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

[dvczerfs]

Looks like we MAY be driving over 2 days and arriving in Orlando the day. Hubby wanted to enjoy the drive down and NOT rush.

ive tried not to rush, but i cant help it. heck i stop sleeping 3 days before we leave. you have a longer drive than i do.

 

[BC1836]

ive tried not to rush, but i cant help it. heck i stop sleeping 3 days before we leave. you have a longer drive than i do.

We noticed the time of your post and subsequently discovered the apparent reason: you're on your way in three days?

All the best.

 

[PrincessMom4]

Dvczerfs, We find the most challenging part of driving is through PA (no offence) because of all the construction. Yall must have the greatest roads because they are always working on it. Making sure we have lots of good healthly snacks (as usual) and we are ready to go now...lol

 

[nono]

ive tried not to rush, but i cant help it. heck i stop sleeping 3 days before we leave. you have a longer drive than i do.

See your spouse needs to lie to you then about when you are leaving. Then just say to you, "Let's go!" about 2 days early!!

 

[erbeaman]

I'm so happy I found this thread ! We are heading down at the end of March, and we are hoping to stop for a little while (like a few hours) in Pigeon Forge so my DS8 can see the Titanic Museum. I am just having a hard time wrapping my head around the best time to leave in order to accomplish this.
We are planning on leaving Wed. afternoon and our reservations are for Friday at POR. I really want to go to a park for at least a little bit on Friday.

Here is what I'm thinking. Leave Wed. around 3 pm. Drive until around 10-11 pm. That should put us somewhere about the middle of KY. Get up and moving around 8 am. Get to Pigeon Forge around noon, and back on the road by 5 pm. Here is where I get confused. Should we try to get to the FL border that night? How far from there is it to WDW from there? Any suggestions?

 

[jacdolfin]

Excited I found this thread. We will be driving from Laredo to Disney. Depending on the route it will be somewhere between 2570 and 2634 miles round trip. Planning to pick up the kids drive non stop to Orlando switching off drivers. 22 hrs plus gas n potty breaks sounds like a long drive but I will do anything to see Mickey again

 

[dvczerfs]

We noticed the time of your post and subsequently discovered the apparent reason: you're on your way in three days?

All the best.

no, i wish, i had to go to work. i wanted to log on before work because my dd had a dance comp and i knew i wasnt getting on line the rest of the day.

 

[dvczerfs]

See your spouse needs to lie to you then about when you are leaving. Then just say to you, "Let's go!" about 2 days early!!

i have to tell you, my poor wife, as you can tell puts up with alot being married to me for 26 years. everything in our house is disney. everything. i had posted some pics over on the dis dads a few months ago.so she has very little say in the decor around here. wdw is the only place we vacationed for 26 years. she never went when she was a kid. we went on our honeymoon and thank god she loves it as much as i do. i nag her a few months to start packing the few things she has to pack.she listens to me plan everything in detail about each trip. (most of the time theres 2 and 3 going at the same time) i make her decide were we are eating on each trip well before we go. i tell her, i guess we will leave 3:30am on tuesdays. she says, and i quote." ya,ya,ya, youll be poking me at 2:15, come on, lets go." and the trooper she is, jumps in the shower, fixes her hair (thank god its short) grabs her make up bag and pillow and says, lets go you pain in the rear. sleeps in the van for about 2 hours, puts her make up on in a moving van.(which she only can see out of one eye to begin with) and dont complain about nothing. she loves that i plan everything, i even call her boss so her boss can put the days on the calander at work. her boss says, your nuts! but i wish my husband would plan everything out for her vacations. so, as you can see, the women should get a medal!!! i told her it could be worse, some men sit in bar rooms all night, gamble there pay away, have girl friends, me, i plan our vacations! again, she says, ya ya ya, but can i at least sleep till 3:30am???

 

[dvczerfs]

Dvczerfs, We find the most challenging part of driving is through PA (no offence) because of all the construction. Yall must have the greatest roads because they are always working on it. Making sure we have lots of good healthly snacks (as usual) and we are ready to go now...lol

tell me about it. im a rep for an hvac suppier and i drive 40k per year. the problem with pa roads are, we dont fix the drainage parts of the roadways. all the water runs on and under the highways, it never drains properly. in the winter, all that water freezes and pushes the roads up. leaving pot holes, crack and broken pavement. than, we just put a few inches of asphalt over it evey so often so it will brake again the following year. which means they restrict lanes (the few we have) every year. the other problem, we build buildings next to our highways. theres no room for expansion. we build warehouses so a gazillion semis try driving around on our 4 lane hwy. nobody planned for the future with our roads, we just add houses and warehouse and expect all the traffic to fit. i live in the lehigh valley, im 1 hour from philly,new york city. 2 hours from washington dc and baltimore area. we have two highways, both are two lanes in each direction and most of it, there a cement barrier on both sides.when we come home from florida, we saa the sign, welcome to pa. we are all ways tempted to write, the pot hole state under the sign. thats why we like driving down south, your lanes are wider and you have long exit and entry ramps to the highways.

