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

[Gowahoowa]

Awesome thread. Thanks!

100,000 views!


We started with a question on Dec. 6, 2007: did anyone else drive 2,000+ round-trip miles to WDW? The answer, obviously, was YES!
In fact, we originally were asking about multiple trips per year.

This is now one of the most active and viewed threads on the TRANSPORTATION board. Not counting the sticky threads, we only trail the one dedicated to the DINGS airline fares.

And this thread is approaching the 2,000th post!

Since post No. 1, so much information has been shared. Posters have provided detailed information to those who never taken the looooong drive and have shared experiences with those who had. "Helpful" is the word that immediately comes to mind when this thread is mentioned.

Dec. 6, 2007: view #1; Sept. 19, 2009: view #100,000.

In any event, it's time to get back to the topic at hand....

All the best.

 

[MarriedToMyHero]

But, to the person asking if I wanted advice on the driving or children...both I suppose, haha.

We are buying a portable dvd player for the drive and going to watch Disney movies ,of course on the drive. I am also making them each a backpack full of things to entertain them. I am thinking coloring books, new little toys, and not sure waht else to put in them. They are three and four so, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Also, about the loooong drive. We were planning on leaving around 5am and driving as long as we could and getting a hotel when we got tired. Then waking up the next morning early enough to get to Disney early enough to get a good nights sleep so we can hit the parks first thing in the morning.

I have glanced at mapquest for direction, I have not printed them out as of yet. Any adivce on what route to take there? I was thinking we should not do much night driving since it will be in winter and I do not want to risk having a break down or something at night with the kids in the car and the temperature being so low.

Thank you.


Just a side note, wondering how to get the most out of this forum. Like, how do you find a thread you posted on before? Is there any trick or do you just have to remember and search for it? How do you add the cute signatures at the bottoms and finally what are the quotes I see on the left side by peoples names? Thank you.

 

[Donald is #1]

Hi everyone, I got back home at 1 AM this morning. My sister and I left Savannah at 6:30 in the AM and then drove 95 up to the DC area with a stop at South of the Border. In the DC area (around 3-4 PM) we took the I-295 route and hit some pretty good traffic but got through. Rest of Maryland and the NJ Turnpike were fine. We decided to take I-95 through NYC at about 8 PM. We encountered backups at each toll booth, but luckily, I was in the correct lane (by some miracle ) and was able to get through without too much trouble. After that it was through the entire length of CT to my sister's house and then up to my house in NH.

Totals:
For my sister: 2770 miles total
For me: 2950 miles total

Thoughts:
- Both of us really enjoyed driving down. I think that I will start converting at least some of my WDW trips to driving trips
- This was the first time driving through NYC for both of us. Normally I use the Tappan Zee Bridge. While it was interesting, I don't think that I would do it again.

- I-95 in Maryland: They are totally re-doing all of the the major high way intersections, including changing where the exits are to the other highways. So be careful if you are using a GPS to guide you through. We found a couple of places where the exits have moved to the opposite side. While the construction didn't cause us any delays, the movements of the off-ramps is going to play havoc with GPS systems for years to come.

 

[Disneynutbsv]

Wow! Sounds like you had a great trip home! And you made really good time too!

 

[Fwd Facing Tentacles]

We're back in NJ, 10 days and 2,500 miles after our departure. We drove down on Thurs/Fri and back on Sat/Sun and traffic was not a problem either way. There was some construction, most notably a 20+ mile stretch on 95 in southern GA but nothing that really slowed us down and we never went to one lane anywhere. And as far as those 55mph construction zone speed limits are concerned...good luck with that. They should just call them speed suggestions rather than speed limits for all the attention anyone pays to them.

Oh yes, we did spend some time at WDW in between our drives down and back and it was great. It was hot, around 90 every day but that's Florida in September. And with the strong Disney air conditioning in every enclosed area you had a choice of dressing either to be comfortable outside and cold inside or hot outside and comfortable inside. The weather.com rain forecast was useless with its prediction of 40% chance of showers almost every hour for the whole 8 days we were there. In actuality we got very little, just a light steady rain one evening and brief showers 2 other evenings.

For anybody who has the flexibility, this is a great week to go. The summer crowds are gone and the food & wine festival crowd hasn't arrived yet. And it's cheap, well cheap for Disney anyway. We had free dining and this is the first time we've been on a meal plan. I figured they'd give us the bare minimum but I was wrong. We ate like crazy and had a number of meals left over. And the parks were about as empty as I've seen them. At one point we got to stay on Soarin' and ride again. Anyone who's familiar with this ride knows how rare this must be. It holds 90 people and there were maybe a dozen on it when this happened to us. I don't want to give anyone the impression the whole week was like this but still, you would have been hard pressed to find a wait longer than 30 minutes on any ride in any park at any time all week. In the first or last hour of the day you could pretty much walk onto anything.

