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

[Tanooki]

Leaving for FL in less than a month! First to St. Pete Beach then to Disney from Montreal, QC. A 24h drive that I am looking forward to and dreading at the same time. I’m just afraid my 2 yo will be bored and cranky as she has no interest in movies and in most of the activities I have planned for my oldest. Hopefully the ton of books and games I will bring for her will be enough to keep her entertained. On the way to FL our route choice is 87/95 or 81/77/95. We plan on leaving after soccer practice at 8pm so the kids can sleep most of the way. DH is used to work nights so he will do the driving at night and I will take over at 6am. We would like to drive for 16h (to Charlotte, NC if we choose the 81/77/95 route) before stopping for the night. That way it leaves us only 8h the next day. On our way back from WDW, we have plans to meet with friends that live 1h away from Harrisburg so I reserve a hotel room close to Hershey. Since we have to go back to work shortly after our return (vs staying at the beach for 2 weeks) we’re not planning any night driving and will stop twice at Charlotte and Hershey. I need suggestions from you guys. 1. What route would you choose for night driving between 87/95 and 81/77/95 on our way down to FL? 2. Any nice hotel/area to stay close to Charlotte? Ideally with a pool and maybe a kid playground close so I can exhaust the girls before a good night sleep? Would you stay north or south of Charlotte? 3. Any fun activities for a toddler in the car who doesn’t like watching movies?

Hi neighbor!

We are planning our 7th driving trip to the World in August from close to Montreal
Unfortunately, I don't have much good advice for you since we don't travel the same way... We leave around 5am and drive, using the 87-287-78-81-26-77-95-4 itinerary and stopping overnight in Salem, Va on the way down. We are not very good at driving during the night so it's safer for everyone that way. We make the first driving day a little longer (12-13 hours) so the second one seems shorter (11 or so hours). That's why our overnight stop on the way home is in Harrisonburg, Va, a little further North. As you can see from my signature, we also drive with 4 kids! The younger one was about 26 months for his first driving trip. He did get restless at times but we tried to keep him occupied with little toys, movies, snacks (candy!) and he also napped, which the older ones didn't! Now that they are all older, they keep occupied with lots of electronics (DVDs, Ipads, Nintendo DS, etc.), snacks (lots of snacks!) and books.
I have to say that we all like the drive down (and back). We used to say, before we did it the first time, that we would NEVER do this and look at us now!
We've got our favorite spots to stop, we always go to the same hotels (we need suites that fit a family of 6 and they are not that frequent) and we genuinely enjoy the family time together.
If it's not too late (don't remember when you leave) I would advise getting the book "The Next Exit" (it's available at the CAA travel agency, even if you're not a member, or through Amazon as well) which is my reference book while we travel. I can't tell you how precious it has been during all these travels.

Have a great time!

 

[Happiest mommy]

NADINENURSE Hi!!!! amcnj hmm good question, the drive I think should take us between 17-19 hrs so iv'e been told, Dh has his mind set on driving straight thru the first day he feels he should be well rested enough to do the drive, now coming back I would love to stay over at a half way point doing a large amount of driving I read that VA would be a good overnight stay as its about 7hrs from home uhg! wow! you left at 8am and got to Va at 6pm thats awesome!

 

[amcnj]

NADINENURSE Hi!!!! amcnj hmm good question, the drive I think should take us between 17-19 hrs so iv'e been told, Dh has his mind set on driving straight thru the first day he feels he should be well rested enough to do the drive, now coming back I would love to stay over at a half way point doing a large amount of driving I read that VA would be a good overnight stay as its about 7hrs from home uhg! wow! you left at 8am and got to Va at 6pm thats awesome!

On the way home I hit VA between 6 and 9 pm depending on stops (a stop for dinner being the biggest time changer here), weather and traffic. When I used to stop on the way home I usually left WDW around 8 AM, stopped in or near Emporia VA, and arrived home the second day in the afternoon. For a point of reference I am about an hour and 10 minutes from the DE Memorial Bridge.

