Driving To Wdw From Pa. Help!

[PAMOUSELOVER]

We will be driving for the first time from Pa. to WDW, at the end of Aug. We are planning on leaving Pa. at 4am, to beat DC traffic.
If we can handle it, we plan on driving to St.
Augustine and found a hotel for the night.
Wake up and drive to WDW the next day.
So my?
Anyone out there have any advise?
Hotel to stay in St. Augustine, or on 95
Any place to stay away from?
Thanks!

[RenDuran]

If you can make it to St. Augustine, you might as well drive those last few hours and get to WDW. We live in Northern Virginia, right outside of DC and we drive straight through to WDW in about 14 hours. We leave early in the evening, about 6 or 7 pm and are in Orlando the next morning at 9 or 10 am! Works out great! The kids sleep and my hub and I share the driving!

[pixieprelude]

Your plans sound great! We are from CT and we go from CT to the end of South Carolina the first day and then drive to WDW the next day! We leave from CT at 11pm. and drive through the night we rarely hit any traffic. Leaving before the traffic is always key. We follow I-95 all the way till we hit I-4 in Florida. There are lots of stop areas. It is really fun to drive and just take it easy. You seem to be giving yourself plenty of time to travel. We love it, we will in fact be leaving in 3 weeks. Don't worry pack lots of snacks and have fun! It is like a mini adventure before you get there!

[kathiep]

I have to agree with RenDuran. Why not just keep going? Why not avoid anymore driving the next day.

We drive from central NJ so have a very similar ride to yours. It takes us just about 20 hours and by no means do we kill ourselves to get there.

Last year, we timed it so we arrived into the Orlando area about 9pm the night before we were due to check in. We found a nice, cheap hotel in the area. We got a good night's rest and were at CBR by 8:30. We were planning on just getting our tickets and hitting a park, but amazingly, a room was ready - so we fully checked in and brought our stuff into our room. It was great.

If my memory is correct, you probably only have about 3 more hours to Orlando once you're in the St Augustine area.

Whatever you choose, have a great trip.

[MinniesMom]

We haven't driven to FL in many many years but we still do drive to SC from PA (suburb of Philly) occasionally to visit relatives. Assuming that your coming from the Philly area, you'll never beat D.C. traffic leaving at 4:00 a.m. - you'd be getting there right in the prime of traffic! You'd have to leave much much earlier. Plus, it you have kids you'll be stopping more often then you think!

Before we had kids we would drive straight through and even then it was rough. If you are planning to do an overnight, stopping in SC or GA would probably be more realistic. I agree with the other poster that if you make it to St. Augustine you should probably just keep going!

What we used to do was to leave the night before, drive as far as we could, stay the night somewhere when we got tired and finish driving the next day.

[Dznygrl79]

Just a big heads up plan extra time for 95 construction in delaware, we have lots of overnight not ending til 6:30a because they are adding 2 more lanes in parts of New Castle County near the 4a and 4b exits. Also take an easy pass they do't work in Florida but they are great through Virginia.
Also google I95 there is a web site that slips my mind but it lists all exits with gas stations, food, lodging and it tells you about current contruction.
Good luck have a fun trip.

[Stan]

We lived in the Pittsburgh area from 1981 to 1994 and made the drive to FL just about every year... DW, DS1980, DS1983, DD1985, and me. AAA always routed us on what they called the "bee line" route using US19 across the New River Gorge bridge (interesting and fun ) and eventually I-75 south. On that route the only traffic area we usually had to worry about was Atlanta and the question of whether to stay on I-75 or take the loop around the city. From Philly I guess I-95 makes more sense, depends on where home is.

Since I was the only driver I don't recall ever doing the trip all in 1 shot. We'd generally (try to) leave around 6 AM and stop for the night at 6 or 8 PM. 2nd day we'd typically arrive in the afternoon... no worry, no hurry, Chip & Dale on the cassette player singing "We're on vacation, rest and relaxation, la la la la la la la la la..." Those car trips were a lot of fun.

Then we moved to Orlando, and eventually I got my hotel & theme park portrait photography business going (I'm one of your sponsors).

[CleveSJM]

I would recommend leaving about 3 hours earlier and making it all the way to Orlando the day before your WDW vacation starts. There is an Embassy Suites on the north side of Orlando that can be had for around $110 a night. Seems a little pricey but they have a hot cooked-to-order breakfast in the morning. Also suite (sweet!) rooms that sleep 6. I need to sleep 6 and a big breakfast for those 6 would also cost me $$$. This way, the drivers get the sleep they need before WDW and you hit a park pretty early your first day with a full belly.

Works great for us!

[PAMOUSELOVER]

Thanks Everyone,
Our whole reason for driving to St.Augs. (well hoping we can make it that far)is so that the next day we can get up and head to the resort(CBR) and check in and head to AK.
If we can make it farther we will I am sure.
If we figured out right, if we left here at 4am we would be in St. Augs. by 7pm.
This being our first time driving, we are just going on guessing how long we think we can go driving. Our children are 14 and 11.
Stan, I veiw your site last night. Amazing pictures! I am a picture freak, besides being a disney freak.
kbarletta,
Thanks!
We live near the PA/De border.
My hubby works in Newcastle, De.
We should be passed DC by 5:30am.
It only took us the last two times we drove to DC. a hour and half.

