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

[BC1836]

Do you stay at an offsite local hotel to disney if so which one if I may ask. I am thinking of leaving a bit earlier and just arriving the night before we were suppose to and getting a hotel in the general vicinity for not alot of cash.

Holiday Inn Express, Lake Buena Vista. It's located one block past the Crossroads mall. A horror traffic area once you get off I-4 at Exit #68. "Free" breakfast. Easy access from parking lot to entrance. Two blocks from WDW DTD entrance.

Holiday Inn, Lake Buena Vista. It's located on Hotel Plaza Blvd. (an extension of DTD). The same horror traffic experience since you have to take the same exit of I-4 (Hmm. You could go to Exit #67 and turn back, though.) A new hotel, parking area is further away from extrance. No "free" breakfast."

We've tried them both.

All the best.

 

[2princesses2princes]

Lovin' all the snack ideas. It's awesome, I can add things to my pretrip list. We just recently made the drive ffrom southwest Michigan to Asheville North Carolina, yes it's no were near 2000 miles, it was about 1600 round trip, but still gave us a little taste of what to expect. Never driven through the mountains before so that was interesting. We had a rental car, so I am not sure how my van is going to do in mountains, am a bit worried about gas usage then too.

So about the snacking in the car, does anyone find that they snack WAY more while driving than they would at home? I munched on pretzels, and granola bars, had a sandwich, cappucino, lots of water, and a pop. No wonder we had to take so many potty breaks! I wish I didn't have a bad reaction to caffeine though, the purple Amp is quite tasty.

I love the mint idea, it does keep you refreshed and awake. Any other suggestions?

 

[sharadoc]

Steak n Shake is way better than McDonald's. But when I'm on the road, I try to eat at interesting and different places -- places I don't have at home, ideally not chains.

But since my daughter is usually with me, usually there's a couple of stops at McDonald's too!

Oh yeah - we're on the Barbecue Restaurant kick. In June, we ate at Duke's Barbecue in Walterboro and it was awesome! Really authentic, old timey, disposable plates, paper towels on the table - that sort of thing. We plan to do that on every trip from now on, so I'm always on the lookout for the right place to eat. No Cracker Barrels for us (unless it's late and we're tired and hungry, of course )

 

[sharadoc]

Holiday Inn Express, Lake Buena Vista. It's located one block past the Crossroads mall. A horror traffic area once you get off I-4 at Exit #68. "Free" breakfast. Easy access from parking lot to entrance. Two blocks from WDW DTD entrance.

Holiday Inn, Lake Buena Vista. It's located on Hotel Plaza Blvd. (an extension of DTD). The same horror traffic experience since you have to take the same exit of I-4 (Hmm. You could go to Exit #67 and turn back, though.) A new hotel, parking area is further away from extrance. No "free" breakfast."

We've tried them both.

All the best.

Ah, but if you took the Greenway toll road, then you wouldn't be exiting off I-4 BC! We'll never drive any other way - it drops you right up the street from the Crossroads Shopping Center and you avoid Orlando altogether. Worth every penny!

 

[nytimez]

Oh yeah - we're on the Barbecue Restaurant kick. In June, we ate at Duke's Barbecue in Walterboro and it was awesome! Really authentic, old timey, disposable plates, paper towels on the table - that sort of thing. We plan to do that on every trip from now on, so I'm always on the lookout for the right place to eat. No Cracker Barrels for us (unless it's late and we're tired and hungry, of course )

I started a thread for good non-chain restaurants off I-95, but no one seems interested.

For BBQ, I recommend Prince George's BBQ where 295 and 95 meet in southern Virginia. I believe it's exit 3 off 295 and exit 48 on 95. I also like the GA Pig off I-95 in Brunswick, GA -- but only the pulled pork, the other meats are kinda ordinary.

 

[KnightFarms]

OMG we're leaving tomorrow!!!!!

Thank you so much everyone for all your advice. I'll be fairly live on the trip and keep everyone updated.