For a non-stop trip down I leave 2:30 AM and arrive in the Orlando area between 6:30 and 8:30 PM, depending on those same variables, stops, traffic and weather! I am hitting the DC area around 5:30 AM. Though you are going on a Saturday so the weekday rush hour is not a factor.

 

[sharadoc]

Thanks Sharadoc Just the info I was looking for. We are driving down on a weekday this year. The last 2 time we drove were weekends and we drove through the night. We would like to drive during the day this year and of course we will go straight through. We can get in the house we rented for the first 4 days at anytime. Then it's off to OKW for the rest of our trip..

Sounds perfect. We love OKW, have a great time!

 

[Goofygirl17]

We left CT Tuesday morning around 4. Took the inland route w minimal stops we stopped 16 hours later in Savannah . We stayed at Springhill suites for $99. Yesterday we drove to Daytona and got a hotel for 2 nights. We're staying at the best western called Aku tiki. It's only $114 a night and we have an ocean view we didn't get to spend much time in the waves yesterday because of thunder and lightning but had a great time today.

Tomorrow morning we head to disney. Shouldn't take too long.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

We left CT Tuesday morning around 4. Took the inland route w minimal stops we stopped 16 hours later in Savannah . We stayed at Springhill suites for $99. Yesterday we drove to Daytona and got a hotel for 2 nights. We're staying at the best western called Aku tiki. It's only $114 a night and we have an ocean view we didn't get to spend much time in the waves yesterday because of thunder and lightning but had a great time today. Tomorrow morning we head to disney. Shouldn't take too long.

That sounds wonderful!! Have a great trip. How were the gas prices?

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[asmit4]

For those who stop on the way- do you book a room in advance? I would like to maybe just drive until I don't want to drive anymore and then find a room. This would be Wed. Oct. 8th and Thurs. Oct. 9th.....

I hear this is becoming harder and harder because of so many people traveling these days. Anyone know of brands that have a 'cancel by 6pm same day' plan?

 

[mjmyers10]

For those who stop on the way- do you book a room in advance? I would like to maybe just drive until I don't want to drive anymore and then find a room. This would be Wed. Oct. 8th and Thurs. Oct. 9th..... I hear this is becoming harder and harder because of so many people traveling these days. Anyone know of brands that have a 'cancel by 6pm same day' plan?

The cancel policy depends on the chains franchise owner. A lot of Hampton Inns that we stay at have a cancel by 6 policy. Normally if we know we are going to stop, we will book something. I would rather have it known that we have a spot and know what we are going to pay for that room.

 

[asmit4]

The cancel policy depends on the chains franchise owner. A lot of Hampton Inns that we stay at have a cancel by 6 policy. Normally if we know we are going to stop, we will book something. I would rather have it known that we have a spot and know what we are going to pay for that room.

Thinking I might book one in Columbia, one in Savannah and cancel by 6 at whichever. This gives me more flexibility.

 

[sharadoc]

Thinking I might book one in Columbia, one in Savannah and cancel by 6 at whichever. This gives me more flexibility.

We've done that and it works out fine. But we've done the trip so many times we know how far and how long we want to drive. It's just the unknown of traffic or something delaying us that causes problems.

We always plan to stop with a shorter 2nd day, so we'll push on that first day for as long as we can. For us, it's Savannah.

 

[darrengs]

Hello all!!! Hope I can join the club we will be driving for the first time from NY in Sept so we need your guidance we will be leaving on a Saturday and returning on a Friday DH want to leave around 3:00am drive staight thru I want to stay over night (still debating this) but coming back we definetly both want to stay over somewhere. So I need help deciding the best route and where to stay overnight and also, what would be a good time to leave FL. We have driven to Williamburgh, VA and to Chicago , Ill and loved both trips TIA.

We did this 2 years ago. Left Northern NJ at 3:00 AM, stopped for gas and food to go. Except for dinner in Georgia we stopped at a Subway and ate there. Made it to Orlando a little before 10:30 PM. We had originally planned to stop in Georgia, but everything was going so smooth we decided to keep going, so we cancelled the hotel reservation on route and made one in Orlando instead.

