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

[dvczerfs]

Hello old friends !!! Just stopped in to say hello. My wife never flew, she was scared to death up to February 2015. She was flying down to visit her parents in Bradenton. Flew down at Christmas. Had great flights, which I'm glad for a first timer. She was starting to talk a little stupid about flying to Disney. Lol
All that changed a few weeks ago. On the runway ready to take off and plane went back. Seems to be a problem.. Flight delayed.. Lol. She also had a shirt on which had some kind of sparkle stuff on it..... Yup, got patted down.lol
That took care of the " flying to Disney " stuff. Lol She did like the bars.... She said maybe she will have a few before driving down with me to take the edge off.lol

 

[My2CrazyGirls]

I just planned a spur of the moment trip to WDW and decided to drive since plane tix are crazy high during the spring break: 3/18~3/25. So we decided to drive down and it will be our first drive down to WDW from southern NJ. I think given nothing crazy is going on with kid's school, we could leave around noon~1PM on Friday, 3/18. It will be little over 1000 miles each way and where is a good place to stop for a night? I'm thinking somewhere SC? Any suggestions are appreciated.

You may end up sitting in heavy DC traffic if you leave NJ at 1pm.

 

[mousegear]

You may end up sitting in heavy DC traffic if you leave NJ at 1pm.

I know.... we used to live in DC area to know enough about DC traffic around 495 and 95 until Woodbridge/Fredrickburg. Yeah... really debating weather to leave earlier or not but it really depends on our son's school. We are assuming the teachers are trying to cram all the exams and projects before the break and I really don't want him to miss any exams and have to make them up after the vacation. So if he doesn't have anything much going on, we could leave earlier but if he does, we will just have to stick until he is finished with them.

 

[Liisa1965]

So for those of you who stop and spend the night somewhere along the way, do you usually reserve a hotel in advance? I thought I would book something in the Savannah area (we're driving from PA), but DH doesn't think we should in case we hit traffic and don't get that far and it's too late to cancel. We'll be going the last week in April. Is that a very busy time?

 

[OKW Lover]

So for those of you who stop and spend the night somewhere along the way, do you usually reserve a hotel in advance? I thought I would book something in the Savannah area (we're driving from PA), but DH doesn't think we should in case we hit traffic and don't get that far and it's too late to cancel. We'll be going the last week in April. Is that a very busy time?

When we did the drive from MA to WDW regularly (before moving here a couple of years ago) we always made reservations ahead of time. I love to plan our our route of travel and would even go so far as to figure out where we might be at mid-day and if there was a convenient Cracker Barrel restaurant. Most of the time we stuck to the plan, but there were some occasions that we had gotten an early start or otherwise made good time and we were willing to continue further that day. In those cases we would call to cancel the reservation and book another room further down the road.

However, that scheme only works if your hotel's cancelation policy permits. Since the last time we did that drive (almost exactly 2 years ago) the cancelation policy of our favorite hotel brand (Marriott) has changed to require a 24 hour cancelation notice. Obviously that makes the prior, flexible strategy impractical.

 

[dvczerfs]

So for those of you who stop and spend the night somewhere along the way, do you usually reserve a hotel in advance? I thought I would book something in the Savannah area (we're driving from PA), but DH doesn't think we should in case we hit traffic and don't get that far and it's too late to cancel. We'll be going the last week in April. Is that a very busy time?

We don't really stop anymore, but when we did, we always made reservations. I use to just pull over when ever I had enough but like Okw, we liked to plan everything. A Few times we had a hard time getting a room. It was off season but I seem to hit every wedding, train show, dance compition, conventions and when your tired, the next ten miles down the road seem like forever. We stayed at Hampton inns, they had a, up to 6pm cancellation policy. Not sure if it's the same.
We stopped staying overnight a few years ago. I wouldn't sleep and we ended up leaving early so it wasn't worth the $100 for the six hours we were in the room.

 

[Liisa1965]

I think we will probably make reservations. Two years ago we drove back unexpectedly because the auto train was having problems. We had no problem finding a nice room when we were ready to stop. I loved the drive and I think we'll always drive now, but last year we had a hard time finding a room on the way back. That was in early May, which I thought was a slow time. I think we checked four hotels at our exit before we found a vacancy at a decent place.

 

[Groomer Gal]

Hi all!

First time drivers to WDW here! (We have taken road trips before...Maryland...DC....Myrtle Beach and a few others)

We are driving from MA...I was wondering if anyone could give me an estimate on tolls?? We will be going over the Tapanzee instead of the GWB.
I want to load up our EZPass before we depart in 38 days.

Thanks all!

 

[DSLRuser]

I am @ 9 days before our trip. West St. Louis to WDW. First glance @ the 15 day forecast shows a rainy drive down. I know it is no where near set in stone. Lets see how it changes as we get closer to the drive. Trip #17 will be here soon.

Yep. 2 days out. And it looks like rain the 1st 12 hours of a 16 hour drive. Oh well. could be worse.

 

[sharadoc]

So.... trying to plan a summer route. We are leaving on a Sunday in June, plan to take 81 South and would like to cut over to 95 at Richmond on 64. Is that crazy on a Sunday afternoon? We don't want to leave at 3 or 4 am, would like to leave around 9 or 10, so we would hit Richmond around 3.

Any experience on that road at that time??