 

[BC1836]

Excellent road reports from returning 2,000+ mile round-trip drivers Donald is #1 and Fwd Facing Tentacles.

Fwd Facing Tentacles, as usual, provides keen observations about specific travel weeks while at WDW. The weather report commentary was particularly useful and enjoyable to read!

Now we're waiting for flyerfan's return report.

Hmm, come to think of it, the International Food & Wine Festival is calling to us. Perhaps it's time for us to get on the road, too.

All the best.

 

[dvczerfs]

Excellent road reports from returning 2,000+ mile round-trip drivers Donald is #1 and Fwd Facing Tentacles.

Fwd Facing Tentacles, as usual, provides keen observations about specific travel weeks while at WDW. The weather report commentary was particularly useful and enjoyable to read!

Now we're waiting for flyerfan's return report.

Hmm, come to think of it, the International Food & Wine Festival is calling to us. Perhaps it's time for us to get on the road, too.

All the best.

im leaving in 14days 11hours and 59min. bc if you want a ride?

 

[BC1836]

im leaving in 14days 11hours and 59min. bc if you want a ride?

A generous offer, to be sure. But we've got WDW plans of our own.

Now then, trip #48 is coming up for you. We're still behind at #39; however, we'll mark trip #40 (actually, #38, due to two Disneyland trips) in October.

Our goal is to catch up to you!

 

[dvczerfs]

We're back in NJ, 10 days and 2,500 miles after our departure. We drove down on Thurs/Fri and back on Sat/Sun and traffic was not a problem either way. There was some construction, most notably a 20+ mile stretch on 95 in southern GA but nothing that really slowed us down and we never went to one lane anywhere. And as far as those 55mph construction zone speed limits are concerned...good luck with that. They should just call them speed suggestions rather than speed limits for all the attention anyone pays to them.

Oh yes, we did spend some time at WDW in between our drives down and back and it was great. It was hot, around 90 every day but that's Florida in September. And with the strong Disney air conditioning in every enclosed area you had a choice of dressing either to be comfortable outside and cold inside or hot outside and comfortable inside. The weather.com rain forecast was useless with its prediction of 40% chance of showers almost every hour for the whole 8 days we were there. In actuality we got very little, just a light steady rain one evening and brief showers 2 other evenings.

For anybody who has the flexibility, this is a great week to go. The summer crowds are gone and the food & wine festival crowd hasn't arrived yet. And it's cheap, well cheap for Disney anyway. We had free dining and this is the first time we've been on a meal plan. I figured they'd give us the bare minimum but I was wrong. We ate like crazy and had a number of meals left over. And the parks were about as empty as I've seen them. At one point we got to stay on Soarin' and ride again. Anyone who's familiar with this ride knows how rare this must be. It holds 90 people and there were maybe a dozen on it when this happened to us. I don't want to give anyone the impression the whole week was like this but still, you would have been hard pressed to find a wait longer than 30 minutes on any ride in any park at any time all week. In the first or last hour of the day you could pretty much walk onto anything.

your from jersey, i didnt think nj people even know what a speed limit sign looks like? my dw is orig. from lopat. and i know she had no idea what they were! (im just kidding)

 

[dvczerfs]

A generous offer, to be sure. But we've got WDW plans of our own.

Now then, trip #48 is coming up for you. We're still behind at #39; however, we'll mark trip #40 (actually, #38, due to two Disneyland trips) in October.

Our goal is to catch up to you!

2010 is your chance bc, i have to wait till december. we are going from nov.30 to dec16,2010. dd will be a sr. in hs and going to the com.coll. for credits so we have to wait till she can get out. i cant believe she is going to be a sr.

 

[BC1836]

2010 is your chance bc, i have to wait till december. we are going from nov.30 to dec16,2010. dd will be a sr. in hs and going to the com.coll. for credits so we have to wait till she can get out. i cant believe she is going to be a sr.

You'll still be far ahead at the end of 2010!
It's just too difficult for 2,000+mile round-trip drivers to catch up, even with multiple trips per year.

All the best.

 

[Flyerfan]

Now we're waiting for flyerfan's return report.

