Should we try and make it farther on day 1?

[always quiet]

The past 2 times we've gone to WDW, we have not only towed our camper, but have also left either immediately after a night's snowstorm (and didn't pull out til around 7 am) or we have hit snow and/or ice during our first days drive. I am not going to jinx myself and say ANYTHING about the weather . IF conditions are good.........and since we aren't bringing the trailer this year (staying in a FW cabin )........and with both of us driving (yes, I was a chicken and was nervous about driving when we were towing ).......do you think we should try and make it farther south than Florence SC?? The kids are also older this year (15, 14 and 11) and I think they'll be better at handling long hours on the road. If we get into WDW before the 3 pm check in, would we just wait in the lobby?

Thanks for any and all suggestions!!

 

[Poohs Pal]

I always prefer to leave about 3 or 4am and beat morning rush hours. I live in michigan so I get out of MI and past Toledo and arrive after Cincinnatti's rush hour. I also miss Lexington's rush hour. I get the biggest chuck of my driving done the first day and only leave myself 3-5 hours the next day.On the first day I would leave at 4am and then stop for breakfast about 8am. If I get to disney early I check in and then head to the nearest park. In your case you could explore the camp ground or take the kids to DTD. When are you going.
Susan

 

[umaangel00]

We normally leave a day or two early. Just in case anything happens but that is just us. Like this next time. Our reservation is March 12-18. We will probably leave March 10 really late at night to get started. Depends on the weather really. I am hoping for no snow storms this time around! We don't have anything planned on the 12th either so we are going to bum around Olrando. We are doing all of our touring the 13-17th.

 

[always quiet]

4 months from today, we check in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! According to my calculations, we should be in GA right now!! If I got to WDW prior to 3 pm, can we check in, get the keys, then come back later to take the luggage into the cabin? There would be lots to see in FW and heading down to Trail's End for a late lunch/early dinner is also an option.

 

[stacy6552]

When we drove, we made two reservations. One half way in NC and one at the SC/GA boarder and then cancelled the one we werent going to use.

 

[jimmybop]

4 months from today, we check in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! According to my calculations, we should be in GA right now!! If I got to WDW prior to 3 pm, can we check in, get the keys, then come back later to take the luggage into the cabin? There would be lots to see in FW and heading down to Trail's End for a late lunch/early dinner is also an option.

From all the cases I have heard, yes. And actually for most resorts (not sure about FW cabins... so i'm leaving it very general so someone please correct me if I am wrong) you can leave your luggage with luggage services, go off to where ever, come back and the luggage should be in your room wiating for you.

 

[ccw]

It's only a little over a 9 hour drive from my house to the Mouse House and, although I have driven it all (by myself) in one day, if I am going to split it up, I like to drive to just south of Jacksonville, Florida (around St Augustine...wonderful Comfort Suites ) and spend the night there. Then I am only 2 hours from WDW so we get up early and leave around 8, get to our resort, check-in, store our luggage and go to the parks! Sometimes our rooms have been ready but I would alomost rather they NOT be so we can enjoy the parks right away rather than unpack!

 

[spectrum-turbo]

I just did a big trip this summer with my mom and DSs 3 and 7. We had to cover 1250 miles in the first two days. Ultimately since we had two drivers we did about 700 miles the first day (6:00a.m. til 9:15 p.m with stops at lunch and dinner). Our thought was that we could stop earlier in the evening but then we would be sitting in a hotel room staring at each other. This way we had fewer miles the next day and were able to do something as soon as we arrived at our destination.

Hope this helps.

(DS 3 says we need to add a couple of emoticon, he is not feeling well today so I will indulge. Here it goes )

 

[jez4100]

We are also from Bucks County and the last time we drove we left at 3 am to avoid the DC traffic and made it to Savannah, Georgia by 5 pm. It was a long drive but well worth it the next day. We leave in 12 days but we are flying.

 

[always quiet]

HMMMM............

We are planning (at the moment) on staying in a Motel 6. There is a possibility that we are bringing our dog with us (kenneling at FW) and Motel 6 allows pets. There is one in Florence SC and another in Brunswick GA ( about 12 1/2 hrs away). That would get us there by 5 pm (allowing 2 hours for gas/potty/munchie breaks). We'd have under 6 hours on Sunday.... Doesn't sound too bad!! I guess we'll see how we feel as we get into SC and that will determine whether we can make it into GA.