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

[BearHawk]

You said in a previous post that you were going to drive I-95. If you are in south central PA (as I am), why not do the I-81 route? It is a very nice ride.

Due to the time we are going (overnight) traffic shouldn't be an issue and we are super close to I83 and then take 695 to 95.

 

[marius97]

Making our first LONG over night dive...looking at just short of 2300 miles round trip...Speciffically Atlanta, but for any big city really, what time would you expect the morning rush hour to start? We are somewhat locked into leaving between 6-7:00pm on a Thur. That would put us in Atlanta between 6-7 the next morning. With that long of a drive, you can't really plan too closely. One slowdown for construction in Indiana puts us in Atlanta during the worst of rush hour...want to avoid that.

 

[Lucy6]

Just returned-drove from Chgo to WDW

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

...and would do it again in a heartbeat!!

We left at 6:30PM Thursday from the south burbs and drove straight through, arrived at Pop at 3:00PM FL time the next day. So 19 1/2 hours total(would have been less, but hit a rain storm while going through Atlanta, which slowed us down).

We decided to leave in the evening so that ds13 and dd9 might sleep for most of the trip. This worked like a charm. The kids didn't sleep all night, but did sleep from about 11PM until 5AM. We had planned to stop for breakfast after going through Atlanta, but ended up going to a drive through McD's and kept on going.

Yes, we were tired when we got there, but had no plans, just hung around the pool, settled in, got to bed early. We were up for rope drop the next morning, no problem.

Coming home, we decided to take two days. We stayed over in Chattanooga for the night, went up to see Lookout Mountain, then back on the road. The drive home took longer, we hit alot of traffic going through Atlanta(it was approx 4PM on a Saturday?), and hit quite a snow storm upon our return to Illinois(what the heck, it's April?).

We have already decided that we will be driving from now on...we were able to pack whatever we wanted, had the car for side trips, and saved alot of money. We estimated that we spent approx $200 on gas(three fill ups down and three back), $100 on hotel in TN(which included full breakfast, thank you Holiday Inn Express), and approx $50 on other food. We could not have flown for that amount!!

Overall, a great experience for my family. The drive through TN and KY was beautiful. The kids even thought it was a great experience, and agreed that this was a great way to go! Hope this helps others.


I started a post about this trip, and someone requested that I also post this here on the 2000+ thread. Hope this helps someone...

 

[treeface]

Making our first LONG over night dive...looking at just short of 2300 miles round trip...Speciffically Atlanta, but for any big city really, what time would you expect the morning rush hour to start? We are somewhat locked into leaving between 6-7:00pm on a Thur. That would put us in Atlanta between 6-7 the next morning. With that long of a drive, you can't really plan too closely. One slowdown for construction in Indiana puts us in Atlanta during the worst of rush hour...want to avoid that.

If you can get to Atlanta around 6am, you should do just fine. After 7 might be a different story. We always plan to be there midday, leave late afternoon the day before, stay in southern KY, then drive the rest of the trip the next day. From Atlanta, it's about 7 hours to the world.

We will be doing this again in May, leaving the 21st, staying in Tampa the 22nd and then WDW for six nights before heading back to northern IN. We were just there for Christmas and this driving plan worked out perfect for us. On the return trip, we drive straight through, about 17.5 hours, 4 stops for gas, food, bathroom, etc. Plan to do only three stops this return trip, car gets better gas mileage.

Hope this helps and have a great trip.

 

[marius97]

If you can get to Atlanta around 6am, you should do just fine. After 7 might be a different story. We always plan to be there midday, leave late afternoon the day before, stay in southern KY, then drive the rest of the trip the next day. From Atlanta, it's about 7 hours to the world.

We will be doing this again in May, leaving the 21st, staying in Tampa the 22nd and then WDW for six nights before heading back to northern IN. We were just there for Christmas and this driving plan worked out perfect for us. On the return trip, we drive straight through, about 17.5 hours, 4 stops for gas, food, bathroom, etc. Plan to do only three stops this return trip, car gets better gas mileage.

Hope this helps and have a great trip.

