For those folks driving!

[pha1226]

We are also in South Jersey. We usually leave home by around 3:00 am and drive straight through, arriving in Orlando around 7:00 pm. We usually stop at a Cracker Barrel for a later breakfast/break. Other than that, we just do bathroom breaks.

We found that neither driver slept well when we tried to stop along the way so we prefer driving straight through. The drive down doesn't seem bad because we are all excited about getting there.

 

[jsdeforge]

We are also in South Jersey. We usually leave home by around 3:00 am and drive straight through, arriving in Orlando around 7:00 pm. We usually stop at a Cracker Barrel for a later breakfast/break. Other than that, we just do bathroom breaks. We found that neither driver slept well when we tried to stop along the way so we prefer driving straight through. The drive down doesn't seem bad because we are all excited about getting there.

Wow very funny my wife and I discussed this very similar travel plan early this morning almost verbatim. I think the leaving at 3 AM is key to getting through DC and Virginia somewhat hasslefree. What time do you normally stop for breakfast? Last time we did a late lunch at Cracker Barrel in southern Georgia. Lunch was okay but I'm told breakfast is the way to go to Cracker Barrel. I also believe leaving on a Sunday helps somewhat.

 

[babesboo99]

Trying to find a rental car still and I was just on budget and I saw the price which is doable but all the add-ons like the insurance and stuff makes it go up another couple of hundred. Just wondering is it really worth it getting all that I thought it would be best to ask experience drivers going to Florida?

 

[dsnycrzy]

Hello Everyone,
We have decided to drive down to WDW and take the auto train back. My problem is I drove a few years ago and used gasbuddy to budget my gas for the drive down. Can I say it was HORRIBLY wrong!!!!! It blow my whole spending money budget for that trip and we had to be careful because we still needed money to make it home. That year I drove a 05 Kia Sorrento (so that drive was in 2007 I believe) and I now have a bigger vehicle, an 09 Kia Borrego so I know it will cost more. To fill my car cost about $75 and gasbuddy has my trip from Delaware to Orlando at $150. There is no darn way that is correct!!!! My daughter is also driving her 2012 Kia Soul & they have her trip at $90, again I know that is wrong.

Anyone who has driving from the Jersey,Philly, Maryland area that can tell me the car model (for comparison), the gas amount you paid (I'm using regular 87 gas) and any tolls if you can remember.
Thanks so much.

 

[letstalkboutdisney]

Hello Everyone,
We have decided to drive down to WDW and take the auto train back. My problem is I drove a few years ago and used gasbuddy to budget my gas for the drive down. Can I say it was HORRIBLY wrong!!!!! It blow my whole spending money budget for that trip and we had to be careful because we still needed money to make it home. That year I drove a 05 Kia Sorrento (so that drive was in 2007 I believe) and I now have a bigger vehicle, an 09 Kia Borrego so I know it will cost more. To fill my car cost about $75 and gasbuddy has my trip from Delaware to Orlando at $150. There is no darn way that is correct!!!! My daughter is also driving her 2012 Kia Soul & they have her trip at $90, again I know that is wrong.

Anyone who has driving from the Jersey,Philly, Maryland area that can tell me the car model (for comparison), the gas amount you paid (I'm using regular 87 gas) and any tolls if you can remember.
Thanks so much.

Hi, We live in south jersey. We just got back from Disney. We have a 2005 dodge grand caravan. We filled the tank before we left and twice while driving. it costs us about $60 to fill the tank. Not exactly sure of the toll cost. We used easy pass. I think it was $5 in Delaware, $4 in Maryland and $5 in Baltimore. There were not any more tolls after that. We took 95 the whole way and drove straight though. I hope this helps!

 

[dsnycrzy]

Thank you. I think my car takes about $75 to fill so I will put about $400 aside since my DD is driving her car too.

 

[CookieGVB]

We live in South Jersey and probably leaving on Christmas Day. Anyone else have tips for what we should look for/avoid? We're probably going to stop somewhere that night so we won't arrive completely trashed. Looking for any advice on best times to leave/where to stop along the way, etc. I've tried searching through various threads here, but still a few questions. Thanks.

 

[beatlesblonde]

Add us to the list of who's driving. We're driving from Indianapolis this coming December. We've only done this drive once before back in 2008 so it should be interesting. We aren't planning on stopping, going to drive straight through. We're staying with a friend who lives south of WDW, so it'll be almost 16 hours. Here's hoping DH and I can stand being in the car with each other for that long!

 

[skywaywaver]

Driving in less than 4 weeks...again! Leaving on 8/1 from the Hudson Valley, NY and taking in-land route, a first for us. Stopping overnight near Columbia, SC to have a quick breakfast with family in the area, then on to my parents' in the Villages. Tuesday 8/5 we head to Disney until Mon 8/11 then back to my parents until Thursday 8/14.

Question for you all - we are doing inland route southbound, which works well for seeing family. However, I had read a few things about the construction north of Richmond on I-95 but am now seeing that they are only closing at night and on the weekends. Is this true? Should I plan a different, albeit an hour longer, route through coastal Virginia going back north? Or should i just stick with our regular I-95 all the way (except through DC)?

