For those folks driving!

[pbharris4]

There are many Cracker Barrels along the way. The 1/2 way point is about Florence, SC. If you stop for the night Friday in Rocky Mount or Fayetteville...make sure you get up really early because the 2nd day will be a long drive to get to Port Canaveral by late afternoon.

South of the Border...that's totally up to you, but I totally agree with the other poster. I stopped there as a kid and I remember it was nicer and rode a few rides. Those rides are still there...with rust and weeds growing all over them. Oh...it's nasty, nasty, nasty. We stopped because you are right...it's one of those things where you want to say you were, but I wouldn't go to the bathroom there, eat there, or stay there. We stopped and went into the store to get a few trinkets, but my kids always called it the "yucky bathroom place".

We've driven many times and just recently in April and August so I am sure nothing has changed.

Have a wonderful cruise!!

 

[quiltymom]

Well, it must've changed a lot since my DH was there last. I'll be sure to pass along the information to him. We'll find another place to stay. Thanks for the info!

 

[mrstomrice]

We're splitting the drive into 2 days, leaving Friday afternoon and hopefully arriving at Cocoa Beach sometime late Saturday afternoon. On the way back my DH thinks that it would be fun to stay at South of the Border, just because you have to do it once in your life! The kids will think it's silly, but that's what vacations are all about - to visit tacky tourist destinations and to do silly stuff!

Thanks for the info for the drive down - especially about the Cracker Barrell. My kids just adore that place! We really had no idea as to where a good stopping place would be. We've always flown in the past, but this time it was more cost-effective for us to drive.

We stayed at Microtel Inn's for the first time this past trip. Both were clean and under 70 a night! We stayed at the Wilson, NC location in August. The style was older, but clean. We have AAA.

 

[Disneywed]

booked a place in Savannah for the ride down....but on the way back up I was thinking we'd wing it, good/bad idea?

 

[DJFan88]

booked a place in Savannah for the ride down....but on the way back up I was thinking we'd wing it, good/bad idea?

You should have no problem. We winged it up to Fredericksburg, VA and there was plenty of vacancies in busy June when school had gotten out. Best Western is where we stayed. There's actually 2 exits there with stuff.

 

[ohlas]

Just for everyone info from Cleveland, ohio it took me from 1pm till 3am to get to jacksonville, fl and i think it was like 3 more hours after that, i was going to tampa, fl got to tampa at like 11am. So it took me like 22 hours to get to tampa so i think i could do disney in 19 hours shot.


I really love to drive but i wish the airlines where nicer to the customers. Ever been stuck in atlanta, ga airport for 8 hours you would never fly again.

 

[scottb8888]

We usually go 77, 26 to 95 and stay in Georgia. (About 12 hours away),then roll into Disney the next day!

 

[MarriedToMyHero]

We are planning on leaving around 4am and driving to Georgia the first day. My husband booked a hotel, can't remember what city it is in already. We figure we will drive until around 10ish the first night and wake up and leave by 8am the next day to finish our trip. Any adivce on the drive and breaking it up differently?

 

[shawnh199]

I was wondering if someone could help us decide which route to take. We are driving from Texas to Daytona to Orlando (leaving early Saturday morning to arrive in Daytona early Sunday morning). My sister-in-law is a huge NASCAR fan, so we are planning to drive straight through to Daytona. Is it best to take I-10 all the way to I-95 and down to Daytona, or is there a better / quicker way to get there?

We would appreciate any advice you could give us. We drove to Orlando 2 years ago, but just to Orlando so we took I-10 to I-75 and then the toll road to Orlando. That was a "no brainer" for us, but we didn't know if there was a better route to Orlando.

Thanks!

 

[ribbit1019]

We are driving from Cleveland, ohio this May with 6 kids, one is an infant. So leaving friday afternoon at 5pm we think we'll stop about 1am. Does anyone know where this might be? I think somewhere in VA?? (6hours driving plus 1-2 hour stops for the kids)

Thanks for any insight, last time I "drove" to FL I was 11.

 

[disneydreamkate]

We will be starting our drive from Buffalo to Orlando January 29th. Our plan is to leave at 3ish am and drive until about 8pm. By my calculations we should be close to Savannah. Anyone have any suggestions for routes down? We are coming back on the 6th of February, and plan on splitting up our driving each day a bit more evenly.

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

The best thing you can do while looking for good distances to stop is google earth or google maps. You enter where your starting from and where your going. It will give you the quickest route. You can then play with the final destination along your route until you find something around the time you want to stop. Just make sure you pick towns or cities along the route your taking. It will also show you hotels on google earth when you get close enough if you have the setting turned on. We have always paid a bit more and stayed in Holiday Inn Express. They are all newer hotels well kept. pool, contental breakfast included and are non smoking. Good for us anyway.

Example from Oakville ontario canada to Disney world. It is about 20.5 hrs. qew, peace bridge crossing, I-190, I-90, I-79, US-19 (do not speed even one mph over if your from out of state you will get pulled over), I-77, I-26, I-95, I-4. I beleive is the route off the top of my head. If we drive about 14 hrs the first day that will get us to orangeburg. We can stop around 9 hrs and that will have us in walterborough I beleive. We always try to do the bulk of the driving the first day then the second day we arrive in daytona early afternoon to relax and have a good night sleep. Then rise early the next morning well rested for the short trip to disney. I dont like arriving at disney late at night as that is a wasted day that we just paid for. The internet has alot of tools to make the trip easier, we just need to get the message out on where to get the info to make everyones trip easier. Oh and if you are a CAA /AAA member you can get a trip tic for free of the route you are taking. Gives pretty exact times and distances. Tells you where construction is and speed traps. Very helpful when planning your trip.

