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

[rotlex]

We are planning on driving down for the first time from Bethlehem PA. Our ressies are for June 20-27. our plan is to drive to Annapolis MD and stay with the IL's on Thursday night 6/18. Get up early, get in the van and drive until we get to Jacksonville. Stay with family 6/19. Get up early 6/20 and get to Disney early.

If we can't stay with our family in Jacksonville, where is a good place to stop and stay overnight, and still have a short trip to Orlando the next day? Any suggestions?

Thanks!!

Hey cool! Another Lehigh Valley person driving, and ALMOST during the same time frame! We are from Whitehall, born and raised in Bethlehem though!, and plan on doing the drive for our first time this June - the 16th through the 24th at CSR.

Hope you have a good trip!

 

[marcyinPA]

Hey cool! Another Lehigh Valley person driving, and ALMOST during the same time frame! We are from Whitehall, born and raised in Bethlehem though!, and plan on doing the drive for our first time this June - the 16th through the 24th at CSR.

Hope you have a good trip!

Very cool!!! Freedom or Liberty? (I was Freedom, DH was Becahi, and my oldest DS will be Liberty in the fall....)

This is your first time driving? Are you driving straight through or staying overnight somewhere? Friends of ours drive it all the time from here, and they stay in Savannah overnight. We're still trying to figure it all out!!!

 

[rotlex]

Very cool!!! Freedom or Liberty? (I was Freedom, DH was Becahi, and my oldest DS will be Liberty in the fall....)

This is your first time driving? Are you driving straight through or staying overnight somewhere? Friends of ours drive it all the time from here, and they stay in Savannah overnight. We're still trying to figure it all out!!!

Liberty! (Class of 85)

While I have driven to FL before, job related many years ago, this will be the first "family" trip. We decided to do it after figuring out how much we can save considering how "tight" things are this year.

Were not 100% sure yet on HOW we are going to do it, but we are thinking straight through for the trip down, 95 all the way, and then stopping maybe ovenight in the Carolina's on the way back. I'm taking 2 full weeks off from work, so while we are going to be in Disney for 9 days, and have been before, we are thinking of it as our first real "adventure" across the country, LOL.

Here's to a safe trip!

 

[marcyinPA]

Liberty! (Class of 85)

While I have driven to FL before, job related many years ago, this will be the first "family" trip. We decided to do it after figuring out how much we can save considering how "tight" things are this year.

Were not 100% sure yet on HOW we are going to do it, but we are thinking straight through for the trip down, 95 all the way, and then stopping maybe ovenight in the Carolina's on the way back. I'm taking 2 full weeks off from work, so while we are going to be in Disney for 9 days, and have been before, we are thinking of it as our first real "adventure" across the country, LOL.

Here's to a safe trip!

So cool!! I was '86 and DH was '84...

Anyhow, I'm not sure I could drive straight through. My husband could, but I'm worried that we'll all be cranky and tired when we get there. We only have a week....it would be so nice to have more time to play with! I'm still hoping that I can find decent airfare from either Newark or Philly, but right now they are outrageous! No way am I paying $300 pp!!

 

[MinMouse]

If we can't stay with our family in Jacksonville, where is a good place to stop and stay overnight, and still have a short trip to Orlando the next day? Any suggestions?

Thanks!!

Marcy---we've stayed at the Wingate Inn off Exit 344 of I 95. They have a great continental breakfast and there's a small outdoor pool if you want someplace to relax after a long day's drive. Last time we stopped there I went over to Wendy's and picked up dinner. Kids and DH enjoyed the pool and we ate our dinner poolside. It was a nice way to unwind! Happy travels.

 

[marcyinPA]

Thanks Minmouse! I'll keep that in mind. Have you ever stayed in Savannah? If we can't stay with family, we might not travel as far as Jax. that day.

Any recommendations on hotels off of 95 in Savannah??

 

[MinMouse]

Thanks Minmouse! I'll keep that in mind. Have you ever stayed in Savannah? If we can't stay with family, we might not travel as far as Jax. that day.

Any recommendations on hotels off of 95 in Savannah??

On our first drive down we stayed in Savannah at the Fairfield Inn (I 95 Exit 94). It had an indoor pool and continental breakfast in the morning. It was in 2002 though so our stay wasn't recent. Ever since that first drive we've gone all the way to Florida staying in either Jacksonville or Lake Mary (just north of Orlando). Our girls were 5 & 8 on the first driving trip and we wanted to "reward" them with a swim in the hotel pool and an early stop.

