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

[dvczerfs]

good afternoon!!!! hope everyone is having a nice week.

does anyone know what happened to that big glowing orb in the sky we use to see in the day time? haven't seen that since sunday. what crappy weather.

I found a great ap on my I phone the other day. if you search "i4 traffic cams", it will come up. it is called "I4 florida cams by apphappy.
once you down load the ap,
it will give a choice of three areas on the bottom, tampa,orlando,daytona. hit orlando and it will ask you east or west bound. it will give you the traffic cam option. it gives you great cam coverage from i95 into wdw. they are not live but they are up to date. the ap is .99 cents. it is interesting watching what happens to Orlando from 4:50pm to about 6:15. traffic flowing great at exit 68, conroy and church street are real slow.

it has the same traffic cams as "Disney live cams" just a lot more and they are in color not black and white.

if anyone else looks into it, let me know what you think.

 

[dvczerfs]

Hey everyone! New to the thread and I'm planning my first ever trip to Disney World next February. Going to be driving all the way down from Wisconsin for it. Very much looking forward, both to Disney World, and the trip itself. I absolutely love taking road trips.

Though I do have a question that's come up, and I apologize if this has been asked before. Naturally, I'm having the car fully inspected before we leave, but if, despite my best efforts, I have a break down or something that either delays or cancels my trip, does anyone know if there's any travel insurance that covers situations like that? The car itself already has full coverage, but I'd be more worried about losing the money I paid for the vacation itself. Most plans I've looked at seem to be centered around flying, not driving.

Thanks in advance!

sorry, I never looked into it. as far as the car, you can always rent something if yours breaks down. I have roadside replacement on mine.they will bring me another one along roadside or they will tow me to the nearest dealer and provide me with a replacement. not sure but if the repairs take three days and I have the car for ten, im sure I would have to pay a fee for the seven days but it wouldn't delay my vacation to long. for service, they come to my wifes work, pick the car up and return it to her.

one year we had a family emergency,had to check out early. they charged me for the night but didn't charge me for the remaining 4 nights on my resi.
I always check my cancellation policy before I book. I may loose my deposit but not my total vacation room cost.
another good thing about driving. if something pops up before hand, you just have your room to worry about.

good question, I don't think anyone has ever asked that. let us know if you find something or if anyone here has gotten insurance.

 

[ToyStory3]

We drive from the Columbus Ohio area when we go to Disney. We usually leave around 6 AM and stop around nine 9 or 10 PM. Then have just a little ways to go the second day. Once in a while we drive straight through coming home. But we get home so late that we are just dead to the world the next day. So I really prefer breaking up the trip.

We will be driving again this September. We like road trips so we don't dread the trip. But it is very long. We use the DVD player in the car for the kids who are 10 and 6. The movies are our saving grace for the kids.

Would love some suggestions for snacks and drinks to pack in the car to cut down on stops.

We are thinking of packing lunch this time to have at a rest stop. We've never done that in the past. What are some suggestions for meals that are easy to pack?

Thanks!

 

[asmit4]

We are thinking of packing lunch this time to have at a rest stop. We've never done that in the past. What are some suggestions for meals that are easy to pack?

Thanks!

Subway is our 'go to' option. It's healthier than McDonalds which helps avoid diarrhea which can be a common theme in my house due to a steady diet of disney junk food

 

[dvczerfs]

We drive from the Columbus Ohio area when we go to Disney. We usually leave around 6 AM and stop around nine 9 or 10 PM. Then have just a little ways to go the second day. Once in a while we drive straight through coming home. But we get home so late that we are just dead to the world the next day. So I really prefer breaking up the trip.

We will be driving again this September. We like road trips so we don't dread the trip. But it is very long. We use the DVD player in the car for the kids who are 10 and 6. The movies are our saving grace for the kids.

Would love some suggestions for snacks and drinks to pack in the car to cut down on stops.

We are thinking of packing lunch this time to have at a rest stop. We've never done that in the past. What are some suggestions for meals that are easy to pack?

