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

[mamarissa]

hi all! we recently had to cancel our scheduled trip for late may/early june because we found out we are expecting baby #4 and it will be too late for me to travel then--(well into my seventh month and i tend to go early).

to make up for it, dh and i are thinking about doing a (kinda) last minute surprise trip, 5 days in the beginning of april. to save money we started thinking about driving down--its $1200 for 5 of us to fly.

any tips on how long it will actually take? my iphone map is telling me 20 hours straight thru--we are planning on stopping though, hopefully somewhere south of the carolina's for the night. any tips on where to stop, cheap but still nice hotels, etc. would be greatly appreciated!

 

[dvczerfs]

hi all! we recently had to cancel our scheduled trip for late may/early june because we found out we are expecting baby #4 and it will be too late for me to travel then--(well into my seventh month and i tend to go early).

to make up for it, dh and i are thinking about doing a (kinda) last minute surprise trip, 5 days in the beginning of april. to save money we started thinking about driving down--its $1200 for 5 of us to fly.

any tips on how long it will actually take? my iphone map is telling me 20 hours straight thru--we are planning on stopping though, hopefully somewhere south of the carolina's for the night. any tips on where to stop, cheap but still nice hotels, etc. would be greatly appreciated!

it may cost you that in gas by april. theres a few people on this thread that come down from your area that will be able to help you out. 20 hrs would be a good est. i would say. we are straight through drivers but there are hotels at every exit and alot of people here can point you in the right direction.

 

[PrincessMom4]

Mamarissa, we are from near the nation's capital in Canada (Ottawa for those who don't know). It takes us a good 24 hours plus rest stops. Any of the microtel hotels are fantastic to sleep. Do NOT stay at any Econolodge as we've had nothing but problems.

 

[pwdebbie]

Here's a question - what would I83 from York to DC be like? It looks like 83 to Baltimore then 29 to DC, then around to DC to pick up 95. We're thinking of trying this little "detour" rather than go through Wilmington, Baltimore and DC.

Any opinions?

Had to go look at a map to figure out what you are talking about. 83 ends in downtown Baltimore and does not come near 29. 29 starts at I-70 and will deposit you on 495. You don't avoid DC this way and Baltimore sure isn't fun either. If you are willing to drive as far west as 83, then you could go a little farther to Rt. 15, take 15 south to 17 and then pick up 95 south of DC. That is what we are thinking about doing the next time. Dh liked the 95 route better than 81 but doesn't want to deal with DC traffic again.

 

[PrincessMom4]

We tried that route 83-15-270-295-95. Only thing about the 15 is there is not really a lot of places for stops. Any help would be awesome. Gettysburg area seemed interested. Would love to visit there and get some historical adventures in there.

 

[Disneycrazymom]

I need help with a hotel suggestion. We will drive from St Louis leaving at noon on Friday of Memorial weekend. So I feel like I need to book a room for our driving night and not take a chance of just getting one when we are ready to stop. We have not made the drive in about 6 years so I don't remember what is there and what is nice!

We will be in Atlanta about 9:30 ish best I can figure. About 9 hours from StL. We want to get south of Atlanta but I don't think we can make it to Voldosta. I think we could drive until about 10:00 but I don't really want to plan to drive later than that. Then if we start out late or it takes longer somewhere with traffic or stops we still won't be stopping later than 11ish.

So how far do you think we will get in 10 hours and is there a nice hotel with free breakfast and pool around that point? Thanks so much for helping me out!

 

[pamkev]

Had to go look at a map to figure out what you are talking about. 83 ends in downtown Baltimore and does not come near 29. 29 starts at I-70 and will deposit you on 495. You don't avoid DC this way and Baltimore sure isn't fun either. If you are willing to drive as far west as 83, then you could go a little farther to Rt. 15, take 15 south to 17 and then pick up 95 south of DC. That is what we are thinking about doing the next time. Dh liked the 95 route better than 81 but doesn't want to deal with DC traffic again.

We do the route 15 to 17 to 95 when we go to Myrtle Beach and the one we will take to the World on our first drive to trip there. It is a great route it beats going though DC anytime

 

[pwdebbie]

We tried that route 83-15-270-295-95. Only thing about the 15 is there is not really a lot of places for stops. Any help would be awesome. Gettysburg area seemed interested. Would love to visit there and get some historical adventures in there.

If you stay on 15 all the way to 17, you can totally avoid DC. 15-17-95

We live near Gettysburg but don't visit often -- too crowded. I hear you can do a segway tour there now.

 

[A&CsMom]

I need help with a hotel suggestion. We will drive from St Louis leaving at noon on Friday of Memorial weekend. So I feel like I need to book a room for our driving night and not take a chance of just getting one when we are ready to stop. We have not made the drive in about 6 years so I don't remember what is there and what is nice!

We will be in Atlanta about 9:30 ish best I can figure. About 9 hours from StL. We want to get south of Atlanta but I don't think we can make it to Voldosta. I think we could drive until about 10:00 but I don't really want to plan to drive later than that. Then if we start out late or it takes longer somewhere with traffic or stops we still won't be stopping later than 11ish.

