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

[disneysteve]

Quick welcome center update. The blue sign is still there. It’s just at the far end, not where it used to be.

We left Windsor Palms about 8:45am today. We stopped for lunch just north of Jacksonville and dinner in Lumberton, NC. Now we're down for the night in Chester, VA, just south of Richmond. Hopefully we'll roll into our driveway around 3pm tomorrow.

There was a small construction zone with a 55 speed limit at one point but other than that, smooth sailing. We did see a bad accident in Georgia, I think. All 3 lanes had slowed to a crawl for some reason so everyone was braking, except a guy in the left lane who clearly wasn't paying attention and plowed into the car in front of him while going 70mph and then careened into the median. We didn't hang around to see the aftermath but scary to watch.

Be safe out there. No phones. No texting. No messing with the GPS. Hands on the wheel and eyes on the road and if you're tired, pull off and rest.

 

[BC1836]

Be safe out there. No phones. No texting. No messing with the GPS. Hands on the wheel and eyes on the road and if you're tired, pull off and rest.

Indeed!

Al the best!

 

[artesian]

Exactly what I do. When I was 16, ( a long time ago lol ) I was driving down to the Jersey shore and passed a truck. The truck was blowing oil out of its exhaust! All over the car and windshield. Yup, never attempt to get oil off a windshield with the wiper fluid and the wipers while driving.
Ever since then I don’t leave home without paper towels and a full bottle of windex.
I’m the same way, I can’t sleep knowing my car is baking in the Florida sun all day covered in every bug from Pa to Orlando. Lol

I made the mistake last trip we made. I knew i was being hit with droplets of diesel from the truck in front of me but never dawned on me it would smear so bad. Needless to say it scared the crap out of me and had to pull over to at least get it clean enough to see. Next exit wound up use a gas station restroom to get some soapy wipes going to get it clean. Will for sure carry a cleaning kit for my next trip down

 

[AaronInWI]

10 days (actually 9 days and about 7.5 hours) until we head out for our fourth drive to WDW! We'll be making our normal stop for the night in Georgia on our way down from Wisconsin. We're staying in Marietta for the first time after a couple stays in Morrow, GA. There's a craft brewery with a tap room about a 3 minute drive from the hotel, and they brew their own root beer so my wife will be happy as well. Then on to the Drury Inn in Orlando for one night before checking into BLT for a week.

 

[amcnj]

10 days (actually 9 days and about 7.5 hours) until we head out for our fourth drive to WDW! We'll be making our normal stop for the night in Georgia on our way down from Wisconsin. We're staying in Marietta for the first time after a couple stays in Morrow, GA. There's a craft brewery with a tap room about a 3 minute drive from the hotel, and they brew their own root beer so my wife will be happy as well. Then on to the Drury Inn in Orlando for one night before checking into BLT for a week.

Have a safe drive and wonderful trip!

 

[tguz]

We made our 3rd drive from SE Iowa to Disney World this Summer and we have always went through St. Louis - Nashville - chattanooga - Atlanta - Disney World. That drive just seems to get more congested, more accidents, and more stop n go. On the way back this time we tried a new route up through Tupelo - Memphis - St louis - home and we liked it a lot more. The stated time was more but it seemed quicker as we were never stopped dead on the interstate like we normally were through Atl. We also got lucky and didn't get caught up in any accident delays. Plus, we stayed overnight in Tupelo and saw the birthplace of Elvis.

 

[BC1836]

dvczerfs, the all-time record holder [see page 1; post #1) will be on the road from PA to WDW. Get ready!

All the best!

 

[pwdebbie]

dvczerfs, the all-time record holder [see page 1; post #1) will be on the road from PA to WDW. Get ready!

All the best!

Safe travels, Dave! I have no doubt which route you are taking. Wave east when you see the Penn State Mont Alto signs.

 

[dvczerfs]

Safe travels, Dave! I have no doubt which route you are taking. Wave east when you see the Penn State Mont Alto signs.

