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

[Salrx95]

Sal,

We will be driving down next week and used to stop in Florence, and then pushed it to Santee, and this year we are aiming for Savannah. We are in NYC, so have a little less driving than you. I booked a springhill suites room at the Savannah airport exit. It's just dh and myself so the extra driving will be fine. Coming home we are stopping at Roanoke Rapids, NC at the Hampton inn. We got a state government rate of 70 a night. They said its good as long as you work for any state govt, and my dh works for the mta, so that works.

I'll post my experience driving to Savannah once were there.

Hi. Thanks for the input. I think Savannah is doable for us. I am always off Thursday and taking a personal day for Friday. So I plan to have the car packed and ready and will go to sleep nice and early. We'll wake up the kids and get in the car around 1am, hoping to be past DC by rush hour. We are about an hour north of the city.

We do a comfort suites to build "points" wherever we go. The way home is where I'm wondering. Like I said, last time I drove straight, was on fumes and it was very very windy from Baltimore thru the NJ TP and it was maybe not the best decision. Plus, once we got home at 5am, the kids were awake and up for the day. I'd rather stay and have a better half Sunday at home to get ready to go back to work than drive straight through, be miserable doing so and then be up anyways cause the kids are up. Then I'm exhausted for Monday, too.

 

[dvczerfs]

I have been a lurker for a long time. We just purchased our first AP's.
Airfare seems expensive lately, so we are considering driving. It would be 2 adults 50 plus. We drove over 18 years ago and we don't remember all of the details from back then.
We live about 3 blocks from I-95, in Philadelphia, Woodhaven exit.

My question is roughly how much do you spend on gas, hotels, food, etc both ways.? I think the mileage is about 1,024 miles.
Also, what do you do differently, to make the ride home not as bad.?

Thanks for any info.

we drive straight through. 1086 miles. each way, to and from, hit the road by 3am and pull into okw or my driveway by 7 - 7:15pm.
its like a band-aide, drag it out and rip it off slow, its gonna hurt more.
gas is what ever your car gets per mile per gallon and the way you drive it.
the train is for the old people.

 

[lsg1]

we drive straight through. 1086 miles. each way, to and from, hit the road by 3am and pull into okw or my driveway by 7 - 7:15pm.
its like a band-aide, drag it out and rip it off slow, its gonna hurt more.
gas is what ever your car gets per mile per gallon and the way you drive it.
the train is for the old people.

I wouldn't say the train is for old people. In 1991, when my now 22 year old son was 8 months old, and my now 25 year old daughter was 3, we packed up our 1985 Dodge Colt to the gills intent on driving down. Got as far as NJ turnpike when the kids started screaming (and they were good travellers). While we were on I95, I saw signs for the auto train (and this was before the internet and you can look things up on your phone), and we pull off to investigate. Within 10 minutes, we were booked on the auto train and the trip was very pleasant. We took the train home too that year. Now we have driven with the "kids"(and added one after that) almost every year since, and they were great travellers, it was just that year, they were not.

This is the second year that we are driving alone, and am actually looking forward to it.

 

[goofyfigment]

The plan going down next month is to try to stay further south than Florence, Sc and maybe get to Savannah from here in Ct. We want a shorter drive the Saturday morning of check in, maximizing our time at the AoA, where were only staying in the Cars Suite the first 2 nights and then moving to Pop to save $$.

Last time, on our first trip, I drove straight thru on the way home, getting home at 5am and it was rough. We decided to meet up with my godfather in Jacksonville this time instead of coming straight home and will therefore stay over on way home to be safe.

I'm thinking that would put us maybe near northern Virginia or maybe even southern. Before I research on my own or do a search, can someone tell me where on I-95 in Virginia, where a good place would be to stop .

Of course, based on weather or if wife feels good and wants to drive (I can sleep in car, she can't), we may not stay over and alter plans.

Thanks, Sal.