Just a big heads up plan extra time for 95 construction in delaware, we have lots of overnight not ending til 6:30a because they are adding 2 more lanes in parts of New Castle County near the 4a and 4b exits. Also take an easy pass they do't work in Florida but they are great through Virginia.
Also google I95 there is a web site that slips my mind but it lists all exits with gas stations, food, lodging and it tells you about current contruction.
Good luck have a fun trip.

[Stan]

Thanks for your kind comments. Disney makes a great place to be a picture freak. I wonder whether the mouse makes as much $ nowadays from selling memory cards etc as they used to collect from overpriced film and flashcubes?

Enjoy your drive down, and be safe. And don't agonize over your options too much. Planning can be as much fun as the trip.

[dolphinmickey9170]

We drive from Baltimore straight through, stopping for a quick nap here and there!!

[goofyfan4466]

the i-95 exit guide is good for info. about rest areas and gas stations. also we use xm sattelite radio for up to the minute info. about traffic. xm is usually right on.

i pm ed you with more info.

have fun planning!!

[PAMOUSELOVER]

Thanks!

[kathymk616]

I always go to St. Augustine to visit my parents, and we usually end up going to WDW for a day or two. FYI: when there's no traffic, WDW is approximately 1 and 1/2 hours past St. Augustine when taking I-95 to I-4. Please understand that you have to drive THROUGH the city of Orlando to get to WDW, and it has become a sizeable city with bad traffic during rush hour.

I can certainly understand your wanting to stay someplace economical the night before and then check into WDW early in the morning. My advice: either...

1) try to make the drive past the actual city of Orlando and stay in a cheap motel just outside of WDW or

2) stay in St. Augustine or Daytona (or whatever) if that's as far as you can safely drive, but get up VERY early the next morning to beat Orlando morning traffic, which is especially bad from 7:45-9:15 or

3) drive through Orlando area during rush hour if you can't get up very early, but take the toll roads around the city (see a map). They add approximately 25 minutes and $11 of tolls to your trip, but if the traffic is horrible, this might be worth it to you.

PS
St. Augustine is a lovely small city with a great history and wonderful beach area. If you can tack a day onto your trip, it might be worth it to spend a day.

Good luck and enjoy!

[PAMOUSELOVER]

Hi, Thank you so much.
Yes, we are going to try and drive as close to WDW as possible.My Mom use to live in Orlando, so we know how bad the traffic can be at anytime!
We are leaving Pa.on a sat. and heading to WDW on sunday, so I am hoping not as much traffic!
Thanks again!

I always go to St. Augustine to visit my parents, and we usually end up going to WDW for a day or two. FYI: when there's no traffic, WDW is approximately 1 and 1/2 hours past St. Augustine when taking I-95 to I-4. Please understand that you have to drive THROUGH the city of Orlando to get to WDW, and it has become a sizeable city with bad traffic during rush hour.

I can certainly understand your wanting to stay someplace economical the night before and then check into WDW early in the morning. My advice: either...

1) try to make the drive past the actual city of Orlando and stay in a cheap motel just outside of WDW or

2) stay in St. Augustine or Daytona (or whatever) if that's as far as you can safely drive, but get up VERY early the next morning to beat Orlando morning traffic, which is especially bad from 7:45-9:15 or

3) drive through Orlando area during rush hour if you can't get up very early, but take the toll roads around the city (see a map). They add approximately 25 minutes and $11 of tolls to your trip, but if the traffic is horrible, this might be worth it to you.

PS
St. Augustine is a lovely small city with a great history and wonderful beach area. If you can tack a day onto your trip, it might be worth it to spend a day.

Good luck and enjoy!

[steamboat willy]

We have left for WDW after work 5:00ish
and pooped out before getting to Orlando.
We actually stayed right on I-95 at the St. Augustine exit. Great price accomidations and back up after a good nights rest with Florida sunshine for the remainder of our drive.
Pull into our RESORT before noon. Depends on whether you want to sleep at night and be fresh on your drive in day or you want to crash and stay in the bed all day.

[RPHX2NC]

Wow! I feel like such a wimp. You guys are road warriors. We live in NC and fly and my inlaws live right off business 95 in Fayetteville. Maybe when the children are a little older we will brave 95.

[DisneyLuvnNooks]

We live in New Castle and have driven down 6 times in the last 4 years.
I think you are leaving early enough to beat the DC traffic, plus, I read in the paper the other day that they finished the construction that was the major source of traffic down there.
We have stopped several times right on the Fl GA border, and stayed there for the night, from there it is about a 3 hour ride to WDW.
When you take rest stop breaks, be sure to get the coupon books that are in the boxes outside the buildings. They have hotels listed for the next couple of states with exits numbers and maps. They also have coupons to use.

[LilHooligan74]

We live just outside Myrtle Beach and we use to drive to Sanibel Island every year. We would get up early and drive straight through. With a toddler and a infant it took about 12 hours. Driving home to Ct. we would do the same thing, took about the same amount of time. You will be the best judge of how long you can drive in one day. This year we will be splitting the drive by staying in Savannah for a few days, so I plan on being at WDW after we leave by noon.

[NJGIRL]

We are from South Jersey and the year that we drove we made it to the end Of South Carolina and we were beat and had to stop. If you are going to St Augustine's you might as well go straight to Orlando.