Will do. We still plan on leaving 3am from Pa and heading south on Friday . We take the inland route regardless, just easier from where we live. We had planned on driving through to the Fl. Ga boarder and spending the night and hitting the road at 3am to complete our trip to the world bright and early Saturday morning.
I have several hotel reservations I made when all this started just in case.
(Not my first rodeo) I have a friend in Florida who, I'll just say works for the government lol, who gives me a hand getting through these natural disasters.
Each reservation I check to make sure I'm good to go till the next stop or if I need to hold up. Should be interesting, a little less stressful than Irma because I'm behind it, not in front of it this time.
We are staying two weeks in a one bedroom at the Boardwalk so if I'm a day or two late it's not to bad.
I've been there a few times and have reservations to go back in February so I'm not really to interested in dying over a few days. Lol
Good luck to all my friends and family in the potential path of this thing. Hopefully she takes a more easterly path.
I'll fill you in when I can.

 

[BC1836]

Watch out: Just saw the first Lovebug of September here in our central FL neighborhood. More on the way!

All the best!

 

[BC1836]

dvczerfs has arrived! Time to update the all-time records on page 1.

All the best!

 

[dvczerfs]

We made it!!! We departed Friday at 3am from Pa. Weather was great, haven't seen a cloud since Thursday. Dorian was hitting the outer banks area for the most part when we started our drive. We take the 81/77/26/95 route and didn't see any signs of Dorian on the entire trip.
It was smooth sailing till we hit Charlotte NC, we used the newly opened express lanes and cruised into SC and onto I26.
When we got onto I26, which basically connects Columbia to Charleston, we hit traffic, returning evacuees back to Charleston.
Wasn't too bad, crawled, 50mph, crawled, 30mph etc.
I had a feeling we would hit some kind of traffic, people were evacuated and the storm ended in that area late Thursday night.
We hit I95 south and didn't have any traffic issues the rest of the way. It added two hours onto our trip and was able to make some of it up in GA.
We stopped at the Hampton inn in Kingland Ga at 6pm.
We hit the road at 3am Saturday morning and drove the rest of the way in. We arrived at the world around 5:30am.
At that time of the day, we cruised through Jax and Orlando.
Even at that time of day, on a Saturday, you take your life in your hands in Orlando. Very little to no traffic but people dont stay in there lanes.
If your hitting that area other than in the wee hours of the morning, I would take 417, what a mess.
All in all, it was a great trip coming down. After watching the weather forecast over the holiday weekend, I was just happy we made it as planned.
That's it..... another drive to Florida in the books. We are here for two weeks and I'll report on the trip home.

 

[hearts8701]

You can purchase a SunPass at the welcome center and activated right there on a computer next to the SunPass kiosk
Publix Walgreens CVS are additional choices for purchasing

 

[BC1836]

The founder of this site thought it would be a good idea to treat the all-time record holder [see page 1] to a fireworks cruise (out of the GFR marina) and provide him and his wife with their favorite sparkling wine. Accomplished last Monday.

All the best!

 

[dvczerfs]

As always, we had a great time with BC and his wife. One of the best experiences we had at WDW in years. We can't wait to become residents so we can do this like this more often.
Here are some pics from that great night.

 

[BC1836]

We just arrived home after a one nighter at the BWI's Innkeeper's Cub. Since moving to Florida, our hour-long drive reminds us of our 46 round-trip NJ-WDW drives.

So who are the next members of this site who are considering a move to Florida?

All the best!

 

[BC1836]

dvczerfs made it home to PA earlier this evening after departing WDW early in the morning.

All the best!

 

[pwdebbie]

So little activity on this thread in the last several months. I wonder if fewer people are driving because of the "penalty" (having to pay for parking at the resorts) for doing so.

 

[justreading]

I'm driving down for my early November trip. I've relied on this thread for soooooo much great info. Driving is still less expensive than flying for us even with the parking fee. And I'm lucky to be able to take my time driving. No straight through trips for me.

 

[disneysteve]

So little activity on this thread in the last several months. I wonder if fewer people are driving because of the "penalty" (having to pay for parking at the resorts) for doing so.

We stay offsite so that's not a factor. We drove down last month (and I posted earlier).

I guess the onsite parking fee could weigh in to the calculation but if you're like us and would never go without a car, we'd be paying to park the rental anyway so that's a wash.