Im from pa and we stopped at a sleep inn in Fredericksburg va

 

[Salrx95]

Im from pa and we stopped at a sleep inn in Fredericksburg va

I know that is northern and I see 2 exits off of i-95 with lots of choices to stay, eat, etc. I'm guessing, then, that it is a well lit, safe area to stay?

Thanks.

 

[goofyfigment]

I know that is northern and I see 2 exits off of i-95 with lots of choices to stay, eat, etc. I'm guessing, then, that it is a well lit, safe area to stay?

Thanks.

Yeah there are about 6 hotels, a McDonald's, waffle house, ponderosa, hardees and a Wendy's i think.

 

[Salrx95]

Yeah there are about 6 hotels, a McDonald's, waffle house, ponderosa, hardees and a Wendy's i think.

Thanks. Will keep that area in mind for our trip home. Appreciate it.

 

[NJRRK]

I wouldn't say the train is for old people. In 1991, when my now 22 year old son was 8 months old, and my now 25 year old daughter was 3, we packed up our 1985 Dodge Colt to the gills intent on driving down. Got as far as NJ turnpike when the kids started screaming (and they were good travellers). While we were on I95, I saw signs for the auto train (and this was before the internet and you can look things up on your phone), and we pull off to investigate. Within 10 minutes, we were booked on the auto train and the trip was very pleasant. We took the train home too that year. Now we have driven with the "kids"(and added one after that) almost every year since, and they were great travellers, it was just that year, they were not.

This is the second year that we are driving alone, and am actually looking forward to it.

Hmm a 1985 Dodge Colt packed to the gills...what was that 2 suitcases? LOL That was a shall car, if I remember correctly.

 

[nono]

Also, what do you do differently, to make the ride home not as bad.?

Audiobooks and comedy performances keep us giggling! And, we make a "Road Trip" playlist which we listen to as we start the drive!

 

[megan_in_pink]

Started looking at going to the world in 2014, since I am sure airfare will not start getting cheeper anytime soon. I might look at driving, but I be the only drive out of the friends that want to come with me...a 22 hrs drive all to yourself, is not easy...

Going to look into the autotrain

 

[lsg1]

Hmm a 1985 Dodge Colt packed to the gills...what was that 2 suitcases? LOL That was a shall car, if I remember correctly.

Not sure what a shall car is, small?. It was actually a captive import which means it was really a Mitsubishi marketed under the Dodge name. I wasn't a bad car. And we managed to fit everything we needed for a 2 week trip with 2 kids in car seats, a stroller, pack and play and all the luggage we needed. I think that is why the kids were crying so much cause they felt like sardines

Now we are driving down in a nice roomy Sienna and there is only 2 of us.

 

[DSLRuser]

We drive straight through. 1008 miles. Leave the house about 6:00pm (st Louis). Wife gets me to around Paducah Kentucky at 9:00pm ish. We stop, and eat a late dinner, put the kidsin their Jammie's. fill up on gas, and I take it the rest of the way.

The wife and kids (5 and 11) all sleep while I do the most of the driving. They wake up at sun up as we hit the Florida state line.

We stop in Ocala for breakfast. Then the wife takes the last 2.5 hours. We arrive in about 16 hours from start or 11am

Works well for us. I have done all 16 hours a few times. It hurts, but is doable.

We spend arrival day resting by the pool all day.

 

[danikami]

Thanks for the advice! I can't actually plug any other destination into the site I was looking at (which turns out to be drivetodisneyworld.com). Google ranges from 15-16 hours. The tricky thing about doing a compare with the Outer Banks trip is that we actually made really good time UNTIL we got to that bridge. And anybody whose been there knows what I'm talking about. We sat for three or four hours on that thing. I don't know what kind of traffic I'll run into on the way to disney.

I looked up auto train and it seems like it's just as expensive as flying. So ... I don't see the appeal?

