Quick Question Regarding Driving to the Mouse

[Jejual]

If you drive to florida, do you book a hotel for your return trip or do you just drive until you've had enough and then start looking. We live in the niagara area and we have given ourselves 2 days for the return trip. I want to do as much driving as possible on the first day but I don't know how long is reasonable.

 

[NancyK]

We don't book a hotel either way. It usually isn't a problem getting a hotel on the interstate. On a couple of occasions we've had to get back on the highway and drive an hour longer because of a convention or something. Also, if you're travelling on a U.S. holiday you might want to book something. Most hotels don't charge you anything as long as you cancel by 6 p.m.

We tend to leave the Niagara region about 4 a.m. and drive until 7 or 8 p.m. on the trip to Florida. This means we're at Disney by noon the 2nd day. On the way home we leave Disney about 8 or 9 a.m. and drive as long as we can. We usually get home late afternoon on the second day.

 

[Alderbrook]

We too have never booked a hotel. We drive until we can't drive anymore (usually about 14-15 hours the first day leaving around 4 am) & then look for a decent hotel since they seem to be everywhere just off the highways. this is before we had kids though. We haven't driven with our son but I know he couldn't handle that much driving (he's 4) so we'd probably take longer to get there now.

 

[rjan67]

No, but usually around our dinner stop I will figure about how much farther we will go and stop and then book ahead (especially a weekend or holiday). I usually go for Holiday Inn Express, so I will find one around dinner time and book ahead 2-3 more hours. Sometimes on the way home we make the decision to just keep driving.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

We always make hotel reservations months in advance because some of the Hampton Inn locations we have stayed at off I-75 have been sold out when we stayed at them, so it's better to be safe then sorry.

 

[SnowWhite]

Our trip for this November we are going to do a stop overnight. We are leaving Peterborough at 4am and drive till around 9pm. Stay overnight and then leave hotel in morning at around 8 and get to Disney at around noon. Now with 3 kids we figured it would help. Also it will help with the mental and physical crash we have the second day as we will be refreshed from a good nights sleep. However, returning to home we will drive straight through as always.

Rob (SnowWhite's DH)

 

[Chelley00]

I may or may not be slightly OCD so I research hotels on tripadvisor for bigger towns along our route, and then I have an idea of where to stay, but most of the time I don't book. Last trip I booked, and we could have driven way longer than we did, but it was too late to cancel without penalty. This trip we'll drive until we're tired.

 

[4boyz]

I tried the drive until you are tired and found it didn't work for us when you have to drive around looking for a hotel in the dark.

I plan where we will stay and we always stay in Charlotte, NC at a Hampton Inn on the way down and we now stop in Summersville, WV on the way home.

It is always easier to drive longer on day 1 and have a shorter trip on day 2.

 

[ccudmore]

I don't book ahead but I do call ahead. When we start thinking that we're getting close to wanting to stop driving for the night, I'll use my GPS to find out what hotels are about an hour ahead of us and make some phone calls on the cell phone to check availability and ask questions about facilities. Then I'll make a reservation and tell them we'll be there in about an hour. That way I can save a lot of time driving around looking for a good place when we get there.

 

[momdad4kids]

Just some advice ,if you do have some idea where you may be spending the night you can stop at the state welcome centers and make reservations as well. We've found that most are more than willing to help and have a fair idea of what many of the hotels are like,especially those just off the interstate. Also it saves you minutes on your US calling plan which may come in handy later.Normally we dont make reservations until later in the day if at all. I can only think of one or two occasions that finding a hotel was an issue and even then it was just a matter of driving for an hr to the next town.

 

[MCFADDEN5]

We always book 3 Holiday Inn Expresses About an hour apart, then if we are making good time or bad time we have options. As long as you cancel by 6:00 your good. We hate trying to find a hotel in the dark and everybody is tired. We usually stay in Charlotte too. Short drive 2nd day.

 

[Rita007]

Our trip for this November we are going to do a stop overnight. We are leaving Peterborough at 4am and drive till around 9pm. Stay overnight and then leave hotel in morning at around 8 and get to Disney at around noon. Now with 3 kids we figured it would help.

Do you think it will be a problem finding places that will sleep 5? That is my big concern about not booking hotels in advance.

 

[OntFamily]

Like some of the other posters, we do not book in advance (it's too challenging to know exactly how far you will drive).

We research some potential hotels (using google maps to help guage how far we will drive, and some potential stops). We'll then bring the phone numbers of the hotels with us, and call when we're about 1 - 2 hours before we want to stop.

 

[Mortlives]

We've always booked in advance so we have an end in site, and so I can get available discounts. I've always been under the impression that you pay rack rate if you just show up.

 

[Alderbrook]

We've always booked in advance so we have an end in site, and so I can get available discounts. I've always been under the impression that you pay rack rate if you just show up.

We always just used our CAA card to get a discount when we show up. We always drive until dinner, then find a hotel in an area with food. We have never looked for a hotel in the dark as it's always still light out when we stop. We usually do 14-15 hrs 1st day & then get up at 5 am & head out. We usually make it to SC somewhere & stop.

 

[MCFADDEN5]

Holiday Inn Express & Country Inn & Suites let us sleep 5 ( 2 queens and pull out couch) with full hot breakfast. We became a Priorityt Club Member and every 4th room is free.

 

[OntFamily]

We've always booked in advance so we have an end in site, and so I can get available discounts. I've always been under the impression that you pay rack rate if you just show up.

You are correct, in that the further ahead you book, the less expensive the rate. However, I've found for hotels along the interstate, if you book a hotel about 3:00 - 4:00pm (by calling ahead), you can get a great rate (and as others have mentioned, ask for AAA rates, etc).

It's always better to call ahead (even 30 minutes before you stop).

However, even by foregoing large discounts by booking just before you stop, you can save time (ie why stop driving early, which you may need to do if you've booked a non cancellable reservation. The further you drive, especially on Day #1,the more time you can spend at Disney !!)

 

[branmack]

We do not book ahead. We do stop at the NC & SC welcome centers, they have discount coupons and the people at the center are always great at suggesting hotels. Last time we left Fort Erie at 5am and stopped at 6:30pm. We were an hour pasted Charlotte NC. Not sure the name of the town or what exit. There were 5 hotels to choose from but no other amenities in the area. Next time we will either stop in Charlotte (south or north mill area?) or keep going the Columbia SC. The next day we left at 7am and arrived at Disney at 2:30pm

 

[Alderbrook]

How old are your kids? Whenever we've had 5 we just don't tell them, get 1 room & put the 3 kids in 1 bed.

 

[Cdn Gal]

We will book on the way down this time- Winchester VA- because we want to do the Skyline Drive. (also because I will bid for a room on priceline) But on the way back we will just have to see. I would like to try and get internet somewhere first so I can bid on a hotel- but I have a feeling that it will be unlikely.