For 2,000+ mile round-trip drivers only!

[Goofygirl17]

I just posted a thread about driving down to Disney this week. Nothing like a last minute decision. One of my concerns is that it would just be DDs and me- DH has to work.

We'd be leaving from the New Haven area and only aiming for our friends' house in Maryland the first night. Then we'd like to get at least halfway to Orlando before stopping the second night.

Any ideas or thoughts?

I also would need to decide whether to take our full-size extra cab Dodge ram or my new Honda Accord. Obviously the accord gets better mileage but the truck has more room and feels safer on the highways (plus it's fun to drive )

 

[dvczerfs]

Just wanted to give a quick report for the 2000 mile folks.

Our trip was 1091 miles one way. We stopped on I-95 outside of Savannah, GA at the SpringHill Suites.

We have 2 girls age 6 and 9. We stopped for a quick breakfast at the Waffle House via the GPS. It was a really quick breakfast because there was no Waffle House, just an empty lot, LOL. Ended up with Pop Tarts in the car.

We stopped for lunch which was maybe a half hour at Arby's and dinner at a restaurant for maybe an hour. We stopped at every welcome center for bathroom breaks in each state (5 centers on the way to Savannah.) We probably stopped at 4 other rest areas as we traveled.

754 miles and 12 hours and 46 minutes according to googlemaps. We left at 4 am sharp and checked in at 6:52 pm. So the trip was just about 14 hours with all stops. Got into only 1 traffic tie-up which was a slow car running with it's blinkers on and traffic trying to merge around them on a 2 lane (Rt. 26 near Columbia.)

We left our house and it was 59 degrees out. I stopped at Columbia, NC for gas and was nearly knocked off my feet getting out of the vehicle. It was 103 according to our thermometer on the center mirror display.

Savannah to Pop Century was about 4.5 hours. We left around 7:30, stopped for a quick early lunch around 10:30 and got to Pop around noon.

We averaged about 20-21 mpg in our Mazda Tribute, which I expected better. 4 stops for gas on the way down and 4 stops on the way home of about $25 each time (filling about 10 gallons each time, which is around 3/4 tank for us.) So, the cost of fuel was about $200 for us.

On the way home, we pulled out at 3:15 am. We arrived home at 10:40 with the welcome centers, rest areas, and only lunch stop (dinner was grabbing something and eating in the car on the road.) We drove straight through, which wasn't quite as bad as I thought it would be. The worst was when we finally reached PA and still had 2 hours to go. So, total for the straight through was

Again, only a single traffic tie-up on Rt 77 in Virginia. I don't know what it was because we detoured around it for 10 miles. It gave us a nice scenic route through VA though. I think I want to move to Virginia now.

If I had to do it over again, I would drive the 18 hours straight through leaving home at 3 am. It wasn't all that bad driving for that long on the way home. Originally I had the thoughts of arriving at noon, which we did, and running straight to Magic Kingdom for the magical moment of my daughters seeing the castle, which we did. We went to Magic Kingdom and it was so outrageously hot that we immediately went back to the resort. I would recommend NOT going to a park upon arrival and just stay at the resort. Not that the pools are very relaxing for us Pennsylvanians because I think I got burnt more from the pool water temperature than the sun, hehe. The pool water is HOT folks! When you are use to 65-70 degree water, jumping into a pool in Florida feels like you just removed the top off your hot water tank and jumped in.

welcome back!!! we leave at 3:30am and drive non stop on the way home. we pull in the driveway about 7:30-8pm. glad you liked the drive. those are the waffle houses there are!!!! love the plus 50 degree temp. shock!!!! glad you had nice trip.... whens the next one??????

 

[dvczerfs]

hi bc and everyone, a bit off topic but i posted about a month ago my dw had a mass behing her eye on her optic nerve. she had her operation on friday at wills eye hosp. (jefferson univ.) in philly. it was a non cancerous mass!!! we came home saturday morning and she is doing well. looks like she got beat up but shes doing well. the dr. wants to do some radiation therapy to kill it so it dont spread.(they dont like to cut around the optic nerve).he was pleased and said she will be fine. thanks for the well wishes!!! if you or anyone you know ever has an eye problem, wills eye , jefferson univ. in philly have the best drs. in the world. the drs.,nurses,aides even the guy who takes out the trash in your room cant do enough for you really make you feel like family. even the local retirees in the cafe, they have no idea who you are, what your there for but every morning, in there best philly accent, i got a hey buddy, how ya doin today, eveything goin ok? i miss those guys.i love when they would start fighting over the mayor. first words out of dw mouth when the dr. said youll be fine, no cancer, was start plaining junes trip to the contemp. i love that girl!!! thanks again!!!

