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

[BC1836]

Make sure you do not have to stop for gas while driving on I-4. Too many construction/excit changes. Once you get off, you may have an extremely difficult time getting back on.

All the best!

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Make sure you do not have to stop for gas while driving on I-4. Too many construction/excit changes. Once you get off, you may have an extremely difficult time getting back on.

All the best!

Yeah we’ve never had to stop on I-4

 

[justreading]

Make sure you do not have to stop for gas while driving on I-4. Too many construction/excit changes. Once you get off, you may have an extremely difficult time getting back on.

All the best!

You taught me well. I always fill up before I-4 and I come in via Western Way. So worth a few tolls. Thank you!!!!!

 

[princessfionasmom]

Make sure you do not have to stop for gas while driving on I-4. Too many construction/excit changes. Once you get off, you may have an extremely difficult time getting back on.

All the best!

Thank you for the advice! I’ve driven down there a few times but never had to get gas that close and would be kicking myself if this happened to me. I didn’t even think about the construction and getting off for gas.

 

[LBHouse]

Leaving Saturday! The family is getting excited. Anyone on the road now? What's the drive like with all the rain?

 

[nono]

Leaving Saturday! The family is getting excited. Anyone on the road now? What's the drive like with all the rain?

Safe travels and I hope you encounter little rain!

 

[princessfionasmom]

Heading out this morning, wish me luck! Not sure how far we’ll make it before we stop for the night. Just gonna wing it and see how it goes And also see if we can get a hotel, it is Valentine’s Day

 

[ddluvsdisney]

So we are here!! We left Thursday night at 7:00. The only minor issue we had was construction on and before the GW Bridge. We were moving very slow for about a half hour. Upper deck of bridge had the construction. After that it was smooth sailing all the way in!! Just about exactly 20 hrs. Not our best time. My DS18 got really car sick so that set us back a little stopping a couple of times. Looking forward to Disney! Safe travels to whoever’s leaving soon.

 

[LBHouse]

Safe travels and I hope you encounter little rain!

We decided to change our trip up at the last minute.

We left Friday afternoon for KY, and are spending tonight in Atlanta, GA. Tomorrow is Daytona! We scored some primo tickets at work and decided to give it a shot. Monday is on to Poly.

 

[nono]

We decided to change our trip up at the last minute.

We left Friday afternoon for KY, and are spending tonight in Atlanta, GA. Tomorrow is Daytona! We scored some primo tickets at work and decided to give it a shot. Monday is on to Poly.

Can't do that if you were flying...Sounds fun!!

 

[BC1836]

dvczerfs has just departed home for WDW. For newcomers to this site, check the all-time records on page 1 to see this marathon driver's "resume."

All the best!

 

[gizmom29]

Welcome to the fifth part of the "For 2,000+ Mile Round-Trip Drivers Only!" thread.''

If you drive at least 1,000 miles to Walt Disney World, this is the site for you.

Over 1,500,000 views!

Part IV of this thread opened on June 10, 2013 and closed on November 16, 2014 after 201 pages, 3,013 replies and 279,444 views.

Part III of this thread opened on October 12, 2011 and closed on June 10, 2013 after 197 pages, 2,950 replies and 296,721 views.

Part II of this thread opened on July 12, 2010 and closed on October 12, 2011 after 256 pages, 3,843 replies and 331,176 views.

Part I of this thread debuted on December 6, 2007 and closed on July 14, 2010 after 251 pages, 3,755 replies and 320,188 views.


All-Time "For 2,000+ Mile Round-Trip Drivers Only!" Records (updated 12/6/19)

Most Total Drives:
69 (since 1973): dvczerfs (as a driver/passenger)
51 (since 2010): LBHouse (solo driver)

Most 21st century drives:
51 (since 2010): LBHouse (solo driver)
46 (2002-present) bc1836 (solo driver)
[bc1836, the founder, moved to within one hour of WDW in Dec. 2017.]

