure $150 for one stay at a hotel both ways, and $300 for food.
The estimated total would be $800. I found airfare for about $900 for 4 of us roundtrip. I'm thinking it might be easier to fly.....

 

[Laurabearz]

Ok, we have just committed (or need to be committed) to driving straight through... I booked the Universal's Royal Pacific for another night! ($154 APH rate) Locked and loaded baby!!

Now... if we leave at 4 am CST on a Wednesday, our goal is to arrive by Midnight EST

Is that Realistic? We make short stops, and while we do get out of the car to grab McD's we get it to go... And we are strict on the One Pee All Pee Rule....

Of course now I am calculating leaving at midnight...... hahaha

So 19 hours? Western Burbs of Chicago to Orlando..... We go with the flow of traffic, but will admit spending most of our time in the left hand lane <wink>

 

[Cin]

I used travelmath.com to estimate cost of gas and it said about $350 roundtrip (@$4.04). I figure $150 for one stay at a hotel both ways, and $300 for food.
The estimated total would be $800. I found airfare for about $900 for 4 of us roundtrip. I'm thinking it might be easier to fly.....

I think of time too as a value and when you figure 1 1/2 -2 days travel time each way as compared to a half day, well, then you have to consider the value of your vacation time. I'd rather be at WDW than on the road... that's just me though.

 

[Laurabearz]

I used travelmath.com to estimate cost of gas and it said about $350 roundtrip (@$4.04). I figure $150 for one stay at a hotel both ways, and $300 for food.
The estimated total would be $800. I found airfare for about $900 for 4 of us roundtrip. I'm thinking it might be easier to fly.....

$300 for food?? That seems like a lot...

It's easy to drive also, but as Cin below points out, it's time. For us, it's high quality family time. Lots of singing, joke books read aloud, and talking about the trip and what we really want to see and do. We love the water tower game which consists of everyone pointing out all the water towers they see until we all get on each others nerves! Classic!

So for us, we 'value' that family time together and the drive down is part of the vacation.

I think of time too as a value and when you figure 1 1/2 -2 days travel time each way as compared to a half day, well, then you have to consider the value of your vacation time. I'd rather be at WDW than on the road... that's just me though.

 

[klmrph]

We are leaving Friday around 6pm and driving straight through coming from NW Indiana, all the map programs seem to take us I65 South to I24 East to I75 South, is this the best route?

 

[Laurabearz]

We are leaving Friday around 6pm and driving straight through coming from NW Indiana, all the map programs seem to take us I65 South to I24 East to I75 South, is this the best route?

Pretty much yes.

We are coming from Chicago, and driving that route. I like it because there are nicely paced big cities evenly apart, and for some reason that makes time click by faster...

 

[sharadoc]

I think of time too as a value and when you figure 1 1/2 -2 days travel time each way as compared to a half day, well, then you have to consider the value of your vacation time. I'd rather be at WDW than on the road... that's just me though.

Hi. Just wanted to mention that this thread and it's posters are committed to driving, so that debate won't fly here

 

[Wadecool]

Pretty much yes.

We are coming from Chicago, and driving that route. I like it because there are nicely paced big cities evenly apart, and for some reason that makes time click by faster...

Agreed. We are leaving from KY and take the same route. The worst part to me is Georgia, it seems like it takes forever to get through Georgia.

 

[sharadoc]

$300 for food?? That seems like a lot...

It's easy to drive also, but as Cin below points out, it's time. For us, it's high quality family time. Lots of singing, joke books read aloud, and talking about the trip and what we really want to see and do. We love the water tower game which consists of everyone pointing out all the water towers they see until we all get on each others nerves! Classic!

So for us, we 'value' that family time together and the drive down is part of the vacation.

Yep, it's not just time, it's family and stuff and comfort. We can bring whatever we want, stop and walk around whenever we want, talk to each other and just generally hang out. Life is pretty complicated and we always seem to be in a hurry in our everyday life. To know that we'll be in the van together for 16-17 hours with only ONE thing - driving - makes us relax and really talk to each other. It's good for a healthy family relationship.

 

[arizonacolbys]

Beware of a massive road-paving job in GA. We experienced big delays several weeks ago on our return trip (a new separate thread about this has just been posted). Also watch out for the Ridgeland, SC photo/radar site around the MM 21 overpass.

All the best.

Thanks for the great info! I found the other thread about the road-paving in GA & I'm hoping we'll miss it. It appears to be taking place overnight only from 7 pm - 7 am & on our way home, we likely won't hit that area until at least 7:30 am. I'll be on the lookout for the radar site, too - thanks much!!

 

[TomD]

We did the drive and made it down and back safely. Took longer then I thought it would on the ride down. Hit traffic in Maryland, Fredericksburg and in NC because of the tornados. Saw where one went across the highway. It was about 33 miles from our hotel in Dunn NC.

Ride back was pretty smooth..hit traffic again near Fredericksburg and DC

If I could not find airfare at a decent price then I would not hesitate to drive again. Had a great time and will post a trip report tomorrow.

 

[Disneyholic]

Yep, it's not just time, it's family and stuff and comfort. We can bring whatever we want, stop and walk around whenever we want, talk to each other and just generally hang out. Life is pretty complicated and we always seem to be in a hurry in our everyday life. To know that we'll be in the van together for 16-17 hours with only ONE thing - driving - makes us relax and really talk to each other. It's good for a healthy family relationship.

Since it's just DH and I it's the being able to sing along to the radio. (DH wears headphones & listens to his I-pod while I am driving) Can you imagine how people would react on a plane if I started singing? I sing along to keep from going catatonic, since it not good to drive in that state. I think the Amtak Acela commercial says it best "You don't have to take your shoes off unless you want to. It's not flying I hate, it's the airport.

We will be driving down to Port Canaveral Memorial Day weekendthis year for a 5 night DCL cruise. Next year though, we will probably have to fly because our 7 night cruise leaves on a Saturday and finishes on a Saturday and work is cracking down on long vacations. It will be our 40th anniversary cruise and it will be on the Fantasy. The second day of the cruise is our anniversary. If we go down to WDW in between the cruises we will be driving again.

 

[nono]

Hi. Just wanted to mention that this thread and it's posters are committed to driving, so that debate won't fly here

Thanks for this post. I was all confused as to how one did 1000 (or more) miles in 1/2 day. Until I read your reply. I'm good now.

 

[pamkev]

I'm getting really excited in less than 48 hours will be on the road. I better start packing