 

[disneydreamingdebby]

hi bc and everyone, a bit off topic but i posted about a month ago my dw had a mass behing her eye on her optic nerve. she had her operation on friday at wills eye hosp. (jefferson univ.) in philly.

Keeping with off topic... glad she is doing well, and it isn't cancer. My SIL is a nurse at Jeff in the Surg. ICU. My dad was recently there for a procedure. His doctors and nurses were wonderful (colleagues of my SIL - so they better have been! )

I will say prayers for smooth radiation treatments.

 

[loveysbydesign]

just got back 2 hours ago...more info,. to come tomorrow morning about our drive!

 

[nono]

I also would need to decide whether to take our full-size extra cab Dodge ram or my new Honda Accord. Obviously the accord gets better mileage but the truck has more room and feels safer on the highways (plus it's fun to drive )

I'd go with the one you like driving the most! As for the rest, I'll go look for your thread and see if there's anything to add there.

 

[disneydreamingdebby]

We're here at the Microtel! Had a great day. 665 miles so far.

Glad you were able to stay ahead of the traffic problems for the most part. Hope you are having a wonderful trip!

Deb

 

[loveysbydesign]

Well we survived our 1st drive and I have to admit that it really wasn't bad at all! We took the 78-81-77-26-95-4 route and is was great! I would drive it again in a heartbeat!

We left at 3:30p.m.(a little later than planned but we couldn't leave until the kids I babysit for were picked up) on Friday the 11th, stopped to eat at a Bob Evans and pulled into the Microtel Inn in Christiansburg, VA at 11:00 just as the warning light on the gas tank went "bing!". Would have gotten there sooner but we had more potty breaks than anticipated, as well as many trucks in the left lane holding up traffic on 81 once we got into Virginia and we missed the Microtel on our 1st pass through town...it was set back far from the road and hard to see, the manager said many people can't find it!

Slept til 7:30, ate free breakfast, got gas and hit the road by 9:30. We hoped to get to Windsor Hills by 10:00. We had quite a few potty breaks, stopped for lunch at a McD's near Charlotte(traffic was not bad here at all) and hit 1-4 at 8:45p.m....made it to WH at 10:10(there was a lot of traffic on I-4.)

 

[dvczerfs]

Well we survived our 1st drive and I have to admit that it really wasn't bad at all! We took the 78-81-77-26-95-4 route and is was great! I would drive it again in a heartbeat!

We left at 3:30p.m.(a little later than planned but we couldn't leave until the kids I babysit for were picked up) on Friday the 11th, stopped to eat at a Bob Evans and pulled into the Microtel Inn in Christiansburg, VA at 11:00 just as the warning light on the gas tank went "bing!". Would have gotten there sooner but we had more potty breaks than anticipated, as well as many trucks in the left lane holding up traffic on 81 once we got into Virginia and we missed the Microtel on our 1st pass through town...it was set back far from the road and hard to see, the manager said many people can't find it!

Slept til 7:30, ate free breakfast, got gas and hit the road aby 9:30. We hoped to get to Windsor Hills by 10:00. We had quite a few potty breaks, stopped for lunch at a McD's near Charlotte(traffic was not bad here at all) and hit 1-4 at 8:45p.m....made it to WH at 10:10(there was a lot of traffic on I-4.)

glad you had a great time!!!!! i was woundering how you made out.

 

[dvczerfs]

Keeping with off topic... glad she is doing well, and it isn't cancer. My SIL is a nurse at Jeff in the Surg. ICU. My dad was recently there for a procedure. His doctors and nurses were wonderful (colleagues of my SIL - so they better have been! )

I will say prayers for smooth radiation treatments.

thanks!!! she was operated on, on the 5th floor and stayed the night on the 7th. dw nurse from the recovery room 3 times on my cell to tell me know how she was doing.

 

[BC1836]

Just wanted to give a quick report for the 2000 mile folks.

Our trip was 1091 miles one way. We stopped on I-95 outside of Savannah, GA at the SpringHill Suites.

We have 2 girls age 6 and 9. We stopped for a quick breakfast at the Waffle House via the GPS. It was a really quick breakfast because there was no Waffle House, just an empty lot, LOL. Ended up with Pop Tarts in the car.

We stopped for lunch which was maybe a half hour at Arby's and dinner at a restaurant for maybe an hour. We stopped at every welcome center for bathroom breaks in each state (5 centers on the way to Savannah.) We probably stopped at 4 other rest areas as we traveled.

