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

[sharadoc]

Our thoughts exactly. Last time we flew, over 3 years ago, it was 10 hours from the time we left our house to check-in at the resort, which included renting a car. Every time I consider flying, I think of all the reasons driving is better. When we drive we are over 1/2 way there in that amount of time and we have our own car when we get there! Beats flying every time.

And a lot more relaxed! We used to go to a place in Tamaqua when I was a kid - Postie's Grove, I think? Lots of polka dances with the Polskie Swingmasters!

 

[dannysmommyval]

Where one departs from and when one departs are the two key factors in pre-determining the "success" of a 2,000+ mile round trip drive route.

For us on the NJ shore, it's a quick linkup with I-95 at the DE Memorial Bridge early (very early) on a Saturday morning. The DC area hasn't fully awakened by the time we're into northern VA.

All the best.

I agree - I take the DE Bridge to 95 and then it's straight down from there. I went in April and it wasn't bad at all - Left around midnight/1am and was in VA before I knew it.

This time I am going to try to drive straight through... sleep during the day while the kids are at school at shoot straightaway down - 16 hours later I am in WDW - or at least that's what my gps Wanda tells me Wish me luck!

 

[tiggerplus5]

u4ik

I agree with the Tappanzee Bridge route. My dad used to go that way when we were young and now we go the same way. I always get lost in NYC when I see the Fort Lee sign. I've never had a problem with traffic jams on the Tappanzee. Even with the perpetual road construction going on before the bridge I've still had no delays. My map program calculates an additional 20-30 minutes but it really is faster because there's no traffic.

glo

We are starting our drive on a Friday night in July and will drive straight through. We have 3 drivers so I hope this plan works. What day/night are you planning on leaving in June? I will be curious to see how well you fare.

 

[ats52001]

Hi. I'm going to a first time driver to WDW this year. We are driving from Dayton Ohio. Does anyone have any tips for a newbie driver?

Thanks,
Aaron

 

[sharadoc]

Hi. I'm going to a first time driver to WDW this year. We are driving from Dayton Ohio. Does anyone have any tips for a newbie driver?

Thanks,
Aaron

Welcome! Can you give us some more info? Are you the only driver, or are there multiple drivers? What type of vehicle? Kids or just adults?

 

[ats52001]

There will be four of us. My wife, my 2 boys (age 8 and 11) and myself. We will be driving a SUV and my wife and I sharing the driving duties.

 

[mrshams]

I, too, would like some advice from the seasoned pros. My DH and I are driving for the first time with our DDs (11 & 6). We live on Long Island and are planning on leaving in August on a Thursday morning (5am) to bypass NYC traffic. I figure we will be passing DC before noon, so we shouldn't have rush hour traffic then. We will be traveling onto Florence, SC, where we have a hotel reservation. Mapquest estimates 11 hours for this trip. Then next morning (around 6am), we'll drive the rest of the way to WDW. I'm looking forward to this -- my husband thinks we're making a mistake

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[sharadoc]

There will be four of us. My wife, my 2 boys (age 8 and 11) and myself. We will be driving a SUV and my wife and I sharing the driving duties.

I, too, would like some advice from the seasoned pros. My DH and I are driving for the first time with our DDs (11 & 6). We live on Long Island and are planning on leaving in August on a Thursday morning (5am) to bypass NYC traffic. I figure we will be passing DC before noon, so we shouldn't have rush hour traffic then. We will be traveling onto Florence, SC, where we have a hotel reservation. Mapquest estimates 11 hours for this trip. Then next morning (around 6am), we'll drive the rest of the way to WDW. I'm looking forward to this -- my husband thinks we're making a mistake

Hi and welcome to you both.

Some general tips from me - we switch every 3 hours or so. The first day is usually really easy - 2 shifts each. Make sure the non-driver is actively navigating. Have maps and follow the route, keep an eye out for distance between exits and rest stops, so if you do need to stop you'll know how long it will be. Question the driver about gas so you'll always know how much you have.