 

[BC1836]

So cool!! I was '86 and DH was '84...

Anyhow, I'm not sure I could drive straight through. My husband could, but I'm worried that we'll all be cranky and tired when we get there. We only have a week....it would be so nice to have more time to play with! I'm still hoping that I can find decent airfare from either Newark or Philly, but right now they are outrageous! No way am I paying $300 pp!!

You will be too tired to be cranky.
But if you can schedule a very, very early morning departure and a nightime arrival, you'll be ready to go the next morning in WDW, not driving to WDW on your second day. Of course, you'll need an additional reservation for the early night arrival.

All the best.

 

[Mickey's Sister]

Hi to marcyinPA and rotlex!

We're not quite in the Lehigh Valley - outside Lehighton - but close neighbors. Plus Bethlehem is like my 2nd home - I'm a Moravian grad. We're heading down for drive#5 in June - though we'll just miss both of you. We'll be going June 5 - 15. We're thinking of staying In St. Mary's this trip. We haven't pushed that far on previous trips -we usually stay in Florence. But we usually travel in November & it gets dark so early. We also plan on a new route this trip - the 78-81-77-26 route - at least for the trip down. We thought we'd try a change of scenery. Can't wait!!! Have fun planning!

 

[rotlex]

Hi to marcyinPA and rotlex!

We're not quite in the Lehigh Valley - outside Lehighton - but close neighbors. Plus Bethlehem is like my 2nd home - I'm a Moravian grad. We're heading down for drive#5 in June - though we'll just miss both of you. We'll be going June 5 - 15. We're thinking of staying In St. Mary's this trip. We haven't pushed that far on previous trips -we usually stay in Florence. But we usually travel in November & it gets dark so early. We also plan on a new route this trip - the 78-81-77-26 route - at least for the trip down. We thought we'd try a change of scenery. Can't wait!!! Have fun planning!

Cool! And a happy, safe trip to you!

As a side note; I actually can't believe how many people I have run into on these boards that are from this general vicinity! Who knows, maybe we'll all retire down there some day and reminisce together, LOL.

 

[Mickey's Sister]

Cool! And a happy, safe trip to you!

As a side note; I actually can't believe how many people I have run into on these boards that are from this general vicinity! Who knows, maybe we'll all retire down there some day and reminisce together, LOL.

Sounds good to me!

Funny story - though off-topic (sorry). The first time we went to Disney - in 2000 - we were in Magic Kingdom Frontierland waiting in line for ice cream & the man behind me started talking about the Lehigh Valley Mall. He & his family were from Egypt, PA. We all had a good laugh about 'What were the chances..." Of course, I don't think it was a coincidnce that the local people were in the ice cream line, LOL!

 

[marcyinPA]

Sounds good to me!

Funny story - though off-topic (sorry). The first time we went to Disney - in 2000 - we were in Magic Kingdom Frontierland waiting in line for ice cream & the man behind me started talking about the Lehigh Valley Mall. He & his family were from Egypt, PA. We all had a good laugh about 'What were the chances..." Of course, I don't think it was a coincidnce that the local people were in the ice cream line, LOL!

I've run into people from the Valley on every trip! One year, we were on the bus and I recognized a woman who works at the CVS a few blocks from my house! Come to find out, she lives one street away from me! Too funny!

Another year, my dh and I were sitting at the bar in our hotel, and I was sitting next to a guy who's sister I graduated with from H.S.!

It is a "small world afterall!"...

 

[marcyinPA]

Hi to marcyinPA and rotlex!

We're not quite in the Lehigh Valley - outside Lehighton - but close neighbors. Plus Bethlehem is like my 2nd home - I'm a Moravian grad. We're heading down for drive#5 in June - though we'll just miss both of you. We'll be going June 5 - 15. We're thinking of staying In St. Mary's this trip. We haven't pushed that far on previous trips -we usually stay in Florence. But we usually travel in November & it gets dark so early. We also plan on a new route this trip - the 78-81-77-26 route - at least for the trip down. We thought we'd try a change of scenery. Can't wait!!! Have fun planning!

Hey there "neighbor"! (Moravian is right down the street from me!) Where is St. Mary's and Florence? And then how far do you need to go the next day to get to the world? Thx!!

