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Driving To WDW from Philly Area... Any Travle Suggestions?
- Thread starter Sammy5150
- Start date
WLBound
Well-Known Member
We've made the drive from PA twice now, once leaving around that time, via I-95. It gets a little boring at night (not much scenery, lights or traffic) so we tried playing the license plate game to keep us alert. That didn't last too long with the nieces (fortunately they fell asleep sometime after we crossed into VA). Caffeine did come into play quite a bit (I think three adults went through most of a 12-pack of Coke). The rest stops along the highway were almost deserted at night. The two women were the only ones who got out to walk around and we felt pretty safe as long as we stayed near the building or our vehicle. We made a point of stopping for breakfast, Cracker Barrel somewhere in GA, so we could get of the car for a while and stretch and walk around. The biggest tip I can give you is make sure you are well-rested before you leave (take a nap if you can) and if you at all start to feel tired stop for a rest. Better to take a little longer driving and arrive in FL safely and in one piece and ready to start your vacation.
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Nemo14
Well-Known Member
Great advice! We've driven straight through from RI several times. Driving at night is easier traffic wise, but harder to stay awake. We always have one passenger awake in the front seat with the driver just to converse with to say awake, then we rotate the schedule. With just 2 drivers this might not work as well, but my advice would be that when you leave, one driver sleeps while one of the kids stays awake for the first leg. My daughter was a night owl so she always had the late shifts while I napped. If both drivers are too tired, stop and rest. No vacation is worth risking your life or the lives of your family.
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Awesome, thanks for the advise! I'll have my wife sleep as soon as we start (not a real stretch for her), keep the 14 year old with me up front until the first gas break. Maybe start with a caramel coffee milkshake from Starbucks.
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Thanks, I think the 14 year old and I will have some long "next year for baseball" conversations. Next year we'll only play on 4 teams... next year we'll win more games.. next year we'll work more on defense....
leaving at 8:00 will allow us to take breaks when needed too.
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AngryEyes
Well-Known Member
We're leaving from Williamsport at around 5PM on Wednesday. Since my wife sleeps a lot when riding, our plan is for her to take over sometime in the middle of the night for a few hours, so I can nap. Then, breakfast around Savannah, GA, and I take it the rest of the way.
We've never done it before, so we'll see how it works out.
We've never done it before, so we'll see how it works out.
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zurgandfriend
Well-Known Member
The only advise I have is don't stop at south of the border other than that save a safe trip
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Pixie Duster Mom
New Member
We have driven many, many times from the Philly area (10+) with our four kids. Like you, we tend to leave around 8pm. We usually drive thru to Jacksonville (get there noonish/early afternoon). At that point, we've really had enough "family time" in the car! 
We usually stay in Jacksonville (go swimming, eat, watch an in-room movie), then get a good night's sleep to finish off the drive the next day and arrive refreshed. Those last few hours are just beyond out boundaries the first day. Other tips - the rest areas to the south are quite lovely. Pack a picnic breakfast (freeze yogurt, fruit, bagels, juice, etc. Throw in a tablecloth from the dollar store.) It's so much nicer than going into a restaurant when you feel all icky from being in the car all night. You get some fresh air, (you can even take a ball or Frisbee the kids can play with), you can walk around, and it takes just as much (or less) time as stopping in a restaurant. Also, I always made each kid a "goody bag" for the ride - filled with Mom-approved snacks/serving sizes.... lollipops, crackers, pretzels, water bottles, (use the individual drink mix ins if they don't like plain water), etc. If they ate it all in the first hour, so be it... but, they knew it had to last them the entire way. It cut down on the "whining" of being hungry or thirsty. If one was hungry and no one else was, they just had a snack to tie them over. Have a safe and wonderful trip. Remember, if it's too much - pull over and rest. Your safety is the most important!!!
We usually stay in Jacksonville (go swimming, eat, watch an in-room movie), then get a good night's sleep to finish off the drive the next day and arrive refreshed. Those last few hours are just beyond out boundaries the first day. Other tips - the rest areas to the south are quite lovely. Pack a picnic breakfast (freeze yogurt, fruit, bagels, juice, etc. Throw in a tablecloth from the dollar store.) It's so much nicer than going into a restaurant when you feel all icky from being in the car all night. You get some fresh air, (you can even take a ball or Frisbee the kids can play with), you can walk around, and it takes just as much (or less) time as stopping in a restaurant. Also, I always made each kid a "goody bag" for the ride - filled with Mom-approved snacks/serving sizes.... lollipops, crackers, pretzels, water bottles, (use the individual drink mix ins if they don't like plain water), etc. If they ate it all in the first hour, so be it... but, they knew it had to last them the entire way. It cut down on the "whining" of being hungry or thirsty. If one was hungry and no one else was, they just had a snack to tie them over. Have a safe and wonderful trip. Remember, if it's too much - pull over and rest. Your safety is the most important!!!
