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

[Nik's Mom]

Can someone tell me how much the tolls are coming from the direction of Atlanta? We're driving in a couple of weeks and I want to make sure I have enough change.
Thanks!

 

[mco65]

Thank you! I just checked that stretch on Google maps, and it is only about 45 miles between the two cities. That's not bad at all. I was expecting more. I'll just have to make sure my wife is awake during that part of the drive, both so she can enjoy driving through the mountains and also for a 2nd pair of eyes to keep us safe.

You will be UP and DOWN Monteagle Mtn in about 15 minutes.. the rest of the 40 mile stretch to Chattanooga is basically flat.. no mtn driving.

 

[BC1836]

Just back from a trip to Disneyland. We had to fly. All we kept thinking about during the flight back home was: "We can hardly wait for our next drive to WDW!

All the best.

 

[disneymarie]

Hi,
We are leaving at 2PM from the Wilkes Barre PA area. Does anyone know of a nice hotel to stay at on the way down? The half way point would be good. I was thinking about the Columbia area. Is that a good spot? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Hello from Wilkes Barre area, Not a pro to know where Columbia is, but I know on the mid point just south of South of the Border, we stayed in Florence SC. at one of the Fairfield Inn's. Great breakfast in the morning to get on the road and beds were wonderful. I think it was about $70 a night from Hotwire, but clerk took the hotwire rate. We did not know how far we would make it to make adv ressie.

I recenlty was out in Brookville, PA west on I 80 and stayed at a Super 8 for bus trip and for a coupon in the travel book at a rest stop, the bed was okay, room clean but dated.

Leaving on June 8th from 309 S of Wilkes Barre,
di

 

[disneymarie]

Just back from a trip to Disneyland. We had to fly. All we kept thinking about during the flight back home was: "We can hardly wait for our next drive to WDW!

All the best.

We flew in March and driving in June, all I could think of on the direct flight Harrisburg to MCO 2 hrs was, thank goodness, we are not driving.

I am a huge are we there yet, even an hour trip to Allentown last Sunday, I was ants in the pants....dd gave me her I pad to play Bejeweled Blitz. I suspect to be getting a Mothers Day gift of my own I pad for our drive next month.

I had to work in western PA almost to Erie last week, 5.5 hr drive out, and had to spend the night, could not do the drive back to Wilkes Barre area. I think a lot of it is the bad back....hips, knee, fibromyagia...carpal tunnel, you name it.

 

[marius97]

Thank you! I just checked that stretch on Google maps, and it is only about 45 miles between the two cities. That's not bad at all. I was expecting more. I'll just have to make sure my wife is awake during that part of the drive, both so she can enjoy driving through the mountains and also for a 2nd pair of eyes to keep us safe.

For a midwesterner, I was really disappointed with the "mountains". I was looking forward to driving through them, but that far south, they felt more like really big hills. We stay in Daytona Beach, so one year we headed on a route that took us east from 75 over to South Carolina. Now those were some mountains.

 

[nono]

Just did another WDW trip down and back. This time, we took the first Cape May ferry out and overnighted near Savannah, GA. Checked in at noon the next day and had lunch in Epcot. Did a short haul first day out of WDW and the longer day back to the ferry on the way home, giving us plenty of time to have a nice dinner on the Lewes side. Including all the non-interstate driving, the 2011 Town & Country got us exactly 29 mpg for the entire trip, which included no use of Disney busses. The first/last couple hundred miles of our route are on stop-and-go highways. So we were (naturally) thrilled.

Now planning our next excursion....

 

[dvczerfs]

We are two ships passing in the night, we are driving June 8th when dgs gets out of school in the morning. Wish it were earlier, but at Kindergarten he does not want to miss the last day, the whole 90 minutes.

Weather looks like 87* to 89* with scattered thunderstorms. I keep watching the temps praying they are no more then 86* lower then normal for June.
Have fun,
di

We are in Virginia off of i81. Four hours down. We are getting up at 2:30 and hitting the road, HARD!!! Lol

 

[TinkPirateMom]

So to those that drive from the South Jersey/Philly area, what time do you think we should leave our house (in Gloucester Co. NJ)? We are leaving on a Friday in November, driving straight through but stopping for food, potty, and sanity breaks. We would like to arrive in WDW by mid-afternoon on Saturday.
DD is supposed to have school on theat Frid. and can be picked up at 2:15pm and we can leave right from there, but I'm afraid that we will hit rush hour in major cities. So maybe I should pick her up from school early or we should leave a little later (but not too late)? IDK!
Thanks for any input

 

[pwdebbie]

Hi,
We are leaving at 2PM from the Wilkes Barre PA area. Does anyone know of a nice hotel to stay at on the way down? The half way point would be good. I was thinking about the Columbia area. Is that a good spot? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

If you left at 2PM on the day you posted, then my reply won't help.

We pushed past Columbia and stopped at Orangeburg once. We would do that again. We stayed at the Sleep Inn but there were a lot of hotels at that exit to choose from. The exit was St. Matthews Rd. Looking at a map right now, I see Sleep Inn, Best Western, Country Inn and Suites, Fairfield Inn, and Holiday Inn Express.