Most Drives in One Decade/10-Year Period:
27 (2003-2012): bc1836; (2007-2014): cruisingkat

Most Drives in One Calendar Year:
6 LBHouse (2018);
5 (2012): crusingkat
(four drives in one calendar year: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011): bc1836

Most Drives in One 12-Month Period:
6 LBHouse (2018)
5 (12/08-12/09; 2012): cruisingkat; (12/09-12/10): bc1836

Most "Non-Stop" Drives:
15 (1992-2014): DSLRuser
13 (2008-2012): bc1836

Shortest Time Between Drives:
19 days (2009): cruisingkat

Most passengers in one vehicle:
12 (2000: Dodge 3500 Ram van): chepic
10 (2010: 2 adults, 8 kids; 1999 Chevy Express Van): birdslightyear (aka just*the*ten*of*us)

Longest Drive (one way):
2,070 miles (2013): Shir Khan (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada)
2,070 miles (2015,2016,2017,2018,2019 & coming 2020) one way Winnipeg ,Manitoba Canada.
Second Longest Drive (one way):
1,953 miles (2011): peigirl (Stratford, Prince Edward Island, Canada)

Driven to/from WDW every month of the year:
bc1836 (finally achieved 2/2015)

What is your status level as a 2,000+ Mile Round-Trip Driver?

5 drives to WDW: "Bronze"
10 drives to WDW: "Silver"
15 drives to WDW: "Gold"
20 drives to WDW: "Platinum"
25 drives to WDW: "Diamond"

Drives above those levels are categorized in multiples. For example, someone who makes 40 drives is "double Platinum;" 50 drives: "double-Diamond."

Remember: These status levels are just meaningless fun, but if you are seeking a long-range driver status, we've got one for ya!

All the best.

 

[dvczerfs]

We are here!!! Great trip coming down. Cold, but a great trip. A little snow on the very top of the mountains in Virginia. Just enough to cover the grass, interstate was fine. We left Thursday at noon, stayed over in Harrisonburg Va in a Hampton Inn. We departed Friday am around 6:30 and drove to Kingsland Ga. , 3 miles before the Florida welcome center and stayed at the Hampton Inn in Kingsland.
Ok, if you ever followed one of my drives, I drive straight through. Figured we would try a multi day drive..... our 35 anniversary.
We both enjoyed the last few days but we won't do that again anytime soon. Lol Seems like we would never get here. Lol
Anyway, looks like a great week of weather and see you in a week.
BC, we will see you guys tomorrow night. Text me what time.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Sadly we got home this morning at 4:00.
This was our best time yet... 18 hours straight thru. We didn’t have even a slow down on the way home. It was amazing. And my new car is awesome on gas mileage apparently!!
My niece got into DCP in January so I got to take her out to eat and see her at HS. It was a great trip except for the crowds. It was like Christmas there a last week. Wow!!!
Sorry we just missed you Dave! Have a magical trip!

 

[Ryan Mendoza]

Got here on Sunday! Drove 12 hours Friday from Iowa to Atlanta. Then a shorter 6 hr drive from Atlanta to Orlando on Sunday. Believe it or not the 12 hour went better with the 4, 3, and 7 month old than the 6 hour drive. Perfect weather, no road delays at all except a smaller i130 in Illinois that was down. Excited for the fun week!

 

[staceychev]

Hi All - We're from South Jersey, just outside of Philly (teeny town called Merchantville near Cherry Hill). We've driven to Disney, round trip and straight through, once, and have also driven to Naples, about 4 hours further south. (We actually drove straight through to Naples on the way down. Never again.) Anyway, in April, we're taking the Auto Train down, stopping in Disney, driving to Naples, and then driving back to South Jersey over two days.

So, I can find all of the convenient halfway stops, but I'm wondering if anyone has any recommendations for stops that are more interesting - someplace with a cool downtown and interesting restaurants, or beautiful scenery - something to do other than just get a fast meal and crash in an I-95 hotel. I'm considering Savannah, but didn't know if there were any other places we should consider. We are starting back home on Friday from Naples, and don't have to be back to work/school until Monday -- I hadn't planned to take more than two days to get home, but we're also not in a major rush. Also - we would have no problems dividing our days unequally and having one be an easy day and one a marathon.

Us - 2 adults and 2 girls, ages 14 and 10.

 

[wmcyip]

Hi All - We're from South Jersey, just outside of Philly (teeny town called Merchantville near Cherry Hill). We've driven to Disney, round trip and straight through, once, and have also driven to Naples, about 4 hours further south. (We actually drove straight through to Naples on the way down. Never again.) Anyway, in April, we're taking the Auto Train down, stopping in Disney, driving to Naples, and then driving back to South Jersey over two days.

So, I can find all of the convenient halfway stops, but I'm wondering if anyone has any recommendations for stops that are more interesting - someplace with a cool downtown and interesting restaurants, or beautiful scenery - something to do other than just get a fast meal and crash in an I-95 hotel. I'm considering Savannah, but didn't know if there were any other places we should consider. We are starting back home on Friday from Naples, and don't have to be back to work/school until Monday -- I hadn't planned to take more than two days to get home, but we're also not in a major rush. Also - we would have no problems dividing our days unequally and having one be an easy day and one a marathon.

