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

[mjmyers10]

Thank you! We are leaving from the Scranton area. We will be traveling with a 6, 4, and 2 year olds. So we are hoping to leave after dinner and drive thru the night. Are there plenty of 24 hr gas stations along the way?

There are plenty of gas stations to stop at. Most of the truck stop centers are open 24 hrs and so are WaWa's. I think Sheetz is starting to move into the Carolina's too. Our daughter is almost 2 and she did the drive to Hilton head without a problem. Hope she will do the WDW drive fine as well.

 

[Yellowstonetim]

Thank you! We are leaving from the Scranton area. We will be traveling with a 6, 4, and 2 year olds. So we are hoping to leave after dinner and drive thru the night. Are there plenty of 24 hr gas stations along the way?

What route do you plan on taking? I would suggest you consider 81 all the way to southern VA at 77, then 77 south to 26 south to 95. It will be slightly longer but avoids DC and other traffic areas. Your time of day through various cities and bad weather through a short mountain crossing on 77 are two considerations. I live near Harrisburg and love the 81 route. It is about 30 miles longer but saves time and I is more pleasant. If you research this thread (do a search for key terms) you will see extensive discussions on the pros and cons of 81 vs 95.

 

[sharadoc]

We are home from our final drive to Disney and back for the year. On the way home we stopped in TN for a few days to see our youngest daughter & son-in-law. Started catching up on emails and caught a terrific deal on a transatlantic cruise on Celebrity for late Nov. It was too good to pass up -under $70 a night for a concierge class cabin. So we booked it. That rules out any more Disney trips until after next year's tax season is over. Already I am having Disney withdrawal. It's going to be a long 5-6 months without the mouse.

I know how you feel, we usually go twice a year. We went in August 2012, lost my mother in October and bought a house in December. So, no trip for a while. Our next trip is December 2013, which is 16 months between trips. Feels like forever, but we got over it!!

 

[sharadoc]

Any tips for a first time roadtrip from Pennsylvania to AoA resort in December? TIA!

Thank you! We are leaving from the Scranton area. We will be traveling with a 6, 4, and 2 year olds. So we are hoping to leave after dinner and drive thru the night. Are there plenty of 24 hr gas stations along the way?

dvczerfs will be by this evening to give you both some insight!!

He definitely does the "back way" and loves it. He is also a straight-through driver, although he's a 3 or 4 am departure. He does very well because he drives "just over" the speed limit, so take his times with a grain of salt.

We take the 95 route, to I-4 to 417. That last leg is the most important part for us. We believe in avoiding I-4 through downtown Orlando at all costs. There is always a back-up or traffic accident there, no matter what time of day. With your departure time, you may be hitting it at evening rush hour.

417 Greenway is a great alternative. You jump onto it at Sanford FL (ignore your GPS or it will constantly take you back to I-4). You have to pay tolls of about $7.50 each way but if you're prepared with a couple rolls of quarters, you can go quickly through the exact change lanes. Just keep an eye on the signs. You exit wither at International Drive (exit 6) or Disney World (exit 3). I recommend the second exit because it will take you through the "main" entrance, under the big sign. Very easy.

 

[disfamof7]

I'm so happy I found this thread and finally got through the whole thing! We are driving down to WDW next October and it will be our first major family vacation! We are driving down with our five little ones (will be 11, 8, 6, 2, and 1 when we go) so this thread has been very helpful already!

I am curious though if there are any others coming from the West? We are coming from Colorado, just north of Denver, and I would love to hear what others have experienced coming from this side of the country.

 

[BC1836]

We completed our 30th round trip drive this afternoon at 3:08 p.m. after 2,163 miles (39 of them driven in WDW).

We saw a couple of gas stations along I-95 with $3.09 gas, and when we crossed into NJ we saw one station posting a $2.99 price!

Traffic wasn't that bad from Peterburg, VA (where we spent the night): two small traffic crawls in VA, one for a bridge inspection (one lane blocked mm 153-155) and a one lane construction shutdown around mm 160.

Still, lots of construction in northern VA and MD. If you can drive through these areas before dawn, do it!

In between the departure and arrival drives, we spent a full week at WDW's Boardwalk Inn. Packed crowds, especially at EPCOT on the weekends.

And we got to meet Briana, the charming and personable WDW CM, who is the daughter of dvczerfs (who has driven more 2,000+ mille round trips to WDW than anyone: see page one, post one).

We plan to drive again to WDW on December 10. Hopefully, the gas prices will have dropped even more.

All the best.