754 miles and 12 hours and 46 minutes according to googlemaps. We left at 4 am sharp and checked in at 6:52 pm. So the trip was just about 14 hours with all stops. Got into only 1 traffic tie-up which was a slow car running with it's blinkers on and traffic trying to merge around them on a 2 lane (Rt. 26 near Columbia.)

We left our house and it was 59 degrees out. I stopped at Columbia, NC for gas and was nearly knocked off my feet getting out of the vehicle. It was 103 according to our thermometer on the center mirror display.

Savannah to Pop Century was about 4.5 hours. We left around 7:30, stopped for a quick early lunch around 10:30 and got to Pop around noon.

We averaged about 20-21 mpg in our Mazda Tribute, which I expected better. 4 stops for gas on the way down and 4 stops on the way home of about $25 each time (filling about 10 gallons each time, which is around 3/4 tank for us.) So, the cost of fuel was about $200 for us.

On the way home, we pulled out at 3:15 am. We arrived home at 10:40 with the welcome centers, rest areas, and only lunch stop (dinner was grabbing something and eating in the car on the road.) We drove straight through, which wasn't quite as bad as I thought it would be. The worst was when we finally reached PA and still had 2 hours to go. So, total for the straight through was

Again, only a single traffic tie-up on Rt 77 in Virginia. I don't know what it was because we detoured around it for 10 miles. It gave us a nice scenic route through VA though. I think I want to move to Virginia now.

If I had to do it over again, I would drive the 18 hours straight through leaving home at 3 am. It wasn't all that bad driving for that long on the way home. Originally I had the thoughts of arriving at noon, which we did, and running straight to Magic Kingdom for the magical moment of my daughters seeing the castle, which we did. We went to Magic Kingdom and it was so outrageously hot that we immediately went back to the resort. I would recommend NOT going to a park upon arrival and just stay at the resort. Not that the pools are very relaxing for us Pennsylvanians because I think I got burnt more from the pool water temperature than the sun, hehe. The pool water is HOT folks! When you are use to 65-70 degree water, jumping into a pool in Florida feels like you just removed the top off your hot water tank and jumped in.

Excellent report! And, yes, an early, early morning departure generally works best since it allows you to avoid the major rush-hour traffic areas.

hi bc and everyone, a bit off topic but i posted about a month ago my dw had a mass behing her eye on her optic nerve. she had her operation on friday at wills eye hosp. (jefferson univ.) in philly. it was a non cancerous mass!!! we came home saturday morning and she is doing well. looks like she got beat up but shes doing well. the dr. wants to do some radiation therapy to kill it so it dont spread.(they dont like to cut around the optic nerve).he was pleased and said she will be fine. thanks for the well wishes!!! if you or anyone you know ever has an eye problem, wills eye , jefferson univ. in philly have the best drs. in the world. the drs.,nurses,aides even the guy who takes out the trash in your room cant do enough for you really make you feel like family. even the local retirees in the cafe, they have no idea who you are, what your there for but every morning, in there best philly accent, i got a hey buddy, how ya doin today, eveything goin ok? i miss those guys.i love when they would start fighting over the mayor. first words out of dw mouth when the dr. said youll be fine, no cancer, was start plaining junes trip to the contemp. i love that girl!!! thanks again!!!

Great news!

Well we survived our 1st drive and I have to admit that it really wasn't bad at all! We took the 78-81-77-26-95-4 route and is was great! I would drive it again in a heartbeat!

We left at 3:30p.m.(a little later than planned but we couldn't leave until the kids I babysit for were picked up) on Friday the 11th, stopped to eat at a Bob Evans and pulled into the Microtel Inn in Christiansburg, VA at 11:00 just as the warning light on the gas tank went "bing!". Would have gotten there sooner but we had more potty breaks than anticipated, as well as many trucks in the left lane holding up traffic on 81 once we got into Virginia and we missed the Microtel on our 1st pass through town...it was set back far from the road and hard to see, the manager said many people can't find it!

Slept til 7:30, ate free breakfast, got gas and hit the road by 9:30. We hoped to get to Windsor Hills by 10:00. We had quite a few potty breaks, stopped for lunch at a McD's near Charlotte(traffic was not bad here at all) and hit 1-4 at 8:45p.m....made it to WH at 10:10(there was a lot of traffic on I-4.)

Another excellent report!

Hey, sharadoc, where (town, state) did you stay on your overnight stop?

 

[lucyem]

Looking at my 3 day drive to WDW this fall. We normally never make reservations but decided to for this trip because I will be alone with the kids.

First stop Winchester VA - Any hotel recs? I did a quick search of the forum and none listed. We have never taken the 81 route before.

