For those folks driving!

[Nooch7327]

I'm driving for the first time from MCO to saratoga springs. How much are the tolls and whats the best route....also do i have to pay once i get on property?

 

[cam8n]

"For those that have made the drive from this general area -
Where will driving about 12 hours put us to stay overnight? If you've done this, can you recommend any nice, inexpensive hotels to stay at for the night?"


I would say you would be somewhere in georgia after 12 hours of driving from there....Theres alot of hotels off of 95 so you will have alot to choose from. We always go straight through, so we dont ever need a hotel. The next day you will probably have about a 4 or 5 hour drive to disney!

 

[belle231]

we live in pa and we are driving down to north carolina sleeping and then driving to south carolina right off of 95 its called port wentworth (miles away from savannah) we are stopping twice because we are leaving later in the day probably around 6-7 to avoid dc traffic. We figured instead of driving straight through we would stop and get a good night sleep. When we arive in savannah we are going to spend the day and night there to enjoy a break and then in the morning its only about another 4 hours to disney. But in port wentworth there is a nice looking hampton i would recommened.

 

[Drcell01]

We live north of Syracuse, NY and we have done this drive many times. Our travel time runs about 19 hours when driving straight thru. We are leaving this Friday for another visit and we are planning on leaving about noon on Friday. This trip will include a short detour thru parts of VA to show my daughter where we lived in the early 80's. We will stop for a good breakfast in GA on Saturday morning and arrive between 9am and noon on Saturday.

For anyone driving from our area we are already aware of construction delays on I-81 just south of the NY/PA state line to just south of Scranton.

If anyone else knows of construction delays along the route please post them here. There always seems to be construction on I-95 in Jacksonville. Is it any better than it was back in February?

Thanks,

 

[Charin]

hi, we are driving from virginia down I-95 to wdw this Friday. since it seems that Fay will still be around causing trouble I need to figure out what is the best way to stay informed of the weather conditions down the road. I will have my pda with me so I will be able to check the internet or call any toll free number for example. we are prepared to make an unscheduled stop if needed because of the weather (our original plan is to drive straight thru). any advice?

 

[Drcell01]

Well our 19 hour drive (straight through) ending up to be almost 23 hours as the construction delays in northern PA along with a side trip through a VA town where we lived in the early 80's extended our travel time.

We also had to slow our speed through southern GA and Northern FL due to the rains from TS Fay.

All in all we are here at WDW safe and sound. Crowds at DTD were very heavy and trying to shop last night was a challenge.

 

[cam8n]

Well our 19 hour drive (straight through) ending up to be almost 23 hours as the construction delays in northern PA along with a side trip through a VA town where we lived in the early 80's extended our travel time.

We also had to slow our speed through southern GA and Northern FL due to the rains from TS Fay.

All in all we are here at WDW safe and sound. Crowds at DTD were very heavy and trying to shop last night was a challenge.

Glad you made it safely... Keep us udated on the crowds, as we leave in 3 weeks Have a great trip!

 

[Dawn68PA]

Sorry you hit construction. I hate hitting construction.

DTD is usually really busy on Saturday so hopefully the rest of your trip will be less crowded. Enjoy!

 

[tinkerbell615]

Well our 19 hour drive (straight through) ending up to be almost 23 hours as the construction delays in northern PA along with a side trip through a VA town where we lived in the early 80's extended our travel time.

We also had to slow our speed through southern GA and Northern FL due to the rains from TS Fay.

All in all we are here at WDW safe and sound. Crowds at DTD were very heavy and trying to shop last night was a challenge.

Sorry about your delays. I will be honest... We drive from OH and it has been a long time since we have not hit a 3-4 hour delay somewhere along the way. It certainly makes it harder when you are anticipating getting to Disney.

I hope your stay and trip home are pleasant.

 

[decay33]

thanks for the advice

 

[scottb8888]

Neighbors are planning to drive to WDW.
We live in columbus, ohio. Anyone know how long or the best route to take, any suggestions on good places for an overnight stay, they have 2 kids.

Thanks

Connie

We drive every year from Columbus. Something like 23 s to 77 to 95.

 

[kristytru]

subscribing

 

[tci1212]

We will be driving in 10 days from So Jersey, We are leaving on the 6:00 pm Ferry. This should put us in Lewes Delaware around 7:15 pm. We are hoping to make it to 95 in N. Carolina before we stop for the night. Does anyone know of any decent motels along 95 in N Carolina. We won't be stopping until 1:30 am. Thanks for any info .

 

[pmd1117]

Wow! So impressed that people are driving from CT and beyond. Doesn't it make more sense to fly and rent a car as the time involved and the gas is quite high!

