HELP!!! First timer..PA to WDW

[StarPM]

Ok...we just decided to drive, instead of fly. This will be our 1st time driving to the world. We are coming from Reading, PA(kinda near Philadelphia)and are figuring on about 16-18 hrs. We are looking to do a LONG drive one day(maybe 12 hrs), staying overnite, and doing a short 2nd day. My question for anyone who has done this..Where would we be stopping? South Carolina, Jacksonville? I have no idea. Also, could you recommend a hotel for wherever that may be. Nothing too fancy...clean with comfy beds, and maybe a jacuzzi(ok..the jacuzzi is DH idea).

 

[DISUNC]

STARPM,

I WAS A FIRST TIME DRIVER FROM THE POCONOS TO WDW 3 WEEKS AGO.

IT REALLY ALL DEPENDS ON YOUR FAMILY, YOUR CAR, YOUR TOLERANCE. BUT I WILL TELL YOU WHAT I DID.

Myself & 10 yr old nephew went to WDW. I have a new Hyndai Santa Fe (quite comfortable). On advice of others I made reservations in Florence SC going down.

I left 5:30am Saturday July 24. Took the PA turnpike extention from Allentown to 95 in Philly. The 95 straight down. We were stuck in horrible bumper to bumper traffic in DC & northen VA.
This held us back 2 hrs.

I made it to Florence SC by 6:00pm. Since I didn't get much sleep the night before, and that DC/VA traffic did me in. I decided to stay at the (res)Econolodge in Florence. This hotel was a disaster, absolutely FILTHY...should be condemmed! Anyhow I found another hotel The Sleep INN, clean, nice but a little pricy.

I stayed there until 5:00am the next morning then drove straight to the POP Century. Arrived @ 1:00pm.

In retrospect I could have made it to Georgia, where I found it much nicer than anything off of I95 in SC.

On the way home (1 week later) I left PC @ 10:00 am....and drove straight home. Arrive back in the Poconos at 4:00am. 18hrs in total.

We made many rest stops, etc. In all honesty I started to "loose" it as I headed towards the PA border from Delaware. I just pulled into the first PA rest stopped...walked around the car (nephew was sound asleep)...rested my eyes for about 10 mins...drank 2 cokes...and was fine for the rest of the drive.

I hope this helped. If I can answer anything else, please don't hesitate.

I REALLY LIKE THE DRIVE. I HAVE FLOWN & DID AMTRACK...DRIVING WAS MUCH BETTER.

Also this I95 website was quite helpful. It list each exit in each state and what rest stos, food & hotels are there. I refered to it frequently on the drive.

http://www.usastar.com/i95/homepage.htm

 

[zurgswife]

I've driven from Philly...and it is at least a 17 hr trip from PHilly without any 95 problems....I suggest you plan on at least 20 hr drive from reading.....

Personally I prefer to drive with the great airfare rates we get in this area now.....worth to not sit in traffic on 95....
Good Luck...!!!

 

[cart-mom]

I have to agree with DISUNC - Georgia is a good stopping point, We have driven several times before and if you drive straight through you are looking at an easy 20-22 hour drive. Almost landed me in divorce court once!

We usually leave philly around 10pm-12am and stop a few times on the way for gas, food, stretching,resting. This said - we usually get into Savannah late afternoon. There are nice hotels just off 95 here and it's about another 4 or 5 hours or so to Orlando.
Why not just push through, you ask? It's about this time that we usually HAVE to get out of the car before we kill each other and who wants to be exhausted when you get to WDW?

Definately plan accordingly with DC/VA traffic - no matter what day it is, you will sit in traffic during peak times. Try to hit that area off rush hour if you can.

Hope you have a safe drive!

 

[kar313]

We have driven from MD/DC area 2x and have to agree w/ others about SC hotels. We were told if its not attached to your car bring it in the room. And this was at a hotel that had 24hr armed security guard. We drove few more hours into GA and stayed there hotel was great (smell from paper mill not so good. We stayed in GA 2nd time as well (just waited till we got past smelly mills)

My kinds hate the drive and have to comment every time we get to Richmond (a 2hr drive) "We could have been there by now if we flew."