 

[DSLRuser]

I wouldn't sleep and we ended up leaving early so it wasn't worth the $100 for the six hours we were in the room.

This. This is exactly why I can't justify staying for a night. I would rather have the 6 hours of vacation time back by getting there sooner.

 

[dvczerfs]

So.... trying to plan a summer route. We are leaving on a Sunday in June, plan to take 81 South and would like to cut over to 95 at Richmond on 64. Is that crazy on a Sunday afternoon? We don't want to leave at 3 or 4 am, would like to leave around 9 or 10, so we would hit Richmond around 3.

Any experience on that road at that time??

Don't sound to good. I know 17 Can get backed up gor miles on a Sunday in the summer and I'm sure you know what Richmond looks like on a Sunday afternoon in the summer. Just stay on 81 to I77.
(Hi Sharon ! )

 

[dvczerfs]

This. This is exactly why I can't justify staying for a night. I would rather have the 6 hours of vacation time back by getting there sooner.

This. This is exactly why I can't justify staying for a night. I would rather have the 6 hours of vacation time back by getting there sooner.

oh your nuts too? Lol
Dw and dd would sleep and I would lay there watching tv. We would get up, leave at 4am and they would sleep in the van till 6-7 anyway.
Im one of those people that can drive forever. My wife still says she has no idea how I can do it. Lol
Doing it for a living helps too. Lol

 

[dvczerfs]

Hi all!

First time drivers to WDW here! (We have taken road trips before...Maryland...DC....Myrtle Beach and a few others)

We are driving from MA...I was wondering if anyone could give me an estimate on tolls?? We will be going over the Tapanzee instead of the GWB.
I want to load up our EZPass before we depart in 38 days.

Thanks all!

Hang in there, someone will be around soon to help you out.

 

[DSLRuser]

oh your nuts too? Lol
Dw and dd would sleep and I would lay there watching tv. We would get up, leave at 4am and they would sleep in the van till 6-7 anyway.
Im one of those people that can drive forever. My wife still says she has no idea how I can do it. Lol
Doing it for a living helps too. Lol

Yep. I hate "random" hotels. Give me a Marriott equivalent, and I am good. But not for a long nap.

It takes us 16 hours to drive 1,008 miles. of the 15 times we have made the trip, that's 30 there and backs, I think I have stayed in the driver seat all 16 hours 10 times. I want to take a break, but many times I will stop for gas, and my wife will be asleep, so I keep going. Since we stop for gas only 2 times in 16 hours, it is hit or miss if she is awake.

The key is to plan for a long nap by the pool on arrival day to recharge.

 

[sharadoc]

Don't sound to good. I know 17 Can get backed up gor miles on a Sunday in the summer and I'm sure you know what Richmond looks like on a Sunday afternoon in the summer. Just stay on 81 to I77.
(Hi Sharon ! )

Hey!!! Yeah, that's what we'll probably do, stay on 81 to 77, stop around Columbia for the night. We have 10 days, so we're not in a hurry (unlike SOME people I know lol).

Other than the PA Turnpike, are there any other tolls on that route?? We have quarters for 417, which we will definitely use.

Just planned this trip, a friend got a pin code and we're going at the same time, so we could use her pin. Got 30% and free PH at OKW for 10 days. SO looking forward to it. Can't believe it will be a year and a half since we've been there.

We're requesting Bldg 55 second floor, for the water view.

Say Hi to the fam!

 

[dvczerfs]

Hey!!! Yeah, that's what we'll probably do, stay on 81 to 77, stop around Columbia for the night. We have 10 days, so we're not in a hurry (unlike SOME people I know lol).

Other than the PA Turnpike, are there any other tolls on that route?? We have quarters for 417, which we will definitely use.

Just planned this trip, a friend got a pin code and we're going at the same time, so we could use her pin. Got 30% and free PH at OKW for 10 days. SO looking forward to it. Can't believe it will be a year and a half since we've been there.

We're requesting Bldg 55 second floor, for the water view.

Say Hi to the fam!

Sounds like a nice time. It's been a year and a half already? Wow.
Lol I have 17 days and I'm in hurry. Lol
We have been on this September time frame as of late and don't hit the same times anymore. Keep me posted when your going, Briana is flying down and meeting up with some college program friends.
Say hi to Mike and the kids!!

 

[DSLRuser]

OK, leg one complete. We completed our drive down Thursday night / Friday morning with no issues. The big storm in the south was a non issue. Our route just skirted the top and east side of it. The storm never crossed 24 to the north, or 75 to the east.

We did 1,022 mile in 15 hours and 32 minutes. 21.2 MPG in our 2014 Explorer Sport. The kids 14 and 9 slept most of the way and I can honestly say this was the easiest drive we have had in a long time. My wife did the 1st 3 hours. I did the next 9 hours. Then my wife did 2, with me finishing the last hour and a half.

We checked into the yacht club at 11am, spent a few hours at the pool, then went to epcot.

 

[BC1836]

DSLRuser made it to WDW and dvczerfs is back on this thread! Cool.

All the best!

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Hi all!

First time drivers to WDW here! (We have taken road trips before...Maryland...DC....Myrtle Beach and a few others)

We are driving from MA...I was wondering if anyone could give me an estimate on tolls?? We will be going over the Tapanzee instead of the GWB.
I want to load up our EZPass before we depart in 38 days.

Thanks all!

It's about $30.
We're going then too Not driving though.