Driving to WDW

[CDizney]

I am driving to WDW from Southern New Jersey. I am about a half hour from the Delaware Memorial Bridge or Delaware state line. If my family leaves on a Saturday morning say 6am-7am, here are my questions:

a. Based on driving say 12-14 hours on Saturdayat 70-75 miles per hour with a few small bathroom breaks in between in what state/town would I be near to sleep over?

b. And based upon stopping overnight can I expect to be at WDW the next day Sunday and roughly what time (bearing no major accidents/tie ups?

 

[lissawynn]

My DH and I drove from PA (about 45 minutes north of Allentown on Rt. 309) in Sept. 02. We left about midnight on Friday, 9/19 and arrived in Orlando in about 16 hours (this included several short bathroom breaks and lunch). Since I am not very good with directions, I am not entirely familiar with your location. Our drive was great and we would do it again in a heartbeat! Good luck!

 

[autumnblue]

I live in Massachusetts and we typically leave in the late afternoon and stay in Aberdeen Maryland on our first night, which should not be too far from where you start. Typically the next night we will stop anywhere between Savanah GA and Jacksonville. I think you can figure another 4 to 4.5 hours from Savanah and about three from Jacksonville if I remember correctly.

 

[Emme]

I live in New York about an hour north of NYC. We left at 5:00 in the morning and got to Florence SC in about 10 hours. There was a great hotel there called the Wingate Inn, great breakfast, lovely room etc. We recharged with a great nights sleep and after the free breakfast we were on the road by 7 am and got to disney between 2-3! It worked great and no one was so exhausted that the first day was shot, we showered and hit the parks!!

Emmy

 

[CamColt]

Could you drive straight through? We go from MA, leave about 10:00am on Saturday and arrive at WDW 10:00am on Sunday. We take arrival day to just relax by the pool and go to dinner(on the Boardwalk). Then we get a good nights sleep and are ready to hit the parks the next morning. It works great for us.

 

[MinnieGi]

CDizney:
We are in DE and are going to be driving to WDW for the first time the first week in Feb. However, growing up my parents always drove on our trips to FL and it would usually take one long day and one short day of driving. And that is whith qutie a few stops!

If you are leaving around 6 or 7 am and planning on a long first day of driving, I would expect you to end up probably at the top of GA. From there if I remember correctly it would only take us about 5 to 6 more hours to WDW.

Good luck!
Gi

 

[LtlTee]

We are also about 1/2 hour from Del. Mem. Bridge and here's what we usually do. (We usually plan on a Saturday arrival at WDW). We leave around 3:00 AM on Friday morning. This puts us past the D.C. beltway during rush hour. We will typically stop for a late breakfast/early lunch and whatever bathroom breaks are needed (3 kids, 11, 6 and 2!!). For our past 3 trips we have driven to Brunswick, GA, arriving around 3:30-4:00 in the afternoon, depending on traffic. We always stay at the same hotel, and there is a Cracker Barrel right there and a couple of other restaurants also. We check in, have an early dinner, let the kids (and us!) unwind in the hotel pool and get to bed early. We are on the road the next morning by 8:00 AM and usually arrive in WDW by 11:30 or noon. We like saving the short leg of our drive for the second day so we are not dead tired from a long drive when we arrive.
I also highly recommend to anyone that drives a book called The Next Exit. It is an interstate highway guide that lists each state alphabetically and then the interstates within that state numerically, and exactly what you can find at each exit with regard to hotels, gas stations, food, etc. For example, you could look up what gas stations are located at exit 37 off I 95 in Georgia. It really came in handy!
Hope this helps!

 

[MinnieGi]

Ltltee - Thanks for the suggestion of the "Next Exit" book. That sounds real handy.

 

[OKW91]

Hi, we live in Marlton about 1/2 hr from the Delaware Memorial bridge also, we usually leave around 4 AM, drive about 5 MPH over the speed limit, and usually make it to exit 3 in St Marys GA. about 6 or 7 PM depending on traffic. There are several nice hotels there. we like the Country Inn and Suites its very nice, there are also a lot of places to eat and its a good place to gas up, this is one of the cheapest place to get gas on the way down. It's about 3 to 4 hours drive from here to WDW, traffic permitting.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Is there any way you can leave earlier, so you don't get trapped in the DC "mixing bowl"??
We're sort of like LTlTee--we leave S. PA. (just below York) at 4:00 AM. We get past DC by 6:00 AM. We stop for a full breakfast at Aunt Sarah's in Fredericksburg Va.... plus every 2 hours or so at a rest stop, or for gas. We stop for the nite in Brunswick Ga--getting there around 4:30 PM or so. Stay at the Hampton Inn--safe, clean, can walk to Cracker Barrel or Shoney's. Then it's only 4 - 4 1/2 hours left to WDW next day.