 

[smidgy]

ok, too tired now to read through the whole thread. first; a question:
we come from chicago. we have considered trying to miss atlanta altogether by staying on 65 and going through Alabama. then either cutting over to Ga. (around Tifton) or heading down to 10 in fla. but nebo (DH) is concerned about these state routes. is it really slow going? any suggestions?

second: our advice. we have driven many times. when we had kids with us, we stayed at a nice motel 6 in stockbridge,just south of ga. (get atlanta over with, get to the motel with pol time for the boys. NOW, we don't make ressies (even though we could get a discount with our Moose membership, but you have to make ressies). we live at 3 AM (yikes! ) to get around chgo.(we are NW of it) before rush hour. (sometimes we have taken 57 through IL). and we drive until nebo's back gives out or the sun goes down, whichever comes first. so we like to stop at the GA rest stop and pick up the MOTEL COUPON books. then as we get close to "destination time" call the motels to see which have available:

smoking rooms, 1st floor drive up, exterior corridors. that way we can just bring in what we need, as little as possible, and the car is RIGHT There if we need anything else. (HAVE to bring in the manhattan mixes. nebo drives, I unload and FIRST priority... make him his manhattan! )

you would think by now we would KNOW which motels have this in Macon, tifton, amboy, etc, all the little towns along 75.... but... we don't!

on the way home we know we like a DAYs Inn in Shepardsville KY, just south of Louisville. we always seem to get there just about dark (we HATE looking for a hotel in the dark). they have all of the above(yes, they have non-smoking rooms, too) and 2 24 hour restaurants RIGHT there! one is a dennys, but the other is a cute little place where you can get burgers or country fried steak or whatever, so we check in, have a drinkie poo (or two), then walk over for a meal. back to the room to crash . leave about 6 am and home soon! (darn, maybe I shouldn't have given away our secret; next trip they won't have any available!)

 

[smidgy]

Wow! So impressed that people are driving from CT and beyond. Doesn't it make more sense to fly and rent a car as the time involved and the gas is quite high!

true, we haven't driven with the gas prices THIS high. however. when we go for free dining, we fly. otherwise we drive because : what we can bring that you can't bring on an airplane:
a cooler, stocked with pop and beer and juice packs (and extra, to refill the cooler). lunchmeat, mac salad, cottage cheese. sometimes cold chicken , sub sandwiches for the first night, bread, coffee cake, donuts, chips, cheese and crackers, paper plates, etc. bottle of whiskey, bottle of vodka, margarita mix. cheetos, whatever.
(I know how to pack a car, baby!)
we don't need all that for the free dining. we just put a bottle in each of our suitcases, buy the refillable mugs for pop (and mixes), and do without beer.
yeah, we still eat SOME counter services meals, and one (maybe 2) nice TS meals, but we save a LOT on eating this way. we take a break midday, go back to the resort, have a sandwich, etc. go by the pool, then go back to the room, have a drink, and back to the park! and snackies when we get back at night.

 

[cam8n]

Its still cheaper to drive with a family of 4....

 

[pilferk]

Wow! So impressed that people are driving from CT and beyond. Doesn't it make more sense to fly and rent a car as the time involved and the gas is quite high!

Not for us:

For the 5 of us, it would cost around $1500 to fly, round trip, from BDL to MCO. It would cost us another $300+ for our 9 days of car rental (3 kids under 6 means you need room for 2 car seats and a booster...which means a big car). Total: Around $1800.

For us to drive, it's 1150 miles, one way. That's 2300 miles round trip. Assuming 17 mpg in the minivan (and we get more like around 20, since it's all highway driving), that would work out to about 135 gallons of gas. At $3.70 per gallon (the "rough" average price here in CT), that's about $500 in gas. Room rates (one on the way down, one on the way back) run about $75 each, so that's another $150. We budget $200 for food...though it typically costs us MUCH less.

So we budgeted about $850 for the drive this trip...though, granted, we're not counting "wear and tear" I guess. I know in January (with gas prices hovering around $3 a gallon) it ACTUALLY cost us somewhere around $600 to $650, I think, for the drive.

For OUR family, because we're so large, it's actually a considerable SAVINGS to drive.

 

[Flyerfan]

Its still cheaper to drive with a family of 4....

Even with just the 2 of us. When we factor in gas to the airport and back, parking at airport and renting a car, it's way cheaper. If we would fly and use ME, it would probably be about the same as flying. With driving we have our own car and can pack anything we want and we can leave anytime we want. Yes, it takes a little longer, but it's just far less of a hassle.

 

[TyRy]

we come from chicago. we have considered trying to miss atlanta altogether by staying on 65 and going through Alabama. then either cutting over to Ga. (around Tifton) or heading down to 10 in fla. but nebo (DH) is concerned about these state routes. is it really slow going? any suggestions?

Hi smidgy - does this mean a new trip is in the works? When we drove last time we did the Alabama route...as soon as DH is home I'll see if he has the exact way. We did it there and back and it worked great for us (minus being chased by the tornadoes for a while ) I don't know about stopping on the way down, as we went straight through and then stopped in Brentwood, TN on the way back. My DIL's were with us and they usually use the 75 route, but will use the Alabama route this time when they drive down.