Second night Savannah I found some recs so should be set there.

There is always a chance we may leave a day earlier and stay at a relatives house. That gets us 4 hours closer which would make Winchester too early to stop. I am not sure if having an extra day of driving will be easier or harder. Which would you prefer: 4 hours, 8 hours, 8 hours, 5 hours or 10 hours, 10 hours, 5 hours?

 

[loveysbydesign]

On the drive home we left much later than we planned as we didn't realize DTD didn't open until 9:30(except for Goofy's Candy Co,. which opened at 9:00a.m.) and we had to make a quick stop and get a 2010 baseball for my dad for Father's day. (We had planned to get it at DHS on Thurs. afternoon but our little guy got very sick with 104 fever so we were unable to return to the park. We went to the Centra Care Clinic on Rte 192 on Fri. a.m. and found out he had strep throat....on his birthday..poor guy)

Anyway so we didn't hit the road until 10:30a.m. on Sat. the 19th. As we were driving home our poor little guy had only had 3 doses of antibiotics by this time and was still burning up at 103.5 degrees..had to alternate Motrin and Tylenol every 3 hours to keep it below 102...which he hated taking.) After a few potty breaks, gas break and lunch at Burger King (blech...now I remember why we don't usually go there but the kids wanted to eat there)...than another gas break to fill it up all the way and dinner Cracker Barrel we pulled into the Best Western in Statesville, N.C. around 7:45p.m. We all were in bed by 9:00p.m. It was a rough night as little Ryan was up every hour or so. We were all up by 7:00, ate the yummy free breakfast(much better than the Microtel one) and were on the road by 8:30....we wanted to get home asap as our little guy was miserable. After a few potty breaks, gas breaks and lunch at Mrs. Rowe's restaurant in Staunton, VA for Father's Day(delicious) and no traffic issues(other than crazy drivers doing 55 m.p.h. in the left lane when the posted speed limit was 70 m.p.h.)-we made it to home at 6:30p.m.

 

[danalee]

awe hope your little guy gets feeling better

thanks so much for the trip details, driving down for the first time in September! this thread has helped alot

 

[loveysbydesign]

awe hope your little guy gets feeling better

thanks so much for the trip details, driving down for the first time in September! this thread has helped alot

Thanks...his fever broke about 10:00 Sun. morning while we were driving and it seemed to perk him up a bit. Otherwise we would have only done the drive-thru for lunch. This thread is great! Our drive was much nicer than I had anticipated, especially because my kids hate long car rides and we had never driven more than 4 hours before!

 

[BC1836]

Thanks...his fever broke about 10:00 Sun. morning while we were driving and it seemed to perk him up a bit. Otherwise we would have only done the drive-thru for lunch. This thread is great! Our drive was much nicer than I had anticipated, especially because my kids hate long car rides and we had never driven more than 4 hours before!

We are pleased to hear that things are improving healthwise for that young "2,000+ Mile Round-Trip" traveler.

[The folks on this thread are particularly thoughtful; perhaps it's part of the long-drive traveler's personality.]

All the best.

 

[Marshay]

Thanks for the mini-trip reports. It's making our excitement even greater!

We are doing our first drive down in about 18 days!!!!!

 

[Goofygirl17]

loveysbydesign- glad the little guy is feeling better.

dvczerfs- I'm glad your DW's surgery went well.

I've booked our resorts so we're leaving on Wednesday!! Yes that is the day after tomorrow I've got the car cleaned out (needs to be vacuumed though), checked the reg and ins card, and started packing clothes etc. I also printed out park hours and UG's recommended park chart.

I still have a ton to do!! DH is going to ask his friend for directions to their house in MD and the best time/route to take for our first day on the road.

I have never driven south of Va Beach so this is going to be an adventure! Also, DH has to work so it's just the girls and me so I want to be as prepared as possible!

Any suggestions for our route from MD down to WDW? I haven't checked our GPS yet.


Thank you!

 

[BC1836]

Any suggestions for our route from MD down to WDW? I haven't checked our GPS yet.

Thank you!

Avoid the southern MD/northern VA area at rush hour (its actually several hours around "rush hour")!

 

[disneydreamingdebby]

loveysbydesign- glad the little guy is feeling better.

dvczerfs- I'm glad your DW's surgery went well.

I've booked our resorts so we're leaving on Wednesday!! Yes that is the day after tomorrow I've got the car cleaned out (needs to be vacuumed though), checked the reg and ins card, and started packing clothes etc. I also printed out park hours and UG's recommended park chart.
!

No route recommendations - we are going straight 95. Thought you might want to do online check-in though.