Driving to WDW?!

[mguimond1990]

Hi all! I was hoping for some tips/advise on driving to WDW from the northeast. Usually we fly from Boston, but we are going right after thanksgiving this year and of course airline prices are crazy. Theres just two of us adults. My plan at the moment is to drive all day saturday and hopefully make it to South Carolina. And then Wake up early sunday morning and check into POP around noon. Was looking to see if anyone has any locations in SC(or maybe even NC) or hotels that they recommend for a quick overnight stay.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I can let you know after next month. We've always flown to WDW, but DH recently retired, so we thought we'd try driving next trip. It's about 1300 miles, so we figure 2 days, one to Gulfport, then the next day to BCV.Wish we were coming from Boston-my original home is Worcester and I miss it!

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Usually we fly from Boston, but we are going right after thanksgiving this year and of course airline prices are crazy.

If prices are better to drive all that way over a couple of days rather than flying (in 2 or 3 hours ?) then go for it. I read a lot of threads on here from people that drive down

Personally I can't imagine driving up to 600 miles in a day - won't you be absolutely wiped out when you arrive ? Will that not have a knock-on effect for the next couple of days as you recover ?

 

[Hakunamatata]

We are driving from KC next summer. I have driven from Houston before. Never had an issue with being wiped out from the drive going down because of the anxious energy. Next year we are taking two days to drive but because we are going to Uni first I could care less if I'm wiped out. I can sleep in the ridiculously long lines at Uni then be ready to go a couple days later when the real vacation begins.

 

[mousehockey37]

Hi all! I was hoping for some tips/advise on driving to WDW from the northeast. Usually we fly from Boston, but we are going right after thanksgiving this year and of course airline prices are crazy. Theres just two of us adults. My plan at the moment is to drive all day saturday and hopefully make it to South Carolina. And then Wake up early sunday morning and check into POP around noon. Was looking to see if anyone has any locations in SC(or maybe even NC) or hotels that they recommend for a quick overnight stay.

Since it is 2 adults, why not leave late Friday night, drive through the night (that would get you down past DC probably) and somewhere between NC and SC switch drivers and just keep going? It's a long haul and would take about 19 hours (via google maps) straight through.

 

[Minnie Mum]

Assuming no heavy traffic (lol) or accidents backing things up, it's a 19+ hour trip (driving time only). It's 15 hours to Savannah, or 12 hours to Florence SC. If you can leave home around 3am, you could get as far as Savannah in time for a late dinner. Have a good sleep, then it's an easy drive to WDW the next morning.

It's a 21 hour trip for us from Canada, but we break it down so our longest drive us on the first day. But not so long that we are too tired to drive safely.

 

[RMichael21]

Hi all! I was hoping for some tips/advise on driving to WDW from the northeast. Usually we fly from Boston, but we are going right after thanksgiving this year and of course airline prices are crazy. Theres just two of us adults. My plan at the moment is to drive all day saturday and hopefully make it to South Carolina. And then Wake up early sunday morning and check into POP around noon. Was looking to see if anyone has any locations in SC(or maybe even NC) or hotels that they recommend for a quick overnight stay.

Hey @mguimond1990 ! We're from near Boston and usually fly as well. Other family members have driven though, and they were crazy enough to drive 24 hours straight (with the two adults in the family switching off while the other slept in the passenger's seat). This included bathroom breaks, food breaks, etc. That's probably more reasonable for someone without kids, but they had four kids at the time, so it's doable. But, they also drove another time where they left early to mid morning and drove all day to South Carolina, stayed in a hotel and then drove the rest of the way the next day.

 

[wdisneyw2000]

We have done the drive 9 times from Central PA. You could leave in the AM & drive all day or leave in the middle of the night. your preference We also traveled our first day the longest.. I would drive to the middle of Georgia & get a room for the night then wake up & travel the rest of the way into WDW. The best way to do it is to switch drivers everytime you stop no matter if the driver says I'm fine I can continue to drive. This makes it much easier, even if you don't sleep you atleast get a rest. We travel 81 South to 64 east, to 295 to 95 South in Virginia near Richmond. that can help you bypass a lot of the hastles. But there are other routes of travel as well. We did this with 2 Adults & 3 Kids so in your situation its doable yes.

