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

Welcome! We've made the drive from NJ many times. It's not a bad ride at all. The only possible trouble spot is approaching DC but it depends when you hit it.

We always stop overnight (well we did go straight through a couple of times but generally not) but don't plan it in advance. When we cross into the state where we are going to spend the night, we go to the welcome center and get the hotel discount booklets and pick from there where to stay. Either that or we try to use our Marriott points when we can.

Plenty of places to eat and take breaks along 95. You're never far from a decent place to take a pit stop.
Thanks for the reply! Which states do you find yourself stopping most often? How much do you normally do the first day, and when do you typically leave?
 
Thanks for the reply! Which states do you find yourself stopping most often? How much do you normally do the first day, and when do you typically leave?
We usually spend the night on the way down in South Carolina or Georgia, and in North Carolina or Virginia on the way back. But it also depends when we leave. When my daughter was still in school, we would leave in the late afternoon and wouldn't get as far the first day. Now we typically leave 9am so we'll drive until about 9pm or a bit earlier.
 
Driving down in Oct again, I think this will be trip #4 driving from PA. We've split trips up into overnight stays (usually SC stop), and we've also driven straight through. This coming trip will be another 'straight through'. Not looking forward to the drive, but looking forward to the destination! Be safe everyone.

EDIT: I missed a trip; when we drive down this Oct it will be drive #5.
 
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We are at 107 days. Still trying to have hope, but it is dwindling. We are willing to change to a later date if possible though. If not, we are thinking of maybe driving down anyway to visit family, if allowed and safe that is. I guess no one knows until it happens. Stay safe!
We have 110 days to go. We have a two week trip planned in September at the Boardwalk. We’re going!!! I don’t care if the parks are closed, as long as the resort is open, we are there. Lol. If not, I’m pulling a Clark Grisswold. LOL
 




Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, July 11; Epcot and Hollywood Studios on July 15.

Lots of health guidelines.

All the best! :thumbsup2
 
I am preparing with my fiance for our first EVER long road trip to Florida! We are going for our honeymoon in July (everything else has been rescheduled so we are trying to hold on to this trip). We were originally going to fly but we feel safer driving with everything going on. We will be driving down from the Philadelphia region and we are looking for ALL the tips and tricks! I am going to go back and re-read all these threads! Thank you so much everyone!
 
I am preparing with my fiance for our first EVER long road trip to Florida! We are going for our honeymoon in July (everything else has been rescheduled so we are trying to hold on to this trip). We were originally going to fly but we feel safer driving with everything going on. We will be driving down from the Philadelphia region and we are looking for ALL the tips and tricks! I am going to go back and re-read all these threads! Thank you so much everyone!

You have come to the right place about long-distance drives to WDW. :drive:

All the best! :thumbsup2
 
Hello everyone. Newbie here, from South Jersey right across the river from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We are hoping, praying, wishing etc. for a trip we just moved from August to November 28, 2020 to happen!!!
We are driving this time. I haven't driven in years, but this Covid-19 stuff has me too scared to fly. We are an older couple, so this is going to be a little different then when we did this years ago. We will also have our 8 year old granddaughter with us! Yikes!
But looking forward to it. I will do just about anything to get back to WDW! My daughter, her husband and two children are making the drive also from the same area. Wish us luck and any pointers will be greatly appreciated!
 
Hello everyone. Newbie here, from South Jersey right across the river from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We are hoping, praying, wishing etc. for a trip we just moved from August to November 28, 2020 to happen!!!
We are driving this time. I haven't driven in years, but this Covid-19 stuff has me too scared to fly. We are an older couple, so this is going to be a little different then when we did this years ago. We will also have our 8 year old granddaughter with us! Yikes!
But looking forward to it. I will do just about anything to get back to WDW! My daughter, her husband and two children are making the drive also from the same area. Wish us luck and any pointers will be greatly appreciated!
Welcome neighbor. We're in Cherry Hill and have made that drive many times. It's really not a bad ride at all as long as you don't encounter any weird traffic or bad weather. We've actually come to have a number of places we always stop along the way. The drive is just part of the vacation to us.
 