Thanks!

hi toystory3!!!! we will be driving down sept 10th and coming home the 20th and staying at beach club villas!!

we (just dw and I anymore) just bring a small cooler with iced tea in it. we hit a drive thru and eat while driving. we have a small snack bag with chex mix, pringles, oatmeal cookies. we don't eat and drink much while on the road, promotes bathroom stops.
everyone is different. other posters will be able to give you more detailed ideas but for the kids, bring there favorite, non sticky snacks. maybe something you don't always let them have. we use to stop at a local deli for sandwiches and put them in the big cooler, I just got tired of lugging a big cooler in my old age.

I think what killed my eating on the road was when I was about nine, coming home from florida one year, we stopped to eat at a howard johnsons. I got spaghetti and had a milk shake. yes, I was told and I did it anyway.( seemed to be a pattern with me and my youth ) anyway, I don't have to tell you the rest of the story. 40 years later and I remember that day like it was yesterday.

 

[dvczerfs]

Subway is our 'go to' option. It's healthier than McDonalds which helps avoid diarrhea which can be a common theme in my house due to a steady diet of disney junk food

ohhhh mcdonalds!!!! I love there cheese burgers, they just don't love me. I cant eat there either.
i cant eat junk food with the best of them but mcds is a killer!

 

[BC1836]

In order to maximize our stay at WDW, we are planning to continue a strategy we started a couple of years ago. We book an overnight stay at the Lake Buena Vista Holiday Inn the day before our WDW reservation begins. We depart from home a day earlier than we normally would so we can check into our WDW hotel prior to 10 a.m. The room isn't always ready, but we are doing things (dining or a park visit) before the noon hour of the first day. And we plan to do it again in August. Hopefully, international events will not push the regular gas prices over $4.00 a gallon by then.

All the best.

 

[nono]

We drive from the Columbus Ohio area when we go to Disney. We usually leave around 6 AM and stop around nine 9 or 10 PM. Then have just a little ways to go the second day. Once in a while we drive straight through coming home. But we get home so late that we are just dead to the world the next day. So I really prefer breaking up the trip.

We will be driving again this September. We like road trips so we don't dread the trip. But it is very long. We use the DVD player in the car for the kids who are 10 and 6. The movies are our saving grace for the kids.

Would love some suggestions for snacks and drinks to pack in the car to cut down on stops.

We are thinking of packing lunch this time to have at a rest stop. We've never done that in the past. What are some suggestions for meals that are easy to pack?

Thanks!

So, my kids are 10 and 7...chocolate milk is your friend. My kids aren't big on it in real life, but they'll drink it on the road. The benefit? Filling, but not rest-stop inducing!

Besides that, we do pepperoni and cheese, hard boiled eggs, carrots....

We love rest stops. We bring a rope to use as a starting line/finish line and make up some races...(before eating) and such. We even keep a list of our favorite rest stops. And on the way home? Leftovers from the last night make for a great lunch on the road.

 

[Liisa1965]

Driving back last month, we hit all kinds of traffic in Maryland, and we weren't even on I95 at that point. I was ready to throw the Garmin out the window. I'd like to avoid that next year. We will probably be going the last week of April and returning the first or second week of May. Any suggestions? We'll be leaving from Montgomery County, PA. I don't mind driving extra miles if we can avoid the heavy traffic and hopefully get there sooner. We won't drive straight through. We can probably manage about nine to ten hours of driving the first day.

 

[dvczerfs]

I was talking to someone on another thread about the 78/81/77/26/95/4 time and mile chart I posted. well, i managed to find one of them and since there has been a lot of discussion on this way, i copied and paste.
"home" for me in near i78 on the pa/nj boarder to give you an idea where i start from.