 

[nono]

So to those that drive from the South Jersey/Philly area, what time do you think we should leave our house (in Gloucester Co. NJ)? We are leaving on a Friday in November, driving straight through but stopping for food, potty, and sanity breaks. We would like to arrive in WDW by mid-afternoon on Saturday.
DD is supposed to have school on theat Frid. and can be picked up at 2:15pm and we can leave right from there, but I'm afraid that we will hit rush hour in major cities. So maybe I should pick her up from school early or we should leave a little later (but not too late)? IDK!
Thanks for any input

What time do you want to arrive? I would leave after dinner so that you miss the evening rush in Balt/DC, and you would arrive sometime the next morning.

 

[disneymarie]

We are in Virginia off of i81. Four hours down. We are getting up at 2:30 and hitting the road, HARD!!! Lol

Four hours down sounded like it was near Lorton Auto train...not the least bit tempted?

Guess by now you are rolling into the World and having goosebumps on Main st. or soon will,

Enjoy my friend and your dw.
di

 

[sharadoc]

We are in Virginia off of i81. Four hours down. We are getting up at 2:30 and hitting the road, HARD!!! Lol

Text some pics! I didn't get any state line crossings, or free OJ or nothin' today!!!

 

[emksmama]

relatively new still here, so forgive me for not reading all 72 pages. We've done quite a few 2000+ mile round trip drives, and our last 2 long trips have been from Kokomo, Indiana (north of Indianapolis) to Ft. Meyers Beach, FL. Summer 2011 we did it non stop with our girls, ages 7 & 8 at the time, and no in car entertainment system.

This year we are heading to WDW in just 10 weeks!! We plan to do it straight through, leaving late afternoon on a Saturday, and getting there sometime around noon on Sunday. I'd love to get my free OJ at the state line, since I missed it last summer...they weren't open at 3:45am when I crossed into Florida. The nerve!!

Our minivan has over 140,000 miles on it, and so far has taken us to Oklahoma (once), Florida (3 times), Michigan (once), and Pennsylvania (3 times)...just need ONE MORE TRIP!

 

[disneymarie]

relatively new still here, so forgive me for not reading all 72 pages. We've done quite a few 2000+ mile round trip drives, and our last 2 long trips have been from Kokomo, Indiana (north of Indianapolis) to Ft. Meyers Beach, FL. Summer 2011 we did it non stop with our girls, ages 7 & 8 at the time, and no in car entertainment system.

This year we are heading to WDW in just 10 weeks!! We plan to do it straight through, leaving late afternoon on a Saturday, and getting there sometime around noon on Sunday. I'd love to get my free OJ at the state line, since I missed it last summer...they weren't open at 3:45am when I crossed into Florida. The nerve!!

Our minivan has over 140,000 miles on it, and so far has taken us to Oklahoma (once), Florida (3 times), Michigan (once), and Pennsylvania (3 times)...just need ONE MORE TRIP!

Gee 72 pages, ummm what is this the 3rd time a new 2,000 + thread was started. There is a lot of history and miles on this thread.

Nice to find out finally where Kokomo is, I thought it was near a bay, or is that a song?
We fly down, drove down and auto trained home once. Only thing missing was a cruise on the GEM in April that would have stopped at the cape for a day at Disney.

Leaving in just less then three weeks to drive again. Waiting for the kids to get out of school as this year we went twice during the school year.
It is nice to follow the thread to get the road work, closings, traffic alerts, and weather related information.
Nice to meet you,
di

 

[disneymarie]

Text some pics! I didn't get any state line crossings, or free OJ or nothin' today!!!

I am making ds stop this time! Humph the nerve of him hurrying no time to stop

 

[emksmama]

Thanks for the welcome! And yeah, you're thinking of the Kokomo song...Aruba, Jamaica, oooh I wanna take ya.... Heard that a million and five when I was in high school!

I'll definitely follow this thread for traffic reports, updates, and enthusiasm for those of us who prefer to drive! We have taken the 65-24-75 route before and thought it was ugly/boring, and our last two trips to FL have been 74-75, and I like that SO much better!

Anyone know what time the FL welcome center opens? I'd like to time my arrival at the state line to get my free OJ this year, but just in case, I've been buying Florida's Natural already to have at home.

 

[cruisingkat]

For a midwesterner, I was really disappointed with the "mountains". I was looking forward to driving through them, but that far south, they felt more like really big hills. We stay in Daytona Beach, so one year we headed on a route that took us east from 75 over to South Carolina. Now those were some mountains.

Glad to hear another person thought so too - I always thought that they felt like little larger hills - but I thought my perspective was skewed since we lived in Colorado for awhile and drove through real mountains.

 

[WizardLarz]

Can someone tell me how much the tolls are coming from the direction of Atlanta? We're driving in a couple of weeks and I want to make sure I have enough change.
Thanks!

there is a non-toll route that is said to take about an extra 30mins. The Tolls routes are $2.50 or $3.50 each way. The $2.50 route takes you off Hwy 75 on to the Florida Parkway to Hwy 4 (that is the toll section) then south to EPCOT Center Dr. The $3.50 route is the Parkway to the Daniel Webster Western Beltway 429 south to Hartzog Rd.(toll section) left on Hartzog into a 'Back Enterance' to WDW. {Yes there is one of the big Welcome signs here!}

I prefer the 2nd route because I have found little traffice on the beltway 429 at noon time. This route brings you in right next to CSR, and quick access to AKL.

 

[dvczerfs]

WE MADE IT!!! we had a few slow downs in the lehigh valley but other than that, smooth sailing. total time was 16 hours. i did keep track of miles, and states. after we get home ill have to post. gas prices are intresting. i seen everything from 3.77 to 3.34.