South of the Border still appears to be open, but there’s very few vehicles there every time we drive past it. That place was as crowded as Bucee’s is today back in the 70’s and 80’s.
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Anyone else choosing to drive these days?
- Thread starter Queen of the WDW Scene
- Start date
Weather_Lady
Well-Known Member
I grew up driving from western NY (or rather, being driven -- my parents used to tow down a pop-up camper and stay in Fort Wilderness Campground, which would have been much more fun for my sister and me, had our mode of transportation not been a windowless van, LOL). As an adult, we've driven only when we had to. E.g., our flight home - coincidentally, into Buffalo - was canceled in February 2021, and we had an important obligation the next day, so we tracked down one of the last available rental cars at MCO, drove all day and night, returned the car at BUF, and then drove the 90 minutes from there to our house, where we pretty much collapsed. 
We learned our lesson from that, and now, we ensure that we have enough "buffer" time at each end of the trip to account for a flight delay or cancellation.
While that trip proved to us that driving it was do-able, it also proved to us that the trip is not a pleasant one if you haven't planned ahead for a road trip, or are on a tight schedule. Unless we were retired and had lots of extra time, I don't think we'd do it again if we had a choice, simply because it would shave so much time off of our vacation. That, and cost is not an issue, since we fly for "free" on JetBlue using credit card points. If we were dropping thousands on airfare, I'm sure we'd be looking much more seriously at driving as an alternative.
We learned our lesson from that, and now, we ensure that we have enough "buffer" time at each end of the trip to account for a flight delay or cancellation.While that trip proved to us that driving it was do-able, it also proved to us that the trip is not a pleasant one if you haven't planned ahead for a road trip, or are on a tight schedule. Unless we were retired and had lots of extra time, I don't think we'd do it again if we had a choice, simply because it would shave so much time off of our vacation. That, and cost is not an issue, since we fly for "free" on JetBlue using credit card points. If we were dropping thousands on airfare, I'm sure we'd be looking much more seriously at driving as an alternative.
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sunshinewolf
New Member
Ive done the trip from West Texas to Central Cali (24hr drive) too many times to count. Google says Disney World is 39hr from Central Cali.
Im looking at taking a trip next year. Early planning stage now. Looking at driving both ways.
Still have a lot of time to figure things out, but probably be 3 days travel to and 3 days travel back. Maybe 4.
Im looking at taking a trip next year. Early planning stage now. Looking at driving both ways.
Still have a lot of time to figure things out, but probably be 3 days travel to and 3 days travel back. Maybe 4.
That's a long drive, I never drove cross country but 3 days drive , 13 hours each day sounds right.
sunshinewolf
New Member
I typically do the CA to TX drive straight thru. Leave around 1-2am. I have found the night driving is a LOT easier in the morning rather than at night. This allows me to drive till dusk, about 7-10pm, depending on time of year and location.
Having my wife with me, I am more inclined to do more stops.
mf1972
Well-Known Member
i think the last time we flew from NJ was about 15 years ago. we’ve been driving ever since. we don’t mind it. find it relaxing & in no rush. we usually make to georgia & stay at a hotel & continue on in the morning. the last few years we’ve drove straight back 17-18 hours. as far as south of the border, we’ve never seen it busy but figured they must be making some money if it remains open & they have all those signs hanging up.
That's a good first day of travel , if you leave around 3am you can get to the GA/FL border at around 5pm, have a nice dinner, sleep, eat hotel buffet breakfast , then an easy 3 hour drive to WDW the next morning
DisneyFanatic12
Well-Known Member
We try to find fun things to do for 20 mins or so along the way. Did Florida - Cali (Disneyland) - New York - Florida one year. Granted, we had never been out West so we stopped along the way at national parks to stretch out our legs and what not. Made a day out of a few, and just walked a short trail at others. Still, we try to find something like a Bucees on shorter (20 hour or less) drives to break it up.
I've never been to Bucees but the location off of I-95 in Florence SC seems to be always packed with cars and trucks in their huge parking lot .
sunshinewolf
New Member
Buc-ees! That place is awesome!! I miss living in TX.