North Carolina has the most restaurants and gas stations, etc. Some are pretty gaudy truck stops, but there's plenty of Cracker Barrels, Waffle Houses, Ruby Tuesday's and McDonald's at every exit. We found that stopping in a restaurant takes a long time, so we prefer to eat on the road - either drive thrus or bring sandwiches or snacks and drinks.

South Carolina is the second best for stops, although it starts to peter out by the end of the state. Georgia and Florida have nothing - like driving on your local interstate.

We stopped in Florence in January. It's a nice easy ride the next day to Disney, although it will be around 7 hours, but basically one shift each. In August, we're heading to Walterboro so day two is a little shorter. Once you get onto I-4, you still have a ways to go - don't get too excited that you're almost there!!

If you don't have them, invest in individual portable DVD players and any kind of entertainment that your kids don't have to share. It's easy to keep them calm and quiet when they don't have to decide/argue between them. We have a DVD in the van itself, so we're going to just take Disney movies and other things we know they both like. Buy multiple power port multipliers so you have enough power for all of their stuff.

We love listening to music that we haven't heard in a while, so it keeps us interested and alert. Always ask to change drivers if you feel the slightest bit of fatigue.

We LOVE driving and having the family planning time on the way down. Bring Disney books, or print out stuff from the internet to talk about - menus, resort info, theme park "inside tips". If you've gone before, talk about what you want to do, and if you've never been there, use the time to get excited.

Good luck!! There's lots of great info on this thread if you want to take the time to read all the way through it.

 

[sojj]

Hello everyone,

We (myself, my husband, my sister-in-law, and 7 kids--ages 14, 13, 12, 11, 8, 7, 6) will driving from Detroit, Michigan to Disney World June 19. We are making a short stop in Dayton, Ohio to visit friends. We plan on leaving around 11 am Friday. It will be 3 drivers. We will stop every 2 hours for a potty/rest break and change driver every 4 hours. Does anyone know of any nice places to stop for a break? How about any construction that I should be aware of? Any advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Sharla

 

[glo]

glo

We are starting our drive on a Friday night in July and will drive straight through. We have 3 drivers so I hope this plan works. What day/night are you planning on leaving in June? I will be curious to see how well you fare.

We are leaving on a Saturday night about 5:30 or so PM. We are planning on bring stuff in the car so we do not stop at all, unless we really are exhausted. Kids have laptops, IPods and books to read. There will be two of us driving. Still not sure on what routes to take...I keep wavering!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Hello everyone,

We (myself, my husband, my sister-in-law, and 7 kids--ages 14, 13, 12, 11, 8, 7, 6) will driving from Detroit, Michigan to Disney World June 19. We are making a short stop in Dayton, Ohio to visit friends. We plan on leaving around 11 am Friday. It will be 3 drivers. We will stop every 2 hours for a potty/rest break and change driver every 4 hours. Does anyone know of any nice places to stop for a break? How about any construction that I should be aware of? Any advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Sharla

Have you looked into purchasing The Along Interstate 75 book by Dave Hunter, because he lists every exits hotels, restaurants and gas stations for each state from Michigian - Florida state line. He also has features on great places to stop. Anyway here is a link to his website, so I would suggest to check it out.
http://www.i75online.com/

 

[sojj]

Have you looked into purchasing The Along Interstate 75 book by Dave Hunter, because he lists every exits hotels, restaurants and gast stations for each state from Michigian - Florida state line. He also has features on great places to stop. Anyway here is a link to his website, so I would suggest to check it out.
http://www.i75online.com/

Thank you so much for the link. It's just what I needed.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Thank you so much for the link. It's just what I needed.

You're welcome.