 

[skywaywaver]

Any tips from my NJ disney friends would be much appreciated. We will be leaving the south jersey area on a Sunday late in September. We will be traveling with my DW DS DS DD the kids are 8 year old triplets and do very well on long trips. I would really like to make it as far as possible on day one maybe even straight trough. Whats time should I leave? Any food stop recommendations? Driving straight through good idea bad idea? Thank u in advance

 

[1disneychic]

We are leaving next Friday from South Central Pennsylvania. We are taking the 81-77-26-95 route and will have three drivers. The plan is to leave between 3:00 and 4:00 pm and drive as far as we make it. Might be straight thru, might not. Straight thru would be nice so that the kids could sleep, but then we'd be wiped out when we got there. So, I'm thinking that we will need to stop for the night. I'm thinking that we could make it somewhere between Charlotte NC and Columbia SC, perhaps a little farther. Any suggestions on where to stay? Any tips on where not to stay? Also, has anyone been successful getting a hotel room late at night without reserving one? I don't want to reserve a room ahead of time since we won't have time to cancel if we feel like driving further. (I posted on the For 2000+ miles drivers also, but I thought I might get some good responses from this thread as well. I wasn't sure if some of you followed one thread vs. the other.)

 

[Happiest mommy]

Hello all we will also be driving in Sept we are so looking forward to this trip since it was just decided a few weeks ago to go , driving from NYC hoping to leave on a Saturday around 3am DH wants do drive straight thru hoping we can do it since we will be rested, now on our way back which will be on a Friday we will be leaving around 8am and going to try and make it to VA and stay over not sure where yet, any tips very appreciated also is I95 straight down the best route or does anyone have other suggestions thanks !!!

 

[Halbleib1]

We have stayed a number of times at Days inn Port Wentworth Ga. Exit 109 on I95. Clean and decent price and breakfast and not far from Savannah

We have stayed there as well. The rooms are clean and the price wasn't bad. To get the best price book it online. Even if it is the same day it is cheaper than booking at the desk as they have online only pricing that can not be booked at the front desk. We booked from our phone while standing at the front desk. lol The breakfast is cereal, biscuits and gravy, waffles, sausage, eggs, toast or bagels and muffins as well as juice and coffee. A pretty good breakfast for being included with the room. If you are looking for a place to eat dinner when you arrive or if you need anything from a store the next exit up on I-95 has a lot of restaurants as well as shopping.

 

[jennthompson111]

We are driving down from Southern Ohio in November. There will be 3 adults to switch off driving. We are still debating on whether or not to stop overnight. I would love to drive straight thru, but I'm also worried we will be exhausted when we get there since we've never driven this far. Last year I drove the entire way to Lake Norman, NC and was tired when we got there but could have driven more. I tend to do a lot of the driving bc I get car sick and it seems to be better if I'm behind the wheel. Any advice from you seasoned drivers?

 

[bluezy]

Thank you. I think my car takes about $75 to fill so I will put about $400 aside since my DD is driving her car too.

That's probably a good amount to budget. We've made the drive from just north of Philly several times (just a little over 1000 miles one way for us). We have a 2009 Dodge Grand Caravan and on the open highway, we get about 22 mpg. For budgeting purposes, I usually use 20 mpg. The tank holds 20 gallons so we need about 5 full tanks of gas (100 gallons) for a round trip. I take whatever the price of gas is in our area and add a quarter or so (even though we've usually found the price of gas to be cheaper as we drive south). So, long story short, if I was estimating our gas expenses right now, I'd use $4/gal (to be very safe) X 100 gallons = $400. My estimates are always a little high using my methods. When we drove down last June, our total round-trip travel costs (gas & 2 hotel nights) were a hair under $600 (our hotel suites were $132 & $107).

 

[Surfinpiratee]

Wow!! We drive my boyfriend's Poniac Vibe and it was only $200-$240 round trip for gas!! We drive from Northern Illinois, it's about 1200 miles

 

[dayvewc]

Wow!! We drive my boyfriend's Poniac Vibe and it was only $200-$240 round trip for gas!! We drive from Northern Illinois, it's about 1200 miles

You must get better mileage than me. Lol. I have an 04 vibe and my gas runs about $300 total, driving from central Arkansas (about 1800 miles round trip, 2000 miles with the driving I do there)

 

[bluezy]

Wow!! We drive my boyfriend's Poniac Vibe and it was only $200-$240 round trip for gas!! We drive from Northern Illinois, it's about 1200 miles

I'd love to be able to drive round trip to Disney for $200...but we have 5 kids so depending on how many of them travel with us we have 5-7 people plus all of our luggage in the van (no rooftop carrier for us). Right now, I'm just happy to be getting over 20 mpg when we're traveling like that. The car is *really* heavy.

My DS and his GF drove down to Disney in their Honda Fit last year and it cost them about $200 for the 2,000 mile round trip.

 

[ToyStory3]

Does anyone have any suggestions for lap trays for the kids? I thought it might be a good idea in the car. They could put coloring books and snacks on it. But I'm afraid it may take up too much space back there. Not sure??? Thanks.

 

[jsdeforge]

Does anyone have any suggestions for lap trays for the kids? I thought it might be a good idea in the car. They could put coloring books and snacks on it. But I'm afraid it may take up too much space back there. Not sure??? Thanks.

Check bed bath and beyond they are setting up now for back to college and have a few really nice lap desks to choose from.