Driving to Disney - Your Thoughts?

[wickedfan07]

Hi Everyone!

i'm hoping I can find some opinions here about driving to WDW. My family (5 people: my parents, myself (17), my sister (15), and my grandmother) are planning on driving down at the end of June. We live in northeastern Pennsylvania. We were originally considering driving straight through, stopping every few hours for a stretch break, gas, food, etc. However, we're now looking at stopping for the night somewhere past the halfway point, breaking up the travel time, and possibly allowing us to do something the night we arrive at WDW instead of just recuperating from spending the last 18-20 hours in a minivan. (we will still have some rest time though.)

So, if any of you have driven to Disney from the northeast, wha would you recommend? Can anyone recommend decent places to spend the night in South Carolina or Georgia? Any tips?

In case it matters, we will be staying at our timeshare off-site for 7 nights (June 23-30). (We tried to exchange our timeshare week for a week at a DVC resort, but it turns out we're not allowed to since our timeshare is too close to Disney property.)

Thanks!

 

[crazydaveh]

Maybe Savannah as a mid point. It's about 3.5 - 4.5 hours from Orlando IF traffic is moving on I4.

 

[tigsmom]

We usually drive down from NY (Orange Cty- 45 miles north of NYC) and we usually stop in Santee, South Carolina for the night. There are some nice motels just off the exit ( I 95) with clean restaurants nearby. We've driven down straight thru and its much nicer stopping for the night. :wave:

 

[dave1105]

Here is a site that hopefully will help you plan a place to stop: http://www.usastar.com/index.htm

 

[pescador1f]

Santee sc does sound familiar, i have driven down 3 times from north jersey in the last 2 years. i never plan where to stop, just drive til i cant take it anymore, usually south, south carloina. could always just look at the billboards, usually seems like the exits with the most are the best to stop at......more options, most will suck compared to a disney resort though, have fun!!!

 

[mousermerf]

Going northbound (to MA, it takes 24 hours total to drive straight through), we used to stop just past the Georgia/Florida line (2-stop trip, we also stopped in NC/SC). Buy some peaches, or coming back we'd get some OJ the net morning from the Welcome Station.

Anywho, i recall a lovely little campground that had cute little cabins to rent somewhere around there. Wonder if it still exists. We liked it and used to always stop there.

 

[Nemo14]

We've driven from RI several times. We've done it straight through (about 22 hours), and we've also done it stopping overnight. If you do plan to stop, I would suggest that you not plan for half-way down, but more like three-quarters of the way. It makes that second day so much easier, and the extra few hours on the first day (once you're into the Carolinas) are pretty easy driving. Have a great trip!

 

[doop]

We drive from here in Allentown every time we go. I wouldn't recommend driving straight through, we did it on our first trip (takes about 18 hours) and everyone was tired for the parks. We usually split the trip in half and end up staying in a motel in either north or south carolina. We usually stop in Rocky Mount, NC, or Lumberton, SC. If you plan to do that I would recommend making a reservation first, we decided not to on one of our trips and found that all of the decent hotels had no vacancies and had to stay in some dump for the night.

 

[Agent1964fem]

Hi I live in the Harrisburg PA area I drove down to Orlando last June with my husband , my oldest son (who is slightly autistic) and my 75 year old mother we drove straight thru I don't recommend it but ...we did it,

Next trip is in July 15 thru 21

 

[jcc0621]

We drive from Philly all the time. We usually drive straight through. We leave at night (around 7:30/8:00) and arrive at DIsney by about noon/1:00. It's long, but worth getting the trip over in one shot. The one or 2 times that we stopped over night we try to stop in GA. It makes the 2nd day a litle more bearable because you are not in the car for as long.

 

[Monty]

I'm planning on driving down from Ottawa for the last week of June. Mapquest says it's about 22/23 hours of driving. We'll be leaving very early on the 23rd and driving for as long as I can reasonably handle [driving until you're dog tired and then trying to find a motel isn't a good idea]. We'll find a motel [don't care where or how fancy... a bed is a bed] and leave as early as possible again on the 24th.

Our only real constraint is an ADR at California Grill at 9PM on the 24th... I'm fairly certain we'll make it.

On our return trip we leave on 29 June, but later in the day. We'll likely make two stops on the way back.

