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

[cruisingkat]

We normally do the drive in two days, but for winter we book our usual hotel with a cancellation policy on the trip down and a hotel near Disney with a cancellation policy for our normal arrival day. That way if we are delayed by weather we aren't paying for two hotel rooms since Disney hotels need to cancelled 5 days out and even if you call and tell them you're delayed and need to cancel that first night, you will still pay for it.
One helpful tip about cancelling hotels- note the cancellation time and set an alarm on your phone for an hour before . You can usually determine from where you are at that time if you will make it to your hotel.

[cruisingkat]

On our way. Hit rain in KY.

[wmcyip]

Hi folks
We made it to orlando on sunday night

Saturday Day 1 Drove bklyn to fayetteville. Left later than scheduled as we had a fema inspector visit for the tenants apt, long story short he told us to appeal the inspection for the first inspection for our (homeowners) area as he felt the prior inspector didn't do a complete job... So instead of leaving around 9am, we left around 1130 am got to the hotel around 930pm tired.

Day 2 left at 10am arrived at our sw hotel around 7pm.

Did the sw family tour yesterday.
A bit of shopping today. Can't wait to we get to wdw tomorrow. staying at blt.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how best to travel thru the md-dc-de area? Traffic was horrible.

[Lizzybean]

Thanks GusGus and cruisingkat! I'm planning on paying close attention to the forecast and I'll plan on leaving a day or 2 in advance if a storm is on the horizon. We drive straight thru but I like arriving a day ahead of time and staying at an embassy suites to relax and get in a good breakfast the next morning before hitting the parks. I might have to adjust that this trip. Although based on the weather so far it looks like we might have another mild winter.

[KinziePooh]

Originally Posted by dvczerfs

we take 81/66/17/95 alot. 17 hit 95 in fredricksburg va (exit 133) i think 15 and 17 run into each other and become the same road in spots.

Would you recommend that route over 81/64/95? Will taking 66/17 to 95 save much time?

[dvczerfs]

Originally Posted by KinziePooh

Would you recommend that route over 81/64/95? Will taking 66/17 to 95 save much time?

ive never taken 64. in the winter months i use 81/66/17/95. takes me 16 1/2 hours. in the nonwinter months, i use 81/77/26/95. takes me 16 hours.
i dont think it would realy matter to much. dont hit the richmond area at rush hour. 17 is a nice 2 lane road. when you hit 95 off of 17 it gets a bit sporty with traffic but i like a challenge.

[pwdebbie]

Originally Posted by dvczerfs

didnt keep the deer. the cops were fighting over it. tammy just clip the rear end of it and from what they tell me it didnt bleed that much. im not a hunter or even like the stuff. beef and pork for me, sometimes if the planets line up i eat chicken.
tammy works in the bethlehem office. looks like they are renting a building in jersey city till they can get ny back and running.
all of brianas test are neg. we think its stress. she tends to fill up her days for some reason. she is a full time sophmore, works 25-29 hrs per week at panera and teaches 3 tap classes on monday nights. she is giving upo the tap classes so we will see how things go. the kid has a 3.8 gpa so i cant use that as a point.

Amazing how much damage a deer can do. Dh no long can hunt but his friend got two deer last week and provided us with the only part of the deer I actually enjoy, the "fish" from one and the tenderloin from the other.

Glad to see that your dd is going to slow down a bit. I don't know how she keeps up that schedule!

Thanks for the info about 66 v 64 and taking 17 to 95. We've done 64 in trips home from Williamsburg via Skyline Drive and that just seems to be one very long road.

[cruisingkat]

Arrived at Disney - but had a bad suprise this morning. Yesterday when we were driving in TN, a truck ran over something in the road sending it up flying toward our car. Felt a jolt and we thought we ran over it. The car handled okay and alignment was still good, so we kept driving. Due to the weather we ended up arriving at our hotel for the night an hour later than planned. Hubby was tired so we just unloaded the car and went straight to bed. When hubby went out to get the car this morning he found out that the object tore up our front bumper. Now we have to call the insurance agent - what a way to start the vacation. Actually was glad we didn't stop and find out right away as we would have fretted about it all night. At least discovering it this morning, we have Disney to distract us.

[GusGus77]

Originally Posted by Lizzybean

Thanks GusGus and cruisingkat! I'm planning on paying close attention to the forecast and I'll plan on leaving a day or 2 in advance if a storm is on the horizon. We drive straight thru but I like arriving a day ahead of time and staying at an embassy suites to relax and get in a good breakfast the next morning before hitting the parks. I might have to adjust that this trip. Although based on the weather so far it looks like we might have another mild winter.

We drove non-stop once. It just about killed us. I have a friend who recently did the same and she swore it just about killed them and they will never do it again either. We now stop over one night around Chattanooga on the way down. We don't reserve hotels ahead of time. We just stop and find a hotel that looks decent with an inexpensive rate. We have young kids, though, so we like to be able to be flexible on where we stop so we can go longer or shorter if need be.

