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

[amcnj]

Good morning from the Grand Floridian Resort. We had a GREAT week. Alas, though, 'tis time to part. We expect to be outta here and on the road by 7:45 (after a stop at Disney Speedway).

See ya on the road.

All the best!

Safe travels. Hope the weather is better than what you experienced on the way down.

 

[tortilla24]

We love stopping in Florence. For us, in the warmer months, we go swimming in a springs outside Orlando before heading home, so we only go for the short leg of the drive on day 1 and Florence is our stopping point.

Exit 160 is near the Civic Center so I hear, but we just zip into the Hilton Garden Inn. Dinner at Tacos and Tequilas or any of the other nearby chains (like Outback or Longhorn) and back to the hotel to relax and sleep. There are other very nice looking hotels right there at Exit 160. Here's a map.

Thank you! I was planning on stopping off Exit 164. Looks like we may be venturing by Exit 160 by the mall though. Thanks again!

 

[BC1836]

Round trip drive #41 completed (not counting two drives from Naples to WDW). This journey totaled 2,162 miles and none of them were used in WDW, a rarity for us.

A previous post identified the drive to WDW; here's the drive notes from WDW:

Departed 5/1/16 at 7:30 a.m.
GA: 10:23 a.m.
SC: 11:50 a.m.
NC: 3:12 p.m.
VA: 6:24 p.m.
Arrived at Holiday Inn Express in Thornburg, VA at 9:07 p.m. for our overnight stay.
Departed Thornburg at 10:07 a.m [No traffic jams in VA: the first time ever!)
MD: 11:07 a.m. [No traffic jams in MD: the first time ever!)
DE: 12:58 p.m.
NJ: 1:13 p.m.
Home at the Jersey Shore: 2:39 p.m.

The big surprise was the no hassle drive on the second day.

Let our countdown begin for our August journey to WDW!

All the best!

 

[cruisingkat]

All is good! Car passed the emissions test and we didn't even have to go to the Secretary of State's Drivers License Office to get our license plate sticker. They started issuing them at the emissions testing facility a week ago so we saved ourselves a long wait in line.
Real Estate tax bill came- of course it is due while we are gone so electronic payment was set up so we don't have to worry about that. DH just has to finish a client's amended return and tax season is over for us - now I can devote time to getting ready to go. We leave in 10 days, will be glad to get to some consistent warm weather. This spring weather is awful - 80 one day. 50 the next, even down in the 30's. have to keep switching from heat to air conditioning to heat - let alone keep warm and cold weather clothing accessible. Hopefully when we return at the end of May, we will finally have warm weather and I can finally get our winter coats cleaned and put away.

 

[BC1836]

The all-time records page (page 1) has been updated.

All the best!

 

[FlatBlackLI]

Hello everyone this thread has been great. We are taking our first road trip to WDW in late October. It will be me my wife and daughter age 7. we are from Long Island and would love any tips or info. We want to drive straight thru, the plan is to leave Friday night like 7:30pm. Any info or tips would help. Thanks.

 

[nono]

Hello everyone this thread has been great. We are taking our first road trip to WDW in late October. It will be me my wife and daughter age 7. we are from Long Island and would love any tips or info. We want to drive straight thru, the plan is to leave Friday night like 7:30pm. Any info or tips would help. Thanks.

For your 7 yr old -- put a small luggage bag under her feet as a footrest, so she doesn't get back fatigue. That's my biggest go-to suggestion.

 

[FlatBlackLI]

For your 7 yr old -- put a small luggage bag under her feet as a footrest, so she doesn't get back fatigue. That's my biggest go-to suggestion.

Wow that's a great idea thanks. I figure I should have no traffic issues with that time. Also would love to hear from any other Long Island to Disney drivers.

 

[sdoll]

We are getting excited for our upcoming road trip to Disney! We are traveling from OH. Taking our time heading down. Our boys really wanted to visit Universal we priced it out and I just can't justify the expense! We live near Cedar Point and decided to purchase season passes there instead of visiting Universal. We checked the map and decided to take 77 down and stop at Carowinds and use our Cedar Point passes there for a day. Then we have planned a 1 day stop in either Hilton Head or Savannah (any suggestions). Then we will head to Wyndham Bonnet Creek for the week. We have never driven before but since we aren't rushing it I don't expect it to be too bad. I love to drive and plan on doing most of the driving. When we head home we will jump on 75 and take it all the way up. Hopefully smooth sailing with the exception of the expected summer construction. We leave on June 1st as soon as the boys get home from there last day of school.

 

[sharadoc]

We're back!

Heres how the ride down went. I had all my stops planned out based on what was at the stop and how long it had been since our last stop. It worked out pretty well. We planned to leave at 4am but didnt actually pull out of the driveway until 4:20
DAY 1-
left New Haven CT area at 4:20 AM
CT/NY line 5AM
NY/NJ line 5:33 AM
Clara Barton Rest Stop (Pedericktown NJ) 10 minutes
NJ/DE line 7:46 AM
DE/MD line 8:02 AM
MD/VA line 9:38 AM
A leg stretch at exit 133B in Fredericksburg VA 10:30 AM (stayed about 20 minutes)
lunch exit 11B Emporia VA 12:43 PM (about 45 minutes)
VA/NC line 1:36 PM
Lumberton NC leg stretch exit 25 3:59 PM (about 20 minutes)
NC/SC line 4:46 PM
Manning, SC dinner 5:56 (about an hour)
Walterboro, SC overnight 7:55 arrival

DAY 2- 7:40 AM departure
SC/GA line 8:42 AM
GA/FL line 10:22 AM
FL Welcome Center 10:34 AM (10 minute stop)
Lunch stop exit 289, Palm Coast FL 12:00 PM (about 35 minutes)
Entering Disney Property 2:00 PM

I will post the return trip soon.