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wdisneyw2000
Active Member
We drive from PA also from near Bedford. Been driving since 2000 this will be our 7th trip leaving AUG 3rd to drive down. Take music, Port. DVD players are nice also. Every stop for gas, restroom breaks, whatever we switch driver's seems to help us. We usually do stop at South of ther Border also. Cracker Barrel in santee, SC & Pooler,GA is good with food & workers also very nice. You can pre plan also by looking at i95 Web Site, theres a list of rest areas, food, gas stations & prices ETC. seems crazy yes but i know what Mile marker every Rest Area is at, what MM certain Restaurants are at, which helps. I'm Traveling with DF, DD's- 6 & 3 & DS - 8mo. We usually drive until we get to GA then pull over for a little shut eye.
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ajrwdwgirl
Premium Member
Pack a cooler with drinks and sandwiches. We play Mad-Libs and trivia on our road trips.
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wdisneyw2000
Active Member
Yes we also pack the cooler, & have plenty of snacks & things for the kids & ourselves
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wdisneyw2000
Active Member
Whining who whines nah noone lol HA HA. Isn't that the truth i don't know , seems no matter what you do they whine right. mine do anyhowWe have driven many, many times from the Philly area (10+) with our four kids. Like you, we tend to leave around 8pm. We usually drive thru to Jacksonville (get there noonish/early afternoon). At that point, we've really had enough "family time" in the car!
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zero creativity
Active Member
Just make sure that if you are taking 95 that you avoid the DC/Virginia area from about noon to seven and weekends is a mess. If you dial 511 or download the 511 app for this area it will tell you when and where traffic is in VA/DC
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Wall-e
Active Member
We've been doing the drive a long time coming from Camden county. My advice would be to maintain a good average speed (if you tend to obey the speed limit and hit traffic its hard to make up time) and realize that every 15 minutes spent gassing up or eating can cost you an hour or more depending on how many times you fill up. I've got it to where, if I average 75mph all the way, I can get there in under 15 hours. However for the first time I'm traveling with our 1yo son this August so I'm factoring a significant time more into our plan to the tune of about 17 hours.
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smk
Well-Known Member
We play trivia games too, we also make up stories about the other travelers on the rode, like were they are staying in WDW, what park they like the best. We make up some pretty funny stories! We have no idea if the people on the road with us are traveling to WDW but pretend they are. It's fun, you all should try it!
We always pack the cooler with soft drinks, buy some Subway sandwiches and have a bag or two of chips (hey, it's vacation right?). However, we never drive thru the night. Once was enough, we barely made it home! Lots of spring break traffic and a ton of wrecks and road construction made our 16 hour drive drag on past 24 hours and it was miserable. We were caravanning with another family that did not want to stop and we decided to stick together for our safety. We did stop a lot that trip home, it was not fun.
Our other trips are all driving and playing games, we always stop around Valdosta and get a good night sleep and the next day we have a few hours to drive to be in our happy place! They way home we usually stop in TN or just north of Atlanta because we never WDW before we absolutely have to.
Just be safe, have fun!
We always pack the cooler with soft drinks, buy some Subway sandwiches and have a bag or two of chips (hey, it's vacation right?). However, we never drive thru the night. Once was enough, we barely made it home! Lots of spring break traffic and a ton of wrecks and road construction made our 16 hour drive drag on past 24 hours and it was miserable. We were caravanning with another family that did not want to stop and we decided to stick together for our safety. We did stop a lot that trip home, it was not fun.
Our other trips are all driving and playing games, we always stop around Valdosta and get a good night sleep and the next day we have a few hours to drive to be in our happy place! They way home we usually stop in TN or just north of Atlanta because we never WDW before we absolutely have to.
Just be safe, have fun!
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Susan Savia
Well-Known Member
We break our trip up into two days stopping over in Santee, SC. On the second day, we stop off at Daytona Beach (which is a short distance off 95) for a break and look at the ocean. Makes that last segment of the drive go by much quicker!
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