Where to stop along the way?

[Ottawacruiser]

We'll be driving to Orlando from Ottawa to visit the World: me, DW, DD1(18), DD2(16), and DS(20).

We'll be breaking the trip up and traveling over a couple of days.

Can anyone suggest a place (or places) along the way that my children might be interested in? I'm assuming my girls will be interested in shopping ...

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Regards,
...Mike (Ottawacruiser)

 

[tjbaggott]

We too are from Ottawa and driving down to Orlando in October. Although we don't plan on stopping for anything other than bathroom breaks and to eat, on the way down, we will take a more leisurely drive on the way back and will likely stop in Washington D.C. With the ages of your children, they might actually be interested in D.C. I don't know much about where there are places to shop, but hopefully other Disers will post some suggestions for you.

We've never made the trip this way before, so can't offer you too much. But can I ask you some questions? What route do you plan on taking, and how are you planning your stops for the night on the way down?

I've had some people tell me to avoid the D.C area altogether, thus adding mileage to and go out of the way a bit before getting onto the I-95. Then others say that since we are travelliing on a Tuesday and plan on being on that highway around D.C. just after lunch, then traffic shouldn't be too bad.
What are your plans regarding that area?

We do plan on driving around 16 hours the first day, stopping just outside of Fayettville for the night (using coupons from the Room Saver Booklet), then drive 8 the next day and end up in Orlando late mid to late afternoon. We'll stay at a hotel off site that night and head to our Disney Resort first thing the next morning (the day our package deal starts).

 

[highland3]

Washington is a whole trip in itself. There's so much for you and the kids to see there.

We stopped in Richmond, VA on the first night and then just south of Savannah, GA the second night. We just found hotels with pools and shopping/restaurants.

This put us in Orlando by early afternoon the third day.

 

[Debbs]

We also are from the Ottawa area. We have driven down a couple of times now. We didnt have that bad a drive thru DC when we've gone. We stopped at every state information building.. gave the kids a break out of the car to stretch their legs. We spent the night in Fayetteville also. Its just the right break for us. Then continued on the next day.

 

[Ottawacruiser]

Washington was the first place that sprung to my mind, seeing as I am a total nerd and I've always wanted to go to the Smithsonian. However, my kids already nixed this idea ...

We're planning on driving straight down (we'll have 3 drivers so we'll take turns) but will take a few days to come back. We're spending Sunday to Friday at Saratoga Springs (we're DVC members) and will do a combinaition of parks, water parks, and Universal while we are there. Kids are planning to take off and see the new Harry Potter movie on its opening day.

I'm not sure of the route we'll be taking - I'll check on that and post again. Part of me was planning on just programming it into the TomTom and letting it rip ...

...M

 

[MikeyA50]

In 2007 we stopped at the Hershey Amusement park in Pennsylvania. It was a bit of a detour for us but worth it. For you it appears to be on your way down. Anyway you can check it out.

 

[Josh Hendy]

We've made a couple of trips ON-FL and back and there are two side excursions which we really have enjoyed.

One is taking an hour or so sidetrip off I-81 along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virgina. You can drive the whole parkway but it's like 500 miles long and I think 10-20 miles or so of scenery is sufficient to breathe the mountain air and check out some really nice mountain vistas. If you look at the map you can find places along I-81 in the Shenandoah Valley (Virginia) where it's easy to hop onto and off the parkway.

Our other, absolutely obligatory sidetrip is to swing off I-95 between JAX and Daytona and visit the beach before turning off to Orlando.

These are easy, short side trips which break up the trip and don't add a lot of time to your trip.

If you're not afraid of fierce, multi-lane traffic similar to Toronto, then Washington DC is fine. We've stayed a few nights in the distant 'burbs and commuted in to see the zoo and the Smithsonian using the Metro. Otherwise I prefer to stay far away from DC on the way to/from FL. (our usual route is I-81, I-77, I-26, I-95)

Shopping wise the only mall we've stopped at is Carousel Center in Syracuse which is right next to I-81, but there are probably other ones along the way. Carousel Ctr is a good place for last minute shopping just before you cross back into Canada. Last time we took a car trip down south the kids insisted on stopping there in each direction.

Have a good trip eh!

 

[Ottawacruiser]

Thanks for the suggestions!

We've been to the Carousel Mall in Syracuse - you make a good point about stopping there for any last minute shopping to top up the customs declaration ...

Wasn't aware of the side-trip in Virginia - I'll have to look into that.

Washington is most probably a no-go at this point ...

Thanks again everyone! Keep the ideas coming!

Regards,
...M

 

[highland3]

Don't forget about Watertown!!! You can often get better deals there than you can in Syracuse. There's the Salmon Run Mall, but there's also Target, Wmart, Kmart... lots of big box stores... and you're really close to the border.