Perfect trip! Exactly how we like to time ours.

 

[sharadoc]

1st time driving from ny. How do you guys plan your stops. Is there a resource that gives good safe places to stop.

We use this. It has all rest stops and mileage, it's the perfect resource.

 

[CherylA]

Finally posting my return trip. (I posted the trip down a few days ago)

Left Caribbean Beach as planned at 4am.
Breakfast stop in Jacksonville, FL 20 minutes
FL/SC border 9:10 am
Leg stretch stop at Blue Heron Nature Trail Ridgeland SC 25 minutes (perfect leg stretch stop off right off the highway but feels miles away)
SC/NC border 12:40
lunch stop 1:00 Lumberton NC 35 minutes
NC/VA border 4:15pm
Dinner and Overnight in Fredericksburg VA 6:45
DAY 2
Leave hotel in Fredericksburg VA 8:40 am
VA/MD border 9:41
stopped at a rest stop for 15 minutes
not sure when we crossed into DE
Christiana Mall Newark DE 11:50-12:10 lunch to go
not sure when we crossed into NJ
Vince Lombardi rest stop 2:15-2:25
NJ/NY 2:33
NY/CT 3:07
hit the start of rush hour traffic coming through Norwalk but not bad
We live south of New Haven I think we got home about 4:00

 

[nono]

CherylA - that looks like a good trip. Nice tip about the Blue Heron Nature Trail...checking it out now!

And for all the Mom's, Happy Mother's Day!

 

[dvczerfs]

Found a web site, i4ultimate. Sends email or text on i4 in our favorite area. I just found it, I signed up for it and looking forward to the next few days to see how it works.

 

[java]

Here is my update.
I left eastern nj at noon last Thursday.
Drove 78/81 to 77
Stopped in the Lake Norma area of NC right around 8:30

Got on the road EArLY! (We had dinner reservations at Morimoto to get to) in car at 4 Am
Drove straight down no problem ended up in Fort Myers around 3.
Spent a solid 3.5 hours packing up my daughter. I hate the way her school does move out!
Back in the car for the 2.5 hour drive to Disney! Yikes cutting it close. No time for showers or primping. We pulled into Disney Springs at 9:52 ran to the restaurant just in time for our 10pm reservation.

After 2 whirlwind days at Disney. We spent the morning shopping at Disney Springs. Got on the road around 12:30.
No problems driving to Savanah for dinner. Made it in 4 hours
Then disaster.
Weather got very ugly very quickly.
As we approached I 95 the GPS started saying for a quicker route turn around. Then we saw the dead stop on 95.

We backed up the ramp and drove the back roads through SC. Scary dark and the only car on the road. Finally after 2 hours we made it back to 77. Still horrible weather finally got to Elkin NC at midnight.

Next morning drove home with no traffic at all.

 

[cruisingkat]

We leave in 4 days! Wish the weather would warm up so we can put the top down to clean out the car! Hate having to cram myself in the backseat to clean. Busy week before we leave - besides getting ourselves and the car ready to go, we have a luncheon with DH's retirement group, grandson's choral concert, I hope to be out of the house by 9 on Friday - which means on the road by 10 after stops at Subway and Starbucks - and to Nashville by 6 (allowing for traffic tie-ups). Spending Saturday in Nashville with DD, then on the road Sunday morning driving to Gainesville. Monday Disney- finally!

 

[amcnj]

We leave in 4 days! Wish the weather would warm up so we can put the top down to clean out the car! Hate having to cram myself in the backseat to clean. Busy week before we leave - besides getting ourselves and the car ready to go, we have a luncheon with DH's retirement group, grandson's choral concert, I hope to be out of the house by 9 on Friday - which means on the road by 10 after stops at Subway and Starbucks - and to Nashville by 6 (allowing for traffic tie-ups). Spending Saturday in Nashville with DD, then on the road Sunday morning driving to Gainesville. Monday Disney- finally!

Safe travels and have fun!

 

[tortilla24]

Does anyone have info regarding tolls? Are there any from NoVA to Orlando? Or any from Orlando to Clearwater, FL?

 

[BC1836]

Does anyone have info regarding tolls? Are there any from NoVA to Orlando? Or any from Orlando to Clearwater, FL?

Nothing from Key Tunnel in Baltimore,MD to Lake Buena Vista/Orlando to Clearwater, although some EZpass express lanes are available --- unless we are mistaken.

All the best!

 

[Jumba17]

We are leaving next week, can't wait! Our 4th time driving from the Chicago suburbs. We have always gone thru Indiana on I-65, but we are going to try taking I-57 thru IL this time. Anyone travel this route recently?

I got a great hotel deal, so we are staying just north of Atlanta on day 1. We usually push further on day 1, but I don't want to deal with Atlanta traffic on a Saturday evening.

Wish me luck surviving the drive with twin tweens!