Travel Time To FW?

[krier32]

Looking for some information on Travel Times to FW.

We have never taken our camper to Disney. Furthest we been is Pigeon Forge Tennessee. Did this trip in one day....left at 4 am and pulled into camp at 7:30 pm.

We are looking to book a trip to FW and are coming from a suburb just north of Philadelphia, PA. What could I reasonably expect to set aside as travel times?

We do plan on stopping at a reasonable hour for each day that would be traveled, we also want to stop at "South of The Border" we did this when I was a kid when we drove to Disney in a big van (2 families) so there were 4 drivers.

So I guess I'm looking for how long it takes you to travel to FW from your location and accounting for meal, bathroom, gas, and must see things on the way.

BTW, don't think it will matter much but our set-up is a 2006 Ford F250 Crew Cab 6ft bed and a 2004 Forest River 30 Ft Travel Trailer. I like to keep our speed right around the 60 mph range. Yeah I could go faster, but why take chances?

Don

 

[tim5055]

Well, according to Google you are right at 1,000 miles to FW, or 17 hours driving time at 60.

Funny, South of the Border clocks in right at 500 miles so it is really your half way point.

Only you know your family, but when traveling we can easily do 500 miles in a day. That's 8 1/2 hours driving and a few hours gas, food stretching the legs...

If it were me, I would travel

Day 1 Long day, all the way to South of the Border
Day 2 Slightly shorter, stopping a few hours north of FW in Florida
Day 3 Relaxing short drive to FW arriving around 11

I personally hate getting to FW late in the day/evening because I just feel I'm wasting FW time that way.

 

[krier32]

Something I also forgot to ask was, what is your favorite time of year to go...this falls under the do we take 2 weeks during the incredibly hot summer time when the kids are already out of school or just 1 week during the school year.

This is pretty much why I was wondering about travel times, don't know if it's worth it for just one week.

Like the 3 day travel plan, sounds less stressful.

 

[motherwild]

We travel from Long Island NY. WE spend two days traveling to FW. The first day we try to be on the road before 5AM. We stop over night at FlyingJ in Latta SC. Latta is a little south of South of the boarder. It's a long first day for us. We do 60 -65mph.
There is a campground at south of the border. I never stay there.
http://www.thesouthoftheborder.com/
As far as I am concerned any time at WDW is good.

 

[mnsprk]

Yes, it gets a "little" warm and humid in the summer but the MK usually has Extra Magic Hours till 1:00 am several days during the week to allow you to take the afternoon off from the heat and return at night. Just had DD, SIL, and 2GC there in August for their first trip and all worked out well.

 

[5stljayhawks]

We travel from STL - traveling with kids we get a early start - try to be on the road by 5 am and get to atlanta around 6-7 pm EST that's covering about 600 miles. It's a FULL day then 6 am the next day, leaving a few hours of light when we arrive at FW around dinner. normally get in around 3-4 PM.

I limit the stuff that comes out when we stop for the night on the way down. I don't empty my tanks, disconnect the camper from the car or put down the stablizer jacks . I Pull the electric plug, water, shut the slide, fold up the ends and am gone, it's about a 20-30 minutes tear down while the wife is getting the kids ready and in the car.

 

[Pirate-Jeff]

I have done the trip from the Del/PA line on I-95 to WDW in 16 hrs..
That is pushing it hard. Average time is 18 to 19 hrs when driving straight though. With all of the road construction around Baltimore and Washington the drive time will most likely be longer.
Now we take two days and my goal for the first day is the Georgia or Florida welcome centers (Depends on Traffic) both have very large RV parking lots with lots of other RV there (safety in numbers). We get a good night rest then it an easy 3 or 5 hr ride to the Fort.

South of the boarder has a campground that is OK But the rest of South of the boarder is kind of well ..well...seedy and should not be explored after dark.

 

[BradyBz12]

We've been going down each Nov/Dec the past several years from Southern NH. We pack sandwiches/snacks so don't typically stop to eat, and take bathroom/gas breaks about every 2-2.5 hours.

Our itinerary looks like this...

Pick up DH at work in MA at 5pm
Arrive in Richmond VA area around 3-4am
Stop at WalMart to sleep until about 8am
Arrive in Jacksonville FL about 8-9pm
Stop at WalMart for the night, do grocery shopping in the morning and head out around 8-9am
Arrive at FW around 11am-noon

 

[cyberdeb]

Well I am a neighbor just west of you. Warminster to be exact. Last year (June) when my husband and brother towed our trailer down, they stopped for gas and a bathroom break. They left at 6:00 A.M. on a saturday and got to my hotel (I was at a conference) on International Drive in 17 hours. Fayetville, NC is exactly half way. It depends on how often you stop, are you planning overnight stops, kids, etc. Other times that we drove down, we did three day trips. We drove to visit family at the Virginia/NC border and spent the night. Then we drove to Jacksonville area and spent the night and then a short trip to the fort in the morning.