 

[dvczerfs]

Any tips for a first time roadtrip from Pennsylvania to AoA resort in December? TIA!

hello bterrier!!!!! SCANTON!!! (I miss avoca airport air shows) when in December are you going?

anyway, yellowstonetim got it pretty good. im also going in December but I don't use 81/77 in the winter. ever go on i80 between Blakeslee and i380? it could be august and sunny and for some reason its snowing on i80 between those two interchanges. same way up in those mountains. just keep an eye on the weather forecast.

we go i81/i66/17/i95 in the winter months. 17 is not an interstate but it takes me about 16 1/2 hours and 81/77 takes 16 hours.


I see you have been told I speed. pass a few cars on the scholder of the road because people are putzin around and now im a lunatic!!!
I also don't take the bypass, beltways around Jacksonville or Orlando.( left lane, tell the passengers to sit down,shut up and hold on.)

keep in mind doing the drive all night so the kids sleep thing (been there done that) you drive all night, kids sleep all night, you pull into Disney your room isn't ready till 4pm and kids have slept all night and mom and dad have not. (moms get cranky when they don't sleep)

gas stations, you wont have a problem, a lot of the mom and pops are closed but like someone posted, the bigger chains are open. we also leave at 1am sometimes and never had a problem finding gas. i don't linger at gas stations in the middle of the night. i use my card at the pump, pump and get back on the highway. if i need a restroom, i hit the rest stops.

 

[dvczerfs]

We completed our 30th round trip drive this afternoon at 3:08 p.m. after 2,163 miles (39 of them driven in WDW).

We saw a couple of gas stations along I-95 with $3.09 gas, and when we crossed into NJ we saw one station posting a $2.99 price!

Traffic wasn't that bad from Peterburg, VA (where we spent the night): two small traffic crawls in VA, one for a bridge inspection (one lane blocked mm 153-155) and a one lane construction shutdown around mm 160.

Still, lots of construction in northern VA and MD. If you can drive through these areas before dawn, do it!

In between the departure and arrival drives, we spent a full week at WDW's Boardwalk Inn. Packed crowds, especially at EPCOT on the weekends.

And we got to meet Briana, the charming and personable WDW CM, who is the daughter of dvczerfs (who has driven more 2,000+ mille round trips to WDW than anyone: see page one, post one).

We plan to drive again to WDW on December 10. Hopefully, the gas prices will have dropped even more.

All the best.

welcome home bc!!!! glad you had a safe trip. thanks again for checking on her for us. just an fyi, she went into work at 4pm on sunday, worked the Halloween party and she always sends us a text when she gets out of the tunnel and when she gets to her apartment. the tunnel text came at 2:15an and the apartment text came at 3:45am. (she is off today and tomorrow.)

 

[dvczerfs]

I'm so happy I found this thread and finally got through the whole thing! We are driving down to WDW next October and it will be our first major family vacation! We are driving down with our five little ones (will be 11, 8, 6, 2, and 1 when we go) so this thread has been very helpful already!

I am curious though if there are any others coming from the West? We are coming from Colorado, just north of Denver, and I would love to hear what others have experienced coming from this side of the country.

welcome aboard!!!! please stow your carry on in the over head compartment and fasten your seat belt. feel free to use the restroom when ever you feel like it.

11,8,6,2,1 ??????

you have to keep a clicker in the car on the way down and keep track of how many "are we there yet and how much longers" you get.

 

[chepic]

keep in mind doing the drive all night so the kids sleep thing (been there done that) you drive all night, kids sleep all night, you pull into Disney your room isn't ready till 4pm and kids have slept all night and mom and dad have not. (moms get cranky when they don't sleep)

gas stations, you wont have a problem, a lot of the mom and pops are closed but like someone posted, the bigger chains are open. we also leave at 1am sometimes and never had a problem finding gas. i don't linger at gas stations in the middle of the night. i use my card at the pump, pump and get back on the highway. if i need a restroom, i hit the rest stops.

Moms are not cranky......we just don't like not getting any sleep.

As to the kids sleep during the night ride....you have not traveled with our sons, their peepers are open until around 9 am then they crash and nap throughout.

che

 

[dvczerfs]

Moms are not cranky......we just don't like not getting any sleep.

As to the kids sleep during the night ride....you have not traveled with our sons, their peepers are open until around 9 am then they crash and nap throughout.

che

i remember briana when she was little, she would pass out around 9pm sleep till about 8am. we would get there around 10am. she was ready to go and we didn't sleep at all. mom got cranky!!!! (ask her! lol)

now she stays up till we leave and sleeps all the way down.

well, when she doesn't stay there.