The only long distance drives (more than 3 hrs) I've done with the Wife, West TX to Vegas, which we stoped in Albuquere both ways. And when she came back to Cali from TX, we stopped outside Phoenix.
Driving along I40 (mostly old 66), you have the Grand Canyon, Painted Desert, and Petrified Forrest. Def worth stopping and seeing at least once. A second time? uhhh... Its a long road thru the middle of no where with little places to stop. With what seems like less every years.
DisneyFanatic12
Well-Known Member
It’s a really fun stop, and it’s large enough to walk around the store for a while if you wanted!
We like it mostly because it’s safe, clean, and VERY family oriented. It’s nice because you can go to any one of the stores and you know it will be clean and feel safe. Usually a very consistent experience. And the prices aren’t bad!
There have been You Tubers that have filmed videos sampling the food and touring the gift shop foodie area at Bucees. Definitely a step up from ordinary road side places off the highway.
mf1972
Well-Known Member
we normally leave between 6-7am & make to around savannah georgia between 8-9pm give it take. with all this bucees talk, i’m going to have to check this out
In your travels, you would pass the Bucees locations off of I-95 in Florence SC and Daytona Beach FL.
allgiggles
Well-Known Member
We've driven from southeast PA to Disney World (1,000+ miles, 16 hours) nine times since 2001. My husband doesn't like to fly -- he'll do it for business but prefers not to for personal travel. He likes to do all the driving, so I just get to be the co-pilot for the entire drive. We have 5 kids, so for many years it would have cost us significantly more to fly than to drive. Even though 4 out of 5 kids are now out on their own and we only have 1 "kid" traveling with us, we still choose to drive. We like being in control of our travel. Full disclosure, my husband has 35 days of vacation/personal time a year and I don't have a paying job (just lots of volunteering where I can simply say, "I won't be in for these 2 weeks"), so we have the luxury of being able to take 4 extra days of vacation for driving without cutting in to our length of stay at Disney. We split the drive down to Disney over 3 days (8ish hours <with stops> on each of the first 2 days and 1-2 hours on the last day) and we do the drive home over 2 days. We go with the flow depending on traffic and weather and stop by about 6:00 in the evening. We'll get off I-95 at an exit with several hotels and sit in a parking lot looking at apps to see which hotel we want to stay at for the night and book it.
We've also driven from PA to Austin, TX which is a 25 hour drive, so Disney feels like a quick drive.
We've also driven from PA to Austin, TX which is a 25 hour drive, so Disney feels like a quick drive.
puppawuppa
Member
We drive from Philly. We like to drive. We have places we eat and sleep. We stop in Savannah overnight. We take 2 weeks. I like the idea of having our own car. Started with us and our 2 kids. Now they're grown and it us and our 3 Grandkids. 16 15 and 13. 3 teenage girls. 
.The past couple years it's been just the 2 of us. They're in high school so harder to take them out of school. We leave Sunday, get to Disney Monday. 7 day park tickets. Couple off days off. Workd great for us.
KIm
.The past couple years it's been just the 2 of us. They're in high school so harder to take them out of school. We leave Sunday, get to Disney Monday. 7 day park tickets. Couple off days off. Workd great for us.KIm
There’s also a Bucee’s in St. Augustine. We like stopping at the Florence one too.
We’re leaving next week for our 12 day Disney stay at POFQ. We decided last week to do the Autotrain both ways for the first time. We enjoy the option of having our vehicle with us. When we drive down, we’ll typically take extra days to visit other cities like Charleston, Savannah, and St. Augustine. We like taking the Autotrain home because we’re usually exhausted from all of the FUN.
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I liked the auto train. The coach seating was as big a roomy as first class. Did not use the sleeper sections. The downstairs bathrooms was very roomy. Our ticket included dinner and breakfast but now one must pay for that. A number of travelers brought food into the train. There is a big supermarket next to the Lorton station. Before you give the car to the Amtrak employee they videotape the entire outside of the car so they cannot be blamed for any damages. We did not elect the express option of getting your car unloaded in Sanford first. Our train arrived at 9am in FL and were in our car by 1015am. The WiFi is not good in the train. It does save you about 11-12 hours driving. Many seniors were sitting in the lower level where the bathrooms are at. There are smallish stairs to get to the second level seating and the dining car.