 

[disneyfan55]

Has anyone stayed here on the way down to WDW? I was just looking at the AP discounts for Feb and noticed that there is a $66/night rate for the beginning of Feb. By looking at the directions, it looks like the resort is not that far off I 95. Any info on this resort? Thanks!!

 

[disneyfan55]

We will be starting our drive from Buffalo to Orlando January 29th. Our plan is to leave at 3ish am and drive until about 8pm. By my calculations we should be close to Savannah. Anyone have any suggestions for routes down? We are coming back on the 6th of February, and plan on splitting up our driving each day a bit more evenly.

WE will be leaving central NJ on the 4th! We are stopping probably at Disney's Hilton Head resort on the way down. It's about 2/3 the way for us and I just saw a great AP rate for the 4th and 12th. It's only 66/night! I haven't booked yet but it sounds like it's not that far off 95 and just north of Savannah!! We have stayed in Florence, SC, Savannah, GA, St Augustine, FL (2nd stop) and Fayettesville, NC for stops to and from WDW from Central NJ. We usually like to go further the first day to get the driving out of the way and arrive at WDW mid afternoon. THe last trip we left about 4 am and got to just outside Savannah by around 7 pm. It was May so it was still light out and we had dinner and walked around. The next morning we left around 7 and were in the hotel by 2!

 

[InTheBubble]

Ok, this is the plan. We are heading down for a week in February (school break). The airline fares for this week are nuts, so looks like we will be driving (~1,300 miles one way). We will depart when school lets out on Friday, drive about 10 hours (almost half way), stop for a “nap” and be on the road again by 6:00 or 7:00 in the am. That should get us there around dinner time on Saturday. This is where I would like some input from you long haul drivers! I have two routes mapped out. The preferred route is more interior (western PA, WV, I-77 to I-95 in SC ). The other route is to head south east to I-95 (near Washington) and down. I plan on having hotel rooms booked (10 hours in) on each route, and cancel one of them when we decide which rout to take. We did this trip a few years back, but it was in April.

Having spent my whole life driving in western New York I’m well skilled in winter driving. Although I have to admit the WV mountains in February does sound a bit dicey. My plan is to play it by ear and see what the weather looks like the day we leave. Thoughts? Comments?

 

[Abrasty09]

Thanks for all the replies, very much appreciated- they were helpful. I must go to JAF, and then undergo a driving test. Driving licences acquired in South Africa require retesting in Japan. Once again, thanks for the help

 

[BlueFairy]

Hi all. I hope someone here can help. I tried google maps to compare our old route from I-65 south in Alabama through the panhandle and I-10 to what google recommends. I'm getting a route that goes through Atlanta and takes I-75. That all makes sense, but then after getting on FL-91 it says to take FL-429 and go in through the north side of WDW. Basically around behind the Magic Kingdom via service roads (Fiquette Rd to Reams Rd to Center Dr to Asian to World Dr) and then turning left toward the Wilderness Lodge. This route is at least 1 or 1 1/2 hours shorter than they way we've always come which entered property from the Kissimmee end.
My question - can we access WDW property this way? Are there barriers or employee ID checks? How have I missed this in all our driving before?
Thanks!!

 

[CajunCookie]

Hello driving experts,

We are thinking of driving our next trip from Nashville to Orlando. I know the typical route via looking over thsi site, but my question is this:

We are driving the monday and tuesday after Easter... what is your thought about traffic? Should it be thinned out by then?

Atlanta... I've read some stories about long delays.... is there an alternative route you could suggest.

Things to know about us: We truly hate driving and it takes us longer than others since we have to stop so often to just wake up and stay sane. We will be looking for good stopping point on the way down (about 8 hours) and then another 8 hour stopping point on the way back.

I appreciate your help as I must now get myself mentally ready for that drive.

 

[BlueFairy]

Hello driving experts,

We are thinking of driving our next trip from Nashville to Orlando. I know the typical route via looking over thsi site, but my question is this:

We are driving the monday and tuesday after Easter... what is your thought about traffic? Should it be thinned out by then?

Atlanta... I've read some stories about long delays.... is there an alternative route you could suggest.

Things to know about us: We truly hate driving and it takes us longer than others since we have to stop so often to just wake up and stay sane. We will be looking for good stopping point on the way down (about 8 hours) and then another 8 hour stopping point on the way back.

I appreciate your help as I must now get myself mentally ready for that drive.

We are in Birmingham and are going to try the ATL route this time. However, if you'd like to avoid it, you could try I-65 to Montgomery and then take US Hwy 231 through Dothan, hopping on I-10 in the Marianna area. Then continue on to I-75. I think it adds about 45 minutes for us to go that way, but we don't risk sitting in traffic in ATL for hours.
There are a number of nice places to stop in Dothan. Tallahassee is also good, but don't blink or you'll miss it.

 

[disneydaddvc]

Hello everyone

My family will driving to HH this summer from Mass. We know where to stay on they way down. About 4 hours away from HH in NC near the boarder of SC.

Can anyone help on whre to stay on the way home. We stayed in VA last time. Want to stop a little closer to home this time. I like to go to hotel and clean up then walk to dinner.

Any suggestions for a clean safe place.