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

Major concerts have an effect also. We never make hotel reservations for our trips. We just decide when we're done driving and we've always found a nice hotel. Last year we went to Noah's Ark Animal Sanctuary in Locust Grove GA on our way down- so a long way off our regular route. We stopped an hour or so before Atlanta and had a very hard time finding a hotel. There was some kind of major concert or event in Atlanta and all the hotels were booked.

Indeed! Any kind of major event --- planned or unplanned --- affects a 2,000+ mile WDW round trip!

We'll see what happens to us on Friday.

All the best! :thumbsup2
 
It's a steep grade but it's miles long. Unless your pulling a large camper, it really isn't to bad. Take your life more in your hands on I4.

Are you on the side of a mountain where you can see over the edge????
 
So this trip I'm taking both girls and 2 of their friends in our Honda pilot. Lots of seats but not necessarily a lot of room for bags. So I'm wondering if I should use duffle bags instead of suitcases. Any thoughts or suggestions for what size or where to get them?
 
So this trip I'm taking both girls and 2 of their friends in our Honda pilot. Lots of seats but not necessarily a lot of room for bags. So I'm wondering if I should use duffle bags instead of suitcases. Any thoughts or suggestions for what size or where to get them?
Is that a total of five women and there bags? U-HAUL. Lol
i can try to help. What we did before dvc (1999) I would divide the trip in half and wash half way through the trip. If it was a 10 day trip, we packed for six, just in case.
We have an owners locker and we always get at least a one bedroom so we do wash in the room. We have duffle bags, I just get the cheap ones at Walmart and use them. We bring our bed pillows, soda, wine, beer lol all in duffle bags.
Duffle bags are a good idea, less wasted space and you can jam a lot of stuff in them.
 
Is that a total of five women and there bags? U-HAUL. Lol
i can try to help. What we did before dvc (1999) I would divide the trip in half and wash half way through the trip. If it was a 10 day trip, we packed for six, just in case.
We have an owners locker and we always get at least a one bedroom so we do wash in the room. We have duffle bags, I just get the cheap ones at Walmart and use them. We bring our bed pillows, soda, wine, beer lol all in duffle bags.
Duffle bags are a good idea, less wasted space and you can jam a lot of stuff in them.

I've told the girls to pack light :o We're staying in a timeshare with a washer and dryer so we don't need a lot. We also each bring a backpack with overnight stuff and our bathing suits for the hotel we stop at on the way down. So I guess we're going duffel bag shopping.

Also, my husband is coming down for about 5 days but he's flying :rolleyes1 I think he's doing it to avoid the drive with 5 women.
 
I've told the girls to pack light :o We're staying in a timeshare with a washer and dryer so we don't need a lot. We also each bring a backpack with overnight stuff and our bathing suits for the hotel we stop at on the way down. So I guess we're going duffel bag shopping.

Also, my husband is coming down for about 5 days but he's flying :rolleyes1 I think he's doing it to avoid the drive with 5 women.
If it was us, staying overnight on the road, pack one day in your back pack and two days in the suit case. I throw wash in the washer every morning before we head out and hang or dry it when we come back around lunch. ( then again it's just the two of us, three max)
Yes, just because I'm on vacation doesn't relieve me of my laundry duties. Lol ( I have a tuff wife lol )
 
Greetings from Lake Buena Vista!

We had the worst I-95 experience ever: a 40-minute crawl through the Key Tunnel in Baltimore (a bus crash just outside of the tunnel) followed by another minor crash (with one lane closed) and the subsequent tie-up. And then: the monsoon! Staring north of Richmond to southern South Carolina on and off torrential downpours...hazard lights on, several cars w/trailers and a SUV slid off the road.
We had to turn off at an exit because we couldn't see much in front of us. Unreal! :scared1:

We made it to Yulee, FL for the night. The next afternoon after a visit to Port Orange we arrived in Lake Buena Vista where we check into a Disney Springs area hotel before driving to the GFR tomorrow morning.

All the best!:thumbsup2
 
Greetings from Lake Buena Vista!

