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

[BC1836]

"Big" drive today from valet to self parking. That's it.

Other transportation today: monorail.

Warning: Do not try and park your car at DTD. Get there some other way. With the construction and the limited parking spaces, the traffic gets particularly horrible.

All the best.

 

[twoolle]

Hi again St. Louis drivers! We're now considering leaving here around noon, and stopping for the night around 8. Probably a stupid question, but where would that put us? Atlanta?? If so, I know there are some not so good areas there, so where should we stay?

Hi there! We are from Wright City, MO and when we travel to Atlanta it takes us around 9 or 10 hours, plus there is a 1 hour time change. (We have 3 kids and 2 in diapers). So, leaving at noon might be tough because you will hit Nashville construction rush hour traffic if on a weekday. We were stuck in that for about 30 minutes on a Thursday afternoon in July.

We are taking our 1st family trip to WDW in September and checking in on Sat the 20th. We actually worked backwards when planning our stops, plus we wanted to use our Hilton points for a Hampton Inn. We knew we wanted a short drive on our arrival day (since we are newbies and I really want some time to explore the resort, swim, and make a Walmart run) so we decided on Valdosta, GA Hampton Inn which is about 3 hours away. However, that would make for an incredibly long drive for us the day before (800 miles or something like that), so instead of leaving home Friday morning the 19th, we will leave after DH gets off work Thursday evening, get past Nashville and stay at Hampton Inn in Antioch off I-24. Then we have a nice 475 mile drive on Friday the 19th and should be past Atlanta way before evening rush hour. That seems like a lot of stops but we had hotel points to use, not sure if we would do it otherwise. But with 3 kids 4 and under our sanity is worth it to us at this point. On the way home we leave on Sunday the 28th and will drive past Atlanta and stay near Chattanooga. Then on home the next day.

I did notice when searching Hampton Inns there were a lot that were booked up already...this could be because of football season??

 

[rotlex]

Made it down Sunday night after a completely perfect drive from PA. Zero issues and perfect weather all the way down. Was not a record but left at 2:30am Sunday and crossed under the Disney gates by 7:30. I was actually sorry the drive was over!

Weather down here has been flawless so far. Just fantastic. Here"a to 2 more weeks in the Florida sun!!!!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[LadyBeBop]

We knew we wanted a short drive on our arrival day (since we are newbies and I really want some time to explore the resort, swim, and make a Walmart run) so we decided on Valdosta, GA Hampton Inn which is about 3 hours away.

Valdosta is a good stopping off point. On our last trip, we stayed about an hour south of Valdosta in Lake City, FL. That gave us only about a 2 1/2 hour trip to WDW (see below on why it took us a little longer). Valdosta is a little nicer, but we liked being that much closer.

However, that would make for an incredibly long drive for us the day before (800 miles or something like that), so instead of leaving home Friday morning the 19th, we will leave after DH gets off work Thursday evening, get past Nashville and stay at Hampton Inn in Antioch off I-24. Then we have a nice 475 mile drive on Friday the 19th and should be past Atlanta way before evening rush hour. That seems like a lot of stops but we had hotel points to use, not sure if we would do it otherwise. But with 3 kids 4 and under our sanity is worth it to us at this point. On the way home we leave on Sunday the 28th and will drive past Atlanta and stay near Chattanooga. Then on home the next day.

Easy if you have the points. However, we don't have a loyalty to a specific chain, and neither DH nor I travel out of town on business. I know we belong to a number of hotel programs (Wyndham, Starwood, I think Marriott). We may be close to a free night at a Starwood; I'm not sure. We may stay a total of two nights a year in a hotel room. We usually make it to our destination in one day, and if our trip is more than a day, we stay with family. And we own a timeshare, so we trade into other timeshares for our destination.

What we've done successfully....buy $100 Marriott gift cards at Krogers when they've had their 4X pump perk points. A $100 gift card will save you 40 cents a gallon of gas next time you fill up. With my 13 gallon tank, that's a $5 savings...not much, but every little bit helps. If your gas tank is larger, you'll save more ($12 on a 30 gallon tank).

I did notice when searching Hampton Inns there were a lot that were booked up already...this could be because of football season??

