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

[C&G'sMama]

Hey, I just stumbled on this thread and will definitely go back through and read previous posts. It is roughly 1,250 from our house to WDW. We always drive.

We either drive down 15 to 81 to 95 or we head west on 90 to 79 to 77 to 95. Both with a couple of minor routes thrown in to get us the aforementioned routes.

We consider the drive down part of the vacation and usually leave early to late Friday afternoon to arrive on Sunday. We love the flexibility of driving and have developed a lot of family rituals and some great family stories.

Looking forward to reading more from other drivers.

And really looking forward to our next trip. Less then 10 weeks 'til we leave.

 

[C&G'sMama]

Looking at a route to avoid DC. Once we reach Harrisburg (staying there overnight), we will take 81 south to 66 East south of Winchester, then get off on 17 south to I-95 just north of Fredricksburg. 17 looks like a divided highway. Is this a good road to take? We'll be driving this 3 weeks from today!

Also, can I expect to be near Savannah or Brunswick, GA by evening if we leave Harrisburg by say 8 am?

We take 81 to 66 to 17 to 95 as you say above. Not all of it is divided highway and sometimes it feels slow, but overall we like the route.

 

[dvczerfs]

Looking at a route to avoid DC. Once we reach Harrisburg (staying there overnight), we will take 81 south to 66 East south of Winchester, then get off on 17 south to I-95 just north of Fredricksburg. 17 looks like a divided highway. Is this a good road to take? We'll be driving this 3 weeks from today!

Also, can I expect to be near Savannah or Brunswick, GA by evening if we leave Harrisburg by say 8 am?

ahhh my fav way to go! most of it is divided and 55mph. you go through towns. i try to stay away from it on sat. mornings and rush hours. this time of year you will be ok. from harrisburg to 95 is about 21/2 hours.

 

[pamkev]

Looking at a route to avoid DC. Once we reach Harrisburg (staying there overnight), we will take 81 south to 66 East south of Winchester, then get off on 17 south to I-95 just north of Fredricksburg. 17 looks like a divided highway. Is this a good road to take? We'll be driving this 3 weeks from today!

Also, can I expect to be near Savannah or Brunswick, GA by evening if we leave Harrisburg by say 8 am?

We are from the Harrisburg area and have taken this route now we just go route 15 to 17 to 95. I like all the little towns we go though most of it is 4 lane but not all.
We are planning on leaving around 5 am on a weekday and hope to make it to Savannah or Brunswick that night. It's suppose to be a 11 to 12 hour drive. Good luck driving and if you could come back on after your trip to let me know how far you made it from Harrisburg would appreciate it. Our first driving trip.

Pam

 

[pit303]

ok, you got me!!! at first i thought you were from chester pa. were is chichester pa???? have a safe trip by the way.

We are about 5 minutes from Chester and 5 minutes from the DE state line. Will be an interesting weekend before we leave my DH is bowling in Altoona in the state's will head home Sunday afternoon sleep a couple of hours and back on the road again! He has driven straight down once I never have should be an interesting trip.

 

[blondietink]

We either drive down 15 to 81 to 95 or we head west on 90 to 79 to 77 to 95. Both with a couple of minor routes thrown in to get us the aforementioned routes.

We have gone both of these routes. We prefer the I-95 route because it is much easier on our mini-van's gas mileage, although I hate the traffic around Baltimore and DC, which is why I was looking for an alternative way. Going the 90/79/77/95 route is longer, and West Virginia just drives me crazy with driving up/down and around those mountains. I also hate Charlotte traffic, and there is no way around it. We have gotten lucky the last 2 trips, though. We went around DC going south and did the Charlotte route going north and had terrific luck both ways.

With the gas prices so high, we are into conserving gas mileage, so driving a bit at 55 mphs on 17 won't bother us at all. Anything over 68 mph and our gas mileage really gets bad. So, even on 95 we will be only going 65-68 mph. Since we are leaving Friday after school and staying near Harrisburg overnight, we should have plenty of time as Harrisburg is a 5 hour drive for us. We have driven the 90/79/77/95 route and have gotten as far south as St. George, SC in one day (14 hours), but usually only try to get to Columbia, SC area, about 13 hours. If we stay overnight in DC, we have no problem getting to Brunswick by evening.