Now on the way home we left around 10:30 AM and drive straight through. We won't be doing that this year, we plan to stop in NC or Virginia.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Tomorrow is the day!!!!

 

[dvczerfs]

Tomorrow is the day!!!!

DD!!!! its about time your getting out of here!!!! have a great trip and keep us posted.

 

[Happiest mommy]

darrengs thanks for your info, very helpful that's hopefully what we are aiming for you did good timing on the trip if we stay in VA i'm guessing the following day it would be around 7 hrs to home? roughly do you know how long it would take to get to Va leaving Orlanda at 10:30am? and any recomendations on different routes or just go straight 95 thank you all for the info, this will be our longest driving trip and I'm a bit nervouse..

 

[nono]

darrengs thanks for your info, very helpful that's hopefully what we are aiming for you did good timing on the trip if we stay in VA i'm guessing the following day it would be around 7 hrs to home? roughly do you know how long it would take to get to Va leaving Orlanda at 10:30am? and any recomendations on different routes or just go straight 95 thank you all for the info, this will be our longest driving trip and I'm a bit nervouse..

If you go I95, you would get to Emporia, VA around 9:30 pm...give or take for number of stops, traffic, etc.

Have fun planning! Once you get on the road, you'll be surprised at how many others from your area and further north make the trip!

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Just got to Fayetteville NC around 15 min ago. Eating at CB then to hotel.
Will be in FL tomorrow. Traffic was great today. Tried a new route bc DH saw all the constr. In VA. Lots of red on the phone map LOL.
Went really well. We didn't sit in a lick of traffic today, except for maybe 10 min this morning right before GW bridge in NY.

 

[lizzytizzy]

Just got to Fayetteville NC around 15 min ago. Eating at CB then to hotel. Will be in FL tomorrow. Traffic was great today. Tried a new route bc DH saw all the constr. In VA. Lots of red on the phone map LOL. Went really well. We didn't sit in a lick of traffic today, except for maybe 10 min this morning right before GW bridge in NY.

What is the name of the app you're using for traffic? We are driving next wknd. Thanks!

 

[dvczerfs]

Just got to Fayetteville NC around 15 min ago. Eating at CB then to hotel.
Will be in FL tomorrow. Traffic was great today. Tried a new route bc DH saw all the constr. In VA. Lots of red on the phone map LOL.
Went really well. We didn't sit in a lick of traffic today, except for maybe 10 min this morning right before GW bridge in NY.

glad to hear!!!! we just came back from CB, I had the Saturday chicken and rice special.
thanks for the update and have a nice trip!

 

[RK13]

darrengs thanks for your info, very helpful that's hopefully what we are aiming for you did good timing on the trip if we stay in VA i'm guessing the following day it would be around 7 hrs to home? roughly do you know how long it would take to get to Va leaving Orlanda at 10:30am? and any recomendations on different routes or just go straight 95 thank you all for the info, this will be our longest driving trip and I'm a bit nervouse..

We take I95. The last two years we stopped at a Courtyard in Glen Allen, VA, just north of Richmond. We leave at 4:30 am, and it takes about 11-12 hours from WDW. Its a long boring drive, but its the easiest part.
From Glen Allen, its approx 90 min to the I495 beltway. We are on the road at 4:30 am again, so far leaving at this time (knock wood) we have avoided all rush hour traffic in N. VA, Baltimore and on the NJTP. We are home in LI around 11-11:30 am.

 

[edbo77]

Just got to Fayetteville NC around 15 min ago. Eating at CB then to hotel.
Will be in FL tomorrow. Traffic was great today. Tried a new route bc DH saw all the constr. In VA. Lots of red on the phone map LOL.
Went really well. We didn't sit in a lick of traffic today, except for maybe 10 min this morning right before GW bridge in NY.

Where did you see construction in VA? We're headed that way in 3 weeks and need to plan accordingly.