Driving from NY to WDW

[angel2931]

For those of you that have drive from NY/NJ to WDW... where do you usually make your stops? Any hotels or areas you recommend? Any nice tourist areas to stop and see? Our WDW stay is Mon-Fri, but I was trying to figure out when we should start our trek, and where we should stop on the trip. Maybe spend Sunday in Savannah, GA?? Any suggestions would be great!! TIA!!! :-):mickey:

[PETE FROM NYC]

We did a 23 day road trip last year.
Left NYC, Sunday ,8/30.
First stop Doswell Va. for Kings Dominion Monday.That evening,we went to Williamsburg for Busch Gardens.
Left Va Wednesday morning ,drove to North Carolina,and overnighted there. Then on to Florida,where we arrived a day early for our ressie. So we stayed for one night at Knights Inn,for less than $40.
Nine nights in Pop, then another four nights off property to visit the "other parks".
All of our stays outside of WDW, we stayed at Best Western.

[diz_girl]

Usually when people ask about driving from NJ/NY, I write a book about it, so I'll try to restrain myself, although probably unsuccessfully. I normally leave on a Saturday and arrive at WDW on Sunday. But spending an extra day in a nice place like Savannah is great too.

The longer drive is usually the first day, so we try to get into South Carolina by the day's end. Florence, SC is a good place to stop, with lots of hotels and restaurants. I think that we stayed at the Wingate Inn, which was nice. If you leave home by about 9 am, you can get into the Elkton, MD area for lunch. Although many people stop at the Chesapeake House or Maryland House in MD, beware of the panhandlers that will approach you by your car and give you a sob story that they have to get to DE/NJ/PA/NY because their mother/father/sister/brother is dying of cancer and they have $X (usually under $5) to get there. So I just stop in Elkton and eat at the Cracker Barrel there (there are also other places to eat, including a Waffle House). Once I'm back on the road after lunch, I drive straight through MD until I get on the other side of DC, as most places to stop in-between Baltimore and DC are 10 miles down a local road. I usually stop at Cracker Barrel restaurants along the way, but Golden Corral Buffets are also good. Good places to make pit stops (and are OK if you need to stay overnight) are Petersburg, VA and Wilson, NC (good BBQ). Other people also recommend Rocky Muont, NC and Fayetteville, NC.

Once you leave Florence in the morning, it's only 3 hours to Savannah and you can be in Savannah by late Sunday morning (or early Sunday afternoon, if you're a churchgoer) and enjoy the day in Savannah. A nice place to eat lunch (they also serve dinner) before you get to Savannah is the Cripple Crab in Hardeeville, SC. Just get off I-95 at Hardeeville and take Rte 17 North (Whyte Hardee Blvd.) past the main area of hotels and fast food places (at this point the road will curve to the right) and it will be on your left once you get into the central part of town, maybe a mile down the road. I think that there is a light at Main St (rte 46) and the restaurant should be a couple hundred feet on your left. It's looks ramshackle, but the food is good.

Once in Savannah, you're only about 5 hours from WDW and if you leave Savannah early enough, then you can get to WDW in the early afternoon. Make sure that you have a decent amount of gas in your car before you get onto I-4, as the first exit (and gas station) is 20 miles down the road and very expensive.

Another nice place to visit is St. Augustine, FL. It's 6 hours from Florence, SC and 2 hours to WDW. When I was growing up, my family would drive from Philly to St. Augustine in one 18-hour shot (6 am to midnight), enjoy the morning and most of the afternoon in St. Augustine and still be in WDW by dinner. We sometimes also stayed a full extra day in St. Augustine to check out the sights, like the Castillo de San Marco, an old Spanish fortress.

Have a great time!

[angel2931]

Thank you soooo much Amanda!! All of your tips are AWESOME!!!! :-) I need to go print this thread out. Thanks!!! :mickey:

[patandmikesmom]

We usually leave NY (Brooklyn) around 6:00 am on a Sunday - drive straight to Santee, SC - do not really stop for a tourist attractions along the way. Have stayed at Hampton Inn, Best Western and Country Inn and Suites - right off the exit - very convenient. Cracker Barrel and a few other restaurants and of course, fast food places on the same road. Get back on the road the next morning around 8:00 and are checking in about 1:00ish at our Disney hotel. Once again, will be doing this in a few weeks! :)

[Donald Duck]

We usually leave NY (Brooklyn) around 6:00 am on a Sunday - drive straight to Santee, SC - do not really stop for a tourist attractions along the way. Have stayed at Hampton Inn, Best Western and Country Inn and Suites - right off the exit - very convenient. Cracker Barrel and a few other restaurants and of course, fast food places on the same road. Get back on the road the next morning around 8:00 and are checking in about 1:00ish at our Disney hotel. Once again, will be doing this in a few weeks! :)

patandmikesmom,

We live in Long Island and are doing this drive in December.

I was going to try to stop in Santee, SC too.
How many hours is it to Santee from NY ?

It's only 5 hours from Santee to DisneyWorld ?

:mickey:

Thanks.

Donald Duck

[wdwfansince75]

You may be able to make it from Santee to WDW in five hours, but if you go by car, most times, the cops would stop anyone averaging 80 miles an hour! It's over 400 miles, including Jacksonville and Orlando.

[madi47]

We drive twice a year to WDW...we usually leave Pa around 1 in the afternoon and drive straight through and are there by 6:30 in the morning!! We just can't wait to get there:mickey:

[Renfairwedding]

We also drive strait through from PA but leave at 8:00pm and drive through the night. That puts us in orlando in the afternoon. We find a cheap room have dinner then get to bed early.

The next moring get up head to the resort and pick up our keys to the world.

We avoid all the major traffic around the citys and gives us a full first day in the parks.

[wdwfansince75]

We drive twice a year to WDW...we usually leave Pa around 1 in the afternoon and drive straight through and are there by 6:30 in the morning!! We just can't wait to get there:mickey:

Since you leave in the early PM, am I right in assuming that you use 81 and 77 rather than 95? Would hate driving through the Balt/DC/Richmond area that time of day...That's one major reason for moving South! We did 85/95 earlier this month to get to Harleysville...but came back by way of 76/81/77/85....about 1-2 hr less driving time, even though it was about 50 miles further.

[madi47]

Since you leave in the early PM, am I right in assuming that you use 81 and 77 rather than 95? Would hate driving through the Balt/DC/Richmond area that time of day...That's one major reason for moving South! We did 85/95 earlier this month to get to Harleysville...but came back by way of 76/81/77/85....about 1-2 hr less driving time, even though it was about 50 miles further.



we never take 95...we always take 81 to 77!