"For 2,000+ Mile Round-Trip Drivers Only!" (Part V)

[hmsTigger]

Hi dd ! I’m working Thursday and Friday. I start at 2:45. You know where to find me. lol. After that, I have the next five days off!! They give me vacation, I’m gonna use it. lol. I can tell you where we are not going on vacation. Lol. We are heading to Pennsylvania for a few days. No, not driving. lol. For 40 some years I drove to Florida to vacation. Now I fly 1200 miles to Pennsylvania. lol.
Are you the one who brought this cold weather?

where in Pa?

 

[dvczerfs]

Perfect! And I thought you worked mostly days.

I start around 3 most days.

 

[dvczerfs]

where in Pa?

Lehigh Valley.

 

[bluezy]

Lehigh Valley.

At least you picked a good weekend to head back to this area. We don't have any snow in the forecast and the temps will be on the warm side for winter.

 

[dvczerfs]

At least you picked a good weekend to head back to this area. We don't have any snow in the forecast and the temps will be on the warm side for winter.

Warm? lol. It’s just down right cold. lol. If there was a chance of snow, I would stay home. I’m flying back Monday, my wife is staying till next Sunday. I have a family member I have to visit, it stinks getting old.
I’m eating cheese stakes and pizza the entire time I’m here. lol.
Not that I need a reminder but two days is long enough for me to remember why I moved to Florida. lol.
Pothole, pothole, pothole, bump, bump, ripple,ripple,sway, sway. lol.

 

[bluezy]

Warm? lol. It’s just down right cold. lol. If there was a chance of snow, I would stay home. I’m flying back Monday, my wife is staying till next Sunday. I have a family member I have to visit, it stinks getting old.
I’m eating cheese stakes and pizza the entire time I’m here. lol.
Not that I need a reminder but two days is long enough for me to remember why I moved to Florida. lol.
Pothole, pothole, pothole, bump, bump, ripple,ripple,sway, sway. lol.

Yeah, you need to stay a few more days to really enjoy the "warm" weather. We've had highs in the low to mid 20's in the last few days, so low 30's feels balmy. But, oh, the potholes!!!! They're *really* bad right now and I'm sure they're going to get worse.

I hope you enjoyed your pizza and cheesesteaks! Our son has lived in State College; Austin, TX; NYC, and now San Diego, CA and he says no other place has pizza like this area. When he's back in town for a visit, he eats a lot of pizza.

I try to mark the potholes on Waze when I'm using it, but on Friday I gave up because it felt like I should be marking where there were *no* potholes.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Yeah it’s going to be near 50 degrees here for a few days this week!! I’m ready to take out the grill!!

 

[pwdebbie]

Dave, I'd say wave when you pass the paintcan but I guess you'll be going over it now instead of past it.

And yes, when my dds are in from KY, they ask for pizza.

 

[dvczerfs]

I’m home. Getting a nice steady rain today. We need it. We have two seasons, wet and dry. Summer is wet, rains everyday, dry is winter, grass is crunchy even if you water it. We can only water two days a week because we are in a drought. I had a nice time in the !ehigh Valley, nice place to visit, wouldn’t want to live there. We are actually getting rain all day today, you can count on one hand the number of days a year you don’t see the sun at all. As you can tell, I took this picture from inside. lol. After today, back to sunshine and 70s and 80s.
I’m off till Thursday night, I don’t go in till 5:45pm. I’ll be working on my, staying awake late the next few days. lol.
Yes, flying is nice. But I have a few advantages. I drive to the airport, park, no bag check, through security and wait to board. I only have a carry on, I keep stuff at my relatives house. I fly into a small airport, LVI, and get picked up. Same way heading home. I’m not hauling luggage and have to worry about transportation. I miss planning our vacations, use to have two and three going at the same time. Getting the van ready etc.
Anyway, nap time. I was up at 3:30 this morning to head to the airport.

 

[Peaseblossom36]

We are looking at driving for future trips (I have a fear of flying and current news stories aren't helping ), those doing a 20 hour drive with a small child- how much extra time do you typically assume will be needed for stops? We would be coming from the Kansas City area and have never driven down.

Also, if anyone has a Kia are there areas to try to avoid leaving the car unattended? That would a the worst way to start/end a vacation.

 

[OKW Lover]

We are looking at driving for future trips (I have a fear of flying and current news stories aren't helping ), those doing a 20 hour drive with a small child- how much extra time do you typically assume will be needed for stops? We would be coming from the Kansas City area and have never driven down.

Also, if anyone has a Kia are there areas to try to avoid leaving the car unattended? That would a the worst way to start/end a vacation.

I guess the answer somewhat depends on how well your child will tolerate the drive. If it's a 20 hour drive I'm guessing you'll stop halfway so plan for a 10 hour drive each day. So plan for at least 3 stops per day for food, gas & restroom breaks. Food stops don't need to be long, but they should be long enough to give you a break. For gas & restroom breaks be sure to let your child out to run around a bit. Rest areas are good for that. I'd figure at least an extra hour per day for these stops.

Not sure what you are concerned about as far as your car. The only time it would really be left unattended for any prolonged period of time is at your overnight hotel. Plan on staying at one away from major cities, which are much more expensive anyway. Somewhere around Nashville looks to be about half way.

Another suggestion. Instead of arriving at your WDW resort too tired to do anything on the second day, stop about an hour short of WDW and spend that night in a less expensive hotel. Then the next morning you can arrive well rested and able to hit the parks with only a short drive.