I made the drive a couple times. this is the way I go:

home to i81 via i78............ 1hr/1min. 71miles
i81 to ma ......................... 1hr/19min 87 miles
ma to wv.......................... /10 min 12 miles
wv to va........................... /22min 25miles
va to i77........................... 3hr/23min 241 miles
i77 to nc........................... /26min 32miles
nc to char......................... 1hr/44min 97miles
char to sc......................... /11min 12miles
sc to i26.......................... 1hr/13min 88 miles
i26 to i95.......................... /40min 53miles
i95 to ga .......................... 1hr/7min 84miles
ga to fl.............................1hr/44min 111miles
fl to i4.............................. 1hr/42min 119 miles
i4 to exit68........................ /54min 62 miles

these times include gas and bathroom stops. we don't stop for a sit down meals. this is 16 hours with stops, the fastest I did it was 15 1/2 hours.
you can pm me if you want. have a great trip.

 

[dvczerfs]

So, my kids are 10 and 7...chocolate milk is your friend. My kids aren't big on it in real life, but they'll drink it on the road. The benefit? Filling, but not rest-stop inducing!

Besides that, we do pepperoni and cheese, hard boiled eggs, carrots....

We love rest stops. We bring a rope to use as a starting line/finish line and make up some races...(before eating) and such. We even keep a list of our favorite rest stops. And on the way home? Leftovers from the last night make for a great lunch on the road.

YOOHOO!!!!!! just another item i love but don't love me anymore.

hard boiled eggs....... i would be beatin and left at the first rest stop if i ate hard boiled eggs in the car.

im getting old!!!!

 

[amcnj]

In order to maximize our stay at WDW, we are planning to continue a strategy we started a couple of years ago. We book an overnight stay at the Lake Buena Vista Holiday Inn the day before our WDW reservation begins. We depart from home a day earlier than we normally would so we can check into our WDW hotel prior to 10 a.m. The room isn't always ready, but we are doing things (dining or a park visit) before the noon hour of the first day. And we plan to do it again in August. Hopefully, international events will not push the regular gas prices over $4.00 a gallon by then.

All the best.

Unfortunately oil is rising again. I believe I heard yesterday it hit an eight month high and it is up again today.

 

[dvczerfs]

Unfortunately oil is rising again. I believe I heard yesterday it hit an eight month high and it is up again today.

it is going to get a lot higher before it gets any lower. local oil dealers (heating oil) are scrambling. one told me yesterday.... "here we go again"

 

[Tuffy4God]

Hi! I have a question for those of you who drive about 24 hours and drive through the night.

We will be heading to Florida from Minnesota in a couple of months and we are planning on driving straight through on the way there... about 24 hours of driving. Do you find it easier to leave in the morning (around 8 or 9am) so that after you drive all night you're almost there? Or at 5 or 6 at night so you get the nighttime driving out of the way?

Im trying to figure out if one way is less tiring than the other or if it doesn't really matter.

TIA!

 

[dvczerfs]

Hi! I have a question for those of you who drive about 24 hours and drive through the night.

We will be heading to Florida from Minnesota in a couple of months and we are planning on driving straight through on the way there... about 24 hours of driving. Do you find it easier to leave in the morning (around 8 or 9am) so that after you drive all night you're almost there? Or at 5 or 6 at night so you get the nighttime driving out of the way?

Im trying to figure out if one way is less tiring than the other or if it doesn't really matter.

TIA!

hi tuffy4god!!!! well, 24 hours is 24 hours. that is a long haul if your doing all the driving. we don't do 24 but do 16 and leave around 12:30-1am. we pull into okw around 4-4:30pm and I will do all the driving. I find it easier if I sleep from about 6pm till midnight, get up and hit the road.
we use to do the leave at 5pm and drive through the night. we always had a rule if we were driving through the night, two people were awake at the same time. one driving,one talking. I taught my dd at 9 years old how to read a map one night while I was driving and dw was sleeping.
if your the only driver, be careful and drive safely. that's a long drive.