Mind me asking...where in northern Indiana? We are trying to figure out how long it will take. Hard to figure how long the potty breaks will take for the kids. We are actually about 20 minutes over the border into southwestern Michigan.

 

[Disneycrazymom]

For those who know Atlanta traffic patterns. Which would be better? We could leave STL at about 1am and hit Atlanta around 10 am, OR we could leave STL at about 5 am and hit Atlanta at about 1-2?

I mistakenly bought Muny tickets for the night before we begin our drive. They are season tickets and I really didn't consider the way that would work out. Anyway DH could stay home and try to sleep while I take the kids to the show. Since they are up late we could just hit the road when we get home? Or we could all go and then sleep a few hours and start in the morning.

Any thoughts on what is better?

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

For those who know Atlanta traffic patterns. Which would be better? We could leave STL at about 1am and hit Atlanta around 10 am, OR we could leave STL at about 5 am and hit Atlanta at about 1-2?

I mistakenly bought Muny tickets for the night before we begin our drive. They are season tickets and I really didn't consider the way that would work out. Anyway DH could stay home and try to sleep while I take the kids to the show. Since they are up late we could just hit the road when we get home? Or we could all go and then sleep a few hours and start in the morning.

Any thoughts on what is better?

The past few years after leaving from Cleveland, Tennessee my family and I have got to Atlanta around 10:00 AM and never ran into traffic problems.

 

[treeface]

Mind me asking...where in northern Indiana? We are trying to figure out how long it will take. Hard to figure how long the potty breaks will take for the kids. We are actually about 20 minutes over the border into southwestern Michigan.

We're in Goshen, about 20 miles southeast of South Bend. I have it calculated to about 1000 miles, but the GPS says that my home is 945 miles from OKW at WDW. I like that numver better so we'll go with that. It also says that if I were to leave now, I would arrive at OKW at 12:11 pm tomorrow. Feel free to pm me if you need more info. We've made this trip too many times to count as it's usually easier for us to drive.

Trina

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

You can join me in planning for the 4000 mile roundtrip to WDW...how to survive and maintain your sanity at the same time. I'm already thinking afternoon beach stops on my way down I-95 might be my miracle solution. Are there any nice beaches along the way folks?

Rhode Island has Misquamicut Beach in Westerly - about 16 easy/direct miles off of I-95 exit 1 (on Ct. border). It's known for it's 'big' waves.

There are many others but Misquamicut is probably the easiest/quickest to get to from I-95.

 

[BC1836]

Has anyone ever stayed in Rocky Mount, NC on their way back home from WDW? What is this area like? We are looking at the Best Western I-95 Goldrock for our trip back home. It looks like it would take about 9 hours or so to get from Orlando to that point, and then another 7-8 hours to the Lehigh Valley. Looks like it would be a good stopping point for us. Any suggestions?

Many hotels and motels in Rocky Mount. All the well-known names and then some.

Our I-95 trips south from the VA/NC to the FL border have averaged about 7 1/2 hours. After that, it's three hours to Exit #67 on I-4 (add more time for rush hour encounters).

All the best.

 

[dannysmommyval]

Hi everyone,
I am traveling from S NJ and arriving at WDW for check in on 4-19 - I want to leave Saturday with an overnight stop and my Mom thinks we should leave Friday night.

Anyone know if I leave Friday nite 10pm or so, and have one overnight stop where that would put me as far as the check in? I think it may be too early...

Kids & grandparents so we will have to make quite a few pit stops....

What are your thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[Gales4Goofy]

I know this isn't quite the answer to your question, but I'd suggest leaving at a different time. We've driven from the Philly area a few times, and we've had the best success leaving at about 4AM. The kids will sleep for the first 4 hours or so, and we're around Washington DC before they start waking up. It allows the driver to get a few hours of sleep before you hit the road as well.

We'll stop for bathroom breaks, maybe breakfast, definitely lunch, and end up at the GA/FL border around 7pm. Stay overnight there, then its a simple drive of about 5 hours the next day. If we left at 4am Friday, we'd be there about noon on Saturday. You'll get a good night's sleep, and a relatively short drive on day 2 so you're not too tired to start enjoying yourself when you get there.


