Driving to Disney from Ontario

gwhb75

gwhb75

Well-Known Member
Hey there. We're thinking of doing a driving trip to Disney just after Christmas, leaving from Hamilton, Ontario. Looking for what is a realistic point to stop for the night on the way down from anyone who has done this before. I'm thinking somewhere around South Carolina is doable, but would love input from anyone who has done this before.
 
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Belle_MTL

Belle_MTL

Member
We used to always drive down from Montreal when I was a kid and I remember stopping somewhere between Virginia and the Carolinas. If you think your kids can make it to SC without getting too cranky then you should be good to stop there :)
 
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amaley01

amaley01

Active Member
We cross over at Ivy Lea and have done the drive in Jan/Feb for several years (8 yrs). Provided the weather and road conditions are good you should not have a problem reaching NC. Usually, we don't make hotel reservations because we have stopped in Roanoke Rapids and other times we were lucky with traffic and made it to Lumberton. We are looking forward to our 22 hrs drive again in October this year.:happy:
Have a great trip.
 
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pixiesteno

pixiesteno

Well-Known Member
I think realistically VA or NC will probably be where you will make it, this of course will vary on time of year, route you travel, etc. Just noticed the "right after Christmas part" Yes, figure on VA. We left western NY day after Christmas 2013 heading to GA. We went down Rt 15 to RT 81, Rt 66/17/39 to Fredericksburg VA and then on to I95. Traffic was ridiculous the whole journey and it took at least an hour to go a couple of miles to get on to I95 because of traffic and people not getting into the proper lane until the last minute - total chaos.
 
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Chernaboggles

Chernaboggles

Well-Known Member
I highly recommend picking at least one "bail out" option a couple hours earlier than your preferred destination. If you get on the wrong side of weather or traffic and just can't get down as far as you'd like, it's good to have a back-up planned. You don't need to make extra reservations or anything, just acquaint yourself with which exits along your route have your preferred hotel chains. Car travel is great, but it can be unpredictable at times!
 
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gwhb75

gwhb75

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Belle_MTL said:
We used to always drive down from Montreal when I was a kid and I remember stopping somewhere between Virginia and the Carolinas. If you think your kids can make it to SC without getting too cranky then you should be good to stop there :)
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The kids are a bit older (14 and 12) so they should be able to handle it (I hope!!!)
 
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gwhb75

gwhb75

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Chernaboggles said:
I highly recommend picking at least one "bail out" option a couple hours earlier than your preferred destination. If you get on the wrong side of weather or traffic and just can't get down as far as you'd like, it's good to have a back-up planned. You don't need to make extra reservations or anything, just acquaint yourself with which exits along your route have your preferred hotel chains. Car travel is great, but it can be unpredictable at times!
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Agreed. Thanks for the advice.
 
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gwhb75

gwhb75

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
amaley01 said:
We cross over at Ivy Lea and have done the drive in Jan/Feb for several years (8 yrs). Provided the weather and road conditions are good you should not have a problem reaching NC. Usually, we don't make hotel reservations because we have stopped in Roanoke Rapids and other times we were lucky with traffic and made it to Lumberton. We are looking forward to our 22 hrs drive again in October this year.:happy:
Have a great trip.
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Thanks. We figure this is a one-time thing (the driving down) as we normally fly out of Buffalo. We've never gone in the winter before, so we're hoping everything works out
 
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Lucky

Lucky

Well-Known Member
amaley01 said:
We cross over at Ivy Lea and have done the drive in Jan/Feb for several years (8 yrs). Provided the weather and road conditions are good you should not have a problem reaching NC. Usually, we don't make hotel reservations because we have stopped in Roanoke Rapids and other times we were lucky with traffic and made it to Lumberton. We are looking forward to our 22 hrs drive again in October this year.:happy:
Have a great trip.
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Those are both good towns to stop in. Don't stop in Santee, SC. It's a total dump.
 
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Jae99

Jae99

Well-Known Member
We drove down this past Christmas from Barrie. We followed a slightly varied version of the I 75 route. We crossed at Ft. Erie but then followed I 90 along the bottom of Lake Erie and then cut south to catch 75 around Columbus. We left at 10 pm and drove until 4 pm the next day stopping just north of Atlanta for the night.

We stopped in Adairsville at a Hampton Inn. It had a great indoor saltwater pool and a free hot breakfast the next morning. Stopping here left a 6 hr drive into Orlando leaving us extremely fresh for our first night in WDW.
 
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