For those folks driving!

Please can someone answer this question....... I know I'll pay a daily fee to park at my hotel on property. Since, I'm a resort guest, will I still have to pay to park my car at one of the parks?

In the past, as long as you were a resort guest, there was no charge.
 
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I am thinking that I might wait until the morning of June 16th, they day we leave, to book our overnight stay in Valdosta. Looking at Orbitz, the rates really dropped for rooms this past Saturday verses what they were a week prior. Anyone have any experience, luck by doing this?

The day before we left for Disney the last time, we were looking at hotel rates in the cities we planned to stop in. I don't remember the specific hotels or rates, but we decided the rates we were seeing weren't anything we felt we needed to jump on so we didn't make any reservations before leaving (which turned out to be a good thing because we had several unexpected delays and didn't end up where we thought we would). Instead, we just drove until we were ready to stop for the night and then looked for rooms on Orbitz. Again, I don't remember the specific hotels or rates but I do remember that in general they were less expensive than what we had seen the day before when looking. If you're flexible about what hotel you want to stay at, I would just wait until that day and book through Orbitz.


Please can someone answer this question....... I know I'll pay a daily fee to park at my hotel on property. Since, I'm a resort guest, will I still have to pay to park my car at one of the parks?

In the past, as long as you were a resort guest, there was no charge.

You won't have to pay for parking at the parks. And if you booked your resort reservation prior to 3/21/18, you won't be charged for parking at the resort.
 
We are driving from South Jersey the day after Thanksgiving, actually leaving in the middle of the night Thanksgiving night. The plan is to arrive sometime Friday evening and stay at a hotel for the night since we don’t check in until Saturday. What are some affordable hotel recommendations right near Disney? Or should I try to just add another night onto our reservation? Also, if we are driving and decide we can’t make it all the way and need to stop sooner, will we be able to find a vacancy or is this something we definitely need to reserve in advance? Thanks!
 


Anyone ever driven from Michigan?

Just wondering if it is better to go through Georgia and stay on I75 or go through Indianapolis.

My Father in Law is a truck driver and says there is not much difference in time but the latter is probably the best route. Anyone have any ideas?

take I65 its the shortest route according to Siri
 
Driving from the St Louis area, is it easier to go 55-22-75 or 64-24-75?

We are wanting the easier route, but not necessarily faster. We are taking two days to drive down. Has anyone been in a similar situation?
 
Driving from the St Louis area, is it easier to go 55-22-75 or 64-24-75?

We are wanting the easier route, but not necessarily faster. We are taking two days to drive down. Has anyone been in a similar situation?
We leave from Central Arkansas - we totally avoid Atlanta. I would choose the 55-22-75. But that's us.
 


We're driving down from Maryland in 10 days. Trying to figure out where to stop overnight. Driven it once before, and stopped in Florence SC, but we started after work on the Friday; this time, we'll be heading out on Saturday, so obviously we'll manage to get a little further south.

Straight shot all the way back home though. I need to stock up on some entertainment...
 
Whoooo, some of these drives down makes me grateful that ours is only 8-9 hours and even with just that amount of hours, we still have a stay over in Valdosta.
Sheesh if I was "only" 8 hours away i'd be there even more :rotfl::rotfl:
If you're flexible about what hotel you want to stay at, I would just wait until that day and book through Orbitz.
We often stop after midnight-I will have scoped out a few acceptable places, then we go in and ask if they will meet or beat the best offer we saw or offer a prorated rate for the night. We did this last couple trips-it is great to get a suite hotel with breakfast for <$100, the extra bed (sofa bed usually) is great for the youngest as no one likes to share a bed with him. And we slept late and breakfast was supposed t have ended by time we finally made it down-but the staff was just just starting to clear stuff and told us to take our time and get what we wanted.
Gave them a nice review on TA

64-24-75?