We're leaving at 8ish tomorrow morning, stopping in Charlotte to pick up my sister in law and have some dinner, then we're off to WDW... hope to arrive early Saturday morning.

Wish us luck!!!!!

I'm so excited that I hope I can sleep!

 

[dvczerfs]

OMG we're leaving tomorrow!!!!!

Thank you so much everyone for all your advice. I'll be fairly live on the trip and keep everyone updated.

We're leaving at 8ish tomorrow morning, stopping in Charlotte to pick up my sister in law and have some dinner, then we're off to WDW... hope to arrive early Saturday morning.

Wish us luck!!!!!

I'm so excited that I hope I can sleep!

have a nice trip.

 

[cemeb4dk]

ok, car ready, oil changed, vaccuumed, glass cleaned all miscellaneous junk out. Travel bubble mounted to the top. Cb, in. We leave Saturday night at Midnight so about 32 hours from now. Mostly packed up just some stuff to finish up. Bad thing is I have to work tomorrow also. So I am planning on staying up late tonight, then going to work pretty tired, then come home and get about 4 hours or so of sleep. Then wake up load up the car and family and depart the Chicago land area around midnight. Stopping at Ruby Falls for breakfast and a tour. Then continuing on to WDW. Our reservations don't start til Monday but book the Hampton Inn on Palm Parkway for Sunday night.

I told my 4 1/2 year old daughter she owes me a $1 for everytime she asks are we there yet.

 

[dvczerfs]

ok, car ready, oil changed, vaccuumed, glass cleaned all miscellaneous junk out. Travel bubble mounted to the top. Cb, in. We leave Saturday night at Midnight so about 32 hours from now. Mostly packed up just some stuff to finish up. Bad thing is I have to work tomorrow also. So I am planning on staying up late tonight, then going to work pretty tired, then come home and get about 4 hours or so of sleep. Then wake up load up the car and family and depart the Chicago land area around midnight. Stopping at Ruby Falls for breakfast and a tour. Then continuing on to WDW. Our reservations don't start til Monday but book the Hampton Inn on Palm Parkway for Sunday night.

I told my 4 1/2 year old daughter she owes me a $1 for everytime she asks are we there yet.

that should take care of the gas bill. have a good time and safe trip!

 

[angwill]

ok, car ready, oil changed, vaccuumed, glass cleaned all miscellaneous junk out. Travel bubble mounted to the top. Cb, in. We leave Saturday night at Midnight so about 32 hours from now. Mostly packed up just some stuff to finish up. Bad thing is I have to work tomorrow also. So I am planning on staying up late tonight, then going to work pretty tired, then come home and get about 4 hours or so of sleep. Then wake up load up the car and family and depart the Chicago land area around midnight. Stopping at Ruby Falls for breakfast and a tour. Then continuing on to WDW. Our reservations don't start til Monday but book the Hampton Inn on Palm Parkway for Sunday night.

I told my 4 1/2 year old daughter she owes me a $1 for everytime she asks are we there yet.

Have a safe trip. Your not far from me so I am wishing you had room for one more person. lol

 

[sharadoc]

I started a thread for good non-chain restaurants off I-95, but no one seems interested.

For BBQ, I recommend Prince George's BBQ where 295 and 95 meet in southern Virginia. I believe it's exit 3 off 295 and exit 48 on 95. I also like the GA Pig off I-95 in Brunswick, GA -- but only the pulled pork, the other meats are kinda ordinary.

Thanks. That's a shame the thread died. I think I posted on it once! I guess too many people like to drive straight through and don't want to stop at a restaurant unless it's right on the highway. I think I've seen signs for the GA Pig on 95 - is that right?

Maybe we'll try your Virginia suggestion this next trip. We're leaving later in the day, so we should be hitting that area around dinner time.

 

[dvczerfs]

Thanks. That's a shame the thread died. I think I posted on it once! I guess too many people like to drive straight through and don't want to stop at a restaurant unless it's right on the highway. I think I've seen signs for the GA Pig on 95 - is that right?