That's a possibility. At Lake City, we actually stayed about ten miles east of town on I-10. That added a few minutes to our trip. All of the hotels along I-75 were either filled or was charging $200/night. That was because Florida State was playing at home that weekend, and a lot of Seminole fans stayed in Lake City. And Lake City is over 100 miles away from Tallahassee.

 

[twoolle]

Valdosta is a good stopping off point. On our last trip, we stayed about an hour south of Valdosta in Lake City, FL. That gave us only about a 2 1/2 hour trip to WDW (see below on why it took us a little longer). Valdosta is a little nicer, but we liked being that much closer.

Easy if you have the points. However, we don't have a loyalty to a specific chain, and neither DH nor I travel out of town on business. I know we belong to a number of hotel programs (Wyndham, Starwood, I think Marriott). We may be close to a free night at a Starwood; I'm not sure. We may stay a total of two nights a year in a hotel room. We usually make it to our destination in one day, and if our trip is more than a day, we stay with family. And we own a timeshare, so we trade into other timeshares for our destination.

What we've done successfully....buy $100 Marriott gift cards at Krogers when they've had their 4X pump perk points. A $100 gift card will save you 40 cents a gallon of gas next time you fill up. With my 13 gallon tank, that's a $5 savings...not much, but every little bit helps. If your gas tank is larger, you'll save more ($12 on a 30 gallon tank).

That's a possibility. At Lake City, we actually stayed about ten miles east of town on I-10. That added a few minutes to our trip. All of the hotels along I-75 were either filled or was charging $200/night. That was because Florida State was playing at home that weekend, and a lot of Seminole fans stayed in Lake City. And Lake City is over 100 miles away from Tallahassee.

We considered driving down thru Mississippi and over thru Tallahassee but when I started looking up hotel rooms they were all booked. Turns out Florida State has a home game that Saturday so we decided we would go thru GA instead. However, sounds like there will still be lots of traffic on 75 that Saturday because of it? I need to check the game time.

 

[amcnj]

Made it down Sunday night after a completely perfect drive from PA. Zero issues and perfect weather all the way down. Was not a record but left at 2:30am Sunday and crossed under the Disney gates by 7:30. I was actually sorry the drive was over!

Weather down here has been flawless so far. Just fantastic. Here"a to 2 more weeks in the Florida sun!!!!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

Hi. Just wondering what route you took down and about how much "stopping time" you think you had during the ride. Enjoy the rest of your trip, and don't feel sorry the drive is over, you still have the return trip to look forward to!

 

[dvczerfs]

Made it down Sunday night after a completely perfect drive from PA. Zero issues and perfect weather all the way down. Was not a record but left at 2:30am Sunday and crossed under the Disney gates by 7:30. I was actually sorry the drive was over! Weather down here has been flawless so far. Just fantastic. Here"a to 2 more weeks in the Florida sun!!!! Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

Glad you made safely. How did it look near Columbia on i26?

 

[dvczerfs]

Hi. Just wondering what route you took down and about how much "stopping time" you think you had during the ride. Enjoy the rest of your trip, and don't feel sorry the drive is over, you still have the return trip to look forward to!

Hi AMc, he drives down using i78/i81/i77/i26/i95. I always had good luck with that way also. There is construction on i26 around Columbia sc and it looks like I'm going to hit it at rush hour. If the lanes are all open, maybe I will still go this way.

 

[darrengs]

Hi AMc, he drives down using i78/i81/i77/i26/i95. I always had good luck with that way also. There is construction on i26 around Columbia sc and it looks like I'm going to hit it at rush hour. If the lanes are all open, maybe I will still go this way.

Going this way in less than 2 days, (Thursday 8/21 @ 3:00AM) I hope all is clear.

 

[amcnj]

Hi AMc, he drives down using i78/i81/i77/i26/i95. I always had good luck with that way also. There is construction on i26 around Columbia sc and it looks like I'm going to hit it at rush hour. If the lanes are all open, maybe I will still go this way.

Thanks for the reply. I was hoping some magical new road had opened to make the drive easier! That route is a bit out of my way from lower NJ. Hence my early morning 95 drives, which do work out well overall. But I keep searching for new possibilities. Especially for times where an off-hours drive just can't be done.

 

[ForeverDisney6793]

Did you feel like being exhausted that first night kind of put a damper on the whole trip in terms of having energy? This is my biggest worry. We're toying with the idea of leaving after work, like you did, around 6pm for an 18 hour drive, checking in and having dinner at Raglan Road and coming back to the room and go to bed early.