This time coming home we are going out of the way because we are going to catch a NASCAR truck race in Nashville. Going through Tallahassee, up through Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio. We did most of this drive last month going to/from New Orleans, and it was very easy on our car. We think it should be very pretty in April also, as spring will be in full swing in that area of the country.

Thanks everyone!

 

[C&G'sMama]

We have gone both of these routes. We prefer the I-95 route because it is much easier on our mini-van's gas mileage, although I hate the traffic around Baltimore and DC, which is why I was looking for an alternative way. Going the 90/79/77/95 route is longer, and West Virginia just drives me crazy with driving up/down and around those mountains. I also hate Charlotte traffic, and there is no way around it. We have gotten lucky the last 2 trips, though. We went around DC going south and did the Charlotte route going north and had terrific luck both ways.

With the gas prices so high, we are into conserving gas mileage, so driving a bit at 55 mphs on 17 won't bother us at all. Anything over 68 mph and our gas mileage really gets bad. So, even on 95 we will be only going 65-68 mph. Since we are leaving Friday after school and staying near Harrisburg overnight, we should have plenty of time as Harrisburg is a 5 hour drive for us. We have driven the 90/79/77/95 route and have gotten as far south as St. George, SC in one day (14 hours), but usually only try to get to Columbia, SC area, about 13 hours. If we stay overnight in DC, we have no problem getting to Brunswick by evening.

This time coming home we are going out of the way because we are going to catch a NASCAR truck race in Nashville. Going through Tallahassee, up through Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio. We did most of this drive last month going to/from New Orleans, and it was very easy on our car. We think it should be very pretty in April also, as spring will be in full swing in that area of the country.

Thanks everyone!

Overall we prefer the 15 to 95 especially in the winter. We have family in Charlotte so if we want to visit them on the way down we go that way (90/77/79). The other thing about that way is the tolls as there are none going down 15 to 95. But we all love the tunnels going through the mountains in Virginia, it's just one of those things.

Depending on the time of year and what time we get out of town decides where we stay. We used to stop in Williamsport when we couldn't get out of town until 5:00 or so just to get out of Rochester. One time we stopped in Alexandria and visited with friends. There's an Italian place in Hagerstown we love (great eggplant parm) so we'll stop there and we've found a Hampton Inn in Fredricksburg we like.

We generally don't make reservations ahead of time. Sometimes we do if we have plans to meet someone en route or when we want to use points. We have our AAA guidebook with us and a Hampton Inn book. We're another family of Hampton Inn fans. I think there have only been 2 times in close to a dozen trips that we didn't get a reservation on our first try.

Going the other way we usually stop in Mars PA on the first night.

For both ways the 2nd night just depends. One year we left a day early and got down a night ahead of our Disney reservation and surprise the kids with a night at Nick Hotel. Last time (December 2009, it's been wayyy too long) we made it to Jacksonville on our 2nd night.

 

[BC1836]

If the first half of your 2,000+ mile round trip ends today, this is what you will face weather-wise:

Weather for Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830
Right Now
79°F

Partly Cloudy
Humidity: 57%
Winds: E at 17 mphToday

81° | 62°Mon sunny

83° | 55°Tue sunny

85° | 58°Wed sunny

88° | 61°Thu sunny

87° | 61° Fri sunny

All the best.

 

[tinkerbell60]

Hi all,

Driving from NJ in August. This will be the first drive down in at least 4 trips; just so fed up with flying and so we're going to brave I-95 once again. We usually stop in Georgia for the night. We'll be using Hilton Honors points for our stay and we were hoping there would be some Point Stretchers available (low point stays) at that time, but sadly, no. So we are going to be limited regarding where to stay. We have stayed at the Hampton Inn Darien on several occasions but I am not willing to give up the points for it (used to be a stretcher).

We know it will be a Hampton Inn again--the question is, which one?

Does anyone have experience with one of the following?

Hampton Inn Kingsland
Hampton Inn Savannah I-95/Richmond Hill
Hampton Inn & Suites Brunswick

I know that Brunswick is closest to the Florida border, but priority #1 is a safe and clean place to stay.