If you leave at 10pm, how long would you plan to drive before stopping for the night? It will probably mean a long drive the second day, and mean that you;re in late and going pretty much straight to bed when you get there. Maybe I'm in the minority, but I'd rather drive during the day. So much construction happens at night that I don't really see the benefit of staying up half the night driving....especially in the area between Washington and Richmond. Seems they're always doing something there.


Just my 2 cents. Hope your trip is magical!

 

[marcyinPA]

I know this isn't quite the answer to your question, but I'd suggest leaving at a different time. We've driven from the Philly area a few times, and we've had the best success leaving at about 4AM. The kids will sleep for the first 4 hours or so, and we're around Washington DC before they start waking up. It allows the driver to get a few hours of sleep before you hit the road as well.

We'll stop for bathroom breaks, maybe breakfast, definitely lunch, and end up at the GA/FL border around 7pm. Stay overnight there, then its a simple drive of about 5 hours the next day. If we left at 4am Friday, we'd be there about noon on Saturday. You'll get a good night's sleep, and a relatively short drive on day 2 so you're not too tired to start enjoying yourself when you get there.


If you leave at 10pm, how long would you plan to drive before stopping for the night? It will probably mean a long drive the second day, and mean that you;re in late and going pretty much straight to bed when you get there. Maybe I'm in the minority, but I'd rather drive during the day. So much construction happens at night that I don't really see the benefit of staying up half the night driving....especially in the area between Washington and Richmond. Seems they're always doing something there.


Just my 2 cents. Hope your trip is magical!

We are probably going to go with this plan too. We were going to drive to Annapolis and stay o'night with the in-laws on Thursday night, and then drive to Savannah on Friday, but my FIL is having a hip replacement and may not be ready for overnight guests then. SO, we're figuring out what time we should leave from here (Bethlehem) on Friday morning, to get to Savannah at a decent time so we can eat some dinner and the kids can swim/relax (we have the Fairfield I95 booked). I thought we should leave around 4 am, but DH thinks we can leave later (like 6 am). But if you are closer to Philly and leave at 4 am, it would make sense for us to leave from the LV that early too.

What do you do for your trip home? We are thinking about driving from Orlando to Rocky Mount NC on the first day (leave WDW around 11 am or so?), and then from Rocky Mount to home on Sunday.

Any suggestions??

 

[kristytru]

Hope this info helps someone:
We travel from Morris County NJ using 78-81s-77s-26e-95s.
We left 2 weeks ago Thurs 8:00AM. We had a lot of rain throo the whole trip and some DENSE fog in the blue ridge mountains. Below is a list of how long it took us to drive throo each state:

NJ 1 hour 4 min
PA 3 hr 21 min (with a McD stop for lunch)
MD 11 min
WV 24 min
V 5 hours 31 min (with a stop for dinner-about 45 min)
NC 1 hr 26 min
Stopped for the night at Fort Mill KOA on border
SC 4hr 13 min
GA 2 hrs 8 min
FL almost 5 hours cuz we hit 5:00 traffic. On the way home, it was only 4 hr

 

[mookie]

Just returned-drove from Chgo to WDW

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

...and would do it again in a heartbeat!!

We left at 6:30PM Thursday from the south burbs and drove straight through, arrived at Pop at 3:00PM FL time the next day. So 19 1/2 hours total(would have been less, but hit a rain storm while going through Atlanta, which slowed us down).

We decided to leave in the evening so that ds13 and dd9 might sleep for most of the trip. This worked like a charm. The kids didn't sleep all night, but did sleep from about 11PM until 5AM. We had planned to stop for breakfast after going through Atlanta, but ended up going to a drive through McD's and kept on going.

Yes, we were tired when we got there, but had no plans, just hung around the pool, settled in, got to bed early. We were up for rope drop the next morning, no problem.

Coming home, we decided to take two days. We stayed over in Chattanooga for the night, went up to see Lookout Mountain, then back on the road. The drive home took longer, we hit alot of traffic going through Atlanta(it was approx 4PM on a Saturday?), and hit quite a snow storm upon our return to Illinois(what the heck, it's April?).