 

[Peaseblossom36]

I guess the answer somewhat depends on how well your child will tolerate the drive. If it's a 20 hour drive I'm guessing you'll stop halfway so plan for a 10 hour drive each day. So plan for at least 3 stops per day for food, gas & restroom breaks. Food stops don't need to be long, but they should be long enough to give you a break. For gas & restroom breaks be sure to let your child out to run around a bit. Rest areas are good for that. I'd figure at least an extra hour per day for these stops.

Not sure what you are concerned about as far as your car. The only time it would really be left unattended for any prolonged period of time is at your overnight hotel. Plan on staying at one away from major cities, which are much more expensive anyway. Somewhere around Nashville looks to be about half way.

Another suggestion. Instead of arriving at your WDW resort too tired to do anything on the second day, stop about an hour short of WDW and spend that night in a less expensive hotel. Then the next morning you can arrive well rested and able to hit the parks with only a short drive.

Thank you! I've never done such a long drive and that's kind of what I was thinking.

My car is high risk for theft, there are some areas I try to avoid at home (mostly in the city) because of it.

 

[DL1WDW2]

I just spoke to Enterprise and cars in Orlando area are being stolen out of residential driveways but not in the WDW area …I live nearby. (Had to rent while car is in shop waiting for parts)
Have your car tuned up Auto Dealerships having trouble getting parts since Covid. Well I do drive an old 2012 Jeep…

I had to warn my daughter encountering those middle of the Interstate I-35 Toll Stops whenever she drove from Texas to KCMO to visit me.
That is the only gas stop til the next middle of the road stop which sounds strange if not familiar . They are access on both sides for travelers going north or south . Even includes travelers information to get those tourist brochures . And clean restrooms .

Not sure about your journey.
I would suggest joining AAA and registering for their Trip Tik that even will stamp known road congestion updates / detours and each day details Need to know traveleing with a child . You would have to request their spiral bound Trip Tik in advance …I have kept mine for souvenir memories including notes along the way. They have online Trip Tik if you prefer.
Also reports of those Tesla charging connectors being stolen from cars.
If you rent they might not provide it and you won’t realize .
Also very difficult to find charge locations on property that have not been vandalized.
Super Chargers are being built currently in Island Celebration near new Publix Market/ Celebration Brewing Straight down World Drive. The new Publix has an upper balcony to watch shoppers . I take a Starbucks up there to read their weekly ad brochure. But Starbucks is not close yet !
Island Celebration is still in expansion mode . Avoid during school hours driving to & from hours High School within walking distance creating congestion!

 

[ddluvsdisney]

We will be doing our annual drive in 26 days! My DS23 will be joining us IF he doesn’t get the job he’s waiting to hear from.
We are really hoping he gets the job!!!

 

[pwdebbie]

We will be doing our annual drive in 26 days! My DS23 will be joining us IF he doesn’t get the job he’s waiting to hear from.
We are really hoping he gets the job!!!

I could read this two ways . . .

 

[GrumpyInPhilly]

Heading south from Philly on a Thursday a little after noon (no option). I see the I-95 Express lane would cost about $50 from beginning (in MD) to end (in VA). How much time would this save me?

 

[tguz]

Making the 1,250 mile trip from Iowa in November. Probably going South around St Louis and past Memphis and on to Disney. We very much like to avoid Atlanta and nashville is sometimes pretty bad.

 

[bluezy]

Heading south from Philly on a Thursday a little after noon (no option). I see the I-95 Express lane would cost about $50 from beginning (in MD) to end (in VA). How much time would this save me?

It really depends on how much traffic there is at the time. You'll probably be hitting the DC area during the afternoon/evening rush hour, so it could save you some time. We make the decision on the spot based on traffic. You don't have to stay on it the entire time. We use it for several miles and if the traffic on the "free" road looks good again, we'll get off at the next exit. If traffic picks up, we'll get on the express lanes again at the next entrance. We usually pay about $25-35 in tolls one way...but that can really vary since they use dynamic pricing. I do know it adds up quickly though. You think, "Oh, it's $3 for the next 3.5 miles of Express Lanes (I used random numbers there), let's get on!" And then the next segment is a few dollars...and the next....and the next. And then you get home and look at your EZ pass account and realize you've spent $70+ in express lane tolls for the round trip. My husband is not very patient in traffic, so unless traffic on the "free" lanes is moving at a good clip, I will encourage him to use the express lanes.

 

[GrumpyInPhilly]

It really depends on how much traffic there is at the time. You'll probably be hitting the DC area during the afternoon/evening rush hour, so it could save you some time. We make the decision on the spot based on traffic. You don't have to stay on it the entire time. We use it for several miles and if the traffic on the "free" road looks good again, we'll get off at the next exit. If traffic picks up, we'll get on the express lanes again at the next entrance. We usually pay about $25-35 in tolls one way...but that can really vary since they use dynamic pricing. I do know it adds up quickly though. You think, "Oh, it's $3 for the next 3.5 miles of Express Lanes (I used random numbers there), let's get on!" And then the next segment is a few dollars...and the next....and the next. And then you get home and look at your EZ pass account and realize you've spent $70+ in express lane tolls for the round trip. My husband is not very patient in traffic, so unless traffic on the "free" lanes is moving at a good clip, I will encourage him to use the express lanes.

Thanks.

 

[thegame310]

Welp, last time I was in this thread was back in October 2023 when the wife, dog and I were all heading from PA to Disney.

I'm pleased to come back and say we are headed back this year, but this time to celebrate our, 1 year old's birthday! Last time we made the trip in 15 1/2 hours, and that will no where be the case this time around with a baby, but we still can't wait!

I'll be lurking in this thread until we roll out in July! It's good to be back.