Thanks in advance for your input.

Actually, I think Kingsland is a little closer to the Florida border. We stayed in Kingsland last summer....but it was a Sleep Inn.

 

[DeeCeeSW]

Actually, I think Kingsland is a little closer to the Florida border. We stayed in Kingsland last summer....but it was a Sleep Inn.

Really? I thought I read a review somewhere (Tripadvisor?) that said it was worth it to drive the 20 miles to Brunswick. I just assumed they meant further south! I guess they were heading north. How was the area?

 

[tinkerbell60]

Really? I thought I read a review somewhere (Tripadvisor?) that said it was worth it to drive the 20 miles to Brunswick. I just assumed they meant further south! I guess they were heading north. How was the area?

I double checked mapquest, Kingsland is closer to the Florida border.....it was only about 15 minutes......

 

[cruisingkat]

We'll be joining this club come June. For us it's 2360mi round trip from the Chicago western suburbs to AKV. We've never driven to WDW with the kids but I did when I was a kid. We have driven to HHI twice with the kids though and they were pretty good, surprisingly they did better on those trips than to DBil's cabin in WI which is only a 3hr trip.

Need to do some research on routes and possible overnight stop-off locations. After driving straight through to HHI we know that an overnight stop is needed for DH and I on such a long trip.

Any adivce gladly welcomed!

We drive from the western suburbs to FL several times a year. We normally take I355 to I80 to I57 to I24 to I75 to the Florida Turnpike. We find that driving down 57 in IL takes the same amount of time as taking 65 through IN but there are far less trucks on 57. On the way down, we leave our house between 9 and 10am (avoiding the Chicago rush hour traffic), and we normally stop for the night just south of Atlanta (get through Atlanta after rush hour) in McDonough, GA (about an hour and a half past Atlanta). Don't forget you lose an hour because of the time zones. The next morning we leave around 10ish and are at Disney around 2 or 3 in the afternoon - just in time to check into the hotel.
On the way home we do the route in reverse - however, we stop for the night just northwest of Chattanooga in Kimball, TN. We find that we leave Disney around 11am. The next morning, we leave around 10am and are back home around 7pm.

 

[irish dancer]

We drive from the western suburbs to FL several times a year. We normally take I355 to I80 to I57 to I24 to I75 to the Florida Turnpike. We find that driving down 57 in IL takes the same amount of time as taking 65 through IN but there are far less trucks on 57. On the way down, we leave our house between 9 and 10am (avoiding the Chicago rush hour traffic), and we normally stop for the night just south of Atlanta (get through Atlanta after rush hour) in McDonough, GA (about an hour and a half past Atlanta). Don't forget you lose an hour because of the time zones. The next morning we leave around 10ish and are at Disney around 2 or 3 in the afternoon - just in time to check into the hotel.
On the way home we do the route in reverse - however, we stop for the night just northwest of Chattanooga in Kimball, TN. We find that we leave Disney around 11am. The next morning, we leave around 10am and are back home around 7pm.

Thanks for all the info!! We're a bit east of 355 so I'm torn on routing but I like your idea. Also trying to weigh whether to pull DS10 from school to leave in the morning, he's already missing the last 2.5 days (darn snow days).

Any hotel recommendations in those cities?

 

[cruisingkat]

We stay at the Holiday Inn Express (hubby is a Priority Club member) right off the exits. Prices aren't bad and you get breakfast buffet in the morning as well as free wi-fi. I believe that the Holiday Inn Express in McDonough is the one that has a pancake machine that makes pretty good pancakes quickly. We usually eat a nice big breakfast and don't eat again - at least a meal type eating - until we get to Disney. We bring snacks (crackers, 100 calorie packs, etc) and drinks in the car and grab some fruit from the breakfast buffet to supplement our supplies to munch on after breakfast.

 

[BC1836]

We stay at the Holiday Inn Express (hubby is a Priority Club member) right off the exits. Prices aren't bad and you get breakfast buffet in the morning as well as free wi-fi. I believe that the Holiday Inn Express in McDonough is the one that has a pancake machine that makes pretty good pancakes quickly. We usually eat a nice big breakfast and don't eat again - at least a meal type eating - until we get to Disney. We bring snacks (crackers, 100 calorie packs, etc) and drinks in the car and grab some fruit from the breakfast buffet to supplement our supplies to munch on after breakfast.

