Motels along I-75

[MikeJ]

We will be driving to WDW this Christmas (a first - we've always flown before) and I have a question for all the I-75 experts. Dave Hunter in his book suggests picking up the coupon books at each state's info centers and using those to book a motel, rather than making reservations well in advance. He claims to have not gotten a room on only three occasions, but I'm wondering whether real-person, real-life experience is the same. If you could let me know what you do, I'd appreciate it.

Driving straight through ain't an option - we're not as young as we used to be.

- Mike

 

[DSNY FN]

Hi Mike we are driving in Dec to we are stopping in Valdosta for the night we are leaving at 8 PM on the 6th and driving through the night then stopping for breakfast around 8 AM someplace depending on where we are then we will have lunch packed in our trusty electric cooler wouldn't travel without it. Anyhow I found a hotel site for Valdosta and we found booking online was cheaper than even using a caa or aaa card we can get a room for 62 or so dollars a night here is the site http://pts.placestostay.com/script/node.asp?n=2542&front_end_id=8305 I hope this helps if you have any other questions just ask
Darren

 

[PoohBWV]

Hi Mike: We usually drive straight through as we find this is easier on the kids as they sleep a good part of the way. However last year we stayed in Ocala as we were driving over to Port Canaveral the next morning. We did not have room reservations and stopped at a Comfort Inn. We got the very last room they had. This was at 9:00 pm, after we had been driving since 1:30 a.m. If we hadn't got a room, we would not have been very happy campers. I would always book a room in the future. Bear in mind however that you will need to have firm plans, as many of the hotels have a 48 hour cancellation policy and you would be charged if you decided to drive on further or stop sooner. Be sure you check on the hotels policy while making your plans. If you have any other questions about driving, feel free to ask.

 

[Debbie]

In our (extended) family, it's done a number of ways.

My family tends to travel as far as we can, pick up the coupon books and try to get a room. We never wait too late to stop, though, and only twice in seven trips have had a problem. Going to WDW once, we hit a swim competition, and had to travel two cities further before stopping, ending up in Ocala(with a coupon discount, though ). Coming home once, we hit a convention in Dayton, and ended up travelling north an extra hour or so. Luckily, one (full) hotel that we stopped at called ahead and had a room ready for us further north.

I have one sister who books the same hotel in Tennessee both going and coming back.

I have another sister, who, (best method, I think), carries the CAA tourbooks, and if weather or traffic deems it necessary, phones an appropriate hotel "up the road".

 

[MikeJ]

Thanks for the comments. We're not presently CAA members but we may look at doing that before we head down. I know that our vacation is getting close when my DW starts spending hours online here, the DU website and Deb's site gathering information for our trip. And we've still got 4 months to go.

- Mike

 

[eleanor]

Hi We always use the coupon books as we take a slow drive downto Florida and we never had trouble finding a room. The Super 8's used to have a free breakfast.

 

[WDWBOB1]

We used to drive during the busy March break when I-75 had so many Cdn licence plates, you thought you were on the 401. We always used the coupon books. This was generally kinda late (about 9:00 pm) when I could no longer sit in the car any longer that day. We never had a problem getting a discounted room. Don't forget, there's a lot of exits between Detroit & Florida and they all seem to have a good number of sleeping establishments.