For 2,000+ Mile Round-Trip Drivers Only! (III)
 

Welcome to the "For 2,000+ Mile Round-Trip Drivers Only!" thread, Part III [Walt Disney World drives!]

Part II of this thread opened on July 12, 2010 and closed on October 12, 2011 after 256 pages, 3,843 replies and 207,597 views.

Part I of this thread debuted on December 6, 2007 and closed on July 14, 2010 after 251 pages, 3,755 replies and 210,793 views.


All-Time "For 2,000+ Mile Round-Trip Drivers Only!" Records (updated 11/27/12)

Most Total Drives: 53 (since '73): dvczerfs

Most Drives in One Decade/10-Year Period: 27 (2003-2012): bc1836

Most Drives in One Calendar Year: 4 (four times: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011): bc1836; (two times: 2009 & 2012): cruisingkat

Most Drives in One 12-Month Period: 5 (12/08-12/09; 2012): cruisingkat; (12/09-12/10): bc1836

Most "Non-Stop" Drives: 12 (2008-2012): bc1836

Shortest Time Between Drives: 19 days (2009): cruisingkat

Most passengers in one vehicle: 10 (2010: 2 adults, 8 kids; 1999 Chevy Express Van): birdslightyear (aka just*the*ten*of*us)

Longest Drive (one way): 2,070 miles (2013): Shir Khan (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada)

Second Longest Drive (one way): 1,953 miles (2011): peigirl (Stratford, Prince Edward Island, Canada)



All the best! :thumbsup2

Yeah a new thread!!!!

Wanted to jump on board the new thread. I can't believe how fast it got to part III.

We'll be driving down April 4th or 5th. My father will be with us and probably doing most of the driving. He loves to drive and as a matter of fact he's driving to California by himself as I type and he's 84 years old. :rolleyes1

We will probably take the 70-81-77-95 route.

New Thread, new report on the drive!
 

Hey everyone! I am almost rested up from our 2,000+ mile drive that we returned from 2 days ago from Buffalo, NY to Disney! I was told before I left to get the mileage numbers to make the list and well, here they are...
Left Buffalo at 33,082 miles on the car
Arrived in Disney-Coronado Springs at 34,309 on the car which equals a one way journey of 1,227 miles!
left Disney at 34,379 miles on the car.
Arrived in Buffalo at 35,642 miles on the car which equals 1,263 miles on the way home. We did do some driving in Savannah on the way home so that is the difference there.
Grand total was 2,490 miles round trip!

Now onto the details. We took the 90-79-19-77-95-4 route and it was very nice both ways. We stayed in Hampton Inns along the way. Columbia, SC on the way down and then Richmond Hill, GA and Beckley, WV on the way back. The way down the second night we stayed with friends in Orange City, FL.
We left Friday morning 9/30 at 6am and arrived in Disney Sunday morning around 11am. The way home we left Disney around 11am Saturday morning and arrived back in Buffalo Monday night 10/10 around 5pm. We did stop in Savannah Saturday night and went into historic Savannah for a bit and then Sunday morning we returned and did a trolley tour before starting the drive to Beckley.

Traffic - Not bad at all on the way down. We encountered barely any traffic until Friday evening in Charlotte, NC. Rush hour crowds were still trying to get home I believe when we drove through around 6pm. Not bad though, but did slow us down. Construction wasn't an issue that day either. The only other traffic we hit was around Orlando on Sunday morning. Nothing that stopped us, just a lot of traffic. Weather was perfect for the whole drive down also.
On the way home it was a much different story. Terrential downpours caused us to leave a bit earlier than we wanted after our Crystal Palace breakfast. We saw car accidents from the moment we got on I-4 until almost to Jacksonville. Horrible driving conditions in the rain with heavy ponding on the roads. On Sunday we encountered Panthers game traffic around Charlotte but it was mostly going the opposite direction so not much to worry about. We got a late start due to the trolley tour so we had to do the West Virginia hills in the dark. EEEK. Not fun, but totally fun at the same time. Monday (Columbus day) we finished the drive home. This was by far the worst day of driving. Once we hit PA, there was construction every 2 miles it seemed. I was happy to get to NY...or was I? The drive through NY on the 90 was the worst yet. Other Drivers were driving like crazy!! I am used to NY drivers and this was even bad for me. We finally made it home though and loved every minute of it.

Gas prices - These seemed to drop while we were in Disney. We left Buffalo with prices at $3.70. Once we hit PA they started to drop, although every exit I picked to stop on the way down seemed to be $0.10 more expensive than the one I just passed. By the way home, I actually was able to pay $3.08 at one point. By the way, in Buffalo prices are still at $3.65.

That is about it other than to say I loved having my car in Disney! We planned to use buses the whole trip, but only used them once and then ditched them for the car every other day. So much easier with the stroller.
Oh yeah, did I mention it was me, my wife, my daughter who turned 2 during the trip, and my mother in law in an Equinox. Not too shabby, huh?

Let me know if you have any questions I can answer!

A great detailed report!
Let the countdown to your next 2,000+ mile round-trip drive begin!
All the best. :thumbsup2

Thanks!! The wife has already told me it will be this time next year! :cool1:

Probably because I talk too much :mic::rolleyes::rotfl:

1st page!!!:woohoo:

Who is next on the road to WDW?

Nice clean new thread! :cool1:

We made our first 2000+ trip last year and liked it so much we're doing it 2x in 2012. :banana:

I suppose I should chime in and say how excited I am to see a new thread open up. :cool1:

I'm hoping to book my next 2000+ mile trip sometime very soon. Just trying to solidify our schedule and budget for next June.

Thank you sooo much for this report! We are leaving a week from today and will be driving the same route you did! Now...the last time we drove down was completely different as we avoided the WV hills altogether (it was winter). So...I am completely unfamilair with your route! We plan on leaving as soon as we get our five year old from school (about 2:20) and driving until about 11pm. Will be be driving right through the hills most of the time? How bad was it really? What kinds of "hills" are they? I guess I think "mountians" because I lived in the Pacific NW and often drove through the Cascade Mountain range. Any advice would be appreciated. :thumbsup2

I am glad I can help. The hills are a bit more than hills but I would think I bit less than the Cascades. Basically think of winding up and down turns the whole way through West Virginia for a couple hours of the trip. In the daytime they seem like nothing, at night (which would be when you do it) it is a bit more scary. You basically can do 70 through them no problem, but there are a couple where you will want to make sure the breaks work. When you need to pass the semis you will feel a bit more scared as well. You can tell when the bad parts are coming though. Pay attention to the "no trucks left lane" signs and you know that isn't the best turn.

BC,

Clarification on the records. Are they only for going to WDW? Or, if we do lose our minds :laughing: and drive to DL next year, would that count too?

Great question! Indeed, this thread only pertains to Walt Disney World round-trip drives.

[However, one day, we expect to do a cross-country drive and end up at Disneyland. We'll follow in your tire tracks...at least part of the way.] ;)

All the best. :thumbsup2