For those folks driving!

[diznee25]

Do you use a rental car, or drive your own? We're driving to WDW in December and we're looking into car rentals. Can anyone recommend a good company? I know that some companies charge for taking the car out of state, and some don't.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

diznee25

 

[amtag]

Do you use a rental car, or drive your own? We're driving to WDW in December and we're looking into car rentals. Can anyone recommend a good company? I know that some companies charge for taking the car out of state, and some don't.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

diznee25

I looked into rental cars, we are driving from NJ in August and we have a mid-size car and 4 adults and a carseat so I looked into renting a mini-van or SUV and it was almost as expensive as flying LOL! Unlimited mileage is hard to find once you are planning to go outside of the tri-state area and drive over 2000 miles. We also are going to be gone for 10-11 days, so to rent a car for that long is more expensive, the lowest I found was around $800-$900 including mileage but without any of the insurance added yet, plus your gas will be higher in a mini-van or SUV. Good luck, post if you find any good deals

 

[jasko5990]

With the exception of taking Amtrak's Auto Train in 2008, we have driven from the Philadelphia, PA area every trip since 2002. My current strategy is to wake up around 6am the day we are leaving, then go back to bed around 4-5pm and sleep until about 11pm. We leave around midnight and drive straight through on I-95. My wife & kids stay awake that day until we leave, then they sleep in the Avalanche and don't wake up until we are in North Carolina where we stop for gas and a Cracker Barrel breakfast around 7am. We then hit the road again, only stopping for one more gas stop and when bathroom breaks are needed. The trip lasts 16 hours, + or - 1/2 hour. By leaving when we do we miss all of the morning traffic in the northern section of I-95 (especially around teh Washington DC area), and when we stop for breakfast we avoid a lot of the traffic during the morning rush. I have tried other departure times, routes, and also stopping for sleep along the way, and have found this current strategy to be the best for us. The long drive and hours aren't a problem for me since I work rotating shifts and spend up to 13 hours a day in a vehicle and am used to being awake all night in a car. The few times I needed a power nap my wife drove for a short time (usually less than 45 minutes) so I could rest. We get to do it again in 2011.

 

[MamaJessie]

We are leaving on a Saturday in August from central CT. How is traffic through the DC area on a Saturday?

Hmm... I think there is some sort of loop so you can bypass the dc area. I am pretty sure there were signs on the highway recommending this What a help I am

 

[SplashMom]

We have decided to drive in August for free dining! I'm very excited but it is a really long drive--from Nova Scotia! Driving time is about 37 hours. We have driven once before, several years ago. We went straight down the I95 from Maine to Florida. It wasn't bad--a little nerve wracking at times! Not sure if we will do the same this time. We are going to take 4 days because we don't want to drive late at night as we are not familiar with the roads at all. Any advice?

 

[M_T]

Hello

Does anyone know of a website that lists the active construction on I95/I77/I79 ?
Driving from Toronto and would like to know where I could get caught up in traffic jams?
(iPhone apps or GPS addons are also good)

thanks
mark

 

[alexensmom]

Hey there!! thanks for chiming in...I to am in a tizzy and we dont leave til September!
We are actualy in Kittanning PA about 35-40 minutes north of Pittsburgh but nobody ever knows where that is so Pittsburgh it is!! We have two differnt routes "picked" out both ending up with 95, its just the starting points that are different

Please try and post back about your drive, I would love some "local" insight! We have an 11 & 6 year old making the trip with us, should prove interesting

Good Luck on your drive & have a great trip!! i am off to check out AAA

Hello

Does anyone know of a website that lists the active construction on I95/I77/I79 ?
Driving from Toronto and would like to know where I could get caught up in traffic jams?
(iPhone apps or GPS addons are also good)

thanks
mark

I love Pittsburgh and go there to shop. No one knows where we live either so we say 1/2 hour from Pennsylvania border or 1 1/2 hr. from Pitt.

For last year's trip, we drove to Va to stay with family then headed out from there. We stayed at a hotel in Orlando and hit WDW the next morning. This year we are leaving from home. We will be heading down I79 to I77. It will add 4 hours to our trip, but we still plan to stay at the same hotel in Orlando. We had a great trip last year with DD. DS will be going with us, so it should be more interesting this year.

I79 has several bridge construction projects, but they are dated to finish at the end of June. I would check the Department's of Transportation of each state before heading out to check conditions.

 

[billybobblockhead]

Hello

Does anyone know of a website that lists the active construction on I95/I77/I79 ?
Driving from Toronto and would like to know where I could get caught up in traffic jams?
(iPhone apps or GPS addons are also good)

thanks
mark

Don't know of a website, but having driven 95 on our last trip to WDW (early April), I can tell you that there is construction in both the north and south bound lanes of 95 around the Savannah/Brunswick area. It's only about 20 miles or so, but they post for trucks to get in the left hand lane and they lower the speed limit to 55 which really stacks everyone up. That's all that I can comment on because we don't pick up 95 until it joins with 26 in SC.

 

[kidd_freeper]

Hello

Does anyone know of a website that lists the active construction on I95/I77/I79 ?
Driving from Toronto and would like to know where I could get caught up in traffic jams?
(iPhone apps or GPS addons are also good)

thanks
mark

http://www.i95exitguide.com/alert/index.php

 

[beachpal]

We're driving down 95 (yes, I hear you gasp at the traffic) on Friday from Baltimore to Savannah for an overnight before getting to WDW on Saturday. We REALLY want to listen to the US world cup game on the way down- they play at 9:30AM. Do any of you fellow travelers know the ESPN radio stations past Richmond and into North Carolina?

 

[talleyrm]

Does anyone know of any rest areas with playgrounds between Charlotte and Disney World? I-77, I-26, and I-95 would all work.

