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

[macraven]

Going north on 75?

Yea that’s Willy’s in Atlanta

 

[bjschil]

On way home now. Fwiw there's a great counter service Mexican grill off 75 in Georgia exit 255 called Willys. Large portions, fresh food, made to order burritos, friendly service and cheap!
Is there a spot on this thread to post things like that? We come from the Midwest and it seems most are east coast travelers.
And if anyone is coming down 95 be careful and safe!

We are also from the Midwest, (Wi) and Camp at Fort Wilderness in our fifth wheel. Thanks for sharing a food-stop. I think a thread on this along major route would be helpful. Did this have a larger parking lot, or two different entrances/exit, so we can easily get in and park in the back. Safe travels to extreme cold!.

 

[Limes96]

On way home now. Fwiw there's a great counter service Mexican grill off 75 in Georgia exit 255 called Willys. Large portions, fresh food, made to order burritos, friendly service and cheap!
Is there a spot on this thread to post things like that? We come from the Midwest and it seems most are east coast travelers.
And if anyone is coming down 95 be careful and safe!

There are quite a few of us on this thread that travel from the Midwest, just not as many as there are from the east coast. My family and I will be driving from Ohio down I-75 the end of this month. I know @LadyBeBop and @AaronInWI are also frequenters of this thread from the Midwest and have offered valuable info for me. Seems like we just recently had someone post about driving from Chicago. My family loves Mexican food so thanks for the Willys suggestion. Might have to try that out!

 

[AaronInWI]

There are quite a few of us on this thread that travel from the Midwest, just not as many as there are from the east coast. My family and I will be driving from Ohio down I-75 the end of this month. I know @LadyBeBop and @AaronInWI are also frequenters of this thread from the Midwest and have offered valuable info for me. Seems like we just recently had someone post about driving from Chicago. My family loves Mexican food so thanks for the Willys suggestion. Might have to try that out!

Yep, we drive down from Wisconsin. Unfortunately, not as often as some on here, but making the trip every 2-3 years leaves us with time to see the rest of the country. We have a drive to Disneyland coming up at the end of August that I am equal parts excited and nervous about. I'm almost embarrassed to say, but we normally don't venture too far past the McDonald's and Subway's of the world on our drives. I think the only non-fast food place we've eaten at was a Cracker Barrel on one of our drives. We do always make a point to stop at Ellis Brothers pecans in Georgia to load up on snacks for the trip. Just talking about this makes me want to drive down again! Sadly, not until next year...

 

[disneysteve]

Greetings from Point South, South Carolina (Exit 33 on 95). We left NJ at 8:45am and rolled in here about 12 hours later. Stopped for lunch at a Panera in Virginia and dinner at a Chik-Fil-A in Lumberton, NC (where we've stopped numerous times).

The roads were clear and dry the whole way. Traffic was non-existent. It was sunny, clear, windy, and cold. The highest the outdoor temp got according to the car was 34 degrees. We cpuld still see some remnants of snow and ice well into SC but it didn't interfere with travel at all.

We'll finish the journey tomorrow and probably be in Kissimmee by early afternoon.

 

[arminnie]

So happy to hear that your trip has gone well!

 

[disneysteve]

Part 2 of our trip was equally uneventful. We left the hotel about 8:40am, stopped for lunch at a nice pizza/sandwich shop on Palm Parkway in Palm Coast, FL called Anthony's (it's in the Publix shopping center). Clean, friendly, good service, and tasty food. I would definitely recommend this as a good place to stop when you want to escape the chains and fast food joints.

We arrived at Windsor Palms around 2:30pm. After we got settled in, we headed over to Crossroads and had dinner at Sweet Tomatoes before hitting MK for a couple of hours. We're here for a week and will be back on the road next Saturday.

 

[BC1836]

The new (temporary?) entrance to the GFR bypasses the MK's main parking lot entrance and eventually weaves to the intersection of World Drive and Seven Seas Drive. Major construction in the area.

All the best!

 

[BethanyF]

We leave Friday for our segmented drive to WDW. We normally go all the way through, but this time we are stopping to visit friends near Nashville. And we didnt want to be rude and leave their home at 6am, so we are going to hang out a bit and then go as far as possible, but no further than Valdosta, before finalizing the drive the next morning.

Here's the plan:
Friday - Chicago to Nashville (57/24). Probably on the road by 9am; in Nashville for dinner
Saturday - Nashville to *hopefully* Valdosta (24/75). On the road no later than 2; in Valdosta at about 10 or 11
Sunday - Valdosta to WDW (75/FL Turnpike). Sleep in and leave after breakfast; get to WDW area late morning, early afternoon.

