For those folks driving!

[timandlesley]

I don't know if this has been posted on your thread yet but if I was going to have a car in Disney I would want to know this. I just noticed on the Main disboard today that there is a message in regards to tons of speedtraps being set up around and inside of Disney property. You would want to check that out before you go. Hope this helps someone.

Lesley

 

[cmonroe]

You do have to go over a bridge in NYC, and one in NJ/PA/MD area when you're going down 95. No tunnels that I can recall, which I'm more fearful of. I guess I've seen that movie Daylight with Sylvester Stallone too many times!

I sure hope you never take a trip to VA Beach/Norfolk area...the Chesapeake Bay Bridge is like 13 miles of bridge/tunnel combo!

Yeah I traveled on it when I was younger. It was a amazing.
My wife wouldn't think so though

 

[ChrisNif]

Hello Everyone,
This is my first post but I thought I'd just relate some of my personal experiences. I live in Southern NJ. South of I 195 but North of the AC Expressway. I have driven the trip to Mouse World 9 Times (im an energetic 23 year old) Most recently with my future mother inlaw, sister in law, neice (6) and my fiance. Our trip direct via 95 is typically 14-15 hours door to door, however i learned something this trip, I maintained our schedule but the excitment of the trip made us leave after breakfast instead of right before dinner, we arrived at the ASMo at 4:30A and had to wait almost 6 hours for a room to shower etc. at this point being up 24+ hours in a car with a 6 year old, i think you get the picture.

I'm just looking forward to april...so exciting, i get married on the 16th, celerbrate my mother in laws birthday the 18th, leave late the 18th for Disneymoon (POFQ) leave disney the 25th to be home for wifes birthday on the 26th (Sharing that with family) and we are going to virginia beach the following weekend and coming home for my birthday the 1st of may ....

Ill have better things to say next post i promise !

Chris

 

[areno79]

That's a good tip, 4:30 AM is def. a little early for me to feel the Disney magic
Congrats on your upcoming wedding, and your birthday is also my 1st anniversary (which we'll be in Disney for) so happy birthday!

 

[ChrisNif]

That's a good tip, 4:30 AM is def. a little early for me to feel the Disney magic
Congrats on your upcoming wedding, and your birthday is also my 1st anniversary (which we'll be in Disney for) so happy birthday!

Yeah this honeymoon trip we're leaving after dinner and im going to see about a repeat performance of my 3rd time making this drive where i completed the journey in just shy of 14 hours. Being we're leaving at 7-8pm the 18th with checkin on the 19th i dont forsee any issue with the room not being ready tho. We should roll in around 9-10am.

Question: I'm used to taking the exit for 192 to get to the all stars (i think thats the exit, i know you drive thru the gates, past pop century and then you have to make a couple turns.) This time I'm staying at POFQ, any help with what exit on I-4 to take?

Thanks

 

[Nebsky]

Sorry, cant give you any directions, but we will see you there.

We arrive on Mar 19 for 9 days and 8 nights.

We stayed in All Stars and Pop before our December trip when we stayed at Coronado Springs. What a difference. Mucho better if you ask me. Not nearly as crowded. I cant imagine the difference between the Moderates and the Delux.

 

[ChrisNif]

Tips on driving from the NJ shore/Philly Area to Orlando. We are tentatively thinking of leaving at 3pm from shore so that would be around 5pm from Philly and drive through. There are 2 drivers and 3 children , 13,9, and 19 months. We thought it easier for the kids if they sleep through the night but I wonder how my husband and I will feel! Any hints are appreciated. I should add we are headed down over Easter......

Im 23 and have driven with teenage friends 7 times and with my family (Fiance 20, MIL 55, SIL 33 Handicapped, & Niece 6) just this december. I live in Ocean County East of the Parkway so I think We're in the same boat as far as drive distance. I took rt 72 to 70 295, then got on 95 in delaware and drove the whole ride straight thru. I've typically done the drive in 15 hours but figured 18 with the 6 year old needed more potty breaks. We were anxious and left early (10am) made it to disney at 4:30a the next morning. My honeymoon in april my wife and i are leaving at 7pm and expect to be showered and ready for our 1pm priority seating at the Cali Grill

Chris

 

[Tinkerbell10403]

My boyfriend and I are both 19 and when we went to WDW last November..we flew. But we are planning to go back this Summer...and we will definately be driving. Its only 10 hours...plus car trips can be fun! Also, its very convienent to have a car so that you dont have to depend on the buses all the time.

 

[JoeCathyAngelina]

Our Trip to WDW 3/26/04: Miles Stopped Time
Boston to Walt Disney World: 1:00pm
Boston to New Jersey 212 212 6:00pm
N J to Aberdeen MD 183 395 9:07 pm
MD to Rocky Mt NC 266 661 1:36 AM
NC to Florence SC 209 870 4:40 am
SC to S Newport GA 210 1,080 7:58 am
GA to WDW 251 1,331 12:00 PM
Started, Friday, 3/26 0 1:00pm
Finished, Saturday, 3/27 1331 12:00pm
A 23 hr trip with 5 stops along the way down
76 gallons of gas, $131 for the gas, 17.78 mpg 58mph
Driving around WDW 21

The Real Trip Home: Miles Stopped Time
Walt Disney World to Boston: 11:00 am
WDW to St Augustine FL 116 116 12:44 PM
FL to Savanah GA 178 294 3:55 PM
GA to Florence SC 174 468 6:22 pm
SC to Battleboro NC 181 649 9:30 pm
NC to Aberdeen MD 295 944 2:17 am
MD to Bloomfield NJ 181 1,125 5:30 AM
NJ to Boston, MA 237 1,362 9:30 am
Started, Friday, 4/02 11:00 am 0
Finished, Sat, 4/03 9:30 am 1362
A 22 1/2 hr trip with 6 stops on the way home
81 gallons of gas $126 for the gas 17.58 mpg 60.5mph
Driving around WDW 62

157 gallons, $257 for the gas, $44 tolls, 17.68 mpg, 59.2mph 2776

The traffic was a mess from Hartford through Delaware on the way down.
It rained from North Carolina to Boston, Mass. on the way home

Me and my wife alternated turns driving our Nissan Xterra when we stopped for gas. My 3 year old held out a lot better than I thought she would on the way down and on the way back to Boston.