 

[fatdaddy17872]

I have driven from Shamokin PA 3 times I always drive straight thru going down. I usually leave around 1am so I beat Washington and Baltimore traffic. This past time I got down there in 14 hours which was way quick. We leave the day before our check in date get down there usually around 5 or 6 get a cheap hotel right next to Disney, go to bed around 9 and are refreshed the day of check in. I always want to stay half way but once we are going I just want to finish it.

 

[Uponastar]

We drive from Philly all the time. We usually drive straight through. We leave at night (around 7:30/8:00) and arrive at DIsney by about noon/1:00. It's long, but worth getting the trip over in one shot. The one or 2 times that we stopped over night we try to stop in GA. It makes the 2nd day a litle more bearable because you are not in the car for as long.

We drive down from Philly too. I totally agree with leaving at night. Beats the traffic. We take I95 all the way down, and the only congestion point to look out for is the Washington, DC area. Try to arrange it so that you're not going through there during rush hour. Could get a little dicey!
We usually drive straight through, but we have stopped for the night, too. Savannah is a good stopping point. Like you said, makes the second day a bit more bearable if the ride is shorter!

 

[tigsmom]

I'm planning on driving down from Ottawa for the last week of June. Mapquest says it's about 22/23 hours of driving. We'll be leaving very early on the 23rd and driving for as long as I can reasonably handle [driving until you're dog tired and then trying to find a motel isn't a good idea]. We'll find a motel [don't care where or how fancy... a bed is a bed] and leave as early as possible again on the 24th.

Our only real constraint is an ADR at California Grill at 9PM on the 24th... I'm fairly certain we'll make it.

On our return trip we leave on 29 June, but later in the day. We'll likely make two stops on the way back.

22 hours from Ottawa? It takes that long for us to drive straight thru from NY. I wonder if they are accounting for all the city traffic you will hit along the way?

 

[Arkansas Goofy]

19 hours from Ft. Smith, Arkansas. Going back in November, 2007. Cant wait. The drive is half the fun. Woooo Hooooo!

 

[mousebymarriage]

We are driving down from Jersey for the very first time in April (we usually fly but, I had a weird feeling about flying this time.) We have a few friends that have made the drive and they stop in Santee, SC so that is where we are planning to stop. We have reservations at the Country Inn ( which has suites), friends have stayed there and said its a good clean hotel.

 

[Monty]

22 hours from Ottawa? It takes that long for us to drive straight thru from NY. I wonder if they are accounting for all the city traffic you will hit along the way?

Maybe Mapquest just knows how I drive? :lookaroun

Normally, folks around here say it's 24 hours of drive time. I take that to be reasonable based on speed limits and an average number of rest stops. So, factoring in my less-than-admirable disdain for speed limits and less frequent rest stops... I'm comfortable with the 22/23 hour estimate, even allowing for city congestion in areas... :lookaroun

Of course, if I'm wrong, I'll still have enough fudge factor that we can make our 9PM ADR at Cali Grill. I can comfortably drive 14-16 hours/day, so assuming 14 the first day and departing around 7AM on the second, we'll be there around 5-7PM on the second day.

 

[DarkImage4]

We drive from Central NJ...we've done it 4 times in the last 5 years. First one we drove down and stopped in Jacksonville FL...nexty day was a very short hop to the resort and then to the parks. Ever since we drive straight through...we have the energgy and ambition to get there ASAP, so you do it. Last year, we even planned on stopping and just decided to get there and get a chear room in Orlando for the night. We checked in early the next morning and were ready to go!

Coming home is a different story, we usually just drive until neither of us can keep our eyes open, generally between Savannah and somewhere in SC.

 

[RickyMouseMom]

We've driven from upstate NY in approx 20 hours last time!!! My husband loves to drive straight through (after sleeping all day before we leave). We usually arrive at the hotel around check in time and just spend the evening at the hotel relaxing and sleeping. We start the parks the next day after we are all rested. We've driven multiple times and I am finally getting used to it. I've both driven to FL and flew to FL. I prefer flying because its quicker, but driving is soooo much cheaper PLUS we can take all the stuff we need for our two little ones without worry!! :wave:

 

[slappy magoo]

I'd say drive straight thru if you can. Start driving at night, blow past DC in the wee hours and arrive in/near the Orlando area late afternoon the day BEFORE your time-share stay. Find a nice chain motel within an hour of your timeshare, have a lighter meal to counteract the crap you've eaten along the way, get to bed early, get up early, drive to our timeshare and then hit any park but MK, since you probably won't get there until after it opens and it tends to be the busiest park.