I'm assuming construction won't be a major issue in January until we get further south. But is there anything we should be aware of?

 

[Gr8t Fan]

We leave Friday for our segmented drive to WDW. We normally go all the way through, but this time we are stopping to visit friends near Nashville. And we didnt want to be rude and leave their home at 6am, so we are going to hang out a bit and then go as far as possible, but no further than Valdosta, before finalizing the drive the next morning.

Here's the plan:
Friday - Chicago to Nashville (57/24). Probably on the road by 9am; in Nashville for dinner
Saturday - Nashville to *hopefully* Valdosta (24/75). On the road no later than 2; in Valdosta at about 10 or 11
Sunday - Valdosta to WDW (75/FL Turnpike). Sleep in and leave after breakfast; get to WDW area late morning, early afternoon.

I'm assuming construction won't be a major issue in January until we get further south. But is there anything we should be aware of?

We just returned to Chicago from a two week trip on 1/7/18 (I-57/24/75 to the Turnpike). Pockets of construction here and there but nothing major. Not sure what the weather will be like for your drive, but be aware that Georgia doesn't salt their roads, they lay some type of gravel that does nothing in freezing rain and/or snow, other than make a mess. We saw lots of spinouts while driving. Not sure if they salt the roads in Tennessee either. Drive carefully and slowly if the roads are slick.

 

[BethanyF]

Thanks for the reminder about GA - I will be sure to keep my DH in check and try to get out of Nashville sooner so we can get through the GA mountains earlier in the day.

 

[macraven]

Georgia sprays brine on the highway and main streets in the town

No heavy snow equipment like they have in the North

But if it rains, that water will wash away the brine

Monday morning 35-40 car pile up on 75 at Ringgold exit
Took 4 hours to haul vehicles out and then reopen that section of 75
at about 11:00 that day

It was on national news that day
I missed the pile up two hours earlier

Be very careful when 75 gets sleet or freezing rain

 

[BC1836]

Whenever possible, use Waze or some other appropriate app or device when approaching I-4 off of I-95. A recent accident on I-4 caused huge delays, and it wasn't event caused by the ongoing construction. Take care and have an alternative route planned.

All the best!

 

[disneysteve]

We are on day 1 of our return trip to New Jersey. We left Windsor Palms at 9:15 this morning. We stopped for lunch outside of Jacksonville and had dinner in Lumberton, NC. Exit 22 is a frequent stopping point for us. We've been there multiple times, including on the way down last week.

We just stopped for the night in Emporia, VA.

We had smooth sailing the whole way today. No problems to report at all.

 

[BC1836]

After 46 2,000+ mile round trip drives to and from WDW, we just returned home after a one-night stay at the GFR (we needed a quick overnight Disney "fix" after our afternoon visit of a few weeks ago). As Floridians, our two-hour round trip is quite different than the 34-36 hours drives we had when we lived in NJ. Our main routes are the FL TPK and route 429.

All the best!

 

[ddluvsdisney]

After 46 2,000+ mile round trip drives to and from WDW, we just returned home after a one-night stay at the GFR (we needed a quick overnight Disney "fix" after our afternoon visit of a few weeks ago). As Floridians, our two-hour round trip is quite different than the 34-36 hours drives we had when we lived in NJ. Our main routes are the FL TPK and route 429.

All the best!

Love route 429!!! So relaxing and pretty.

 

[BC1836]

If you haven't made a marathon drive to WDW in a while, you will notice BIG construction efforts taking place at the MK entrance. No longer do GFR, Poly, CR and FW guests have to take the far right lanes at the entrance; instead, there's a temporary separate road that eventually returns drivers to World Drive just before the Seven Seas intersection.

All the best!

 

[Cheerio]

What's parking like at Disney Springs now? Last time we were there the orange garage was just opening and there was tons of construction.

We leave in 11 days for our 2660 mile round trip adventure

 

[disneysteve]

What's parking like at Disney Springs now? Last time we were there the orange garage was just opening and there was tons of construction.

Far better than it used to be. Orange and Lime garages are done. Construction is pretty much gone.

 

[Cheerio]

Far better than it used to be. Orange and Lime garages are done. Construction is pretty much gone.

Perfect thanks! Can you get to the garages from either direction now? Last time, could only get in it from the westbound lanes.