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

[2002Disneybride]

We are driving down next week, and decided that we want to leave the afternoon before we originally planned and stop in NC... We live in Ocean County NJ. I figure driving about 8 hours...leaving at 3 pm would bring us somewhere to NC...any suggestions on where to stop? We are not big night time, drive straight thru drivers...so we will definitely be stopping. It's just where? Appreciate your suggestions.

I just saw a suggestion to stop at the Welcome Center, to not make reservations in advance-to call an hour or two before after checking out the roomssavers books from Welcome Center...has anyone done that?

This is not our first time driving but our first stopping in NC and leaving in the afternoon

 

[NJRRK]

We are driving down next week, and decided that we want to leave the afternoon before we originally planned and stop in NC... We live in Ocean County NJ. I figure driving about 8 hours...leaving at 3 pm would bring us somewhere to NC...any suggestions on where to stop? We are not big night time, drive straight thru drivers...so we will definitely be stopping. It's just where? Appreciate your suggestions.

I just saw a suggestion to stop at the Welcome Center, to not make reservations in advance-to call an hour or two before after checking out the roomssavers books from Welcome Center...has anyone done that?

This is not our first time driving but our first stopping in NC and leaving in the afternoon

This is what we have done many times. It has worked out great for us, thank heaven for cell phones.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

Getting ready to make the drive to WDW from Chicago in about 4 hours! So excited, I'm almost jumping outta my skin. Safe travels to all those driving this weekend and next.

 

[BC1836]

We are driving down next week, and decided that we want to leave the afternoon before we originally planned and stop in NC... We live in Ocean County NJ. I figure driving about 8 hours...leaving at 3 pm would bring us somewhere to NC...any suggestions on where to stop? We are not big night time, drive straight thru drivers...so we will definitely be stopping. It's just where? Appreciate your suggestions.

I just saw a suggestion to stop at the Welcome Center, to not make reservations in advance-to call an hour or two before after checking out the roomssavers books from Welcome Center...has anyone done that?

This is not our first time driving but our first stopping in NC and leaving in the afternoon

As fellow Ocean County residents, we suggest that you prepare yourself for some rush hour traffic once you get on I-295. And, hopefully, traffic won't be that bad as you approach the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel around 6 p.m.

Once you get through the northern VA area and the I-95 construction, things should improve.

If you can't make it to NC after your eight hours, the Holiday Inn Express at Petersburg or the one at Emporia (about a dozen miles form the NC border) should be satisfactory choices; however, all the well known hotel/motel chains are okay.

All the best.

 

[Patrickiii]

Getting ready to make the drive to WDW from Chicago in about 4 hours! So excited, I'm almost jumping outta my skin. Safe travels to all those driving this weekend and next.

Have a safe trip .

 

[dvczerfs]

It was $3.81 yesterday.

[Our quest for you know who was, alas, unsuccessful. We will renew our efforts to locate the remarkable CM in question in October.]

All the best.

thanks for thinking of her bc!!!! she is tuff to locate. there are a lot of factors with her and her work. if the cart is slow, they will send some people home or close the cart all together. if there is lightning within five miles of the mk, they are called in.they also use her as a floater. she will move from cart to cart all over the park. she uses the tunnels to move around and pop up where she needs to be so some days even she has no idea where she will be. I even walked by her twice in june while she was working in the hub..

there breaks and lunches can come at anytime during there shift. the best is some people wanted her cell number so they can text her to find out where she is. have you ever seen a costumed cast member texting???? no, why, they would be termed on the spot. so there is no way of getting a hold of her once she is in the park. her hours can change at any time.she will text us when she is on break or on lunch but a lot of times, pending her location in the tunnel, she don't have service.

she has off for our september trip for a week so ill be able to find her pretty easy.
our December trip, I am sure she will be working a lot.

we can try it again in October! thanks again!

 

[BC1836]

thanks for thinking of her bc!!!! she is tuff to locate. there are a lot of factors with her and her work. if the cart is slow, they will send some people home or close the cart all together. if there is lightning within five miles of the mk, they are called in.they also use her as a floater. she will move from cart to cart all over the park. she uses the tunnels to move around and pop up where she needs to be so some days even she has no idea where she will be. I even walked by her twice in june while she was working in the hub..

there breaks and lunches can come at anytime during there shift. the best is some people wanted her cell number so they can text her to find out where she is. have you ever seen a costumed cast member texting???? no, why, they would be termed on the spot. so there is no way of getting a hold of her once she is in the park. her hours can change at any time.she will text us when she is on break or on lunch but a lot of times, pending her location in the tunnel, she don't have service.

she has off for our september trip for a week so ill be able to find her pretty easy.
our December trip, I am sure she will be working a lot.

we can try it again in October! thanks again!