This year we're flying down.

 

[areno79]

Thanks for the info, Joe...very helpful to see where we'll end up at what time

 

[Sandy22]

It is very foggy, full of BST's and boring.

Just curious...what's a BST?

 

[cmonroe]

Just curious...what's a BST?

No problem. Big Scary Trucks!

 

[elsa2304]

We are thinking of driving down in Feb. from MI. Has anyone does this before? How is the drive usually (seeing as it is winter)? Has anyone driven down during snow?
Thanks so much!

 

[FWFamily4Life]

I have when I was younger with my family, We used to go the 2nd week of Feb and on 2 occasions got stuck on 75 for hours in snowstorms 6"+. It was slow travel but we always made it. Since it is now march the likelyhood of big snowfall diminishes so you should be okay. except you are probably getting plenty of snow today. anyway timing your travel to miss the rushy hour traffic in Dayton, Cincy, and Atl are the most important issues. It is not that bad of a drive but as you probably know people like to drive very fast on I-75
There is a link for exits on I-75 ://www.i75exitguide.com

 

[csmommy]

Hello all, what a wonderful thread!

We , DH, DS(9), DD(6) & myself, are planning to drive from Westchester County NY to Disney in April. We are hoping to leave 4:00pm Friday the 15th & our reservation at WDW isn't until the 17th, & I would love to be there at 8:00am. We are going to need to stop & sleep. Should we just drive straight through & spend the night at a $35.00 HoJo's right next to WDW to catch up on our sleep? How would you do this? Thanks!

 

[cmonroe]

csmommy,

I can't speak from lots of experience, because we made the drive last year for the first time from Massachusetts. Having said that, I would say it depends on your sleep tendencies and how well you both drive at night. To drive straight through you're obviously going to have to share the driving. And IMHO, the non-driver will need to sleep in order to drive safely on their next shift.

For our experience, I would have preferred to continue driving through, sharing the driving with my wife, but neither of us are very good "sleepy" drivers. Meaning we both need lots of sleep to function. We also had a 7month old and a 3.5 yr old in the car.

With your kids being older, this should not be a problem, as they might complain, but understand the "need" to get to WDW.

We left at midnight Friday night and I drove through the morning till around 5 pm where we stopped in Roanoke, Va.

Woke up next morning, left (late) around 8 am and arrived in Jacksonville around 6 pm.
We got a bite to eat, then drove another couple of hours to Daytona Beach to our hotel.

We woke up and left around 8 the next morning and arrived in WDW between 9:30 and 10 am.

The thing to keep in mind is that we had to stop multiple times for feedings (son and diaper changes). You will not have to stop quite as much. You also have about 5 or 6 hours less of a drive being in NY already.

I don't know if any of that helps, but there is my 2 cents.

 

[ChrisNif]

csmommie,

I dont know how much farther north you are from me (central NJ) but i know i personally have made this drive 6 times as a solo driver with the family . Not that i couldnt let someone else drive, i just didnt feel a need to, We leave just before dinner time, and grab burgers from bk/mcd and drive until the fuel runs out (for me just past fredricksburg va) at about 9ish the latest. We then fuel and bathroom, get back to going again and stop again at south of the border (open 24/7 gas & bathrooms and a few of the shops) normally like 2am then we get gasoline in kingsland georgia (exit 3 just before florida) and everyone's up is like 7am we get breakfast around jacksonville and normally hit disney prior to lunch time. Last trip i did this with on this time schedule it was me and DW2b, we checked in at 12:30 grabbed a snack at the food court (ASMo) and took turns showering and naping and we were out in the parks by 4pm (AP's we dont mind getting a late day start)

I think if i was in your boat, and could handle the night drive (2 drivers would make it somewhat easier im sure) I would leave around lunch time the day before your ressie starts and plan on getting there just as rooms become available, nap, shower, pool, unpack, and depending on your ticket media hit the parks late or goto downtown disney.

Thats just me....they say i'm crazy because ill drive NJ-WDW-NJ for a 3 day weekend (1-1/2 park days)

Chris

 

[cmonroe]

.....Thats just me....they say i'm crazy because ill drive NJ-WDW-NJ for a 3 day weekend (1-1/2 park days)

Chris

Chrisnif,

I am jealous and amazed that you are able to do that. Oh and yes, I think you're crazy too!

 

[cricket429]

Will we be sharing the road with anyone this coming week? We are leaving Thurs. the 17th around 1:00am (so I guess that would actually be the 18th) Driving are far as we can get, hopefully GA, then spending the night and finshing on the 19th. Hoping to be at Disney by 1:00 at the latest Saturday. It is myself, DH and DD5.
DH will be doing most of the driving but will give him a couple hour break during the day. I cant drive at night.
This is our first trip and instead of the negatives of driving I am thinking of it as a big adventure.
Any suggestions or tips are welcome.
Also, I have checked out a couple places to stay in SC but does anyone have any suggestions for GA if we make it that far?

 

[disneyfamilyofpieps]

We are headed to Disney from Boston on April 14th and driving for the second time. We will take 81 to 84 and so forth as it was an awesome trip last year. Anyone else headed down around that time?
Jen