Fun places to stay overnight driving from NY?

[kcount]

We will be driving down from NY to Disney World next month. We want to stay overnight about halfway on the way down (Virginia, North Carolina). We are traveling with 5 kids, 7, 6, 4, 3, 1. Can anyone suggest an area to stay that has entertainment or sights for children to see or do? We're trying to make it as fun as possible and would rather add another destination rather than just a normal hotel to sleep and then get back on the road. Thanks!

 

[olwyngdh]

Whatever you do, do not push through to the NC-SC border and stay at South of the Border!! It is a fun roadside attraction, but the hotel rooms--well, I expected a serial killer to bust in at any moment.

 

[siestakeys04]

I live in NC I would stop in Charlotte. There is a Discovery Place Science that coworkers say is nice there is a fee not sure how much. Then I saw an ImaginOn is a combination of Library and The Children's Theatre of Charlotte. Very nice hotels surrounding Charlotte and in Charlotte. The Matthews and Concord areas are nice if you didn't want to be directly in there.

 

[YesterDark]

With 5 kids I'd just find a decent hotel and sleep/eat and push on as early as possible.

Good luck.

 

[gulliesmom]

Five kids, 7, 6, 4, 3 and 1??? Someplace, any place that has WINE for you and your spouse, LOL!! Unfortunately, NC has little to offer right off 95. If you are willing to take a detour, there are options- Charlotte, or fayetteville: https://maps.roadtrippers.com/us/fa...airborne-special-operations-museum-foundation

Good luck!

 

[firefly_ris]

We will be driving down from NY to Disney World next month. We want to stay overnight about halfway on the way down (Virginia, North Carolina). We are traveling with 5 kids, 7, 6, 4, 3, 1. Can anyone suggest an area to stay that has entertainment or sights for children to see or do? We're trying to make it as fun as possible and would rather add another destination rather than just a normal hotel to sleep and then get back on the road. Thanks!

Hi neighbor (I'm in Alden).

We have never driven to WDW but we have driven to Outer Banks 5 or 6 times with kids in tow (we have 3 - 8, 7, 5). We usually make a free overnight pit stop at my parents house in Baltimore and do an activity there, which is halfway to OBX, but obviously not halfway to Disney. Sometimes, we stop again in Virginia to do a little extra stuff... here are some places we've hit:

The Virginia Zoo in Norfolk - http://virginiazoo.org/

Nauticus Maritime Museum in Norfolk - https://nauticus.org/

Colonial Williamsburg - https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.com/ (We didn't purchase tickets to enter the buildings but kids still enjoyed. I spent many vacations here as a kid. We'll return and do tickets when they're older)

Jamestown Settlement - https://www.historyisfun.org/

[eta] We usually look for places that have an Embassy Suites nearby to stay at. We enjoy the space, microwave/fridge/sink in the suite, plus they do a free full breakfast and a nightly free Happy Hour with drink vouchers and some apps. So even when we get back to the hotel early, we can have something else to eat in the room at night and have extra space to watch a movie or whatever.

 

[mjkacmom]

Family of 7, we like stopping at an embassy suites. The kids love the pool, we love the free cocktails. We stayed at 1 in DC, my oldest was 11 and kept begging to go back to the hotel!

 

[stephk1981]

May not be what you want, but the Great Wolf Lodge in Concord ( just before Charlotte.) Is really fun! Although this isn't a quick couple hours stop....it does have super fun pools and lots of activities. Be safe on the road trip down!

 

[chartle]

How long are you staying at this stop over?

If you stay 2 nights thats just one less day at WDW. If you stay one night and half a day that just makes the trip longer since the next morning you get a late start or you will be stopping earlier the first day. .

 

[DizneyLizzy]

My sister lives in Chapel Hill (we're in MD) and we always stop at her house for a day or two on our way to FL. My kids are 4 and 2. We visit children's museums whenever we travel, and the kids museum in Raleigh is our absolutely favorite. It's a bit of a ways off of 95, but it's a really great museum. I'm sure there is other stuff to do in the Raleigh area as well.

https://www.marbleskidsmuseum.org/

 

[Hopfather28]

I'll be watching this thread closely. My wife and I will be travelling in July from the Western NY area and we are considering driving down. We have two kids (7 and 4) and my MIL going with us. If we do end up driving down we plan to stop 2 times on the way down. Once in VA and once in Southern GA or Northern FL. My thought with the two stops is that we will be able to rest more and also have a fuller first day at WDW. If we don't end up driving it's because we found a good deal on a direct flight out of BUF. Fingers Crossed.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Another vote for Colonial Williamsburg. We actually stay there for several days as a stand alone trip but I can see it making a short change of pace on the way to WDW. Another possibility is to drive along parts of the Smoky Mountain Scenic Highway but I've no idea where to stay in that part of the state beyond campgrounds.

 

[tinkerjo]

It’s a little far, but we stopped once at Hilton head. Just for the night. Tybee island or Savannah are also great