Yeah, I’d like to avoid Atlanta too. So much traffic.
we go through atlanta-but yeah-that place scares the daylights out of me driving-and mind-we go through in late late evening or early am hours. Drivers in Atlanta are NUTS. No matter where we start from in MO (SW or in STL) we try to time it to get through Atlanta on an "off" time and to get either south (if heading to Orlando) or way north (if heading home).
 
we go through atlanta-but yeah-that place scares the daylights out of me driving-and mind-we go through in late late evening or early am hours. Drivers in Atlanta are NUTS. No matter where we start from in MO (SW or in STL) we try to time it to get through Atlanta on an "off" time and to get either south (if heading to Orlando) or way north (if heading home).
Yep, we figure if we decide to drive through Atlanta, that I'd like to get all the way to Chattanooga for the night, and then get up really pretty early and be driving through it by 6-630am. I know morning rush hour will be starting but the last thing I want is to be stuck in traffic all morning.

Does Atlanta have an alternate route maybe that goes around the city?
 
Driving down from NJ to WDW in a month. Last time on this path was last August in 2017.

1. How bad is the construction on I-4?? Heard about it but really don't know much about it.
2. Would like to stay overnight in Jacksonville this time (usually stayed in Savannah/Pooler). Any recommendation in Jacksonville, along I-95 preferred??

:thanks:
 
Driving down from NJ to WDW in a month. Last time on this path was last August in 2017.

1. How bad is the construction on I-4?? Heard about it but really don't know much about it.
2. Would like to stay overnight in Jacksonville this time (usually stayed in Savannah/Pooler). Any recommendation in Jacksonville, along I-95 preferred??

:thanks:


We just made the drive from SE PA last week. Here's my experience/reponses:

1. There is still a TON of construction going on I-4. I think it was more significant than our last trip in 2016 (and there was a lot during that trip). We drove through the construction area at about 9:30 on a Sunday morning and 8:30 on a Monday morning. Traffic was moving just fine -- no delays -- during those times. I think most of the work is done during the night. There is a website with details on the construction: https://i4ultimate.com/

2. We typically stop in Savannah/Port Wentworth for the night but this year we stayed in Jacksonville. We never know exactly how far we'll get in a day so we don't typically make reservations ahead of time. We just pull off of I-95 at an exit with several hotels and then book something through either a travel website or directly at the hotel chain website after scoping out the various buildings. We ended up staying at The Hampton Inn South off of exit 344. It was a very nice hotel, rooms were clean and spacious, free breakfast had a lot of options (including two types of waffles, western omelets, hash browns, and bacon along with all the other usual items), and the staff was very friendly. Our only "complaint" was that the bathroom had a sliding "barn door" (not a pocket door) rather than a traditional door. It really didn't give the person in the bathroom a lot of privacy since there are small gaps all around the door...and no lock. It was fine for us for 1 night, but it's not something I would have been happy about if that was my room for the week. I understand why they used that type of door there (a space logistics issue) but that type of door is really not meant for a private space like that. There were numerous other hotels at that exit as well and we wouldn't hesitate to stop in that area again (and we might even stay at that hotel again).
 
Hey guys! So wanted to update on our drive down from NJ...hit about 2 hours of traffic on 6/22 in Virginia. It was horrible. My poor kids napped while we were stuck in it and when they woke they were sure they were closer to Pedro signs! Felt so bad. Went from arrival time in GA 10:15 pm to 1:30 AM!!!!! (2 quick stops too) Uugghhhh....
Rt. 4 had its share of traffic, but not nearly as bad as Virginia. I’ll update you when we make the trek home... might go 81.
 
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Hey guys! So wanted to update on our drive down from NJ...hit about 2 hours of traffic on 6/22 in Virginia. It was horrible. My poor kids napped while we were stuck in it and when they woke they were sure they were closer to Pedro signs! Felt so bad. Went from arrival time in GA 10:15 pm to 1:30 pm!!!!! (2 quick stops too) Uugghhhh....
Rt. 4 had its share of traffic, but not nearly as bad as Virginia. I’ll update you when we make the trek home... might go 81.

Sorry you hit those slow downs in VA. We always feel like once we pass Richmond, we're "home free" as the next place we have the potential to hit traffic is Jacksonville. We had some slow-downs in VA when we were traveling south on 6/15, but nothing more than a few minutes. We did avoid a 45 minute slow down (according to Google Maps) by jumping in the EZ pass Express lanes. I always try to get my husband to take the 81 route, but his comment is that in all of our trips, we've only had 2 times that we've been slowed down more than 45 minutes by staying with the I-95 route. If we take the other route we're guaranteed to take an hour longer and there's no guarantee that there won't be traffic or accidents on that route that will slow us down even more. So we always take the gamble and stick with the I-95 route and follow the advice on Waze and Googlemaps as we drive.