 

[Calle&Jakesmom]

It's almost time to leave!! I can't wait! In less than 2 days we'll be on our way to Florida and out of the cold and snow!
We're planning to leave on Saturday morning at about 2:30am. We have a total of about 1359 miles to drive to get to the Beach Club Resort. I feel like I've thought of everything... what do you think?
I have 2 hotels booked for Saturday night, one in Pooler, GA and one in Brunswick, GA (about 100 miles apart). I can cancel up until 6:00pm the day of, so we'll be able to judge how we're feeling & how much farther we can go. My plan is to try to make it to Brunswick Saturday night. if we do that we've got about 4 hours Sunday morning to the Beach Club. I figure, if we get up and going early enough, we can be in EPCOT at the Rose & Crown by noon on Sunday .
I've got our suitcases all packed and most of the kids' things ready to go (DVDs, coloring books, books/cds etc). Tomorrow we go to work & school, come home and clean up the house, get the car packed, and go to bed early (ha, ha) so we are ready to get up and go at 2:30am!

I just finished doing something for the kids that I'm excited about- who knows if they'll appreciate it as much as I want them to! Here's what I did. I made an envelope for each state we will drive through (one for each kid). On the outside of the envelope I put the name of the state, facts about the state, and things for them to find in each state.
For example, North Carolina: capital: Raleigh, State Bird: Cardinal, Fact: Andrew Jackson, the 17th president of the US, was born in Raleigh in 1808 Find these things: A "south of the boarder" sign, A sign that says "Raleigh", a white car. Once the kids read their envelope & find all of the things listed on it, they can open it. Inside each envelope, I have either some Disney dollars ($1 Disney bills)- I put only 1 for smaller states and 2 or 3 for bigger ones- or a note that says ask mom for a surprise. I have a couple small, wrapped gifts for them (a small Minnie Mouse for my daughter, a Phineus and Ferb (sp) book for my son, a couple of DVDs for each of them). When they open the envelopes that say ask mom for a surprise, I can hand them one of these gifts to open.
My hope is that this keeps them entertained, looking out the windows, gives them a little education, and helps pass the time! We'll see if it works.

 

[BC1836]

You travel plan is a good one. Considering your length of drive, your two tentative Georgia locations are solid choices.

One thing, though: Andrew Jackson was our 7th President. And he certainly was not born in 1808. We can't imagine him leading troops against the British at the Battle of New Orleans at age seven! We suspect you meant Andrew Johnson.


All the best.

 

[SeeDisney]

Callee'smom--- we're leaving next Saturday morning, from central Delaware.

We're probably going to leave at 4:00 a.m., Saturday morning. The van will be all packed up to go. My eldest son, 12, and 10 year DD plans on staying up all night, and then sleep when we leave the driveway.

That way, the trip won't be so long. I hope it works. I may stay up too with them. As long as my DH has a good night sleep.

I may copy your idea about the reserving two hotels. I'm planning on Georgia too and perhaps one a little south of Florida. Depending on how we feel.

I'm planning on getting brand new DVD's and new books to look forward to the long drive.

Good luck to you!!!!!

 

[Calle&Jakesmom]

One thing, though: Andrew Jackson was our 7th President. And he certainly was not born in 1808. We can't imagine him leading troops against the British at the Battle of New Orleans at age seven! We suspect you meant Andrew Johnson.


All the best.

Opps!! I checked what I wrote on the envelope and (thank goodness) I wrote Andrew Johnson!

 

[Mickey's Sister]

Hey there "neighbor"! (Moravian is right down the street from me!) Where is St. Mary's and Florence? And then how far do you need to go the next day to get to the world? Thx!!

Hi! Florence is in northern South Carolina (exit 164 off of I95). So that's about 450 miles to Disney. We've made it to Disney by 3:00 on day 2, but that was the earliest - which is why we're thinking of pushing farther on day 1, since we're traveling in June. St. Mary's is I95 exit 3 in Georgia, so that's less than 200 miles yet to travel - you could get to Disney by noon, without getting up at the crack of dawn.

 

[Nik's Mom]

We're going to be driving from the Kansas City area next month. I was wondering if anyone can recommend a good hotel in Atlanta? I want to make sure it is in a safe neighborhood.
Thanks!

 

[Puget Peach]

We're going to be driving from the Kansas City area next month. I was wondering if anyone can recommend a good hotel in Atlanta? I want to make sure it is in a safe neighborhood.
Thanks!

I road traveled that area for five years and my advice is drive on through Atlanta to Macon. I never had a good experience in a hotel on the West or South side of Atlanta, but Macon is great! It's not much farther time-wise and it's a world of difference in every other way.