Us - 2 adults and 2 girls, ages 14 and 10.

During the summers, we have stopped and stayed in Charleston and Savannah on our return from Disney. For us, we found Charleston, SC a bit more fun, with its restaurants, shops and touristy attractions. We generally stay 2-3 days at the Hyatt House in the Historic District which is about 1+ miles from shoreline and pretty walk-able. The hotel offers valet parking but there is a parking garage right across the courtyard when the hotel sits. We have also visited Magnolia Plantations, the surrounding islands and spent some time at Folly Beach.

 

[pwdebbie]

Hi All - We're from South Jersey, just outside of Philly (teeny town called Merchantville near Cherry Hill). We've driven to Disney, round trip and straight through, once, and have also driven to Naples, about 4 hours further south. (We actually drove straight through to Naples on the way down. Never again.) Anyway, in April, we're taking the Auto Train down, stopping in Disney, driving to Naples, and then driving back to South Jersey over two days.

So, I can find all of the convenient halfway stops, but I'm wondering if anyone has any recommendations for stops that are more interesting - someplace with a cool downtown and interesting restaurants, or beautiful scenery - something to do other than just get a fast meal and crash in an I-95 hotel. I'm considering Savannah, but didn't know if there were any other places we should consider. We are starting back home on Friday from Naples, and don't have to be back to work/school until Monday -- I hadn't planned to take more than two days to get home, but we're also not in a major rush. Also - we would have no problems dividing our days unequally and having one be an easy day and one a marathon.

Us - 2 adults and 2 girls, ages 14 and 10.

How about Tybee Island near Savannah?

 

[dvczerfs]

We are here!!! Great trip coming down. Cold, but a great trip. A little snow on the very top of the mountains in Virginia. Just enough to cover the grass, interstate was fine. We left Thursday at noon, stayed over in Harrisonburg Va in a Hampton Inn. We departed Friday am around 6:30 and drove to Kingsland Ga. , 3 miles before the Florida welcome center and stayed at the Hampton Inn in Kingsland.
Ok, if you ever followed one of my drives, I drive straight through. Figured we would try a multi day drive..... our 35 anniversary.
We both enjoyed the last few days but we won't do that again anytime soon. Lol Seems like we would never get here. Lol
Anyway, looks like a great week of weather and see you in a week.
BC, we will see you guys tomorrow night. Text me what time.

We are home. Sadly. We departed yesterday morning at 3:35 am , pulled in at home at just about 8pm. Nice trip home, mostly sunny till we hit snow squalls near home. lol figures. We hit a few construction sites and there was one that slowed us down about 15 minutes. We kept moving just slow. There was a nasty accident on I26 south in the morning. A full size van hit a guardrail. The only thing left was the metal, the rest of it was burned off. Guessing either fell asleep or lost control in some fashion. Hope everyone is ok.
Another great meet with BC and his wife! Drinks at inchanted rose at the Grand and siting on the boat dock at the Grand. We always look forward to meeting up. Stay tuned for September, we are going on a little cruise together lol. We appreciate how BC and his wife always take time for us and drives down to see us. We could talk for hours. Lol
Took a stone to the windshield in Orlando on the way home, have to call the insurance co. tomorrow. Just a small ding but it will only get bigger.
That was our 8th trip with our 2016 T&C Anniversary edit, some what modified van. Turned 22k miles. (We only use it for our Floridia trips lol)
Driving north, the cars coming south we covered in brine from the roads. Ours was green with pollen. Lol
We had an amazing 35 wedding anniversary dinner at the Grand. We did the Intamate Dining Experience! Just dw and I on a reserved balcony (huge) with our own butler. One of the nicest experiences we ever had at WDW. Fireworks etc.... Our butler also gave us a tour of Walts, Roys suite at the Grand. The first time Roys grandson seen the door to Roys suite he said, the room number is the same as his grandfathers address.
Anyway, as you can tell we had a blast... again.
Drive safe!!!

 

[AaronInWI]

Got here on Sunday! Drove 12 hours Friday from Iowa to Atlanta. Then a shorter 6 hr drive from Atlanta to Orlando on Sunday. Believe it or not the 12 hour went better with the 4, 3, and 7 month old than the 6 hour drive. Perfect weather, no road delays at all except a smaller i130 in Illinois that was down. Excited for the fun week!

We're from Wisconsin, and this sounds very similar to our typical drive. ~14 hours from home to Atlanta area, then an easy 6 hours to Orlando. I hope you're having a great trip!