 

[mikek]

It depends on where in PA you are coming from. We are right outside Valley Forge Park and we leave around 3 am. We drive straight through and are at WDW around dinner. 1st stop is a wawa outside of Richmond. Then we hit up a rest stop in NC (usually Selma), stop around Florence for gas again. Then hit up the GA welcome center, the FL Welcome Center and try to find some gas in ST Augustine. I drive a 4runner so I get about 350 miles to a tank.

If you dont mind me asking- you take the turnpike west to 78 or do you head south right to 95?

 

[dvczerfs]

Well we are here.

Took us about 12 1/2 hours to get from Northern KY to Lake City, Fl. That, with multiple food, gas and rest room breaks. 6 to be exact. Took us about 2 hours and 45 minutes to get from Lake City to Wyndham Bonnet Creek. Didn't have to stop. Cheapest gas I found was about $3.07/gallon in Dalton, Ga. We picked Dalton specially because we had to use Krogers fuel points by the end of the month.

sorry I missed your post. glad you made it safely and have a nice vacation.

 

[sharadoc]

We completed our 30th round trip drive this afternoon at 3:08 p.m. after 2,163 miles (39 of them driven in WDW).

We saw a couple of gas stations along I-95 with $3.09 gas, and when we crossed into NJ we saw one station posting a $2.99 price!

Traffic wasn't that bad from Peterburg, VA (where we spent the night): two small traffic crawls in VA, one for a bridge inspection (one lane blocked mm 153-155) and a one lane construction shutdown around mm 160.

Still, lots of construction in northern VA and MD. If you can drive through these areas before dawn, do it!

In between the departure and arrival drives, we spent a full week at WDW's Boardwalk Inn. Packed crowds, especially at EPCOT on the weekends.

And we got to meet Briana, the charming and personable WDW CM, who is the daughter of dvczerfs (who has driven more 2,000+ mille round trips to WDW than anyone: see page one, post one).

We plan to drive again to WDW on December 10. Hopefully, the gas prices will have dropped even more.

All the best.

Well, we may have to make it work this time. Ideally, a toast to Mr. Crockett in Crockett's Tavern would be best

I will PM my phone, it's changed since our last attempt in 2010.

 

[bterrier518]

hello bterrier!!!!! SCANTON!!! (I miss avoca airport air shows) when in December are you going?

anyway, yellowstonetim got it pretty good. im also going in December but I don't use 81/77 in the winter. ever go on i80 between Blakeslee and i380? it could be august and sunny and for some reason its snowing on i80 between those two interchanges. same way up in those mountains. just keep an eye on the weather forecast.

we go i81/i66/17/i95 in the winter months. 17 is not an interstate but it takes me about 16 1/2 hours and 81/77 takes 16 hours.



.

Thank you! You are right on more than one account. i80/i380 is a nightmare with any type of weather. it is like the Bermuda triangle.

we are leaving Clarks Summit 12/4 to arrive 12/5 fingers crossed and departing 12/11. We may stop halfway on the way home. Any good recs on where to rest our heads?

and yes I am not a happy camper with no sleep.... I admit it.

 

[bterrier518]

Thank you everyone for your advice. My family is very excited for our first trip. I have been researching everything with an obsession since we booked our trip. Now this is my last step. The drive down. I look forward to reading the posts in this thread and TIA for your help and suggestions!

 

[goofyfigment]

Thank you! You are right on more than one account. i80/i380 is a nightmare with any type of weather. it is like the Bermuda triangle.

we are leaving Clarks Summit 12/4 to arrive 12/5 fingers crossed and departing 12/11. We may stop halfway on the way home. Any good recs on where to rest our heads?

and yes I am not a happy camper with no sleep.... I admit it.

Taking 81/66/17/95/4 takes me about 16-16 1/2 hours from Scranton. If you can make it to kingsland ga the second day will be a cake walk. I drive straight thru hope we stop in Fredericksburg va

 

[mjmyers10]

If you dont mind me asking- you take the turnpike west to 78 or do you head south right to 95?

We take 95 South. The only time we hit traffic was on Christmas Eve and that wasn't until we got to SC. The key is getting through DC by 6 am.

 

[dvczerfs]

Thank you everyone for your advice. My family is very excited for our first trip. I have been researching everything with an obsession since we booked our trip. Now this is my last step. The drive down. I look forward to reading the posts in this thread and TIA for your help and suggestions!

im leaving on the 18th and coming back on the 29th so you are going to have to fill me in.
you will be fine, just keep an eye on the weather. don't take any chances, its not worth your or your families life. I was told yeeeeeeears ago to keep an eye on the trucks. you start seeing them pulling off, the roads are getting bad. just relax, what ever way you go there are plenty of rest stops, gas stations and theres a cracker barrel at every exit.

 

[LadyBeBop]

BC would like this.

Just paid $3.16 for gas at Hess just across from DTD.