 

[RocklandRVers]

We travel from Long Island NY. WE spend two days traveling to FW. The first day we try to be on the road before 5AM. We stop over night at FlyingJ in Latta SC. Latta is a little south of South of the boarder. It's a long first day for us. We do 60 -65mph.
There is a campground at south of the border. I never stay there.
http://www.thesouthoftheborder.com/
As far as I am concerned any time at WDW is good.

We live just north of NYC (about 1 hour) and we also try to get on the road early. Usually 4 am. We have found that just about every Flying J on I-95 from Virginia on down is just about a tank of gas apart for us so we stop at each one to fuel up and take breaks. We stop at the FJ in Brunswick, GA. From there its about 5-6 hours. I have been called a maniac for driving so far on the first leg of the trip but I like the idea of getting to the Fort early in the morning so that first day is not totally wasted traveling. Going home we often stop over in Kenly, NC. Its about 1/2 way for us.

 

[thecplusplusguy]

When we went down in April from Worcester, MA. I left at 6pm on Wednesday drove 84 to Wilkes-barre PA at around 11pm.

Left there in the morning around 9am got to South of the border at around 9pm. I don't remember the exact route, it was like 81 to 83 to 17 to 95 south of DC.

I would avoid South of the Border like the plague. We used to go every year as kids and it was nothing like I remembered. The campground was ok for an overnight though.

Left south of the border at around 8:45 or so got to the fort at around 5pm (we were in orlando rush hour for about an hour) so if we had left on time we would have been there around 3:30.

I was doing the speed limit in the motorhome which down there is 70

Next year I am going 84 to 81 to 77 to 28 to 95 to 4 to the Fort.
We drove this way home in April and did it in 2 long 15 hour days.

This cuts over to 95 in South Carolina and is a much nicer ride. Its a little hilly, but your truck should handle it no problem.

Dan

 

[MadFF]

We went down last fall from Connecticut. Two day drive, we stopped in Florence, South Carolina. It was a longer drive the first day, then a shorter drive to Fort Wilderness the second day. Also on the way back, it was again a shorter drive on the first day, so we didn't have to leave FW at 3:00AM. You don't have to go through New York City, so you have nothing to worry about! lol

We arrived late in the afternoon at FW. I didn't "plan" anything that first day we arrived, just set up, relax, look around a bit. That way we got up the next morning ready and rarin' to go!

Travel time: One thing that I keep coming back to for planning purposes (and a few threads at Open Roads Forum are similar) is 50mph... Not my actual speed (which is usually 65mph), but it works out almost every time to 50 miles per hour - including rest breaks, fuel stops, coffee stops, bathroom breaks, etc - when we go on extended camping trips, so I use 50mph for figuring travel times. I also found that roughly every 1 1/2 hours and I am ready for a quick break.... bathroom, coffee, stretch, etc.

I enjoyed the drive, and the kids had a laptop, DVD player, and books. Wife was knitting the whole time!

Have Fun!

Oh, this is the thread with my "trip report", about 1/4 the way down:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1716996&page=2

 

[PrincessNP]

I have to chime in on the South of the Border issue.......

STAY AWAY!!!!

I like you went often as a child to stay on the way to Grandma's house, we are only a few hrs from South of the Border. But it is a run down disaster now. I would stop their for nothing. South Carolina has many beautful spots that you can stop instead and feel safe to shut your eyes after dark.

 

[krier32]

Thanks to everyone who took the time to reply. We still havent decided when to go. still have time to plan

 

[CampingDad]

Hi there I've been lurking for a while now and decided I should finally join the boards. We love to go down there at the end of March around Spring Break. Yes its crowded but we love the weather that time of the year. Just when we are fed up with the winter around here in Chicago we get to enjoy the warm sun of Florida . Its a 21 hour drive for us so we stop at my Brother's house in Louisville, Ky for the first night and hit it hard the next day and get into FL the second night so there is a nice short drive in the morning to Disney.

 

[kimsdreamvacation]

We are driving down in Dec. from Wis.and according to mapquest it is a 22 hour drive,we are leaving at 6 p.m. on Wed. and we will drive straight thru between my DH and I, our official ressie for Fort Wilderness isn't until Friday but this way if we run into bad weather we can just wait it out,if the weather permits and we manage to drive straight thru we will just stay in a cheap hotel in Orlando Thurs. and check in on Fri.We have made MANY trips back and forth from the South to the North and found that with kids it's best to do as much driving at night as possible,they just sleep and you can make very good drive time.When they wake up in the morning we stop somewhere for breakfast and stretching and the kids are happy and rested and we have a much shorter drive to go by then and we didn't have to hear"I'm bored,or "Are we there yet"? LOL.