 

[LadyBeBop]

I'm so happy I found this thread ! We are heading down at the end of March, and we are hoping to stop for a little while (like a few hours) in Pigeon Forge so my DS8 can see the Titanic Museum. I am just having a hard time wrapping my head around the best time to leave in order to accomplish this.
We are planning on leaving Wed. afternoon and our reservations are for Friday at POR. I really want to go to a park for at least a little bit on Friday.

Here is what I'm thinking. Leave Wed. around 3 pm. Drive until around 10-11 pm. That should put us somewhere about the middle of KY. Get up and moving around 8 am. Get to Pigeon Forge around noon, and back on the road by 5 pm. Here is where I get confused. Should we try to get to the FL border that night? How far from there is it to WDW from there? Any suggestions?

Where are you driving from? Looks like somewhere in Michigan. Or, if you're taking I-65, maybe Chicago?

And what do you mean by central Kentucky? If I were you, I'd probably aim for Corbin in Southern Kentucky. That's only about an hour and a half south of Lexington. From there, you're just a little over two hours to Pigeon Forge.

Mapquest has the drive from Pigeon Forge to Valdosta at about 8 hours. So, that would put you there about 1 AM. Is that too late for you? And that does not include stops.

My in-laws live that general vicinity of Tennessee. It takes us a full day to get from their house to Disney. But we do make a lot of stops.

 

[budafam]

We're driving from Manitowoc, WI (right on the coast of Lake Michigan about halfway up the state) in the middle of May. We're hoping to leave around 9pm the night before and drive until 4pm the next day (switching off of course). Anyone have an idea of where we'll end up? We were only hoping for 4 hours of driving the second day and to arrive at Disney around 10ish.

 

[LadyBeBop]

We're driving from Manitowoc, WI (right on the coast of Lake Michigan about halfway up the state) in the middle of May. We're hoping to leave around 9pm the night before and drive until 4pm the next day (switching off of course). Anyone have an idea of where we'll end up? We were only hoping for 4 hours of driving the second day and to arrive at Disney around 10ish.

I went to college in Milwaukee, so I know the area. But I've never driven from Milwaukee to Florida.

Per Mapquest, your thinking may be feasible It depends on how you stop.

Mapquest has the time from Manitowoc to Tifton GA (about 260 miles north of Orlando) at about 17 1/2 hours. Add about another 90 minutes for gas, breaks and meals and it's a 19 hour journey. Leave at 9...get there right about 4. All of the major chain motels are at Tifton.

Again, according to Mapquest, it's slightly over 4 hours from Tifton to WDW. This time, we are assuming no stops. Leaving at 6...you might not get there until about 10:15. But it's pretty close.

Again, a lot depends on how you drive, traffic, how many stops you take. Your plan is doable, but it does not allow much cushion. Maybe if you go a little above the speed limit. Or stop at 5 PM at Valdosta, leaving that much time less to get to Disney. Truthfully, I wouldn't leave my lodging in South Georgia until probably 6:30. Most offer free breakfasts, but they don't start until 6.

HTH.

 

[angwill]

Didn't check map quest but I am guessing Tifton as well. If you make it to Valdosta about an hour south of Tifton there is a great La Quinta there just off the highway.

 

[sharadoc]

i have to tell you, my poor wife, as you can tell puts up with alot being married to me for 26 years. everything in our house is disney. everything. i had posted some pics over on the dis dads a few months ago.so she has very little say in the decor around here. wdw is the only place we vacationed for 26 years. she never went when she was a kid. we went on our honeymoon and thank god she loves it as much as i do. i nag her a few months to start packing the few things she has to pack.she listens to me plan everything in detail about each trip. (most of the time theres 2 and 3 going at the same time) i make her decide were we are eating on each trip well before we go. i tell her, i guess we will leave 3:30am on tuesdays. she says, and i quote." ya,ya,ya, youll be poking me at 2:15, come on, lets go." and the trooper she is, jumps in the shower, fixes her hair (thank god its short) grabs her make up bag and pillow and says, lets go you pain in the rear. sleeps in the van for about 2 hours, puts her make up on in a moving van.(which she only can see out of one eye to begin with) and dont complain about nothing. she loves that i plan everything, i even call her boss so her boss can put the days on the calander at work. her boss says, your nuts! but i wish my husband would plan everything out for her vacations. so, as you can see, the women should get a medal!!! i told her it could be worse, some men sit in bar rooms all night, gamble there pay away, have girl friends, me, i plan our vacations! again, she says, ya ya ya, but can i at least sleep till 3:30am???