Here I am! Back last evening. After doing 81-77-26-95 southbound, we decided on 95-17-81 coming home. We left earlier than expected ....Sunday afternoon around 3 instead of the following morning. Got to Florence, SC around 9:30 (Hampton at Civic Center...decent for one night). Left Monday morning around 7 and got home around 6 (with a Cracker Barrel stop for dinner). Hardly any construction, no waits, no problems. Both north and south our drive time was 16 hours...give or take 15 minutes. Total travel time each way with stops was 18 hours.

Now....can we do this again in 52 days?

 

[dvczerfs]

Here I am! Back last evening. After doing 81-77-26-95 southbound, we decided on 95-17-81 coming home. We left earlier than expected ....Sunday afternoon around 3 instead of the following morning. Got to Florence, SC around 9:30 (Hampton at Civic Center...decent for one night). Left Monday morning around 7 and got home around 6 (with a Cracker Barrel stop for dinner). Hardly any construction, no waits, no problems. Both north and south our drive time was 16 hours...give or take 15 minutes. Total travel time each way with stops was 18 hours.

Now....can we do this again in 52 days?

welcome home flyerfan!! glad you had a nice trip. (in case you missed it, gagne is cleared to play)

 

[Flyerfan]

(in case you missed it, gagne is cleared to play)

My boy is back! Thanks dvczerfs!

 

[BC1836]

Here I am! Back last evening. Both north and south our drive time was 16 hours...give or take 15 minutes. Total travel time each way with stops was 18 hours.

Now....can we do this again in 52 days?

Of course you can, Flyerfan. We did it with a 36-day gap last year between our October and December trips.

Hmm, 36 days.

Your question generates another question: What has been the shortest time in between 2,000+ mile round-trip drives for you marathon drivers out there?

 

[caitlinsdad]

Not really two full round trips, but in 2005 did trip from CT to WDW and back including a six day break to take a 1000 round trip to visit brothers faimly in Ala and then back to wdw for another short stay. Then finally back to Ct.

 

[Flyerfan]

Of course you can, Flyerfan. We did it with a 36-day gap last year between our October and December trips.

Hmm, 36 days.

Your question generates another question: What has been the shortest time in between 2,000+ mile round-trip drives for you marathon drivers out there?

Do you drive straight thru, at least coming home? And what kind of vehicle do you have? We don't mind the drive down but coming back is painful....would love to try it in one shot but not sure we can stomach it.

 

[dvczerfs]

Of course you can, Flyerfan. We did it with a 36-day gap last year between our October and December trips.

Hmm, 36 days.

Your question generates another question: What has been the shortest time in between 2,000+ mile round-trip drives for you marathon drivers out there?

the closet i ever did it was end of aug.(dd danced at the mk)and 1st two weeks of dec.(2007) when i was a kid my dad drove us down in jan., stayed for two weeks came home and we went back end of feb. to pick up my brother in homestead and we stop at wdw for 2 days before heading home. that was about about 5 week turn around. i cant take credit for that one, i was a passenger.

 

[treeface]

Can't beat 36 day turnaround, but not too far off. Back in '02, we drove down the last week of Sept/beg of Oct for a week at WDW. When we returned home from that trip on Oct 4, we had no plans to return to Fl in the foreseeable future. FF a week or so and DH learns that Tony Stewart will be on a NASCAR cruise in December, so he booked that for two of us. Not wanting to buy airfare due to it being a last minute trip, we drove down again on December 6, just missing an ice storm in KY. After returning, we decided that two trips was enough for awhile and that was that. Fast forward to mid January and I had an opportunity to get two tickets to the Daytona 500 so we headed back to FL in February (we flew that time, but it still was 15 hours with delays in St. Louis; it's only about 17.5 hours to drive). After that, we said we were done going to FL for at least a year or two. Well, a few months later, Disney offered a Buy 4, get 3 deal and we were again off to FL on July 2 for a 7 night stay at AKL, our fourth trip in 9 months and our third time to drive.

Four trips, three driving totaling 7,000 miles and 1 round trip flight later, we then did stay out of FL for three years (well I went back by myself in 05 and flew). Since '06, we have been back four times as a family with the fifth trip planned for December (less than 90 days now), having driven three of those including the upcoming trip. I have also been there three times on my own (to visit family), although I fly when I am alone.

It might be cheaper if we just moved down there.

 

[glo]

Hi guys I really need your expertise! We drove to WDW in late June, thanks to you guys it was smooth and we are doing it again. This time presidents weekend in February. My fear is the 90-81-77-26-95 route will be worse because of snow and ice. Should we do the 95S route then. Please any help is greatly appreciated. This is the second time I have asked for help on this. Which way would you suggest?