We had the worst I-95 experience ever: a 40-minute crawl through the Key Tunnel in Baltimore (a bus crash just outside of the tunnel) followed by another minor crash (with one lane closed) and the subsequent tie-up. And then: the monsoon! Staring north of Richmond to southern South Carolina on and off torrential downpours...hazard lights on, several cars w/trailers and a SUV slid off the road.
We had to turn off at an exit because we couldn't see much in front of us. Unreal! :scared1:

We made it to Yulee, FL for the night. The next afternoon after a visit to Port Orange we arrived in Lake Buena Vista where we check into a Disney Springs area hotel before driving to the GFR tomorrow morning.

All the best!:thumbsup2
We were in that monsoon! We had hoped to get to Savannah. We only made it as far as Florence, and that was after twelve hours on the road. Hours and hours of traffic in Virginia as well. We were up bright and early the next morning, but it still took an additional 8.5 hours of driving. I think we're going to have to try beginning our drives late at night. We have tried the daytime drives for a few years now, and it's taking us longer every year.
 
We made the trek from Chicago on 4/15 and back home on 4/23. Lost 2 hours to traffic/road construction on I-24 near Nashville, the usual traffic and craziness in Atlanta, and a few slowdowns here and there along the way, but nothing too bad. Slow and steady all the way there and back. Trip down was 21 hours door to door and 24 hours home with stops along the way to eat, gas up and rest at rest stops.

The countdown to our August trip begins - 109 days until we're back on the road again to our happy place!
 
We were in that monsoon! We had hoped to get to Savannah. We only made it as far as Florence, and that was after twelve hours on the road. Hours and hours of traffic in Virginia as well. We were up bright and early the next morning, but it still took an additional 8.5 hours of driving. I think we're going to have to try beginning our drives late at night. We have tried the daytime drives for a few years now, and it's taking us longer every year.
Timing is everything but weather and wrecks you just can't plan for. Over the years, we have departed at all different times, stay over night, no stop trips. In my old age, lol, I don't sleep that much anyway. I get home from work around noon, sleep till 5pm and hit the road around 6pm. Dw will sleep in the van for a few hours before 11pm. We talk most of the way.lol before you know it, the sun is coming up, stop for an egg sandwich and pull into the Florida welcoming center around 8am. Some times I'll shut my eyes for an hour or so because there is no sense trying to drive through Jacksonville before 10am. Pull out around 10 and into wdw around noon.
I normally get 5 hours of sleep per night and up at 2:30am for work so I'm use to not much sleep and driving.
 
Timing is everything but weather and wrecks you just can't plan for. Over the years, we have departed at all different times, stay over night, no stop trips. In my old age, lol, I don't sleep that much anyway. I get home from work around noon, sleep till 5pm and hit the road around 6pm. Dw will sleep in the van for a few hours before 11pm. We talk most of the way.lol before you know it, the sun is coming up, stop for an egg sandwich and pull into the Florida welcoming center around 8am. Some times I'll shut my eyes for an hour or so because there is no sense trying to drive through Jacksonville before 10am. Pull out around 10 and into wdw around noon.
I normally get 5 hours of sleep per night and up at 2:30am for work so I'm use to not much sleep and driving.

That's better than being used to sleeping while driving!!!
 
That's better than being used to sleeping while driving!!!
Lol. Now that I read my post, I should have said five hours of sleep is my normal sleep pattern. Driving all day is also normal. Lol
I made it sound like I drive around half a sleep all day.lol
 

This is not my video but it will give you a good idea.

Thanks, that's perfect. It will be fine, we'll stay in the right lane lol. Doesn't even seem that steep.

I made a Thanksgiving week free dining reservation yesterday in case we cancel June. Lauren still has one more audition then we'll know if she's doing rehearsals in June or Disney.
 
Thanks, that's perfect. It will be fine, we'll stay in the right lane lol. Doesn't even seem that steep.

I made a Thanksgiving week free dining reservation yesterday in case we cancel June. Lauren still has one more audition then we'll know if she's doing rehearsals in June or Disney.

Sharadoc, check this one out. Little better quality and it isn't in regular time. Also has some fun fact in the beginning of the clip.
 
















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