Hello everyone. Newbie here, from South Jersey right across the river from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We are hoping, praying, wishing etc. for a trip we just moved from August to November 28, 2020 to happen!!!
We are driving this time. I haven't driven in years, but this Covid-19 stuff has me too scared to fly. We are an older couple, so this is going to be a little different then when we did this years ago. We will also have our 8 year old granddaughter with us! Yikes!
But looking forward to it. I will do just about anything to get back to WDW! My daughter, her husband and two children are making the drive also from the same area. Wish us luck and any pointers will be greatly appreciated!
Welcome ma’am! :thumbsup2 We have driven to Florida 4 times now, three trips to Disney, one to visit family. 3 of those trips were with two kids! It’s not too bad. Bring lots of snacks, games, coloring books, movies, etc. Take stops along the way just to stretch your legs and use the bathroom. My kids also bring a blanket and pillow just to be comfy. The drive down is always better than the drive back of course! A good app to use while driving is the iExit app. It allows you to see what is ahead at each exit regarding dining, gas, or accommodations. Have fun! 🤪
 
Hello everyone. Newbie here, from South Jersey right across the river from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We are hoping, praying, wishing etc. for a trip we just moved from August to November 28, 2020 to happen!!!
We are driving this time. I haven't driven in years, but this Covid-19 stuff has me too scared to fly. We are an older couple, so this is going to be a little different then when we did this years ago. We will also have our 8 year old granddaughter with us! Yikes!
But looking forward to it. I will do just about anything to get back to WDW! My daughter, her husband and two children are making the drive also from the same area. Wish us luck and any pointers will be greatly appreciated!
We drive from MA so a little further north. We used to drive and stay over night halfway. Our kids are grown now so we drive straight thru now. We’ve done the drive at least 10-12 times now. I lose track. I know any questions you have everyone on this thread will be extremely helpful!!
 
Welcome neighbor. We're in Cherry Hill and have made that drive many times. It's really not a bad ride at all as long as you don't encounter any weird traffic or bad weather. We've actually come to have a number of places we always stop along the way. The drive is just part of the vacation to us.
We drive too and we have been looking for places to stop along the way. Where do you stop?
 
Hello everyone. Newbie here, from South Jersey right across the river from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We are hoping, praying, wishing etc. for a trip we just moved from August to November 28, 2020 to happen!!!
We are driving this time. I haven't driven in years, but this Covid-19 stuff has me too scared to fly. We are an older couple, so this is going to be a little different then when we did this years ago. We will also have our 8 year old granddaughter with us! Yikes!
But looking forward to it. I will do just about anything to get back to WDW! My daughter, her husband and two children are making the drive also from the same area. Wish us luck and any pointers will be greatly appreciated!

Greetings from the founder of this page! We are ex-Ocean County folks who moved to central Florida three years ago after 46 round-trip drives.

A few items to remember:

Avoid traditional rush hour traffic areas like Southern MD. DC, northern VA.

Unless you plan to do a straight-through drive, estimate where you hope to be at a certain evening time for an overnight stay, and make a reservation. [Check cancellation policy rule]

Avoid stopping for gas on I-4.

Lots of other info on the many posts on this site.

All the best! :thumbsup2
 
Drive a few hours the day before you really want to leave if possible. When I do the driving trips, I leave immediately from my job in Ithaca, NY at 4 or 5pm on Friday, stop for dinner and drive to usually Harrisburg or Frederick. Then the next day I go from there to usually Beaufort SC or Savannah. I think checking in at your Disney hotel after 10 hours of driving is not the way to go.
 
Live from GA! Yesterday I drove the I-81/77/26 route from N.J.
Happy to report smooth sailing! We made it to Kingsland GA in 14 hours. (Including many speedy bathroom breaks!) I’ll report on check point being gone in a few hours.
 
Live from GA! Yesterday I drove the I-81/77/26 route from N.J.
Happy to report smooth sailing! We made it to Kingsland GA in 14 hours. (Including many speedy bathroom breaks!) I’ll report on check point being gone in a few hours.

My dd who lives in Pooler, GA just made the trip north following that route last Tuesday and are returning home this week. They traveled with four kids between 12 and 16 (set of twins in there) and came up for my mother's funeral. One thing notable was the lack of public rest areas. Most were closed due to covid. They actually got to the point once where they were pulling into the drive-thrus of fast food places and asking if the bathroom was open. No bathroom, no order, they just drove to the next one. I think dd said it took five drive-thrus before they finally found a fast food place that had a bathroom open. Several that said their bathrooms were not open pointed to portapotties in their parking lot. Now, can you imagine THAT being clean???
 

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