For those folks driving!

[billlaurie]

Hi.

My husband and I have driven to Disney World from northern New Jersey twice. He doesn’t like to fly and prefers to drive. We have done the drive straight through.

We are thinking next time we may want to break it up and stop somewhere to sleep then finish the drive the next day. We are also thinking we may want to move a little further south at some point (closer to Disney and cruises) so maybe we could check out a town on the way.

I’m guessing a little past midway would be South Carolina or maybe the bottom of North Carolina Any recommendations for towns/hotels to stay in? We don’t need to stay at the Ritz but don’t like cheap motels.

Thank you in advance

Noreen

We drove from MD in June and stopped in Savannah, GA, stayed at the Springhill Suites, right off the highway, which wasn't bad. We had about a 5 hour drive in the AM to get to Disney, which worked out well.

 

[AmeriCanFam]

Hi.

My husband and I have driven to Disney World from northern New Jersey twice. He doesn’t like to fly and prefers to drive. We have done the drive straight through.

We are thinking next time we may want to break it up and stop somewhere to sleep then finish the drive the next day. We are also thinking we may want to move a little further south at some point (closer to Disney and cruises) so maybe we could check out a town on the way.

I’m guessing a little past midway would be South Carolina or maybe the bottom of North Carolina Any recommendations for towns/hotels to stay in? We don’t need to stay at the Ritz but don’t like cheap motels.

Thank you in advance

Noreen

When we drove from Central NJ to catch our ship at Port Canaveral we actually stayed 2 nights along the way. The first night we stayed in Dumfries, VA. Then drove and stayed overnight in Darien, GA. That gets us close enough to Port Canaveral to be sure we'll get there in time to check in and board the ship. With a young child you never know what can happen along the way so we need to take every precuation.

 

[Scrooge's Accountant]

We stay at an Embassy Suites in Pooler, GA and I can’t recommend it enough! The reservation includes a free breakfast buffet and the hotel is very close to a shopping area in case you forgot to pack anything.

 

[Noreen411]

Thank you for the information - I’ll check their website

 

[Noreen411]

We drove from MD in June and stopped in Savannah, GA, stayed at the Springhill Suites, right off the highway, which wasn't bad. We had about a 5 hour drive in the AM to get to Disney, which worked out well.

Thank you for that - we’ll take a look.

 

[Noreen411]

When we drove from Central NJ to catch our ship at Port Canaveral we actually stayed 2 nights along the way. The first night we stayed in Dumfries, VA. Then drove and stayed overnight in Darien, GA. That gets us close enough to Port Canaveral to be sure we'll get there in time to check in and board the ship. With a young child you never know what can happen along the way so we need to take every precuation.

Thank you - we will look at these as well

 

[Noreen411]

We stay at an Embassy Suites in Pooler, GA and I can’t recommend it enough! The reservation includes a free breakfast buffet and the hotel is very close to a shopping area in case you forgot to pack anything.

Thank you - will look at their website

 

[Noreen411]

Thank you to all who are responding with so many choices for us to look at

Noreen

 

[rcj2000]

We drove from MD in June and stopped in Savannah, GA, stayed at the Springhill Suites, right off the highway, which wasn't bad. We had about a 5 hour drive in the AM to get to Disney, which worked out well.

We just drove down from the NYC area this past weekend and stayed at Comfort Suites in Port Wentworth GA. It's just outside of Savannah right off 95. We stayed for the night and left around 8am and arrived at Disney around 1pm.

 

[bluezy]

We just drove down from the NYC area this past weekend and stayed at Comfort Suites in Port Wentworth GA. It's just outside of Savannah right off 95. We stayed for the night and left around 8am and arrived at Disney around 1pm.

We've stayed at this property several times on various trips to Disney. We always find it clean, convenient, and close to the highway -- easy on and off.

 

[Noreen411]

We just drove down from the NYC area this past weekend and stayed at Comfort Suites in Port Wentworth GA. It's just outside of Savannah right off 95. We stayed for the night and left around 8am and arrived at Disney around 1pm.

Thank you - I will look at that one too

 

[Noreen411]

We've stayed at this property several times on various trips to Disney. We always find it clean, convenient, and close to the highway -- easy on and off.

Thank you

 

[Antaniasmom]

Hi.

My husband and I have driven to Disney World from northern New Jersey twice. He doesn’t like to fly and prefers to drive. We have done the drive straight through.

We are thinking next time we may want to break it up and stop somewhere to sleep then finish the drive the next day. We are also thinking we may want to move a little further south at some point (closer to Disney and cruises) so maybe we could check out a town on the way.

I’m guessing a little past midway would be South Carolina or maybe the bottom of North Carolina Any recommendations for towns/hotels to stay in? We don’t need to stay at the Ritz but don’t like cheap motels.

Thank you in advance

Noreen

Hopefully this information isn't too late. We used to drive from central Connecticut and we would stay in Savannah, GA, once we stayed at Country Inn and Suites near Hilton Head airport. The location was awesome with fast food (there is a Wendy's and a gas station right in front of the hotel, sounds weird I know but its a great place to stay) and many restaurants and stores nearby. My daughter and I appreciated the indoor pool as it was raining. The next day took us under 5 hours to WDW (we stopped for lunch). I would totally recommend this hotel for cleanliness, location and price. Hope this helps, have a great trip!!!
P.S. We now live in North Carolina and our WDW trips take under 9 hours..LOVE IT!!

 

[ParrotBill]

Hi.

My husband and I have driven to Disney World from northern New Jersey twice. He doesn’t like to fly and prefers to drive. We have done the drive straight through.

