Hotel charges when driving

[mommymanda]

DH drives nights for a living. Right now our trip is set that we are going to drive over a two day span. With 3 kids it makes sense to me. DH keeps thinking since he is used to driving nights anyhow we should just swap off and go straight through.

Although we'll end up just going with the moment and decide whether we stop or not when the time comes. I'm wondering how hotels would work. Say we arrive and ready to stop at 6am, 12noon or something. Can we even get a room at that time? Do they charge us for one or two nights if we check out 9am the following day?

Thanks

 

[bankr63]

We usually travel without advance reservations. As we cross state borders, we will stop at the state travel centre if we think we may stop in that state. They all have hotel discount books and pretty good interstate maps with the locations well marked; the washrooms are usually pretty clean too! We'll compare the coupons to the CAA/AAA travel guide for the area to pick one that is well rated and try for the coupon walk-in rate; if you have a smart phone you could also use tripadvisor, or just look for your favorite chain. There is usually a limit on the walk-ins per day, so you may end up paying more, we next ask for the CAA preferred rate, or we go to a second choice if one is nearby. Actually once had one clerk offer a better rate as we started to walk away.

Note that you can also call the hotel as you approach the area to see if they have availability. That way you don't need to get off the interstate if the hotels in the area are full (happened to us around Richmond VA on a NASCAR weekend).

Stopping at an odd time might be difficult; but not something we've tried. We are usually stopped my midnight. If you are late at night you will be charged for that night, and will need to be out by checkout time unless you can arrange a late departure. If you are mid-morning, I would seek an early check-in that should cover you until the next day. Some hotels will charge extra for early/late in/out so ask about any extra fees.

 

[monaleigh70]

When we decide to drive to Disney we try to do the bulk of the driving the first day. We leave quite early in the morning so that by the time we stop for the night we only have about 8 or 9 hours of driving left. For us it is about 21-22 hours driving time.

Like the PP said we also stop and pick up the hotel discount books since that is the only way you can take advantage of a lower rate as a walk in. IMO the rates are better than CAA/AAA or AARP. Looking through the books also give you a good idea on how many hotels/motels are in a specific area giving you several choices. That way you're not aimlessly driving around. With 3 kids in the car having a place to stay for the night is important. Depending on what time you started and what day it is, there will still be different options for meals as well. Like small town Canada, small town USA can roll up the streets by 6 pm.

The next day leave as early as you can after a decent night's sleep and you should get to WDW between 2 or 3 pm.

We have tried the drive in one go but I don't think it's worth it. You're tired, you're ache-y, and driving through parts of Pennsylvania and the Virginia's late at night is dangerous; I have never seen so many dead deer on the roads in my life and there isn't exactly a shortage of deer where I live.

 

[roberthodgson]

We are driving down in December and heading down via I75 we are leaving at 4 am and going to stop in Knoxville on the first night around 5pm. Have a nice dinner and then relax at the hotel. Then leave around 8 or 9 am and the drive till 5 or 6pm. Then finish the drive on the third day this way it's part of the vacation
And there is no stress in having to drive through if we are tired.

 

[bankr63]

We are driving down in December and heading down via I75 we are leaving at 4 am and going to stop in Knoxville on the first night around 5pm. Have a nice dinner and then relax at the hotel. Then leave around 8 or 9 am and the drive till 5 or 6pm. Then finish the drive on the third day this way it's part of the vacation
And there is no stress in having to drive through if we are tired.

Wow, based on your drive times you're not going to be any more than an hour outside of Orlando on day 2. No way would I be able to stop when I was that close to The World!

 

[mommymanda]

We are driving down in December and heading down via I75 we are leaving at 4 am and going to stop in Knoxville on the first night around 5pm. Have a nice dinner and then relax at the hotel. Then leave around 8 or 9 am and the drive till 5 or 6pm. Then finish the drive on the third day this way it's part of the vacation
And there is no stress in having to drive through if we are tired.

Wow, based on your drive times you're not going to be any more than an hour outside of Orlando on day 2. No way would I be able to stop when I was that close to The World!

We were pretty much planning the same concept for our trip. Driving 10-12hours day one, stopping. Than until 5 or 6pm the 2nd night. We realized we'd only be an hour or so out of Florida at that point too.

We ended up using our airmiles to book a room in Kissimee. We'll stop there the night before our Disney reservations whatever time we arrive. That way we can get up early and hang out at our Disney resort for a full day on our arrival dates.

 

[minnie mum]

Wow, based on your drive times you're not going to be any more than an hour outside of Orlando on day 2. No way would I be able to stop when I was that close to The World!

We do this every time we drive to WDW. We arrive in the Orlando area in early evening and stay off site in an inexpensive hotel (or use loyalty points for a free night at the Marriott). Then after a very early breakfast in the morning we check into our Disney resort, drop our bags, and hit the parks by rope drop.

But unlike the PPs, we plan our enroute stops ahead of time (we've done the trip enough times to know how far we are comfortable driving each day) and make reservations for them. Mostly because we will use points for those hotels.