So how far do you think we will get in 10 hours and is there a nice hotel with free breakfast and pool around that point? Thanks so much for helping me out!

I thought this link might help you:

http://www.i-75-hotels.com/index_ga_i-75.htm

It shows you the exits in Georgia along I75 and the hotels at each exit. I can't offer you any actual advice, but what I did is look at the exits and use mapquest or something similar to estimate the time it would take.

I also meant to say I use tripadvisor and have had good experiences using their reviews.

 

[Disneycrazymom]

Thank-you! This is helpful!

 

[Dis_Dreamin]

I need help with a hotel suggestion
...
We will be in Atlanta about 9:30 ish best I can figure. About 9 hours from StL. We want to get south of Atlanta but I don't think we can make it to Voldosta. I think we could drive until about 10:00 but I don't really want to plan to drive later than that.

...

We stopped in Byron, GA (just south side of Macon) at the Comfort Suites. Nice rooms, recently renovated, good breakfast. Made for an easy drive the next morning too.

Check them out here

 

[dvczerfs]

If you stay on 15 all the way to 17, you can totally avoid DC. 15-17-95

We live near Gettysburg but don't visit often -- too crowded. I hear you can do a segway tour there now.

if your close to i81, i take i81 to i66 to 17 to 95. i66 is a interstate and its 65mph. 17 is well marked off of i66. it will save you time coming down 15.there very little traffic on 66 between 81 and 17.

 

[Disneycrazymom]

We stopped in Byron, GA (just south side of Macon) at the Comfort Suites. Nice rooms, recently renovated, good breakfast. Made for an easy drive the next morning too.

Check them out here

Thanks!!!

 

[Madhatter266]

Hi folks! This will be our first time driving to Disney, instead of flying. We will be coming from Maryland and trying to decide whether to drive straight thru or stop overnight. We have two drivers and until recently we were planning on stopping. Now we are toying with going straight thru. One concern - has anyone had any problems with stopping to refuel in the middle of the night?

 

[nytimez]

Hi folks! This will be our first time driving to Disney, instead of flying. We will be coming from Maryland and trying to decide whether to drive straight thru or stop overnight. We have two drivers and until recently we were planning on stopping. Now we are toying with going straight thru. One concern - has anyone had any problems with stopping to refuel in the middle of the night?

As long as you don't wait until the very last drop of gas, you're never going to be too far from a 24-hour station.

Good luck!

 

[Disneycrazymom]

We stopped in Byron, GA (just south side of Macon) at the Comfort Suites. Nice rooms, recently renovated, good breakfast. Made for an easy drive the next morning too.

Check them out here

Do you remember how long it was from here to WDW?
Thanks again!

 

[BC1836]

Disneycrazymom: You'll certainly be able to make it to Lake Buena Vista in one day as long as you depart very early in the morning. We pass through the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel about 1:45 into our drive from the Jersey shore and we make it to WDW in a single drive.

Madhatter266: It looks like a six-hour drive from the Macon area to WDW.

And it's time that we got back on the road. April is looking good for our next 2,000+ mile round-trip drive.

All the best.

 

[WDWjen]

Hi folks! This will be our first time driving to Disney, instead of flying. We will be coming from Maryland and trying to decide whether to drive straight thru or stop overnight. We have two drivers and until recently we were planning on stopping. Now we are toying with going straight thru. One concern - has anyone had any problems with stopping to refuel in the middle of the night?

We have gone straight through over night from LI, NY and have never had a problem with finding a gas station overnight.. usually there are many well marked signs for each exit. Once we drove a bit off I95 thinking the station was closer to the road, now we have learned to pull over at 1/4 tank when we see one right on I95. Saves time and no worries about running out of gas. We also like to find the biggest/brightest/well traveled rest stops for safety reasons.

We are leaving again next Friday to make the overnight trip - I'm planning on using my smartphone to find restaurants/gas stations along the way this time!

 

[Dis_Dreamin]

Do you remember how long it was from here to WDW?
Thanks again!

I think BC1836 has it about right.

I think it was about 6 hours. I'd have to look at our notes from the drive when I get home to be sure. I know it wasn't too bad a drive. We ate breakfast and were on the road by 8 am and got to CBR by about 1:30 or 2:00. Checked in, in our room and in the parks before dinner.

We were able to catch a parade (Move it Shake it) while eating hotdogs and fries from Casey's.

 

[PrincessMom4]

if your close to i81, i take i81 to i66 to 17 to 95. i66 is a interstate and its 65mph. 17 is well marked off of i66. it will save you time coming down 15.there very little traffic on 66 between 81 and 17.

That is too funny, but that is one of our favourite routes. See google tells us its faster to go via 15. We are driving through the nite next time so I don't know which one would be better. Plus how are they for snow plowing?? We were in Virginia last year at this time and roads were not done and everyone is in a panic.