We are thinking next time we may want to break it up and stop somewhere to sleep then finish the drive the next day. We are also thinking we may want to move a little further south at some point (closer to Disney and cruises) so maybe we could check out a town on the way.

I’m guessing a little past midway would be South Carolina or maybe the bottom of North Carolina Any recommendations for towns/hotels to stay in? We don’t need to stay at the Ritz but don’t like cheap motels.

Thank you in advance

Noreen

We drive from Rochester NY and stay one night. Here's what I suggest: Do a google maps route to see the total drive time. Estimate your stopping time for rest and food. Then decide how far you want to drive each day. For our drive, I try to drive longer the first day, arriving at dinner for stopover, and then get up early the second day and drive a shorter day to arrive at Disney by 2 or 3pm. For us, that means Columbia SC is the idea stopover. Figure out where yours is. Then plug in "hotels" into google maps in the search bar, and set your date, and zoom in to see hotels with ratings and prices. Follow links to verify pricing for your room type and whether you tolerate advance purchase or not. Read reviews, look at pictures. I will pick almost any known chain of middle class - Hampton Inns, Hilton Garden Inn, etc. Scan up and down your route in case there is a town with a much better deal.

 

[WiscoMom]

We live in NW Wisconsin (about an hour east of the Twin Cities in MN) and are thinking of driving to Florida. We would leave at 2 pm on a Saturday (no wiggle room on this) and drive through as far as possible. Sleep somewhere along the way, and then drive into FL on Sunday. Have 4 whole days (M-Th) in FL and then start drive back on Friday morning. We have DS5 and DS6. This would certainly be the longest they would be on the road. Are we crazy to try this? Any suggestions for this kind of road trip?

 

[Mikey15]

We live in NW Wisconsin (about an hour east of the Twin Cities in MN) and are thinking of driving to Florida. We would leave at 2 pm on a Saturday (no wiggle room on this) and drive through as far as possible. Sleep somewhere along the way, and then drive into FL on Sunday. Have 4 whole days (M-Th) in FL and then start drive back on Friday morning. We have DS5 and DS6. This would certainly be the longest they would be on the road. Are we crazy to try this? Any suggestions for this kind of road trip?

Seems wild to me to spend 4 days driving for a 4 day vacation, but everyone's different.

We fly and as it is we choose to fly in on a Wednesday or Thursday for cheaper flights, flying back on a Saturday, for a 9 or 10 night trip. A week feels too rushed, without enough time to unwind, so I can't imagine 4 days.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

We live in NW Wisconsin (about an hour east of the Twin Cities in MN) and are thinking of driving to Florida. We would leave at 2 pm on a Saturday (no wiggle room on this) and drive through as far as possible. Sleep somewhere along the way, and then drive into FL on Sunday. Have 4 whole days (M-Th) in FL and then start drive back on Friday morning. We have DS5 and DS6. This would certainly be the longest they would be on the road. Are we crazy to try this? Any suggestions for this kind of road trip?

We always drive down because airfare for our family of 7 would be a lot on top of an already very expensive vacation. Our trip is about 13-14 hours (around 900 miles). We used to split it up over two days and stop overnight in Georgia but now we drive straight thru.we leave early Friday morning and arrive Friday night, we rent a cheap hotel for the night and checkin on Saturday morning. Now, it’s a pain driving that long with kids (more so on the trip home) so just be sure to bring plenty of snacks and entertainment. We take a grab bag of small toys and books and games and such and every hour or so they pick one. And thank goodness for iPads. That is a long drive for a short trip though (ours are 2 weeks) so if it’s at all in the budget to fly you could get a couple extra days at the parks, but if not, anything is worth it to get some Disney time!

 

[Disneyfan754321]

We live in NW Wisconsin (about an hour east of the Twin Cities in MN) and are thinking of driving to Florida. We would leave at 2 pm on a Saturday (no wiggle room on this) and drive through as far as possible. Sleep somewhere along the way, and then drive into FL on Sunday. Have 4 whole days (M-Th) in FL and then start drive back on Friday morning. We have DS5 and DS6. This would certainly be the longest they would be on the road. Are we crazy to try this? Any suggestions for this kind of road trip?

We drive from Kansas city every year, we have done diffrent things. Usually its easier to drive stright through on the way there cause you are so excited.
Last year we left at 4am, so the kids could sleep some then we stopped for breakfast at a rest stop and let the kids run around and play. Then did the same for lunch. I try and stay away from gas stations etc. Just to keep the gimmies in check. We took turns driving and got to Orlando late at night. The year before we left at bedtime and it was a little better as far as driving. My DH is a night person. The problem i had was when we got there we were too early to check in and the kids were really well rested.... we were not.
In the way back we broke up the stay staying at the Chattanooga choo choo hotel. The kids loved it. We stayed in a train car hotel room.
We are leaving next Saturday morning this time.
I still think the plan is to drive stright through. We can not wait to get there.
The kids have tablets, DL movies from netflix
We always take picnic lunches
On the way back we are staying north of Atlanta.

 

[eeyoreandtink]

It's an 8 hour drive for us. We most often drive straight through, but have been known to leave after school on a Friday and stop halfway.

 

[pfeifer1990]

Anyone from northern Wisconsin drive to WDW? We may decide to drive instead of fly in mid May. Any suggestions on best route. Our plan would be to leave Green Bay at 4 am and drive to Valdosta, GA (we have 3 adult drivers) and stop for the night. Any suggestions on hotels in Valdosta? We don't want to drive thru because we don't want to be exhausted (3 out of 5 of us can't sleep in the car) before we even get to the parks.