I don't think we will make the drive any time soon like the other poster said airfare is just too good right now. We flew from BWI to ORL for $79 last yr. Saved us two days pay for not having to take off extra days to drive so we ended up saving money by flying.

 

[Pink Flamingo]

Can't really be of much help regarding a stopping point, as we always fly ~ but if you do drive & want to avoid the parking lot on the beltway & 95 in the DC/northern VA area, you might want to consider going through Gettysburg and down 15 South to 17 South & then jumping back on 95 south in Frederricksburg. We live in Richmond, VA & travel to Mount Joy, PA for vacation. Last week we took the Gettysburg route going up & took the 95 route going back. Though mileage wise the Gettysburg route was longer, it ended up taking us less time (& a lot less stress).

Hope you have a great trip!

 

[LMC]

Why don't you use mapquest to help plot your route then you can use the mileage they give and calculate your drive time by how fast you drive. Then you can search for a hotel with Choice Hotels, Holiday Inn, etc. for the area you think you will end up in. If you have AAA, they can be a big help for a road trip! Their triptiks even give areas with road construction.

 

[mickeymousefan]

We drove from south Jersey last december. It took us 20 hrs due to LOTS of stops to let the kids stretch, a flat tire and my husband pulling off the road for a cat nap once or twice. We plan on leaving at 4:00 am Jan 1st and driving until we cant drive anymore. This should be at least GA or northern Fla. Do a little research first. Take a print out of hotels and restaurants at each exit for each state. In SC last trip, we got off an exit with a sign for McDonalds. It had to have been about 10 miles off the exit, in a dumpy town. I was mad because it ate up a lot of time. This trip I will be better prepared.

 

[drgnfly30]

We drove from Delaware in 2001... we timed it so that we missed the DC traffic (hit it around 3pm before the real rush hour started). We had reserved a room in Florence on the way down but like DISUNC could have easily gone further & found the hotel DISGUSTING (wasn't the same one unless they changed names!) On the way back we decided to drive straight through it took us about 16 hours... We took the Autotrain in 2002 but found issues with that as well... decided to fly for this trip but would drive again if flying wasn't in the budget!
I second the advice on the I95 website... very helpful.
Christine

 

[CHIPSTER]

Hello Reading,

We have driven from Bethlehem 2 times. First day we drive around 12 hours and usually stay on I-95 around Savannah or Brunswick Georgia. It is a long drive, but we get a good night's rest and switch off drivers. We eat breakfast at home leaving around 6 a.m., pack a lunch and eat at a rest stop along the way (they have lovely rest areas along the way and do not eat supper until we are at our hotel - usually a Cracker Barrell. We do stop for bathroom breaks and also a stop at JR's Outlet along the way near Charlotte. (We find this route more scenic and not as boring as doing I-95 all the way down, plus we don't hit DC, Baltimore and Richmond traffic). The next day we are up and on the road by 6:30 and get to WDW noon-1 p.m. We usually stay at a Sleep Inn - have found them to be clean and they have a nice continental breakfast in the a.m. Somewhere at home I have a chart which is broken down with times and mileage between each city which I got from a friend - it may also list rest stops if you are interested. PM me and I can scan and e-mail to you if you are interested.

It is coming home that is a bear of a drive - nothing to look foward to so we don't drive as far the first day. We also don't leave as early as we have a good breakfast at the hotel and then get on the road.

 

[denman007]

I would recommend a stay at Penn View Motel before you take your trip.

 

[LMC]

One word of caution if you plan to go all the way to North FL. Once you get out of Georgia, you have to go a long way before you get to a decent place to stay. I remember this being a long stretch of nothingness when we drove it a couple of years ago. I think we stopped in Gainesville and it was the 1st populated areas we came across. There may be some dumps between GA and there or maybe someone else knows of some nice places to stay. Also, depending on when you are travelling you might want to have a ressie somewhere. Football season is about to kick in. We went during spring break that year and when we checked in at 2am, there were people being turned away because the hotel was full.