You're a lucky guy to have her! It's so nice when your spouse love Disney as much as you do, isn't it? Mike just said to me a few days ago - I can't wait until we're there again! I'm the planner, he just wants to be told when, but we do talk about the details a lot!

We started going BEFORE we were married and almost honeymooned at WDW, but we decided to do Hawaii instead!

Disney is a big part of our marriage and history together, only our kids are higher on the list!

 

[sharadoc]

Hi guys,

I'm going to a conference in Washington, DC. I don't want to go down 95 during morning rush hour. I figure to leave my house around 7:00, plan to get there around 10 am. I was hoping to go out towards Harrisburg/York on 30 but I'm not sure what to do from there. Any suggestions?

Would 95 at Baltimore be okay by 9 am? I really don't have to be there until 11 am or so, I can leave later if I'll avoid traffic and stay on 95. It just seems kind of hopeless!

The only reason I'm doing it is because of our frequent drives to WDW. Driving to DC is before we even make our first driver switch - just down the road!

 

[Just*the*ten*of*us]

Yay I'm so happy I found this thread! I heard a rumor I could get some great travel advice and tips so I ran right over! Were outside of Philadelphia so about 2,034 miles from Disney round trip. We drove in Sept and plan to drive again this Sept.....on our last trip we stayed over in SC and drove straight through on the way back which for me was HARD! This time, my husband says he wants to stay over and take his time, maybe spend the night in Daytona so he can check the racetrack rolleyes which seems all well and good in theory, but I know me, and if I'm on my way to Disney, I dont want to be anywhere but Disney!! SO who knows at this point what our plan of action will be, maybe this thread can help us figure it out!!

 

[HHSTigerFan]

Here is what I'm thinking. Leave Wed. around 3 pm. Drive until around 10-11 pm. That should put us somewhere about the middle of KY. Get up and moving around 8 am. Get to Pigeon Forge around noon, and back on the road by 5 pm. Here is where I get confused. Should we try to get to the FL border that night? How far from there is it to WDW from there? Any suggestions?

Can you leave earlier and avoid Chicago during rush?

 

[dvczerfs]

Yay I'm so happy I found this thread! I heard a rumor I could get some great travel advice and tips so I ran right over! Were outside of Philadelphia so about 2,034 miles from Disney round trip. We drove in Sept and plan to drive again this Sept.....on our last trip we stayed over in SC and drove straight through on the way back which for me was HARD! This time, my husband says he wants to stay over and take his time, maybe spend the night in Daytona so he can check the racetrack rolleyes which seems all well and good in theory, but I know me, and if I'm on my way to Disney, I dont want to be anywhere but Disney!! SO who knows at this point what our plan of action will be, maybe this thread can help us figure it out!!

hi claire! tell chris to follow me, ill get him there! i think were leaving on the same day?? we are leaving on the 27th. are you guys driving the same van again? ill have to watch for you guys. ill pm you or chris sometime before we leave my cell number so we can meet up. tell chris after the showing of his baseball team this weekend he wont have to worry about missing any play off games while hes at wdw.

 

[louey]

We will be driving to Disney for our fourth time and was thinking of staying overnight right as we get into Florida. Can anyone suggest a nice clean hotel right as you enter Jacksonville not far off of I-95. Would like a close commute to Disney like a couple of hours, so we could get there early the next day

 

[BC1836]

We will be driving to Disney for our fourth time and was thinking of staying overnight right as we get into Florida. Can anyone suggest a nice clean hotel right as you enter Jacksonville not far off of I-95. Would like a close commute to Disney like a couple of hours, so we could get there early the next day

You have a number of choices with familiar hotel/motel chains all along the I-95 corridor. Being in DE, you have at least an hour advantage on us, and you should use it effectively. An early, early morning start (pre-4:00 a.m.) will get you further than Jacksonsville. Palm Coast or St. Augustine would be better goals, and Daytona and Deltona are even better if you want a drive on the second day that lasts "a couple of hours." (In fact, if you make it to Deltona, you're already on I-4 and you'll be in WDW in less than a hour).

All the best.