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

[dvczerfs]

Sounds good thanks. Plan is to leave NEPA at 1am and if the weather cooperates drive straight thru. Its been about 3 years since I did the 17 route but I'm worried about the mountains and ice.

as long as 95 is moving around Richmond area, I can do it a half hour faster then doing 81/77/26.
January 1985 tammy and I spent the night in our car at whites truck stop because of a i81, where the heck did that come from blizzard.lol back then, there were a lot less exits and miles between civilization. I still recall seeing a sign that said next gas 68 miles.lol
im getting to old to sleep in my car and just take my chances going 17/95.

 

[amcnj]

Hey!! This will be our second time driving down but its been quite awhile since then. Im hoping you guys could help me out a bit with suggestions.

We will be leaving on a Friday night after DH gets out of work...so really Saturday around 1am. It will be two of us driving and my DD who's 1. I am hoping she will sleep most of the night making the first half of the drive a bit easier.

Coming back is my concern...Im thinking of leaving on Saturday...just not sure what would be best time to leave WDW. It will be three of us driving back since by other DD will be driving back with us.

We plan on driving straight through both times...just stopping for gas, food, & diaper changes lol.

What time is best to leave WDW and avoid the traffic up by DC?? We are planning on 95 both ways just because it seems easier....

Please help...I am a lil nervous about making the drive during the winter and with a baby. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Hi. I know I have left WDW around 8 am and gotten home around midnight. I was passing the DC area around 9 pm. For reference I am about an hour and ten minutes from the Delaware Memorial Bridge. Good luck with the drive!

 

[kidd_freeper]

We're going again!

We decided to drive to WDW again.
This is our third time (last times in 2010 and 2011).
Transportation costs are the biggest reason:

RT driving costs = $1036 (everything, including pre-trip check-up, GPS map update, etc)
RT autotrain = $2493
RT Fly and car rental = $2769

Going from the Hartford area to Jacksonville, only stopping for gas, food and restrooms. Taking I-95 almost the whole way.

Right now the plan is to leave on Saturday June 28 at midnight and get to Jacksonville by 7pm on Saturday. I am trying to convince the wife to start a day earlier to hit less weekeend beach traffic.

 

[disneyderns]

Does anyone that drives a long distance rent a car from home and take that car instead of their own? I'm considering doing that...but not entirely sure yet. Would love to hear some opinions!

 

[BC1836]

Does anyone that drives a long distance rent a car from home and take that car instead of their own? I'm considering doing that...but not entirely sure yet. Would love to hear some opinions!

Thirty-one drives from the Jersey Shore to Lake Buena Vista in our own vehicles, but we rented a larger suv for two round trips to Texas a decade ago. You have to weigh the costs of a rental against your own vehicle.

All the best.

 

[AnnaS]

We are getting ready to do the drive down again on Tuesday!!!

 

[goofyfigment]

I'm headed down Wednesday hope the weather cooperates

 

[ddluvsdisney]

I'm headed down Wednesday hope the weather cooperates

Good luck!!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[rimomma66]

Does anyone that drives a long distance rent a car from home and take that car instead of their own? I'm considering doing that...but not entirely sure yet. Would love to hear some opinions!

We are. I have a Grand Cherokee that bleeds me dry on gas and hubby has a RAM, so same thing. We're renting a minivan *shudder* this time because my Mom is meeting us there and my Uncle and his GF live there so we can all take one car. Plus I'd rather put the miles on someone else's car.

 

[dvczerfs]

Does anyone that drives a long distance rent a car from home and take that car instead of their own? I'm considering doing that...but not entirely sure yet. Would love to hear some opinions!

we use to rent minivans when you could get them for $350 for two weeks unlimited miles. (yes, im old) I rented out to move my dd down for the college program in may but other then that we take our own car.

 

[dvczerfs]

I'm headed down Wednesday hope the weather cooperates

We are getting ready to do the drive down again on Tuesday!!!

have a nice trip and be safe!!!!!

 

[happily single]

Does anyone that drives a long distance rent a car from home and take that car instead of their own? I'm considering doing that...but not entirely sure yet. Would love to hear some opinions!

For both of my drives I did rent a car. The first time I had an old Astro van which was old. The second time i didnt want to put the miles on my car. And the main reason was "if anything happens the rental agency would be responsible". Meaning if the fuel pump let go, the car overheated from driving, etc. i would not be stuck waiting for an expensive repair.

Of course i did not break down, but knowing I had someone else responsible if it did happen I felt a lot better

 

[msp2mco]

Does anyone that drives a long distance rent a car from home and take that car instead of their own? I'm considering doing that...but not entirely sure yet. Would love to hear some opinions!

I haven't driven to WDW before, but I am renting a car and driving with my DS-15 in a rented mdi-sized SUV from Minnesota. A few of the reasons I had for renting a car were to have something different to drive, use a newer car, not put more miles on my old car, and to get better gas mileage than my regular car. I've done a lot of long trips before, and we are stopping along the way to do a few things. On the way home, my DH will join us and we will do it in 2 days.

 

[kidd_freeper]

Does anyone that drives a long distance rent a car from home and take that car instead of their own? I'm considering doing that...but not entirely sure yet. Would love to hear some opinions!

Some reasons to rent a car would be if your own car is unreliable or is leased (with restrictive mileage limits).