Ah, the distinguished cruisingkat, holder and co-holder of several All-Time 2,000+ Mile Round-Trip Drivers Only Records:

All-Time "For 2,000+ Mile Round-Trip Drivers Only!" Records (updates 3/21/11):

Most Total Drives: 49 (since '73): dvczerfs

Most Drives in One Decade: 21 (2002-2010): bc1836

Most Drives in One Calendar Year: 4 (three times: 2008, 2009, 2010): bc1836; (one time: 2009): cruisingkat

Most Drives in One 12-Month Period: 5 (12/08-12/09): cruising kat; (12/09-12/10): bc1836

Shortest Time Between Drives: 19 days (2009): cruisingkat

Most passengers in one vehicle: 10 (2010: 2 adults, 8 kids; 1999 Chevy Express Van): birdslightyear (aka just*the*ten*of*us)

Still looking for the Longest Drive....

Indeed, cruisingkat, we are also HIE Priority Club members and take advantage of the "free breakfast." Note: One of the two Lake Buena Vista HIE facilities (the new one) offers restaurant food services.

All the best.

 

[Becky2005]

We drive from the western suburbs to FL several times a year. We normally take I355 to I80 to I57 to I24 to I75 to the Florida Turnpike.

Now that I355 is open to I80 is that the fastest way? For the longest time we always took Rt. 47 to I74 and over to I57 but that was before I355 went all the way down to 80. EVERYONE seems convinced that 47 is the fastest way even though it's a 2-lane highway most of the time but there is hardly any traffic once you get out of the big towns -- lots of corn & beans though. Can you tell I don't particularly like the Rt. 47 way but we do stop at the Gibson City McDonald's every trip, I wonder if the kids would miss it if we don't do that?

 

[DeeCeeSW]

I double checked mapquest, Kingsland is closer to the Florida border.....it was only about 15 minutes......

Thanks! Yes, Kingsland is closer. Reading through reviews, though, it's looking like the Hampton Inn & Suites (not the Hampton Inn) in Brunswick. It's still further south than we normally go, so I think it will be fine.

 

[BC1836]

If you take more than one 2,000+ mile round-trip drive to WDW, consider keeping a travel log of departure-from-home times, crossing-state-border times, gas and tolls, etc. Then you can compare and contrast with future trips. You can find out if certain days and times are better to travel, how efficient you are going from state border to state border, etc. And it's something to do.

Our travel log for our 22nd drive since 2002 is ready to be filled in.

All the best.

 

[C&G'sMama]

If you take more than one 2,000+ mile round-trip drive to WDW, consider keeping a travel log of departure-from-home times, crossing-state-border times, gas and tolls, etc. Then you can compare and contrast with future trips. You can find out if certain days and times are better to travel, how efficient you are going from state border to state border, etc. And it's something to do.

Our travel log for our 22nd drive since 2002 is ready to be filled in.

All the best.

YOu're good
I start one every trip and then it gets lost or I don't finish it but now that I have this "support group" I'll vow to do it this time.

I can get on Hilton Honors and see what hotels we stayed at and when but I've tried doing times of departure, miles from here to there etc. So I'm going to keep visiting this board 'til our date of departure (and after).

We leave May 27th

 

[BC1836]

YOu're good
I start one every trip and then it gets lost or I don't finish it but now that I have this "support group" I'll vow to do it this time.

I can get on Hilton Honors and see what hotels we stayed at and when but I've tried doing times of departure, miles from here to there etc. So I'm going to keep visiting this board 'til our date of departure (and after).

We leave May 27th

An important statistic that we record is the time it takes to cross the VA/NC border until we reach the FL border. Driving through those three states represents about 40% of our time, so if we can stay at 7 3/4 hours or less, we know we're making progress.
Of course, day of departure and time of departure are very important. We prefer to depart very, very early in the morning (from 12:30 a.m. to 3:00 a.m.) on a Saturday.

Our best VA/NC to FL time: 7:25 (Dec. '07)
Our worst VA/NC to FL time: 8:42 (May '10)

All the best.