I-4 had a good amount of traffic for us on the morning of the 15th but no slowdowns -- we were always traveling at least the speed limit if not a bit faster.

Have a great vacation!
 
So working on plans for the drive. One thing I am not sure about are tolls. How much change should I look into getting? We are coming from Indianapolis and stopping in Valdosta GA overnight. Then heading to Disney the next morning. Since it is already such a long drive we would like to take the quickest route even if that means paying a few tolls. Now if it is gonna be like $20+ it may be worth a bit extra time. So any suggestions on routes?
 
So working on plans for the drive. One thing I am not sure about are tolls. How much change should I look into getting? We are coming from Indianapolis and stopping in Valdosta GA overnight. Then heading to Disney the next morning. Since it is already such a long drive we would like to take the quickest route even if that means paying a few tolls. Now if it is gonna be like $20+ it may be worth a bit extra time. So any suggestions on routes?

You have the new toll for the bridge into Louisville across the Ohio. Not worth avoiding it by taking 31E across instead. No tolls the rest of the way through Kentucky or through Tennessee or Georgia on 65, 24, 75. As for Florida, There is a toll on the turnpike from Ocala to Orlando and on the road we take from the turnpike to the western side of WDW. It's not enough to make it worth driving to Tampa and back over on 4 just to avoid it. You can buy a pass for your Florida tolls so you don't have to fiddle with cash. For the bridge across the Ohio at Louisville, if you don't have the pass, they send you a bill.
 
Hey guys, wanted to update you on our ride home. Took 81 to get back to NJ. A couple slow slow downs, but nothing like we experienced in the way down when we took 95!! Trucks in the fast lane are typically the biggest issue. It’s an hour longer, but we actually had a really nice ride home. Stopped for a long sit down dinner and kids slept rest of way. Left the Poly around 5:45 am and got home around 1:30 am. Thinking of doing 81 again for November’s ride home. For everyone with upcoming trips, have a safe, quick ride!!! Enjoy!!
 
Hey guys, wanted to update you on our ride home. Took 81 to get back to NJ. A couple slow slow downs, but nothing like we experienced in the way down when we took 95!! Trucks in the fast lane are typically the biggest issue. It’s an hour longer, but we actually had a really nice ride home. Stopped for a long sit down dinner and kids slept rest of way. Left the Poly around 5:45 am and got home around 1:30 am. Thinking of doing 81 again for November’s ride home. For everyone with upcoming trips, have a safe, quick ride!!! Enjoy!!

I-81 is a good alternative. I live in the part of Virginia where the massive backups occur and it can be horrendous. Sometimes it can be 15-30 miles of backups. It's awful. The EZ Pass lanes will get you around much of it now but they are very pricey during the week (much more affordable on the weekend). I spent a lot of time recently on I81 and in general you don't get the backups like I95 but I will warn you that there are frequent accidents on I81 and if you hit one (usually between I66/I81 and all the way down to Blacksburg) you can lose a LOT of time. Each direction of I81 is two lanes and an accident can be catastrophic. My son went to college right off I81 and we got caught up a number of times. But, yeah, nothing can really match the I95 mess through Virginia (Northern VA to Fredericksburg/Richmond). Best done in the middle of the night or before 7AM during the summer.
 
Hey guys, wanted to update you on our ride home. Took 81 to get back to NJ. A couple slow slow downs, but nothing like we experienced in the way down when we took 95!! Trucks in the fast lane are typically the biggest issue. It’s an hour longer, but we actually had a really nice ride home. Stopped for a long sit down dinner and kids slept rest of way. Left the Poly around 5:45 am and got home around 1:30 am. Thinking of doing 81 again for November’s ride home. For everyone with upcoming trips, have a safe, quick ride!!! Enjoy!!

Thanks for sharing! We're in central NYS, and our plan was 81 to avoid 95 through Virginia, but we started second-guessing ourselves. 81 it is!
 

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