Maybe we'll try your Virginia suggestion this next trip. We're leaving later in the day, so we should be hitting that area around dinner time.

our trip is getting closer. sorry i couldnt be much of a help on there, we pack sandwiches for the ride down and eat when we hit our overnight hotel. the way home, we basicly hit a drive thru. i dont eat much when i drive, makes me sleepy. i can go all day without eating while im driving till about 4-5pm. thasn i dont eat much, ill start nodding off.

 

[BC1836]

Ah, but if you took the Greenway toll road, then you wouldn't be exiting off I-4 BC! We'll never drive any other way - it drops you right up the street from the Crossroads Shopping Center and you avoid Orlando altogether. Worth every penny!

Details, please.

[BTW: we're still here! Gorgeous weather. Most recent drive: from the BWI to the Poly.]

All the best.

 

[blondietink]

Leaving tomorrow am for the LONG, LONG 1350 mile drive home after a wonderful week at WDW. The weather has been perfect and not a drop of rain. Sunny and 85 degrees all week. I dread the 50 degree (or lower)weather at home, but am kind of looking forward to driving through NC and W. VA for the fall foliage. Gas as low as $2.71 at Walmart on 535.

 

[dvczerfs]

Leaving tomorrow am for the LONG, LONG 1350 mile drive home after a wonderful week at WDW. The weather has been perfect and not a drop of rain. Sunny and 85 degrees all week. I dread the 50 degree (or lower)weather at home, but am kind of looking forward to driving through NC and W. VA for the fall foliage. Gas as low as $2.71 at Walmart on 535.

watch the deer, they have been bad this year around here. we had our first frost friday night. yippeee. have a safe trip home.

 

[pwdebbie]

Ah, but if you took the Greenway toll road, then you wouldn't be exiting off I-4 BC! We'll never drive any other way - it drops you right up the street from the Crossroads Shopping Center and you avoid Orlando altogether. Worth every penny!

We did that the first trip and it was not good for us. Hit it around 5:00 in the pouring rain and had to keep pulling off to pay tolls and back on, then got confused and ended up back on it going in the opposite direction. Nightmare for us. How about the Western Way, has anyone tried that?

 

[pwdebbie]

One week from today we will be hitting the road, hopefully around 11:00 but depends on how long church goes. I guess it wouldn't be nice of me to rush people along so we can hit the road right? (We do house church -- there was a very nice segment about house churches on the NBC nightly news this week.)

Making this a two-night trip down, one night in the Florence, SC, area and the second night in Ormond Beach to hopefully see the shuttle launch.

From the NASA website:
Date: Nov. 1 +
Mission: STS-133
Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Discovery
Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center - Launch Pad 39A
Launch Time: 4:40 p.m. EDT
STS-133 Description: Space shuttle Discovery will deliver the Express Logistics Carrier 4 (ELC4), a MultiPurpose Logistics Module (MPLM) and critical spare components to the International Space Station.

 

[nytimez]

One week from today we will be hitting the road, hopefully around 11:00 but depends on how long church goes. I guess it wouldn't be nice of me to rush people along so we can hit the road right? (We do house church -- there was a very nice segment about house churches on the NBC nightly news this week.)

Making this a two-night trip down, one night in the Florence, SC, area and the second night in Ormond Beach to hopefully see the shuttle launch.

From the NASA website:
Date: Nov. 1 +
Mission: STS-133
Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Discovery
Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center - Launch Pad 39A
Launch Time: 4:40 p.m. EDT
STS-133 Description: Space shuttle Discovery will deliver the Express Logistics Carrier 4 (ELC4), a MultiPurpose Logistics Module (MPLM) and critical spare components to the International Space Station.

I'm hoping for a one-week delay... so I can see it when I'm there!

 

[pwdebbie]

I'm hoping for a one-week delay... so I can see it when I'm there!

That would work for me, we'll be at WDW from the 2nd to 12th.

 

[dvczerfs]

That would work for me, we'll be at WDW from the 2nd to 12th.

pedebbie, hows the construction on 81? i will be going through on a tuesday morning around 11am. i know its been under construction for a few years.