 

[kimberlymautz]

I'll be leaving from about an hour outside of Philadelphia around 1pm on a Friday, stopping in Fayetteville, NC for the night, and then finishing the drive on Saturday. Fayetteville is almost exactly halfway from me to Disney so it's perfect. We're staying at a Marriott Courtyard that's only $93 for the night including taxes. Good luck!

 

[Simba's Mom]

If prices are better to drive all that way over a couple of days rather than flying (in 2 or 3 hours ?) then go for it. I read a lot of threads on here from people that drive down

Personally I can't imagine driving up to 600 miles in a day - won't you be absolutely wiped out when you arrive ? Will that not have a knock-on effect for the next couple of days as you recover ?

Unfortunately, flying sometimes comes with its own share of problems these days. We have to change planes when we fly to WDW, and no matter how long the original layover, it's so stressful-"If the first flight is late, now how long do we have" for instance. And we usually have to change planes in Houston, which means for us, changing terminals. We just decided that driving is less hassle. I also thought that driving 600+ miles a day would leave us wiped out, but based on a recent road trip we took elsewhere, we'll be less wiped out than after we fly.

 

[Weather_Lady]

When I was growing up, we always drove down from upstate NY. We had a giant conversion van, so we'd stop overnight at rest areas and sleep right in the van (class all the way!). It was about 20 hours of driving time, which we'd split up over a couple of days (e.g., Friday 6pm-11pm, Saturday 7am-10pm with a couple of hour-long meal breaks, Sunday 7am-12pm, set up camp at Fort Wilderness, grab showers, have lunch and be waltzing into the MK by mid-afternoon. That was back in the days before vehicles had DVD players and such, so my parents would get out cassette tapes from the library (Bill Cosby recordings were a favorite, and I seem to remember a lot of Kenny Rogers and ABBA compilations) and we'd listen to them on the way down. Silly as it may sound, we really enjoyed those road trips!

Unless you have a really high tolerance for non-stop driving (and a good partner to switch off with every couple of hours), I'd suggest leaving on Friday so you can go at a more leisurely pace, and scheduling a couple of fun stops along the way. The roadtrippers.com website has some neat tools that I've used before to plan multi-stop road trips and find lodging.

 

[Vic23]

Hi all! I was hoping for some tips/advise on driving to WDW from the northeast. Usually we fly from Boston, but we are going right after thanksgiving this year and of course airline prices are crazy. Theres just two of us adults. My plan at the moment is to drive all day saturday and hopefully make it to South Carolina. And then Wake up early sunday morning and check into POP around noon. Was looking to see if anyone has any locations in SC(or maybe even NC) or hotels that they recommend for a quick overnight stay.

We just did this drive this past April from north of Boston, about 10 miles north (North Reading, MA). We left at midnight and drove until about 5 p.m. the next day, getting to Savannah, GA. This was great as we flew through NYC and stuff in middle of night, so no traffic at all.

We rested and the next day it was a quick 4-hour ride to DisneyWorld!

It is a LONG drive and I honestly cannot say i will do it again anytime soon (we booked flights for our trip in February), but it was a positive experience for sure and was great to say we did it.

We stayed in Savannah at:

HAMPTON INN- RICHMOND HILL (SAVANNAH SOUTH)

4679 HWY 17

RICHMOND HILL, GA 31324

Hotel was great inexpensive and right off of highway, did the trick!

Have fun!!!!

 

[Gaston's gal]

We usually drive our trips from Virginia so it's around a 13 hour drive and make it in a day. We were just discussing the driving vs flying debate for our trip in April and started wondering why does it make us so tired when we are just sitting in a car all day? That always baffles me. As long as you have some good tunes and good company, you will have a great road trip, I'm sure.

