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I will tell you to buy Birnbaum's guide to Disneyworld. It gives so many great ideas for traveling the parks with kids. I did this when my kids were small and it worked great! As far as where to stay, I have not been there since 1997, and I think the place we stayed (Dixie Landings) is no longer there. I would try to stay in the park complex if you could. We flew so, I am not sure about the driving, though my parents did that with us when we were there and I remember staying in NC (Rocky Mount) over night and then driving thru. We always stayed at Howard Johnson's...but then again, not sure if they are around anymore either. I loved taking my kids to MGM, we did dinner one night at the place where the waitress' dress like MOM in the 50's. If that is still there, take that into consideration. Also depending on their ages, we did dinner at the EPCOT countries too (Germany and Mexico) My kids are in their 20's now, and still talk about how much fun they had on that trip. Have fun!
Dixie Landings is now Port Orleans, which is an excellent gmid-priced resort.
I am planning to drive from NJ to Disney at Orlando, FL for a family vacation late January. We plan to leave early morning and spend the night at Raleigh, NC, then start the second leg next morning. It is about 650 miles from Raleigh to Orlando, Google map says it takes 9 hours.
1). Could someone comment on the road condition and traffic from Raleigh to Orlando? Can I really get there in 9 hours? If not, we need to spend another night in the middle somewhere.
2). We will spend all our time in Disney World. Any good hotels recommended both inside and around the theme parks?
Thanks a lot.
Depending on where you are starting from in New Jersey, I think I'd be aiming for Fayetteville, NC instead of Raleigh. Raleigh is out of the way for I-95. From Trenton to Fayetteville is 8 hours, and it puts you further down the road and more in reach of Orlando the next day.
The AutoTrain might be a fun (although somewhat expensive) experience. You pick up the Amtrak train in Lorton, VA (just south of Washington, DC) and your car is brought along with you on the train. You leave Lorton at 4 pm and get into Sanford, FL (about 45 minutes NE of WDW) at 9 am the next morning. It is NOT "cheap", a regular car costs about $240 to transport, plus it's about $250 per person, or $800+ for a sleeper compartment. But it IS a stress-free trip and you do arrive rested and refreshed, and it would give you basically an extra day in Orlando. However, the auto train tends to book up quickly -- at this point, unless you are flexible on your departure dates, etc., it's probably difficult to get a reservation.
PS: DO plan your trip to avoid the DC area around rush-hour. In fact, try to avoid the DC area entirely, take 301 out of Baltimore and pick up I-95 far south of DC. It might take a half hour longer, but will be much easier on the psyche. :-) DC traffic is fairly horrendous, and I say that as someone who doesn't think twice about Atlanta traffic. :-)
Dragging this trip out for 3 days sounds worse to me than sucking it up for 2 days.... Why are you staying in Raleigh? it is out of the way.
I've done this trip many many times, including just last week. We stayed at the country inn and suites in Wilson, NC. Cheap and totally fine, also dog friendly.
Agreed that from Baltimore to pretty much Petersburg, VA sucks, traffic wise. Around exit 65 in Maryland down to about 35 in VA (could be a bit higher depending on the time of day) where things can get pretty congested. Watch out for 55 speed zones. You are pretty safe up to 9mph over the limit.
This is hard, but if you can leave at like 3am, you can blow through DC area by around 7am.
mentally i break this trip down roughly like
NJ through DE 2 hours
MD 2 hours
VA 3 hours
NC 3 hours
SC 3 hours
GA 2 hours
FL to Orlando 2 hours
I've found Sirii on the iphone very helpful for finding a place to eat that may not be advertised on the signs
Last edited by joe moving; 01-08-2014 at 10:48 AM..
Definitely agreed with Joe, don't drag it out. I did this roadtrip with my family (wife and then 8-month old son) this past summer from Northern VA. Started the trip at 9pm to avoid the dreaded traffic through Fredricksburg and Petersburg, VA. We were flying down I-95, only had to stop at the VA border and GA border to refresh ourselves (I had too much coffee at first, then I got sleepy at the GA border).
Joe's estimated travel time matched up with my driving experience.
Northern VA to the NC border will take you 2 hours optimum.
NC to GA/FL border will be another 8 or 8.5 depending on whether there's traffic near the GA border (where the bridges/swamps are).
GA to Orlando only a couple of hours more.
We started at 9pm and got to Tampa by 10:00am, and that's with making two pit stops which were probably 30-60 minutes each.
It was a very fun road trip, I enjoyed it. Not sure if I can repeat as often as some others, though LOL.
Quote:
Originally Posted by joe moving
Dragging this trip out for 3 days sounds worse to me than sucking it up for 2 days.... Why are you staying in Raleigh? it is out of the way.
I've done this trip many many times, including just last week. We stayed at the country inn and suites in Wilson, NC. Cheap and totally fine, also dog friendly.
Agreed that from Baltimore to pretty much Petersburg, VA sucks, traffic wise. Around exit 65 in Maryland down to about 35 in VA (could be a bit higher depending on the time of day) where things can get pretty congested. Watch out for 55 speed zones. You are pretty safe up to 9mph over the limit.