[angwill]

Originally Posted by cruisingkat

Arrived at Disney - but had a bad suprise this morning. Yesterday when we were driving in TN, a truck ran over something in the road sending it up flying toward our car. Felt a jolt and we thought we ran over it. The car handled okay and alignment was still good, so we kept driving. Due to the weather we ended up arriving at our hotel for the night an hour later than planned. Hubby was tired so we just unloaded the car and went straight to bed. When hubby went out to get the car this morning he found out that the object tore up our front bumper. Now we have to call the insurance agent - what a way to start the vacation. Actually was glad we didn't stop and find out right away as we would have fretted about it all night. At least discovering it this morning, we have Disney to distract us.

Oh no that stinks. At least the car is driveable and at this point just calling it in to insurance is all you can do. One year we had a truck spew out a tire tread that hit our car. We got his license number and company name then pulled over right away to see if there was any damage. Thankfully we had none but it was scary. When I drive I refuse to drive behind trucks anymore and will go around them as soon as I can. Enjoy your vacation and try an forget about that stupid bumper.

[KinziePooh]

Originally Posted by dvczerfs

ive never taken 64. in the winter months i use 81/66/17/95. takes me 16 1/2 hours. in the nonwinter months, i use 81/77/26/95. takes me 16 hours.
i dont think it would realy matter to much. dont hit the richmond area at rush hour. 17 is a nice 2 lane road. when you hit 95 off of 17 it gets a bit sporty with traffic but i like a challenge.

Thanks for the advice! We did 81/77/26/95 in April and decided it wouldn't be a good route during the winter. Taking 17 over to 95 sounds like the way to go.

[cruisingkat]

Originally Posted by angwill

Oh no that stinks. At least the car is driveable and at this point just calling it in to insurance is all you can do. One year we had a truck spew out a tire tread that hit our car. We got his license number and company name then pulled over right away to see if there was any damage. Thankfully we had none but it was scary. When I drive I refuse to drive behind trucks anymore and will go around them as soon as I can. Enjoy your vacation and try an forget about that stupid bumper.

We were trying to pass him. If we would have been behind him it wouldn't have hit us. His cab was a little ahead of us on our right. When he hit it he sent it out at an angle and it hit us on the left side front bumper.
Definitely forgetting about it-Sitting at POFQ Scat Cat club having a drink and listening to Elliot Dyson.

[BC1836]

HAPPY 5TH ANNIVERSARY!

The "For 2,000+ Mile Round-Trip Drivers Only!" thread celebrates its fifth anniversary today!

Here's some background info found on page 1 of this thread:

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.

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.

[See page 1 for the All-Time Driving Records!]



Five years ago, we examined a thread about folks who drive to WDW, but it didn't focus on those who drive great distances -- like 1,000+ miles in one direction. Driving a few hours to WDW is nothing like driving 16 hours or more to Lake Buena Vista. It's more than just hours. So we created this thread. And we were not only pleasantly surprised by so many who shared our long distance trek but by the wonderful folks themselves who posted comments.

When to depart? Drive straight through? Gasoline prices? Construction areas? Weather reports? Hotel and motel suggestions? Roadside restaurants and fast food stops? You name it, it's been asked. And these questions (and more) will continue to be asked.

Now then, as the folks who began this thread we feel it would be best if...well, we took another drive to WDW. Call it a fifth anniversary drive. We're off again tomorrow with drive #28 (since 2002).

All the best.

[Shir Kahn]

Originally Posted by BC1836

HAPPY 5TH ANNIVERSARY!

The "For 2,000+ Mile Round-Trip Drivers Only!" thread celebrates its fifth anniversary today!

Here's some background info found on page 1 of this thread:

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.

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.

[See page 1 for the All-Time Driving Records!]



Five years ago, we examined a thread about folks who drive to WDW, but it didn't focus on those who drive great distances -- llike 1,000+ miles in one direction. Driving a few hours to WDW is nothing like driving 16 hours or more to Lake Buena Vista. It's more than just hours. So we created this thread. And we were not only pleasantly surprised by so many who shared our long distance trek but by the wonderful folks themselves who posted comments.

When to depart? Drive straight through? Gasoline prices? Construction areas? Weather reports? Hotel and motel suggestions? Roadside restaurants and fast food stops? You name it, it's been asked. And these questions (and more) will continue to be asked.

Now then, as the folks who began this thread we feel it would be best if...well, we took another drive to WDW. Call it a fifth anniversary drive. We're off again tomorrow with drive #28 (since 2002).

All the best.

Woohoo! Happy Anniversary everyone! Have a great drive to Florida BC1836!

[BC1836]

Originally Posted by Shir Kahn

Woohoo! Happy Anniversary everyone! Have a great drive to Florida BC1836!

Thanks!

Filling the gas tank tonight.

All the best.