We consider her a very special CM and we hope to cross her path in October. Is there such a thing as a Briana Fast Pass? Perhaps that may help us?

All the best.

 

[deb010305]

We are driving down next week, and decided that we want to leave the afternoon before we originally planned and stop in NC... We live in Ocean County NJ. I figure driving about 8 hours...leaving at 3 pm would bring us somewhere to NC...any suggestions on where to stop? We are not big night time, drive straight thru drivers...so we will definitely be stopping. It's just where? Appreciate your suggestions.

I just saw a suggestion to stop at the Welcome Center, to not make reservations in advance-to call an hour or two before after checking out the roomssavers books from Welcome Center...has anyone done that?

This is not our first time driving but our first stopping in NC and leaving in the afternoon

We stopped at the Holiday Inn in Fayetteville NC, right off the exit. It was clean, not to expensive and if you join their Priority Club you get free breakfast. There was also other restaurants right nearby and several gas stations.

 

[dvczerfs]

We consider her a very special CM and we hope to cross her path in October. Is there such a thing as a Briana Fast Pass? Perhaps that may help us?

All the best.

all most have to walk up to a cart in the area she should be and ask if they know where she is. some times they will tell you if they know. a lot of times they wont because they don't know who you are and the reason your looking for someone and in a lot of cases, there are a lot of people who work in that role and they may not know who she is.

she was even in the mk on her day off and still couldn't meet up with a disdad? its a big place isn't it?

 

[BC1836]

all most have to walk up to a cart in the area she should be and ask if they know where she is. some times they will tell you if they know. a lot of times they wont because they don't know who you are and the reason your looking for someone and in a lot of cases, there are a lot of people who work in that role and they may not know who she is.

she was even in the mk on her day off and still couldn't meet up with a disdad? its a big place isn't it?

We realize that WDW is the biggest one-site employee biz in the nation with over 60,000 CMs, but sometimes we forget and assume that every CM knows every other one!

All the best.

 

[njmom47]

We are driving down next week, and decided that we want to leave the afternoon before we originally planned and stop in NC... We live in Ocean County NJ. I figure driving about 8 hours...leaving at 3 pm would bring us somewhere to NC...any suggestions on where to stop? We are not big night time, drive straight thru drivers...so we will definitely be stopping. It's just where? Appreciate your suggestions.

I just saw a suggestion to stop at the Welcome Center, to not make reservations in advance-to call an hour or two before after checking out the roomssavers books from Welcome Center...has anyone done that?

This is not our first time driving but our first stopping in NC and leaving in the afternoon

Hi from Ocean County too!!
I have driven with my mom from Fl and we are AAA members. She has a TripTik (but you wouldn't need one, you would need some type of map) and when we think we are just about ready to stop, we call AAA and tell them what town we'd like to stop in, and they will book us a room with a AAA discount, call us back, and we'll confirm. So easy! (We were traveling with a cat so we had to make sure we had a pet-friendly place to stop ) We have stopped at a Welcome center where they had the booklets, and that works too.

 

[Ladygoldenhair]

We consider her a very special CM and we hope to cross her path in October. Is there such a thing as a Briana Fast Pass? Perhaps that may help us?

All the best.

OMG is there an AP for that? Lol,
We are headed down, girls trip so flying out of ABE, MCO three weeks today! Will be on Briana watch dd is all over working Disney
We will check in a day or two before we leave on the 6th to see the best place to spot our favorite CM. I guess you get there the days following our flight out the 15th, dvczerfs

 

[dvczerfs]

OMG is there an AP for that? Lol,
We are headed down, girls trip so flying out of ABE, MCO three weeks today! Will be on Briana watch dd is all over working Disney
We will check in a day or two before we leave on the 6th to see the best place to spot our favorite CM. I guess you get there the days following our flight out the 15th, dvczerfs

what day is your last day in the parks?

 

[dvczerfs]

OMG is there an AP for that? Lol,
We are headed down, girls trip so flying out of ABE, MCO three weeks today! Will be on Briana watch dd is all over working Disney
We will check in a day or two before we leave on the 6th to see the best place to spot our favorite CM. I guess you get there the days following our flight out the 15th, dvczerfs

if you can, text me now so we can talk!