Other people might want to rent a car for that vacation feel, or they need more room for the long trip.

Me...I have a one-year old Honda Odyssey, which I plan to drive round trip CT-WDW-CT in July. This is an ideal car for a long trip. I plan to have a mechanic do a pre-trip check-up (will cost about $200 for a little peace of mind). This is far cheaper than the cost of renting for two weeks ($900+).

I am familiar with the car, I can pack it the night before (free-of-charge) and I don't have to worry about minor dings/dents/scratches if I waive damage liability.

There is a myth that such a long trip will cause a lot of wear and tear on the car. Truthfully, steady-speed highway miles are pretty easy on a car and the 2500 miles to/from WDW is only a small fraction of the 60,000 mile life on the tires. And the car has already lost most of its resale value.

 

[My_3_Mi_Princesses]

Hello all! I will be making my 3rd road trip from Michigan on Feb 16th (Presidents Day Week)! This trip is a little different as I will be driving down with my 3 daughters and meeting my wife there on the 17th (she is in school and flying down).

Anyways that said I was wondering if anybody has experience with what the hotels look like (past Atlanta be before Florida) off I-75 during this weekend? I hope to at least get to Atlanta and possibly further but I don't know if I should make reservations at a hotel as they may be all booked up? Last thing I want is to get to a point where I am very tired and unable to find anything decent to stay the night, however I don't want to be tied to a reservation if I am not tired and can keep driving!

I am thinking an alternative is to make a few reservations and cancel the ones I don't use, which I would have to make sure I know the cancellation policy. However, just doesn't seem like the 'right' thing to do.

TIA!

 

[bjschil]

Hello all! I will be making my 3rd road trip from Michigan on Feb 16th (Presidents Day Week)! This trip is a little different as I will be driving down with my 3 daughters and meeting my wife there on the 17th (she is in school and flying down). Anyways that said I was wondering if anybody has experience with what the hotels look like (past Atlanta be before Florida) off I-75 during this weekend? I hope to at least get to Atlanta and possibly further but I don't know if I should make reservations at a hotel as they may be all booked up? Last thing I want is to get to a point where I am very tired and unable to find anything decent to stay the night, however I don't want to be tied to a reservation if I am not tired and can keep driving! I am thinking an alternative is to make a few reservations and cancel the ones I don't use, which I would have to make sure I know the cancellation policy. However, just doesn't seem like the 'right' thing to do. TIA!

We traveled from SW Wisconsin on Dec. 30, and stayed two nights on the road, the last one Holiday Inn Express in Valdosta, right off I75. We are leaving ( so sad) later tomorrow, to trek back home, pulling our 5th wheel in whatever weather the Midwest has in store for us. We will stop again in Valdosta, the continuing on our journey, leaving around 7:30 on Thursday for that wonderful trip through Atlanta, and stop again in central Illinois. Valdosta is about 3 1/2 hours from DW. Safe travels for you. THINK SPRING!!

 

[amcnj]

We've had some recent gas price declines in my area. About 15 cents a gallon in the past week or so. Let's hope it is the start of a trend!

 

[loveysbydesign]

Happy to say we will be making our next drive in Nov. when we head down to FL to celebrate my 40th birthday on the Disney Magic!

 

[ParrotBill]

Hey everyone! I pop in here every so often and check things out. This will be our third time making the drive from Buffalo to Disney. The route is pretty well set and is the usual one that you would expect, but now I have a question. We usually travel in early October so we miss any snow. I am not worried much about the flat drives with snow because well I am from Buffalo, but what about the mountains and hills of West Virginia? Should we find an alternate route or will we be ok? We leave on Jan. 24th if that helps! Thanks!

I have made this drive a number of times, in summer and winter. As the other response said, stay real close to the weather reports.

Obstacle 1: I-90 from Dunkirk to Erie... I am sure you are familiar with this. No real alternative except to go far east out of your way to US 15 or I-81 then south.

Obstacle 2: I-79 south of Erie through high elevations until Pittsburgh, then hilly south of Pittsburgh through WV. Often snows hard up there. Alternative: head west almost to Cleveland and take I-271/OH 8/I-77 south. Less hilly until WV.

Obstacle 3: I-77 "WV Turnpike" hills south of Beckley. Lower chance of bad weather here than up north but still a possibility. Alternative: Head east on I-68 or I-64 if those routes are clear of weather.

Good luck and be prepared to take a longer trip. One year when we drove home via I-95 of all the crazy things we ran into an ice storm in NC. We had to get off I-95 and take parallel roads an extra 3 hours to reach our hotel that night.

Take maps with you in addition to a GPS so you can look for alternate routes.

 

[aidansmom0406]

We are driving from Northern VA to WDW on Friday 1/24. This is our first time driving down there. Any tips? Any suggestions when we should leave? We'd like the kids to be able go to school that day but get out a little early. If we do that we'd hitting 95 around Dumfries VA at 2:45 pm. Would that be a bad time traffic wise? If so, how much earlier should we leave? Would an hour or two earlier make a huge difference? I don't know what to expect from 95 on a Friday afternoon and how early the traffic picks up.
Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

Also, we'll probably stop overnight somewhere around Fayetteville. Any recommendations for hotels in the area?From Fayetteville to WDW, are there any traffic tips or fun places to make a quick stop for the kids(6&10). I've heard of South of the Border? Is it worth a stop?