For those folks driving!

[TinaElmerRh]

We will be driving to Disney from PA for the first time. Has anyone stayed at a Hilton about half the way there? My husband has points we can use for free rooms.

 

[nono]

We will be driving to Disney from PA for the first time. Has anyone stayed at a Hilton about half the way there? My husband has points we can use for free rooms.

If you are OK with a Hampton Inn (part of Hilton), there's a very nice one just off I-95 in Dunn, NC. Check it out.

 

[TinaElmerRh]

If you are OK with a Hampton Inn (part of Hilton), there's a very nice one just off I-95 in Dunn, NC. Check it out.

Thank you. Looks good to me.

 

[PrincessMom4]

Holiday Inn Express (or Hannah Montana hotel as my 5 year old calls it) is really good too.

 

[loveysbydesign]

We will be driving to Disney from PA for the first time. Has anyone stayed at a Hilton about half the way there? My husband has points we can use for free rooms.

Whereabouts in PA are you driving from and are you taking 95 or 81-77-26-95?

 

[TinaElmerRh]

Whereabouts in PA are you driving from and are you taking 95 or 81-77-26-95?

We are from Wilkes-Barre. We were planning on 95. Now that I'm reading about going 81 I'm thinking that might be better. Anybody have any thoughts on taking that route?

 

[loveysbydesign]

We are from Wilkes-Barre. We were planning on 95. Now that I'm reading about going 81 I'm thinking that might be better. Anybody have any thoughts on taking that route?

I live in Alburtis, 10 minutes west of Allentown, right off Rte 78 and Rte 100. We always go 78-81-26-95 and love that route!
So much easier then dealing with heading down towards the Philly area to pick up 95. Can't stand the NE ext south(if there's an accident you're screwed and stuck on it) or the blue route or 95 up this way!
What are your travel dates?

 

[TinaElmerRh]

I live in Alburtis, 10 minutes west of Allentown, right off Rte 78 and Rte 100. We always go 78-81-26-95 and love that route!
So much easier then dealing with heading down towards the Philly area to pick up 95. Can't stand the NE ext south(if there's an accident you're screwed and stuck on it) or the blue route or 95 up this way!
What are your travel dates?

We will be pulling out Dec. 28 and arriving in Orlando on the 29th. (I know bad time, but I want my grandchildren to see Disney at Christmas). We are taking the train home on Jan. 5th.

 

[TinaElmerRh]

I live in Alburtis, 10 minutes west of Allentown, right off Rte 78 and Rte 100. We always go 78-81-26-95 and love that route!
So much easier then dealing with heading down towards the Philly area to pick up 95. Can't stand the NE ext south(if there's an accident you're screwed and stuck on it) or the blue route or 95 up this way!
What are your travel dates?

How long does it take you? When I changed the route on mapquest it added 2 hours on. Going on 95 it said 17.5 hours and on 81 it said over 19 hours.

 

[loveysbydesign]

We will be pulling out Dec. 28 and arriving in Orlando on the 29th. (I know bad time, but I want my grandchildren to see Disney at Christmas). We are taking the train home on Jan. 5th.

We are taking to train home for our upcoming trip too

I would play it by ear and if there is no snowstorns go 78-81-77-26 rte. If there is a snowstorm I-95 will probably be clearer, unless it is just a coastal storm then 95 will probably be worse!

 

[TinaElmerRh]

We are taking to train home for our upcoming trip too

I would play it by ear and if there is no snowstorns go 78-81-77-26 rte. If there is a snowstorm I-95 will probably be clearer, unless it is just a coastal storm

You'll have to let me know how your train ride goes. We will be traveling with a 2 yr old, so I'm not really sure about all this. What a small world, my in laws are in Bethlehem right by the airport.

 

[loveysbydesign]

You'll have to let me know how your train ride goes. We will be traveling with a 2 yr old, so I'm not really sure about all this. What a small world, my in laws are in Bethlehem right by the airport.

Have you checked out the Autotrain thread? Great info there! http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=402667&page=99
This thread is great for drivers too! http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2815923&page=75 Lots of people from PA!

 

[Katmat75]

We are from Wilkes-Barre. We were planning on 95. Now that I'm reading about going 81 I'm thinking that might be better. Anybody have any thoughts on taking that route?

We are from NJ but right across the river from Philly. We have driven several times and we always take 95. We always stop for the night in Georgia trying to get the longest part of the driving out of the way. We always stayed in Brunswick Georgia at the Comfort Suites Golden Isle Gateway. It's just off 95 and not too pricey. Very clean!