This is hard, but if you can leave at like 3am, you can blow through DC area by around 7am.
mentally i break this trip down roughly like
NJ through DE 2 hours
MD 2 hours
VA 3 hours
NC 3 hours
SC 3 hours
GA 2 hours
FL to Orlando 2 hours
I've found Sirii on the iphone very helpful for finding a place to eat that may not be advertised on the signs
Dixie Landings is now Port Orleans, which is an excellent gmid-priced resort.
Thanks for reminding me of that. Yes, Port Orleans was very near Dixie landings and yes, it was excellent. I agree with the trailer homes that are fully loaded as well. They have maid service, but I cannot remember the name, It has a lagoon for swimming. Anybody remember? It's driving me nuts!
My dad and cousin drove from Northern NJ down to Palm Beach in 20 hours and did only few rest stops and no sleep over at night in hotel at all.
They left 4 AM and arrived by midnight in Florida.
The OP has a youngster who wouldn't make a straight through. What you describe is my modis operandi . I leave Ocean County NJ at 4 AM and drive straight through to Indian River by 9:30 PM. You miss the heavy traffic everywhere along the line. I have not been able to get it just right going north though.
Thanks for reminding me of that. Yes, Port Orleans was very near Dixie landings and yes, it was excellent. I agree with the trailer homes that are fully loaded as well. They have maid service, but I cannot remember the name, It has a lagoon for swimming. Anybody remember? It's driving me nuts!
Port Orleans has 2 resorts: Riverside and the French Quarter..It looks like Riverside used to be "Dixie Landings", and they incorporated both resorts into one as Port Orleans.
PS: DO plan your trip to avoid the DC area around rush-hour. In fact, try to avoid the DC area entirely, take 301 out of Baltimore and pick up I-95 far south of DC. It might take a half hour longer, but will be much easier on the psyche. :-) DC traffic is fairly horrendous, and I say that as someone who doesn't think twice about Atlanta traffic. :-)
Point made, but US 301 drops out of the Eastern Shore before making its closest approach to Baltimore near Annapolis.
There are two options to bypass Baltimore-area traffic:
1) Exiting I-95 at exit 64 onto I-695 S (inner loop of Baltimore Beltway), then exiting onto I-97 S, and, once it terminates near Annapolis, exiting onto US 301 S/US 50 W. The Baltimore Beltway south and east of I-95, AFAIK is not congestion-prone
2) Navigating your way off I-95 in Delaware onto US 301 S, and continuing southward into the MD Eastern Shore and crossing the Chesapeake Bay.
If you do make that bypass, either way you can either:
1) Continue west until I-95/I-495, and following I-95 as usual. My listening of the early morning radio has led me to conclude Capital Beltway traffic around Woodrow Wilson Bridge/Alexandria is clogged along the Outer Loop/I-95 northbound in the morning and clogged along the Inner Loop/I-95 afternoon. Since this is not the summer, I-95 southbound from Springfield on south shouldn't have as many holiday drivers and is reverse of commuting patterns. The problem should be more with US 50 W in Prince George's, if anything. You may need to make a real-time decision
2) Continuing to follow US 301 southward to the Richmond area.
Again, you can ad hoc decide whether to take the I-295 bypass in the Richmond area
I would recommend taking a cooler full of bottled water and some sugary drinks. Get some snack-sized treats like fruit snacks and goldfish at Costco. Tying a trash bag around the passenger headrest is also a good idea.
Don't speed egregiously in VA or NC. The troopers are rough on out-of-staters. Make sure you aren't tired once you get out of the NC metro area and especially once you pass the SC border. SC is a looooong drive on a straight, tree-lined, limited access highway, and you don't want to tackle that when you're drowsy at night.
Personally I think three days is way too long, but I won't judge your family situation. I generally leave around 5-6 AM and hit Savannah around 10:30-11 at night. I like to stop t the bottom of NC for a yummy lunch. I find that Savannah has some really high quality hotels right off the highway, and tons of dining options. I usually stay at the SpringHill Suites at Savannah Airport. By waiting until the last minute you can get a killer deal for a super luxe room. I'd book it no later than 6-8 hours before getting to the GA border. I've stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn at the same hotel corral, and it was a total dump.
A word of warning about Fayetteville. The hotels right by the 95 exit are fine, but if you're not careful, you might accidentally book something next to Ft. Bragg, whose outskirts are littered with seedy bars and strip clubs.
I would STRONGLY advise staying right on Disney property. Port Orleans Riverside and Coronado Springs are great, if you don't mind paying a bit more. Pop Century, the All Star resorts, and Art of Animation are also quite fine abc cost less.
The off-property hotels take you out of the 24/7 Disney experience which is really sort of a bummer to me. And if you stay off of I Drive or (heaven forbid) US 192, the whole experience feels cheap, chintzy, and a bit drab rather than magical and fun. Your kids won't feel like they've been swept into a never-ending fantasyland. I think staying off-site is fine if you're a regular, or at least once you've been there a few times and can separate the high quality hotels from the crap. It's worth paying for the entire Disney experience at least once!
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