"For 2,000+ Mile Round-Trip Drivers Only!" (Part V)

[Lease257]

We are driving down on February 23. I was surprised how hard it was to find a hotel in the Carolinas with an indoor pool not undergoing renovations. We are coming from NYC and want a decent halfway mark not too far off the highway for my kids to let off steam. Most hotels offered outdoor pools. February seems a bit cold for that!!

 

[amcnj]

As the founder of this thread, I am no longer eligible to increase the total number of long-distance drives on the all-time records page (see page 1), since moving to FL 14 months ago. However, we did make 26 drives to WDW in 2018, and that added up to nearly 3,400 miles!

All the best!

Maybe you should lose one for every short drive you make!

 

[toolmanjan]

Maybe you should lose one for every short drive you make!

That's extreme! I think we'll have to bring that to a vote!

 

[LadyBeBop]

We are driving down on February 23. I was surprised how hard it was to find a hotel in the Carolinas with an indoor pool not undergoing renovations. We are coming from NYC and want a decent halfway mark not too far off the highway for my kids to let off steam. Most hotels offered outdoor pools. February seems a bit cold for that!!

Good luck with that. It’s hard to find a hotel with an indoor pool outside a major metropolitan or vacation area. Trust me.

I’m assuming you’re taking I-95 all the way. found a list of hotels with indoor pools in Raleigh, Charleston and Wilmington. But that’s probably too far off the highway.

Your best bet, if you really want an indoor pool, is the 81-77-26 route, and spend the night in either Charlotte or possibly Columbia.

 

[Lease257]

Good luck with that. It’s hard to find a hotel with an indoor pool outside a major metropolitan or vacation area. Trust me.

I’m assuming you’re taking I-95 all the way. found a list of hotels with indoor pools in Raleigh, Charleston and Wilmington. But that’s probably too far off the highway.

Your best bet, if you really want an indoor pool, is the 81-77-26 route, and spend the night in either Charlotte or possibly Columbia.

Thank you! I will def look into that!

 

[toolmanjan]

Car prep this week. Leaving Saturday 7pm from central NJ.

7th drive in 5 years 10th overall

 

[amcnj]

Car prep this week. Leaving Saturday 7pm from central NJ.

7th drive in 5 years 10th overall

Safe travels. Are you driving straight through the night?

 

[toolmanjan]

Safe travels. Are you driving straight through the night?

Yes

 

[amcnj]

Yes

I wish I could do that. I get up a few hours earlier than normal (I was already used to getting up kind of early for work) to miss the DC area traffic and then drive straight through. I have so far been able to do this no problem. My father could stay awake anytime anywhere, but it skipped me.

 

[dvczerfs]

I will be leaving in 18 days. Driving this time of year I always keep a close eye on the weather. We use 81/77/26 which takes you through, up, over and around some mountains. From experience I learned it can be raining on the bottom of the mountain and snowing to beat the band on the top.(Jan 1994)
The few towns I keep an eye on are, Buchanan, Pulaski and Hillsville Virginia. Union Grove and Charlotte North Carolina.
I watch the weather the entire route but I watch the higher, hilly areas real close.
Also don't forget the return trip, I left early and later from vacations to avoid a northeast ice and or snow storms in the past.
I always have plenty of food, drinks in the van. I bring a shovel and a small travel generator. About as big as a car battery but it charges off the car pretty fast and give you hours of limited power. Our van always have enough pillows and blankets.
Last March, we left 8 hours early from home to beat a northeast snow storm. We did fine, the house did fare as well but all worked out in the end.

 

[toolmanjan]

I wish I could do that. I get up a few hours earlier than normal (I was already used to getting up kind of early for work) to miss the DC area traffic and then drive straight through. I have so far been able to do this no problem. My father could stay awake anytime anywhere, but it skipped me.

I will drive until the sun comes up. Usually that puts us in Ga. My son will take over then. We'll meet my DW (she fly's) and DD (works for the mouse) at Wolfgang puck express around 10:30am. I like the drive at night there are times going through Southern Va, NC & SC you cant see a car or truck in front of you or behind.

 

[kerry34]

We will be driving from the Boston are in March.

Same! Happy Travels

 

[pwdebbie]

This brings up (what I think is) an interesting question. I'm curious to know how many people that make the long drive to WDW just park their cars the entire time they are on property, and how many drive while there. After our 1300 mile drive from Wisconsin, we still drive everywhere on Disney property. To us, we think that is a big side benefit of driving vs. flying. But I can certainly understand people not wanting to drive after spending 20+ hours in a car, and having to do the same a week later.

Once we arrive on property, the car doesn't move until the day we go home. Now that Disney wants to penalize us for driving there by making us pay for parking, off-property hotels have become much more attractive to us.

 

[Hoosier John]

This brings up (what I think is) an interesting question. I'm curious to know how many people that make the long drive to WDW just park their cars the entire time they are on property, and how many drive while there. After our 1300 mile drive from Wisconsin, we still drive everywhere on Disney property. To us, we think that is a big side benefit of driving vs. flying. But I can certainly understand people not wanting to drive after spending 20+ hours in a car, and having to do the same a week later.

We prolly use Disney Transportation 75% of the time, when staying on site. Often we visit Chuy's and/or Giodarno's once, and we usually drive straight to/from park on arrival/departure day.

I still remember how excited our son was to ride on the bus. Always wanted back row, window seat. Sure he likes the monorail and boats, but he loved the big bus. That's gone now, as he rides the bus to school every day.

 

[Hoosier John]

While looking for a picture of him on the bus, I found this photo of I-95 in October 2016: Hurricane Matthew in SC

 

[Cheerio]

While looking for a picture of him on the bus, I found this photo of I-95 in October 2016: Hurricane Matthew in SC

View attachment 381859

Wow, where on the 95 was that? Our 2016 trip south, we had come across an accident scene from the night before, tractor trailer off in the middle had caught on fire. Everything was charred

 

[Hoosier John]

That was between the NC state line and Florence, SC (where I rerouted to the west). We parked on the interstate for 5 hours due to flooding (luckily i had cold pizza and empty bottles). Plus I lost 3 hours on the detour. This was my worst trip time at 22 hours.

 

[RedSox68]

I will drive until the sun comes up. Usually that puts us in Ga. My son will take over then. We'll meet my DW (she fly's) and DD (works for the mouse) at Wolfgang puck express around 10:30am. I like the drive at night there are times going through Southern Va, NC & SC you cant see a car or truck in front of you or behind.

We used to do that -- many years ago. But as I have gotten older, I have developed "night blindness" and it is unbearable. So we've been doing trips the way our parents used to do them -- get up at the crack of dawn and drive until sunset, go to bed early and hit the road early -- avoiding major city rush hours (of course).

We are driving from Philadelphia area to Key West in October -- so any hotel suggestions on the way down would be great. We plan to average about 300-350 miles a day and do some sightseeing.

 

[Hoosier John]

Speaking of vehicle fires, there was this RV fire on the shoulder at South Newport, GA on I-95 northbound Exit 67:

[Edits to change location. I have another photo that shows interchange with US17/GA25]

 

[RedSox68]

OMG -- it looks like their propane tank blew up. Do you know if everyone survived? That's frightening.