 

[dvczerfs]

OMG is there an AP for that? Lol,
We are headed down, girls trip so flying out of ABE, MCO three weeks today! Will be on Briana watch dd is all over working Disney
We will check in a day or two before we leave on the 6th to see the best place to spot our favorite CM. I guess you get there the days following our flight out the 15th, dvczerfs

briana can fill her in about the college program. all in all, she is having a great time!!! has met a lot of great kids from all over the world.

after you go thru "traditions" (Disney boot camp ) and the "BOSS" gives you your name tag, you will hold your head just a little higher when you go into the park.

the best part for me was when we were down in june and she used her company id to get into the parks for free and I didn't have to pay for her.......
you couldn't have smack the smile off my face with a shovel.

 

[Ladygoldenhair]

briana can fill her in about the college program. all in all, she is having a great time!!! has met a lot of great kids from all over the world.

after you go thru "traditions" (Disney boot camp ) and the "BOSS" gives you your name tag, you will hold your head just a little higher when you go into the park.

the best part for me was when we were down in june and she used her company id to get into the parks for free and I didn't have to pay for her.......
you couldn't have smack the smile off my face with a shovel.

Sorry, I was off line. Saturday the 14th we fly out. Briana's personality is likely 180* of dd. maybe in two years. I hope the pixie dust flies so we can say hello!
I will text,

 

[MIChessGuy]

Drove down I-75 from Michigan to my overnight lodging in central GA today. I made my usual lunch stop at the Chick-fil-A in Florence, KY, just off Exit 182 (right turn onto Turfway, then left on Houston). I've always liked this exit because there are many restaurants on Houston Rd., which parallels 75 to the north. CiCi's, Noodles and Co., Potbellys, Chili's, several others. I always seem to end up at Chick-fil-A because that chain has only one location in my home state, and it's a university food court that is not technically public. Road trips are pretty much my only opportunity to eat there.

I discovered that there's a new Jersey Mike's sub place off Exit 333 in Dalton, GA, inside the Kroger plaza about a mile east of the exit. Quick service, several flat-screen televisions showing sports, free refills, and vegetarian-friendly menu. Highly recommended.

There has been a lot of rain in the Southeast, but I encountered only routine rainfall on 75, not enough to cause any traffic issues. I think the Florida panhandle is getting the brunt of it, and then the system heads up into the Carolinas. About 370 miles left for tomorrow...dinner coupon for Sweet Tomatoes LBV is ready to go!

 

[BC1836]

Next planned drive: two months.

All the best.

 

[AnnaS]

We are driving down next week, and decided that we want to leave the afternoon before we originally planned and stop in NC... We live in Ocean County NJ. I figure driving about 8 hours...leaving at 3 pm would bring us somewhere to NC...any suggestions on where to stop? We are not big night time, drive straight thru drivers...so we will definitely be stopping. It's just where? Appreciate your suggestions.

I just saw a suggestion to stop at the Welcome Center, to not make reservations in advance-to call an hour or two before after checking out the roomssavers books from Welcome Center...has anyone done that?

This is not our first time driving but our first stopping in NC and leaving in the afternoon

Not sure if you left.

We drove down on July 18th from Staten Island, NY. For the first time we decided to leave at 5pm. We stopped in Roaknoke Rapids, NC. at midnight and stayed at a very nice Hampton Inn. Would not hesitate to stop here again. Great, clean and very nice breakfast buffet. Tea, coffee, hot chocolate, 24/7 and when you leave they had a brown paper bag from Donkun Donuts to go (munchkins?). We did lose about 20 mins before the Outerbridge Crossing and yes there was a bit of traffic in VA due to road work. We did not take any loops. We drive straight through I95. We had also stopped one stop before (about 15 mins.) and the Hampton Inn was full. We were determined to try the Hamptonn Inn this time and we were told they had availability in Roanoke Rapids so that is where we went.

 

[glaserjm]

Hi fellow road-trippers!! We leave for our 6th driving trip to the world in the past 3 years! The last two times we abandoned 75 through GA in favor of 65 through AL, cutting over at 231 into the panhandle. While we didn't really add time on that way, 231 can be annoying with the stoplights and such. This time we are heading back down 75 as we are going in November and are hopeful that our previous run-ins with traffic from spring breakers will be negated by the time of year.

We are leaving STL around 3 PM on November 1st with plans to stop in the Chattanooga area for the night. I have booked us at the Super 8 in Ringgold, GA as we are Wyndham reward members and this place was cheap and with decent reviews. The only thing we care about in overnight hotels is cleanliness...we're only there for a few hours so the amenities don't matter to us. Does anybody have any experience with that hotel?