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

[loveysbydesign]

Hey there, , I'm that guy from Whitehall, LOL. Just wanted to give you a few bits of info here, as my family and I, wife, and two kids both under 8, travel this particular route all the time.

Firstly, no tolls!

Driving time wise, it can vary a bit if there is any traffic, but it has held pretty steady for us. We usually leave very, very early on a Sunday morning, usually between 2 and 3am, and are half way into our trip by say 9 or 10. We don't do it all in one day, but rather stop overnight in Savannah, right off of 95. Normally, we make it there by 4pm. That's leaving around 3am, stopping a number of times to eat, go to the bathroom etc. It's a very easy drive, with some nice scenery, and not much traffic...normally.

We usually get up on our second day, in Georgia\Savannah area, around 5am, have breakfast, and leave by 6. Our last trip, we arrived at WDW by 10:30, including a second breakfast stop right outside of Jacksonville.

In a nutshell, with all stops included, we average 16-17 hours per trip. It's become so regular now, the only reason I even bring along the GPS is to get around down in Orlando.

Thanks for all the info. We'll be leaving early Sat....but not quite as early as you-
I have a 2 y.o. who is up at 6:00 so we're gonna leave them...he does not do well at all with being waken up in the morning before his normal time. Makes for a very unpleasant little guy for the entire day
This is our 1st time driving and I'm hoping to make it to Columbia by the end of the 1st day..hopefully no later than 7p.m.
Thank you everyone for your help! I keep telling myself we can do it and survive

 

[blondietink]

Driving from Western NY State, wouldn't it be easier for you to pick up I-81 and take that route south, cutting over to I-95 much later and totally avoiding DC?

We either have gone the DC route, or the Pittsburgh (79), WVa , Charlotte (77) route to 95 in SC, which is much longer and I would rather deal with DC traffic than Charlotte! UGH! We also save a few hours via DC as long as we hit the traffic right. We like to stay overnight in DC and then leave the next morning so we are going opposite of the traffic, but it looks like this time it won't happen so we need to time it right so we don't get in a traffic jam.

 

[SondraC]

Okay, what is the deal with Charlotte? The general consensus seems to want to avoid that area. What do I have to look forward to? Is it traffic? Bad road signs/directions?

 

[blondietink]

I believe the problem with Charlotte is that from Statesville south to Charlotte and into South Carolina there just seems to be too much traffic for the lanes of the road. We have been through it at many different times of day, different days of the week and I can honestly say the only time there wasn't a lot of traffic and we did not get in a traffic jam going in either direction was when we went through on a Good Friday. The infrastructure is not made to handle the amount of traffic that is on it. Lots of trucks, too! I have never been through it at 10 pm or later, so maybe that would be a good time. We prefer if we go that route to get beyond Charlotte on our first day and then it is smooth sailing. Even Jacksonville is better!

 

[Mysteria]

We made it today from Roselle, NJ to Darien, GA in about 15 hours. Stopped here for the night. There was a short detour at one point. I was half asleep at that point so I will ask my DH where it was tomorrow and update (he's sleeping now). Other that that there was the usual traffic around DC because we got there a little later than expected. There was also some road work being done here and there. Again I'll ask DH exactly where. It didn't slow us down much.

 

[amtag]

We made it today from Roselle, NJ to Darien, GA in about 15 hours. Stopped here for the night. There was a short detour at one point. I was half asleep at that point so I will ask my DH where it was tomorrow and update (he's sleeping now). Other that that there was the usual traffic around DC because we got there a little later than expected. There was also some road work being done here and there. Again I'll ask DH exactly where. It didn't slow us down much.

What time did you leave from Roselle? Did you take 95 all the way? Thanks and have a great trip!!

 

[cindermomma]

Just wanted to add that me, DH and DS9 will be leaving Nebraska tomorrow at noon for our first drive to Disney! I am a bit nervous, but excited! We are driving down to Memphis, then to Dothan, AL and then to Disney from there. We plan to drive 8-8 1/2 hours tomorrow, then get up at 3AM Sat. and take off. Thanks for this thread everyone! We will have a lime green mickey in our window - honk if you see it! Safe travels fellow dis friends!

 

[EMom]

My concern is driving a Corolla. It is small. Usually it's just DD and me in that thing. Throw in DH and a cooler and it could get very crowded. I have to recline my seat all the way, (driving puts me to sleep) so DD would have to sit behind DH (he'd do most of the driving) and a smallish cooler would have to fit behind me.

If any of you have traveled 1000 miles each way in a Corolla or something similar with 3-4 people, please let me know how it went. Thanks!

 

[mrodgers]

My concern is driving a Corolla. It is small. Usually it's just DD and me in that thing. Throw in DH and a cooler and it could get very crowded. I have to recline my seat all the way, (driving puts me to sleep) so DD would have to sit behind DH (he'd do most of the driving) and a smallish cooler would have to fit behind me.

If any of you have traveled 1000 miles each way in a Corolla or something similar with 3-4 people, please let me know how it went. Thanks!

We are spoiled today. When I was a kid, I was shoved in the back seat of a 1983 Ford Escort with my brother every year to drive to vacation. Not 1000 miles, but 12-13 hours in the back of a Ford Escort isn't much fun either.

Oh, and no AC or even radio back in those days. No mp3 players, DVD players, hand-held video games, etc for us kids..... It was real fun the day we were heading to Ocean City on a 90+ day reading the sign, "Cheasapeake Bay Bridge - 1/2 mile". 2 hours later, we passed the sign, "Cheasapeake Bay Bridge - 1/4 mile." Not fun sitting waiting for an accident on that bridge without AC.

