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

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We wish you a continued safe drive!

And we also extend advance greetings to you since you will be the first among the 2,000+ mile round-trip drivers to be at WDW in 2012!

Happy New Year!

All the best. :thumbsup2

Thanks for the new year wishes. Just wanted to do an upydate. We went 22-78-81-83-695w-95-495-95. We are now (8:30) around Warton, VA.

An early Happy New Year to you & everyone else.
 

After an hour of driving DSs eyes started to burn so we got to another rest stop in NC & napped til 6:30. This getting old stuff stinks. Still considering the autotrain home or breaking the trip up over 3 days.
 
At 8:30 am hit South of the Border. Got gas. $3.199. At this point still in SC.
 
I know how you feel, we used to do the drive from northeast Ohio....got too old and stressful and trying to make the drive straight thru very tiring.....didn't want to stop either but to get to WDW in one day....

We've changed to Amtrak...not the AT (we have no need for a car in Disney)...It's still a long trip but the train is still moving while we're dozing off...no maps to read, no searching for gas, never worry if the driver is tired or dozing off, no children strapped in car seats (we're empty nesters now) just sitting back and enjoying the scenery and ride to Florida....we thinks it's fairly cheap too....450.00 for the 2 of us round trip...comparable to driving and no wear and tear on the auto...

Hope you have a safe and great trip....try the train next time..
 
I know how you feel, we used to do the drive from northeast Ohio....got too old and stressful and trying to make the drive straight thru very tiring.....didn't want to stop either but to get to WDW in one day....

We've changed to Amtrak...not the AT (we have no need for a car in Disney)...It's still a long trip but the train is still moving while we're dozing off...no maps to read, no searching for gas, never worry if the driver is tired or dozing off, no children strapped in car seats (we're empty nesters now) just sitting back and enjoying the scenery and ride to Florida....we thinks it's fairly cheap too....450.00 for the 2 of us round trip...comparable to driving and no wear and tear on the auto...

Hope you have a safe and great trip....try the train next time..

We have done train coach from Philly once. Never coach again if I can help it. We have don't autotrain round trip 3 times & coming north 3 times. Always have had a deluxe sleeper car. When we get to the hotel tonight I'm plugging in th network to price out a trip home. Trying to fugure out how we're going to come down for our cruise in August. May take the train from Philly again, but with a sleeper. I want to be rested for our 7 night 40th anniversary cruise.
 
I-4 exit off I-95. Next exit for rt. 535 & hotel plaza blvd. & the DoubleTree DTD. Wednesday we move to AKL courtyard view for 3 nights.

Tonight pork chops, sauerkraut, & mashed potatoes. Cooked at home & packed up to bring with us. PA Dutch tradition. DT has micro in room.

I am doing this trip report on the fly because it is the only way it will get done. LOL

Gas prices I am giving are at Brand name stations. Off brands are slightly cheaper.
 
So we did a test drive to western Michigan from Philly burbs for Thanksgiving. It was exactly 12 hours. I don't think we could have gone any further in one day. The older kids were pretty good but our 2 year old was beat. I think if we decide to drive to WDW in June we'll most likely stop overnight. But DH is afraid we'll sit at a hotel and twiddle our thumbs and regret not keeping driving.

We have no time for thumb twiddling. We get to the hotel around 10:00, go to sleep, up at 6:00 and back on the road by 7:00. We always stay at a hotel that includes breakfast.
 
We have no time for thumb twiddling. We get to the hotel around 10:00, go to sleep, up at 6:00 and back on the road by 7:00. We always stay at a hotel that includes breakfast.

I agree, no time for twiddling. We stopped at 8:00 pm, I was exhausted. Found a Holiday Inn on Priceline. We ordered Pizza in, had a shower and crashed before 11 PM. Up at 7:30, Breakfast was free for kids and coupon on site. A stop at SAMs Club and on the road about 9:00AM. Still was 8 PM before we checked in.

We did Auto train home, and the ride north was exhausting for me after a long trip. I never would have made the drive. I think when you suffer from chronic pain conditions it takes a toll sitting for several miles, days. I frequently had to stop which would drive many others crazy.

The Auto train was a great experiance but I did not have any sleep. The bed was far too hard. We had a delux sleeper which was super. The wine and cheese, dinner and breakfast before we pulled in I absolutly fell in love with.
But frankly, what I paid for the drive down, 2 hotel rooms, two sleeper cars and 5 travelers on Auto Train was double the flight down. $1,000 air fair vs the $2,000 in cost with AT fare.

The biggest thing was lose of time, 2.2 hrs out of ABE Allentown, vs. two days down and another 2 days back.
With the chronic pain flare, it was days before I rested well to feel better. I crashed in the car back to North east PA from Lorton, then crashed again when I got in the door until the next day.

No air travel makes me that exhausted.

Without the cost of Auto train it would have been a cost savings, but not sure my body is up to it, unless impulse trip. We have annual passes so one never knows if a drive is in the plan....:surfweb:
 
Yikes: 43-degrees in Lake Buena Vista right now. And it's 28-degrees at the Jersey Shore.

All the best.
 
Yikes: 43-degrees in Lake Buena Vista right now. And it's 28-degrees at the Jersey Shore.

All the best.

Yeah, & we are in the middle of it. Went into the 20s last night & with the wind chill even lower. It's still windy.
 
We went to AK today. It is usually 5 degrees warmer there because of the savannah, but it didn't feel any warmer & the animals were either hiding in their dens or cuddled up in any sunny area they could find. The temp reached a high of 49 but with the wind chill it felt like 30. Left and came back to the hotel at around 5:30. staying in for the night, because now that the sun has gone down and the wind hasn't stopped it is downright cold out there. We will be staying in for the night and hope for a warmer day tomorrow. We had our winter coats, gloves and earmuffs with us, so that helped a bit. I pitied the people who didn't have heavier coats. Many people were walking around with Disney blankets wrapped around them. They ARE quite a bit cheaper than sweatshirts.
 
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