 

[cburek]

Hi everyone, I am new on the boards but wanted to chime in also. We have traveled to Disney every year (and then some) by car. We have traveled at just about everytime of day too. This year the whole family is going. We are 6 adults and 5 kids traveling in 3 vehicles. There has been debate this year with everyone as to what time to leave. We are leaving on Sunday July 12. I have suggested,as a final option,to leave about 5a and stop,hopefully making it to around Savannah/Brunswick GA by 6p or so. I think everyone will be alot happier the next morning after a good nights rest. If it was just my husband and I we would keep going but I dont think I want to push with everyone since they are not used to driving it. I absolutely love to drive and I love driving at night. Usually we leave around 7p and are in Orlando around 1p the next day. Coming back.. we have resorted to the Autotrain.. We hate driving home anymore. It stinks having to leave in the first place and the drive back,to us, always seems to take twice as long. So this is the 3rd for us on the Autotrain. Kids love it and we enjoy it too. We get 2 bedrooms and there is plenty of room to spread out. I sleep like a baby too. Its not terribly expensive when you compare it to flying or having to stop on the way back with hotel,gas and food.For us it works. Happy travels everyone

 

[FirstTimertoDiz]

If I may, I'd like to offer a better route. Since you are in central PA, it would be easier just heading south from Altoona and taking the 81-77-26-95 route than to head over to 95. It's much nicer, more scenic and not as much traffic. I'm sure if you map it out, it would be the same distance and time. We are from eastern PA and take it all the time and love it.

Thank you for the suggestion...after looking at both routes, we are going to try the 81-77-26-95 route, hoping to avoid some traffic since we can't change the times we are leaving.

One question about this route- is there somewhere that shows reststop locations / dining choices / hotels? I know I-95 lists them all, which is wonderful for the ocd planner like myself, lol.

 

[Mysteria]

Just a head's up. We got back yesterday. On the way home we stopped in VA to meet up with some friends. Left there early and hit DC by 5:45am. Figured we may hit some traffic but wouldn't be bad. Nope, STILL got stuck in traffic. 45 minutes to go 15 miles. It's getting earlier and earlier all the time that you have to get through there on a weekday.

 

[caitlinsdad]

Quote:
Originally Posted by raven69david
You all are nuts!!! We'd NEVER do it. 2 1/2 hours by plane or 16 hours driving...hmmm!?!




Absolutely, plus we like the slower pace of the drive. We figured it like this:

1.5-2 hours to drive to airport
2 hours to go through security (required)
.5 hour to board
2.5 hours to fly
.5 hour to deplane, walk through airport
1.5 hours to load/ME to hotel

Total for first day: 8 - 9 hours, same as our first day drive

Plus - no luggage limit, stop and walk around when we want to, fresh air through open windows whenever we want, no sharing of anything with a stranger, watch whatever movies the kids want on the DVD player, plus a car/van at Disney World for free!

Our trip will cost us $400-500 round trip for four including room and meals on the road.

What a shame that someone felt the need to come in here and act like we're doing something wrong! We LOVE the drive and will always drive there. It's part of our family experience and creates lots of great family time.

Amen. Love the road, and the right road and get some great sights too

 

[Shir Kahn]

DW are driving down from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in early July. 32 hour drive, should be fun! We love the road trip part of it.

 

[Muhlenberg]

Thank you for the suggestion...after looking at both routes, we are going to try the 81-77-26-95 route, hoping to avoid some traffic since we can't change the times we are leaving.

One question about this route- is there somewhere that shows reststop locations / dining choices / hotels? I know I-95 lists them all, which is wonderful for the ocd planner like myself, lol.

Mapquest has a listing to the side on the map that you can click whatever you want (hotels, food, etc) and it will show up on the map. You may have to zoom to get specifics.

 

[Flyerfan]

Thank you for the suggestion...after looking at both routes, we are going to try the 81-77-26-95 route, hoping to avoid some traffic since we can't change the times we are leaving.

One question about this route- is there somewhere that shows reststop locations / dining choices / hotels? I know I-95 lists them all, which is wonderful for the ocd planner like myself, lol.

I go to the AAA website and use their triptik travel planner. I don't think you have to be a member to use it. You have to play with it a little to figure it out. I use it for every trip we plan. It shows lodging, food, gas, etc. on the map.