 

[StarPM]

Denman007...LOL....I guess you're familiar with the Reading area..Thanks to everyone..just made our ressies for POR today.

 

[sssteele]

We've driven from Hershey three times, and stayed twice at a Comfort in Inn - Darien, GA. Very nice (new) hotel, with several restaurants nearby. All rooms have interior entry. We'd have stayed there this last June, but waited too long to make reservation. (Economic summit taking place in Savannah).

DON'T stay at the Savannah Comfort Inn!!! We stayed there this June and had to ask to be moved to another room- air conditioner was not functioning well, and room smelled of mildew as a result. Room was also not very clean. We were moved to another room which was a little better, but still not great as far as the air conditioner was concerned. I had an e-mail waiting from Comfort Inn when we arrived home (general questionaire). Unfortunately it had a short reply window, so I was not able to complain. I should have called Choice hotels, but didn't. I can't remember the exit, but there was a Ruby Tuesdays and a Crackle Barrel restaurant at the same exit. Darien Comfort Inn is about 12 hours from Hershey and 4 from WDW.

 

[Steffy]

Originally posted by sssteele
We've driven from Hershey three times, and stayed twice at a Comfort in Inn - Darien, GA. Very nice (new) hotel, with several restaurants nearby. All rooms have interior entry. We'd have stayed there this last June, but waited too long to make reservation. (Economic summit taking place in Savannah).

DON'T stay at the Savannah Comfort Inn!!! We stayed there this June and had to ask to be moved to another room- air conditioner was not functioning well, and room smelled of mildew as a result. Room was also not very clean. We were moved to another room which was a little better, but still not great as far as the air conditioner was concerned. I had an e-mail waiting from Comfort Inn when we arrived home (general questionaire). Unfortunately it had a short reply window, so I was not able to complain. I should have called Choice hotels, but didn't. I can't remember the exit, but there was a Ruby Tuesdays and a Crackle Barrel restaurant at the same exit. Darien Comfort Inn is about 12 hours from Hershey and 4 from WDW.

We ate at the Ruby Tuesday and then went to that hotel to check in. I was bushed and my daughter didn't feel like driving. Well..... after we looked at the room, we got a second wind. Got on the cellphone (it was roaming, we didn't care) called CRO and got a room at the AllStars before we checked into the WL to start our vacation. We didn't get to Disney until 1:00 in the morning, but oh my goodness, we couldn't stay at that horrid Comfort Inn!

And to the OP, yes we have driven to WDW from your way twice. Don't mind the drive. Find that leaving at 4:00 am gets us through the DC/Baltimore area before rush hour. We usually eat at Cracker Barrell on the road. (we unfortunately associate the Ruby Tuesday with the horrid Comfort Inn... ) We have to stop lots for potty breaks (all girls trips) Usually takes us 18-20 hours from the time we get in the car until we are at the desk at WDW.

This Christmas we are actually flying. I don't want to drive in possible bad weather......

 

[erinch]

We live in Punxsutawney PA and take the autotrain from sanford.

For us, if you take the mileage that we save, at the standard IRS rate and add food and motel costs it comes to close to $1000 costs in gas, wear and tear and expenses to drive. Since we can get the autotrain with a van for a family of 4 with a AAA discount for not much more, if we book early, we figure the autotrain is cost-effective -- in particular when you figure what hte lawyer would charge after I did away with DH at hour 21 on the road

 

[crzy4dsny]

I would recommend staying in Kingsland Georgia. There are several hotels there that all seemed to be nice. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express. There are plenty of places to eat with in walking distance of the hotels. They are all right off of I-95. From there you are about 2.5 to 3 hours away from Disney. It makes for a short trip the second day.