 

[RKSteel]

Hi all! I was hoping for some tips/advise on driving to WDW from the northeast. Usually we fly from Boston, but we are going right after thanksgiving this year and of course airline prices are crazy. Theres just two of us adults. My plan at the moment is to drive all day saturday and hopefully make it to South Carolina. And then Wake up early sunday morning and check into POP around noon. Was looking to see if anyone has any locations in SC(or maybe even NC) or hotels that they recommend for a quick overnight stay.

We drive from Long Island and have stopped in Florence,SC and Savannah, GA. Exit 160A in Florence off of I95 has a bunch of hotels from major chains and places to eat. Its approx 7 hrs (460 miles) to WDW from Florence. Our last two trips we stayed in Savannah at a Springhill Suites. For us, its 840 miles and takes about 14-15 hours with stops. Its a long drive, but it leaves only a 4 hour drive to WDW the next day. Our day of arrival we usually just chill at the POR pool.

 

[mguimond1990]

We drive from Long Island and have stopped in Florence,SC and Savannah, GA. Exit 160A in Florence off of I95 has a bunch of hotels from major chains and places to eat. Its approx 7 hrs (460 miles) to WDW from Florence. Our last two trips we stayed in Savannah at a Springhill Suites. For us, its 840 miles and takes about 14-15 hours with stops. Its a long drive, but it leaves only a 4 hour drive to WDW the next day. Our day of arrival we usually just chill at the POR pool.

Yea we'd love to make it to Savannah on day 1 since we'd only have 4 hours left to wdw, but it's a 18 hour drive for us. Not sure if we'll last that long haha.

 

[danlb_2000]

Hi all! I was hoping for some tips/advise on driving to WDW from the northeast. Usually we fly from Boston, but we are going right after thanksgiving this year and of course airline prices are crazy. Theres just two of us adults. My plan at the moment is to drive all day saturday and hopefully make it to South Carolina. And then Wake up early sunday morning and check into POP around noon. Was looking to see if anyone has any locations in SC(or maybe even NC) or hotels that they recommend for a quick overnight stay.

Have you considered the train? Right now a coach seat from Boston to Orlando leaving on 11/26 will run you $192 per person.

 

[micknminnie]

We drive ever year from the Philadelphia area. We are a family of 6 and driving saves us a ton of money. We usually leave about 5-6 a.m. the first day and drive about 12 hours to Savannah. We stay at Wingate Savannah Airport. Its clean, quiet and safe and right off of I-95. The next day will take us about 4 hours to get to Disney. We love the drive. We stop every couple of hours for bathroom breaks or to eat.

 

[LeighM]

We used to drive from VA to FL all the time when we went on vacation. We always try to get to GA first but you're coming from further away. There are a lot of nice, affordable hotels in Florence, SC which is close to the NC border. Savannah is also a really good stopping place for the night and it's close to the SC border. We prefer to stay in Brunswick, GA - good hotels, good places to eat, and close to FL. Depending on traffic and weather, it typically takes us 3 hours from the time we leave Brunswick to when we check into Port Orleans Riverside.

 

[LeighM]

We usually drive our trips from Virginia so it's around a 13 hour drive and make it in a day. We were just discussing the driving vs flying debate for our trip in April and started wondering why does it make us so tired when we are just sitting in a car all day? That always baffles me. As long as you have some good tunes and good company, you will have a great road trip, I'm sure.

We leave from VA too but we've never been able to make it down in one day no matter how hard we try. We just finally gave up lol. One year, 95 was closed due to floods in Roanoke Rapids, NC and the 5-10 mile detour took close to 3 hours. Another trip we were going 30 mph throughout most of SC because their DOT was doing clean up from the ice storm. Yet another trip had heavy rain because of a storm off the coast. We just start our trips knowing we'll be stopping for the night somewhere, we just hope it's as close to FL as possible LOL. This year, we're flying for the first time!