 

[DSLRuser]

for us, the only real traffic problem is atlanta. We time our trip down to hit atlanta around 1-2am.

Comming back, it usually is around 6:00pm on a saturday. So still not that bad.

Also, I-75 south in florida gets pretty crazy around noon any day. tousands of travelers in their last few hours of a long drive. Driving way too fast. if you are not going 90 you get ran over. And if fog, or smoke is in the area its best to get off the highway and find another route. Its flat out dangerouns.

Same thing comming home i-75 north. lots of traffic leaving south florida. Its bumper to bumper all the way to geaorgia and beyond.

 

[stazmatic]

Looking for some advice.
For about 5 of the last 7 trips we have rented a 15 passenger van for 12 of us to drive down. There is zero cargo space but we cram everything in and make do. It is pretty squished and we drive straight through both ways from north of Chicago to Disney. We have no interest in stopping at a hotel on the way there.
This last trip we flew and took a Mercedes sprinter van home from the airport. It comfortably seats 12 and has a huge cargo area, plus the roof is so tall we can stand comfortably when we need to stretch our legs (not when the car is moving obviously)
So for this spring break do I rent the stand by 15 pass for $600 total or do I rent the sprinter van for $1800 total? Obviously there will still be gas and tolls for either car, but those are the prices for the car and unlimited miles.

 

[dvczerfs]

Looking for some advice.
For about 5 of the last 7 trips we have rented a 15 passenger van for 12 of us to drive down. There is zero cargo space but we cram everything in and make do. It is pretty squished and we drive straight through both ways from north of Chicago to Disney. We have no interest in stopping at a hotel on the way there.
This last trip we flew and took a Mercedes sprinter van home from the airport. It comfortably seats 12 and has a huge cargo area, plus the roof is so tall we can stand comfortably when we need to stretch our legs (not when the car is moving obviously)
So for this spring break do I rent the stand by 15 pass for $600 total or do I rent the sprinter van for $1800 total? Obviously there will still be gas and tolls for either car, but those are the prices for the car and unlimited miles.

to quote Ron Whites inlaws................ " nothing rides like a mercedes benz "

we drive one, not the sprinter but i have to say out of all the cars i have driven. M.B. is it!!!

 

[theyoungs07]

We own a Sprinter and love it...if you are splitting the costs, maybe everyone will be up for spending more each for the Sprinter. They are also safer in rollover situations.

Are your passengers adults or tall kids? Most Chevy/Ford 15/12 pass vans have benches without headrests which is extremely dangerous in the case of an accident.

 

[theyoungs07]

Also, my Sprinter gets 20-22mpg on highway, you'll be lucky to get 14 in the others. 50% better mileage for fuel that normally costs 10% more (around my place in IL, not sure in the south)

1200 is a lot of money difference, good luck.

 

[stazmatic]

Thanks for the advice. We own a Mercedes E320 and love it! Would love to own a Sprinter, but it's not in the budget for now.
Most of the people on the trip are adults or kids well over 5 ft tall so safety with the seats is a great consideration - thank you!

 

[sharadoc]

I have been a lurker for a long time. We just purchased our first AP's.
Airfare seems expensive lately, so we are considering driving. It would be 2 adults 50 plus. We drove over 18 years ago and we don't remember all of the details from back then.
We live about 3 blocks from I-95, in Philadelphia, Woodhaven exit.

My question is roughly how much do you spend on gas, hotels, food, etc both ways.? I think the mileage is about 1,024 miles.
Also, what do you do differently, to make the ride home not as bad.?

Thanks for any info.

Hi. We're right about the same mileage as you, we use 100 gallons of gas round trip so the prevailing price per gallon x 100 is our gas cost. Then we spend around $120 a night for hotels each way (we like a suite, but even a regular room will run around $75.) We pack food in the car for everything but dinner on the first day, which runs around $60 for 4 of us. So, total round trip cost is usually around $600 to $700. A few years ago, it was around $450-500.