We have already decided that we will be driving from now on...we were able to pack whatever we wanted, had the car for side trips, and saved alot of money. We estimated that we spent approx $200 on gas(three fill ups down and three back), $100 on hotel in TN(which included full breakfast, thank you Holiday Inn Express), and approx $50 on other food. We could not have flown for that amount!!

Overall, a great experience for my family. The drive through TN and KY was beautiful. The kids even thought it was a great experience, and agreed that this was a great way to go! Hope this helps others.


I started a post about this trip, and someone requested that I also post this here on the 2000+ thread. Hope this helps someone...

WOOO HOOO LUCY!!!!

I have been thinking about you and hoping you'd post and let us all know how things went. I have started getting a little nervous for our upcoming trip...I feel like no matter what I do to prepare that I still won't be prepared enough for this drive. Your post is giving me some confidence, girlfriend!

Glad you had a great trip. One quck question for ya...did you end up taking 65 or 57? I'm sure I'll have some more questions for you, but right now just wanted to say congrats on surviving the drive...it's making me think I can DO THIS!

 

[angwill]

I have a question for all those who take 75 through Atlanta. I will be driving through Atlanta at about 5-6pm on a Satuday and wondering if it is better to go 75 or 285 bypass. DH said the exits are in really bad neighborhoods on 285. Any suggestions.

Thanks,
Angela

 

[Mommytobree]

We have driven from Massachusetts 3 times. Usually we take 2 days, leave early in the morning, stay in Maryland that night, leave very very early the next morning so as not to hit the awful traffic, and then stay in Santee, South Carolina the next night. Next day we hit Orlando early afternoon.

This year though, we are taking Amtrak. Last trip was to much on my nerves. Too many Semi's..bad rain storms, and I saw sooo many accidents, it just freaked me out.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We just returned and we drove from South Jersey.

On the way down we left around 6:30 pm on a Thursday and got to Dunn, NC around 12:30-1am and slept there. Were out of the hotel at 8:30 am and got to Sanford, FL at 4:30 pm.

We hung out with DH's uncle, fiance and DH's grandma that evening. We went out to dinner, etc. We then slept there, got up early, had breakfast with the family and checked into the CBR on Saturday morning around 10:30 am.

ON the way back we drove straight through on a Sunday. We had to attend DH's uncle's wedding Saturday night so we had no choice.

Next time we go we will drive and stay overnight again. Although we won't stay with DH's uncle next time. We will leave around noon, drive about 12 hours. Stop and sleep. Get up early and get to Disney by noon. That's the plan anyway.

 

[Tjkane28]

OK,

So, while I knew there were others who drove long distances to get to WDW, I didn't realize there were so many. It's nice to know.

We [DW, DD (11), DS (9), and DS (6)] are leaving the Albany, NY area to make the 19 hour trip according to AAA for a June 21 check in.

I am thinking about leaving around 10 PM on the 19th, and driving the 12-13 hours to South Carolina and getting a room at the Best Western in Santee, SC. This leaves us about 6 hours to WDW according to the mapping software. I then plan to rest, swim, eat, shower for in Santee, and then leave for WDW about 2 AM.

I plan to be at the Beach Club at about 7-8 AM. No, the room likely won't be ready, but I feel we can get a relaxing day at Blizzard Beach in on Sunday before the room is ready and then head back to BC.

Crazy? Do-able?

 

[mjones73]

OK,

So, while I knew there were others who drove long distances to get to WDW, I didn't realize there were so many. It's nice to know.

We [DW, DD (11), DS (9), and DS (6)] are leaving the Albany, NY area to make the 19 hour trip according to AAA for a June 21 check in.

I am thinking about leaving around 10 PM on the 19th, and driving the 12-13 hours to South Carolina and getting a room at the Best Western in Santee, SC. This leaves us about 6 hours to WDW according to the mapping software. I then plan to rest, swim, eat, shower for in Santee, and then leave for WDW about 2 AM.

I plan to be at the Beach Club at about 7-8 AM. No, the room likely won't be ready, but I feel we can get a relaxing day at Blizzard Beach in on Sunday before the room is ready and then head back to BC.

Crazy? Do-able?

Crazy? No, Do-able? Yes. I like driving at night personally, a lot less traffic on the road to deal with.