 

[BC1836]

When it's time, it's time.

 

[bookwormde]

Does anyone else let your drives to WDW influence you car buying. We have been flying the last few visits by the $600- RT tickets for a family of 4 appear to have ended (now $1000+), so we are back to driving.
We go 2 out of 3 years (usually 15 day visits) to WDW (to use APs for both trips) so I am waiting to a few months before our next trip to get a new car with a 5 year warranty so it will be under warranty for 4 trips. Of course it has to be big enough to be comfortable for the trips and get reasonable mileage.
So is this obsessed with WDW, just being really cheap or just good planning?

bookwormde

 

[dvczerfs]

Does anyone else let your drives to WDW influence you car buying. We have been flying the last few visits by the $600- RT tickets for a family of 4 appear to have ended (now $1000+), so we are back to driving.
We go 2 out of 3 years (usually 15 day visits) to WDW (to use APs for both trips) so I am waiting to a few months before our next trip to get a new car with a 5 year warranty so it will be under warranty for 4 trips. Of course it has to be big enough to be comfortable for the trips and get reasonable mileage.
So is this obsessed with WDW, just being really cheap or just good planning?

bookwormde

we have a mini van we basicly only use for or trips!! its an 06 town and country, its been to wdw 7 times and each trip is 2200 miles and we have 18k on it. its gone to wills eye hosp. in philly a few times and to cracker barrel but other than that, its in the garage, packed and ready to go just in cause we get an urge!! we were just talking about that, dd is going to be a sr in high school and after 2011 she probley wont be coming down with us,( not as much anyway) we were thinking of replaceing the van in a few years with another nice riding car with some room in it.

 

[amcnj]

If you plan to drive to WDW, and other destinations, with some frequency, it makes total sense to me to consider purchasing a vehicle which will make those trips easier. I vote for "good planning".

 

[sharadoc]

Does anyone else let your drives to WDW influence you car buying. We have been flying the last few visits by the $600- RT tickets for a family of 4 appear to have ended (now $1000+), so we are back to driving.
We go 2 out of 3 years (usually 15 day visits) to WDW (to use APs for both trips) so I am waiting to a few months before our next trip to get a new car with a 5 year warranty so it will be under warranty for 4 trips. Of course it has to be big enough to be comfortable for the trips and get reasonable mileage.
So is this obsessed with WDW, just being really cheap or just good planning?

bookwormde

Yes, we did. We used to have a conversion van that was wonderful for comfort, but really bad on gas mileage so we got rid of it. We have a regular Caravan that is in good shape and we used that for our trip in Jan 09. It was fine, but not luxurious and didn't have enough cargo space. When we decided to replace my 1999 Station wagon, we decided to go with something that would be better for our trip, so we went for the biggest Grand Caravan SXT with the special edition package. 6 disk DVD changer, heated seats, the whole nine yards!

We've put a lot of miles on it already but we love it! Definitely smart planning AND Disney obsession. But that's okay

 

[dgagnon519]

I drove last year just me and my 2 kids from RI to Florida, but we stopped twice for over night rest. This year there will be another adult sharing the driving so we want to drive straight through. For those of you who have done this, any tips??? It is a 20 hour drive so we were thinking switch every 5 hrs or 322 miles. I am a very nervous person when it comes to other people driving and do not think I will be able to sleep while he is driving. Do people break night when they drive straight through? Do you take turns sleeping?

 

[nytimez]

I drove last year just me and my 2 kids from RI to Florida, but we stopped twice for over night rest. This year there will be another adult sharing the driving so we want to drive straight through. For those of you who have done this, any tips??? It is a 20 hour drive so we were thinking switch every 5 hrs or 322 miles. I am a very nervous person when it comes to other people driving and do not think I will be able to sleep while he is driving. Do people break night when they drive straight through? Do you take turns sleeping?

I'm like you -- I can't sleep when other people are driving. If your other driver can, then you might want to split it up so that you handle the driving for the first half of the trip, while the other driver sleeps. Then, the other driver can take over and handle it the rest of the way -- because if you're not getting your sleep, you might not want to drive at that point. Or just stop for an overnight somewhere in the Carolinas or Georgia.

 

[ShhhQ]

Our Minivan has been making some noises and we were worried about driving it to Florida... so we got it checked out, it is the Struts. The mechanic said it shouldn't be any problems driving, its just an irritant... an irritant that will cost about $500 to repair!!! Which we can't really afford right now..

Would you trust driving it 2000+ miles? Especially if the mechanic said it was ok...

 

[sharadoc]

When it's time, it's time.

Does this mean you're hitting the road????

 

[cruisingkat]

Does anyone else let your drives to WDW influence you car buying. We have been flying the last few visits by the $600- RT tickets for a family of 4 appear to have ended (now $1000+), so we are back to driving.
We go 2 out of 3 years (usually 15 day visits) to WDW (to use APs for both trips) so I am waiting to a few months before our next trip to get a new car with a 5 year warranty so it will be under warranty for 4 trips. Of course it has to be big enough to be comfortable for the trips and get reasonable mileage.
So is this obsessed with WDW, just being really cheap or just good planning?

bookwormde

Actually, our car buying influenced our trips to Disney - we bought a convertible and you just don't seem to get enough warm weather to really enjoy here at home.

 

[WildGrits]

We too are joining the driving pack this year.

It is taking some arm twisting to get hubby on board but at the price of airfare this year......................

So we will be leaving 8/21 for the CBR.

Anyone planning on adorning their car with a Lime green Mickey so we can see each other?