We have taken the auto train several times and it is one of my favorites. I would take that every time but when you are on a budget it's must cheaper to drive and I hate flying. My youngest son was 4 when we first took the auto train and he was fine. Just take things to keep your 2 year old occupies and they always ploace you in the train cars with others whio have children so if they act up you don't have to panic for bothering others lol!!

 

[csharpwv]

We are from NJ but right across the river from Philly. We have driven several times and we always take 95. We always stop for the night in Georgia trying to get the longest part of the driving out of the way. We always stayed in Brunswick Georgia at the Comfort Suites Golden Isle Gateway. It's just off 95 and not too pricey. Very clean!

We have taken the auto train several times and it is one of my favorites. I would take that every time but when you are on a budget it's must cheaper to drive and I hate flying. My youngest son was 4 when we first took the auto train and he was fine. Just take things to keep your 2 year old occupies and they always ploace you in the train cars with others whio have children so if they act up you don't have to panic for bothering others lol!!

I would suggest 95 - but leave at night! We drove from Hazleton, PA last year on Thanksgiving day. We left around 10pm - we had zero traffic, the DC Beltway was abandoned, and we made it to Hilton Head Island around 1:00 the next day. We are DVC members - so we spent the night at Hilton Head Island, took a walk on the beach, cooked dinner in our Villa, washed clothes, and used the jacuzzi - and woke up well rested and ready to go the next morning! We also stopped at the outlet mall on our way out of town for a quick black friday shopping adventure HAHA

It was a great trip!

I would definitely suggest I-95 after hours!

 

[tinkerbell615]

Hello everyone. It has been a while since I visited this thread. You all have helped me in the past, but I can't seem to find all of my information.

We will be driving to WDW from OH. We will be going I75 South and taking the Florida Turnpike. The past couple of times, we have taken what I believe is called the Western Beltway off of the turnpike. I can't remember for sure if that is what it is called and what the exit is. It always seems to be less crowded to get in that way than going straight down the turnpike to the WDW exit if I can remember correctly. We are staying at All Star Sports. I would love for any help with this that you all are able to give.

Thanks in advance.

 

[carolinagirl268]

Can anyone tell me if traffic on I4 gets bad on Sundays around 3pm when people are checking in for the week? Just trying to figure out if we would be smarter to try arriving before 2pm to avoid all others arriving.

 

[Metal80s]

Can anyone tell me if traffic on I4 gets bad on Sundays around 3pm when people are checking in for the week? Just trying to figure out if we would be smarter to try arriving before 2pm to avoid all others arriving.

I lived in Orlando for 8 years, I-4 traffic is always bad but weekends don't really get backed up

 

[momto2inKC]

Joining in on this thread. We have decided to drive to Disney on our next trip. Last time we drove was in 2005 and that didn't end well. The engine blew on my car on the way home This time we're getting a rental and putting all those bad driving memories behind us
So I do have a question...anyone who's driven along this route, where is a good stop off place somewhere in Georgia? I mapped out the route on www.freetrip.com and it's 18.5 hours. I think we'd like to stop around the 12-13 hour point which puts us in Macon, GA. Any opinions? Should we stop in another town before/after Macon? Hotel suggestions? I found a rate of $60 a night for a Best Western suite using my Costco card. It was 1/4 mile off I-75.

 

[DJFan88]

So I do have a question...anyone who's driven along this route, where is a good stop off place somewhere in Georgia? I mapped out the route on www.freetrip.com and it's 18.5 hours. I think we'd like to stop around the 12-13 hour point which puts us in Macon, GA. Any opinions? Should we stop in another town before/after Macon? Hotel suggestions? I found a rate of $60 a night for a Best Western suite using my Costco card. It was 1/4 mile off I-75.

Hmmm.... I think the Best Western we stayed at in Georgia was right off the highway in Savannah. There was a Denny's inside. We arrived at 8:30 pm and just wanted to sleep till 2:30 am (so as to be rush traffic thru Jacksonville the following am, and to get in early at WDW). The lady gave me coupons for a free breakfast for Denny's as part of their deal and I said we aren't going to be around for breakfast, and she said "Well, it's a 24 hour breakfast!" and I said "Now we're talking" and we ate breakfast for our supper for free at the attached Denny's at 9 pm!
It was noisy from the highway, and it had the outside doors, but it was affordable and it accomplished what we needed to.

 

[momto2inKC]

We're coming from Missouri so we'll be going through central Georgia. Good deal on the free breakfast