 

[Tuffy4God]

hi tuffy4god!!!! well, 24 hours is 24 hours. that is a long haul if your doing all the driving. we don't do 24 but do 16 and leave around 12:30-1am. we pull into okw around 4-4:30pm and I will do all the driving. I find it easier if I sleep from about 6pm till midnight, get up and hit the road.
we use to do the leave at 5pm and drive through the night. we always had a rule if we were driving through the night, two people were awake at the same time. one driving,one talking. I taught my dd at 9 years old how to read a map one night while I was driving and dw was sleeping.
if your the only driver, be careful and drive safely. that's a long drive.

Thanks for the reply! I should have stated it in my original post...it'll be me, dh, ds (10) and dd (8). DH will do most of the driving, but we will definitely take turns.

 

[asmit4]

I was talking to someone on another thread about the 78/81/77/26/95/4 time and mile chart I posted. well, i managed to find one of them and since there has been a lot of discussion on this way, i copied and paste.
"home" for me in near i78 on the pa/nj boarder to give you an idea where i start from.



I made the drive a couple times. this is the way I go:

home to i81 via i78............ 1hr/1min. 71miles
i81 to ma ......................... 1hr/19min 87 miles
ma to wv.......................... /10 min 12 miles
wv to va........................... /22min 25miles
va to i77........................... 3hr/23min 241 miles
i77 to nc........................... /26min 32miles
nc to char......................... 1hr/44min 97miles
char to sc......................... /11min 12miles
sc to i26.......................... 1hr/13min 88 miles
i26 to i95.......................... /40min 53miles
i95 to ga .......................... 1hr/7min 84miles
ga to fl.............................1hr/44min 111miles
fl to i4.............................. 1hr/42min 119 miles
i4 to exit68........................ /54min 62 miles

these times include gas and bathroom stops. we don't stop for a sit down meals. this is 16 hours with stops, the fastest I did it was 15 1/2 hours.
you can pm me if you want. have a great trip.

Can I ask- if you plunk in your own address to mapquest, and say 'disneyworld' as your final destination- what is the time they say you can do it in?

I'm wondering how far 'off' mapquest might be...I have found that mapquest is right on- INCLUDING short stops for grabbing food and gas. Meaning- I speed so I make it with stops in the time they say I will

 

[asmit4]

Hi! I have a question for those of you who drive about 24 hours and drive through the night.

We will be heading to Florida from Minnesota in a couple of months and we are planning on driving straight through on the way there... about 24 hours of driving. Do you find it easier to leave in the morning (around 8 or 9am) so that after you drive all night you're almost there? Or at 5 or 6 at night so you get the nighttime driving out of the way?

Im trying to figure out if one way is less tiring than the other or if it doesn't really matter.

TIA!

My rule of thumb is to never do night driving when you will be the most tired. It's generally a bad idea- especially if you are not used to it. I suggest leaving at night....having 1 of you sleep through the night then rotate. Plan on maybe rotating around 2am to let the other person sleep til daylight. You will finish up your drive in daylight....when you are the most exhausted.
Plus- your room is for sure going to be ready at 5pm arrival....if you arrive in the AM- it prob. won't be ready and you will all be very tired.

 

[dvczerfs]

Can I ask- if you plunk in your own address to mapquest, and say 'disneyworld' as your final destination- what is the time they say you can do it in? I'm wondering how far 'off' mapquest might be...I have found that mapquest is right on- INCLUDING short stops for grabbing food and gas. Meaning- I speed so I make it with stops in the time they say I will

I can never get map quest to get me on that route. Lol. That stupid dragging the line thing never works. I used aaa just the other day, I post it a few pages back. I think it was 1118 miles 16 hours 20 min. Which was driving time, it didn't account for stopping. That is averaging about 68-69 miles per hour.

 

[asmit4]

I can never get map quest to get me on that route. Lol. That stupid dragging the line thing never works. I used aaa just the other day, I post it a few pages back. I think it was 1118 miles 16 hours 20 min. Which was driving time, it didn't account for stopping. That is averaging about 68-69 miles per hour.

Thanks for this info! I am also going to AAA to get a triptik too. I just love those things. (although will also have a garmin)