Thanks so much!

 

[dsnycrzy]

Hello all, here is my problem,
I recently moved (just across the parking lot to a bigger town house, nothing big) But I did spend a lot getting new things just because I lived in my last home 11 years and wanted a new look. With that said it took a big chuck out of my WDW fund (just about all of it). I had considered skipping this year after 15 years in a row but while doing my DD,s room Princess Tiana, I starting getting the need for my WDW fix. So I was thinking about a quick minor trip that I could pull off driving down. We usually take the auto train but that is out with the prices now. I drove down about 2 years ago and did the pricing but a website posted here and it was grossly mis judged (quoted me $600 roundtrip and it was close to that one way).

Can someone give me a better quote on my gas so I can start putting that away? Im driving a Kia Burrago from Wilmington, DE. Thank You

 

[katybugsmom]

Does anyone know of any rest areas with playgrounds between Charlotte and Disney World? I-77, I-26, and I-95 would all work.

Thanks so much!

Welcome to DISBoards!!!!!
I can't think of any rest areas that have playgrounds along I-95, but there are lots of fast food places that have the indoor and outdoor playgrounds. I don't know how old your kids are, but you could always take a playground ball, jumpropes, bubbles, etc. for them to play with at any rest area! Our local Dollar Tree usually has all of these items using Disney themes! All of these items are great for allowing kids to move around and get the "wiggles" out!

 

[katybugsmom]

Hello all, here is my problem,
I recently moved (just across the parking lot to a bigger town house, nothing big) But I did spend a lot getting new things just because I lived in my last home 11 years and wanted a new look. With that said it took a big chuck out of my WDW fund (just about all of it). I had considered skipping this year after 15 years in a row but while doing my DD,s room Princess Tiana, I starting getting the need for my WDW fix. So I was thinking about a quick minor trip that I could pull off driving down. We usually take the auto train but that is out with the prices now. I drove down about 2 years ago and did the pricing but a website posted here and it was grossly mis judged (quoted me $600 roundtrip and it was close to that one way).

Can someone give me a better quote on my gas so I can start putting that away? Im driving a Kia Burrago from Wilmington, DE. Thank You

I totally understand the need for a fix!
Gas along I-95 in South Carolina right now is running between $2.35-$2.50 depending on where you stop. It's hard to judge how much you will need because gas prices keep going up and down dramatically!!!!!
It will also depend on the time of year you are going. We have been the past two years and are going again in December. Even though we live in the South, it's just too darn hot to go in June anymore! We paid $2.99 inside Disney World last June-prices then were about the same no matter where we stopped. I would put away at least $3.50 per gallon-that way you should have enough to cover your expenses! Good luck!

 

[dsnycrzy]

Oh yeah Im going in early August!

 

[beachgrl001]

Oh yeah Im going in early August!

Hi neighbor! we are also driving this year, I have really had to budget this trip I had some unexpected expenses this year and money is tight but we all still really want to go!

Have you tried these?

http://www.fuelcostcalculator.com/
or this one
http://www.plan-a-magical-vacation.com/gas-mileage-calculator.html

 

[katybugsmom]

Hi neighbor! we are also driving this year, I have really had to budget this trip I had some unexpected expenses this year and money is tight but we all still really want to go!

Have you tried these?

http://www.fuelcostcalculator.com/
or this one
http://www.plan-a-magical-vacation.com/gas-mileage-calculator.html

Great sites! Thanks!

 

[SSR05]

Hey All!

We are driving down this year for the first time since 2006. To answer your question about how much $$ for gas driving from DE. We are in Philly area and based on 1000 miles with gas averaging $2.50 or so for regular, we should spend about $110-$125.00, each way, depending on the price of gas at the time of departure. Heck it could go above $3.00 a gallon. So round trip should cost about $250.00. Heck of a deal considering there are 5 of us and air fare has typically been $175.00-$200.00 per round trip ticket.

BTW, we leave July 8 for Vero Beach, then up north to The World, 9 days in all.

Cheers

 

[dsnycrzy]

I dont know why I remember that being so far off last time I did this. At that time I had a smaller SUV (Kia Sorento) and gas killed my budget. It might be because there was 6 people and the car was so packed that the kids knees were in there chest and things were falling on their heads from the over flow in the trunk area. My DBF had stuff between his legs and on his lap too. I am sitting here cracking up at that because all I heard the whole trip was how squished they were (my goodness I'm in tears here). Not tho mention the big suitcase that was tied on top . Ok DBF is gone and my Dniece isnt going, no need for cooking stuff since were arent staying for weeks were we needed so much stuff. The most will be one big suitcase and maybe bookbags with their traveling stuff. So maybe it was how heavy the car was that ate up the gas because I also didnt have the air on so that wasnt it either.

Those sights are giving me estimates round trip at about $300, so I may add $100 and budget a few dollars from my spending money left over each day to the trip back according to the trip down.

Thanks

 

[beachpal]

We just returned from our lovely 14 hour drive home last night. We have a Toyota Sienna so our mileage was around 20 mpg, but I spent about $350 on gas. We live in northern MD and filled up a total 7 times if I remember correctly. Once when we were down there because we didn't use Disney transportation, we drove our own car.

Also, for anyone wanting to know about traffic, we left on a Friday morning at 8 am, ran into some light congestion in White Marsh MD, and then on the DC beltway ( it was about 9:00 at that point) but it wasn't that bad. It was slow but it moved. Both of those added about 20 minutes to the drive. We took 495 West rather than East only because I'm familiar with that section. You could go the other way, it's equidistant really. We ran into some congestion in South Carolina but we followed the masses exiting off and found our way back to 95 very easily and bypassed that mess. The drive home yesterday was long and heavy but it flowed.