We had lunch, took a 3 hour nap at the resort (fortunately our room was ready) and then went to Magic Kingdom for a few hours. By the time we went back to the resort we were tired, but woke up refreshed the next day. It absolutely did not put a damper on our time. I have not flown again since. The money I save on airfare, I used to upgrade our hotel.

 

[dvczerfs]

Thanks for the reply. I was hoping some magical new road had opened to make the drive easier! That route is a bit out of my way from lower NJ. Hence my early morning 95 drives, which do work out well overall. But I keep searching for new possibilities. Especially for times where an off-hours drive just can't be done.

I didn't mean to jump your post but steve maybe busy for a while.
that way is a little out of your way from south nj. even if your close to i78, you are coming across some pretty heavy traveled areas through nj and pa. you may as well head down i95. what ever way I go, I still leave in the wee hours of the morning. going that way, I have to get to at least into northern va before any am rush hour starts. going 81/66/17/95 I have to get south of Richmond to stand a good chance of not hitting problems.
over the years, I have tried just about every way there is, including rt100 through pa, and for me those are the two best ways to go out of the Lehigh valley.

 

[dvczerfs]

Going this way in less than 2 days, (Thursday 8/21 @ 3:00AM) I hope all is clear.

have a nice trip!!!!

 

[dvczerfs]

We had lunch, took a 3 hour nap at the resort (fortunately our room was ready) and then went to Magic Kingdom for a few hours. By the time we went back to the resort we were tired, but woke up refreshed the next day. It absolutely did not put a damper on our time. I have not flown again since. The money I save on airfare, I used to upgrade our hotel.

sshhhh, don't tell to many people about the money you save thing....... more traffic on the roads.
reading some threads, a lot of people are getting upset with the price of flying. not as many "driving bashing" threads.

 

[amcnj]

I didn't mean to jump your post but steve maybe busy for a while.
that way is a little out of your way from south nj. even if your close to i78, you are coming across some pretty heavy traveled areas through nj and pa. you may as well head down i95. what ever way I go, I still leave in the wee hours of the morning. going that way, I have to get to at least into northern va before any am rush hour starts. going 81/66/17/95 I have to get south of Richmond to stand a good chance of not hitting problems.
over the years, I have tried just about every way there is, including rt100 through pa, and for me those are the two best ways to go out of the Lehigh valley.

No problem, I appreciate the reply. I keep asking to have a bridge built across the Delaware Bay and a 4-6 lane highway cutting across MD and DE to connect me to 95 below DC, but as you can see on any map, that hasn't happened yet! If I could head due west from my house I'd be in the Baltimore area, so hooking up with the roads you take are not convenient for me.

But I depart early enough to get me past DC by 5:30 AM, so that is OK.

 

[dvczerfs]

No problem, I appreciate the reply. I keep asking to have a bridge built across the Delaware Bay and a 4-6 lane highway cutting across MD and DE to connect me to 95 below DC, but as you can see on any map, that hasn't happened yet! If I could head due west from my house I'd be in the Baltimore area, so hooking up with the roads you take are not convenient for me. But I depart early enough to get me past DC by 5:30 AM, so that is OK.

There you go!!! We can have our own six lane, disney driving fan interstate!!! No speed limit!!! Lol oh what should we call it?? Lol

 

[dvczerfs]

There you go!!! We can have our own six lane, disney driving fan interstate!!! No speed limit!!! Lol oh what should we call it?? Lol

We can just call it "move" lol

 

[nono]

No problem, I appreciate the reply. I keep asking to have a bridge built across the Delaware Bay

It's taken what 45-60? years to get 3 lights at the bottom of the Parkway removed, and that's all within one state. I think a bridge spanning two states might take twice as long.

 

[dvczerfs]

It's taken what 45-60? years to get 3 lights at the bottom of the Parkway removed, and that's all within one state. I think a bridge spanning two states might take twice as long.

did they finally take out all the jersey circles or is there still more of them?
I forget what town a few years back I had to drive to for a dance comp. and I hit one of those circles........ I thought they took them all out?

 

[disneyfan55]

If you're talking about traffic circles NJ still has quite a few.