Where should we stop?

ellbell

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jul 8, 2014
My family and I are driving from Hamilton to Disney in April. I don't drive so my husband will be the only one driving. All our children are older so we aren't worried about small children getting bored. We plan on leaving from home at about 2am and want to get as far as possible so the second day of driving we get to disney by early afternoon. Where would a good stopping point be?
 
Leaving at 2AM? Wow. Will your husband be well rested before heading out at 2AM?

We've driven from London Ontario to Orlando each March for the past 6 years. We normally stop at 2 hotels on the way to Orlando so that we arrive in Florida and are still decently rested.

I did a quick Google Map plan from Hamilton to Disney World. That is 19.5 hours of non-stop driving.

Savannah Georgia is about 4.5 hrs away from Disney World, but that would mean that day 1 would involve 15 hours of driving. Leaving at 2AM, and allowing at minimum 1.5 hrs for gas stops / border crossing - that would get you into Savannah at 6:30PM to 7:00PM - provided that you run into absolutely no delays. That's a pretty long haul...

Our family wouldn't consider that aggressive of a travel schedule. We would leave after work the day before and drive for 5 hours and then stop for the night at an inexpensive hotel. Then the 2nd day would only be 10 hrs of daylight driving hours.

I'd suggest playing with Google Maps to see the travel distance between Orlando and the different points along your route to see what would work best.
 
I've got an app.that gives us 4 stops between here and orlando. Savannah is one of them I was just looking for advise from others who have done the drive that may have other suggestions

My husband is aware of the long drive and will be going to bed after work the day before we leave. We are leaving at that time to try to avoid a lot of traffic. He is use to long drives.
 
I used to drive from Montreal to Orlando a couple of time per year. If I planned to stop only once I would stop in the Carolinas close to the border between the 2 states. Depending on the route you're taking you'll probably be rejoining the I-95 in South Carolina so anywhere between there and Georgia should be fine for a stop. And leaving you about 6 hours left on your trip to get to WDW.
 


I'm not sure what route you're taking but we drove down once (one way) and we stopped overnight twice. First night was just past Harrisburg, then we woke up very early and drove to Disney's Hilton Head Resort and stayed 2 nights. Our plan wasn't to drive straight because it was just too far for us.
 
I used to drive from Montreal to Orlando a couple of time per year. If I planned to stop only once I would stop in the Carolinas close to the border between the 2 states. Depending on the route you're taking you'll probably be rejoining the I-95 in South Carolina so anywhere between there and Georgia should be fine for a stop. And leaving you about 6 hours left on your trip to get to WDW.
Thanks I was looking at around that area. 6 or 7 hours on the second day was about what we were thinking. Have you stayed in the area? Do you have any recommendations?
 
We have travelled by car to Disney 3 times in the last 3 years from the Niagara Region. Last year worked out perfectly for us. We stopped in Walterboro, South Carolina. We stayed at the Hampton Inn which is a new hotel built in 2017. It is right on the side of the 95 so you don't have to exit and drive a long distance to get to your hotel. The hotel is a great value at around $130.00 and includes breakfast. The next morning you will have about a 5.5 - 6 hour drive to get to Disney.
 


We have travelled by car to Disney 3 times in the last 3 years from the Niagara Region. Last year worked out perfectly for us. We stopped in Walterboro, South Carolina. We stayed at the Hampton Inn which is a new hotel built in 2017. It is right on the side of the 95 so you don't have to exit and drive a long distance to get to your hotel. The hotel is a great value at around $130.00 and includes breakfast. The next morning you will have about a 5.5 - 6 hour drive to get to Disney.
Thank you for the info. I checked into that option after you mentioned it and because we are a family of 6 the total cost was almost 400 dollars so it won't be an option.

I am looking at a town called Hardeville. Has anyone stayed there? What is the area like?
 
We are about a half hour away from you and we've driven it twice. first time was a little too aggressive. We stopped twice for an hour of shut eye and kept going. All I can say to that is I'd never do that again. Second time we stopped in Beckley WV. If I remember right it was about 7 or 8 hours from around Paris/Brantford area and the next day was about a 12 hour drive.
 
We are about a half hour away from you and we've driven it twice. first time was a little too aggressive. We stopped twice for an hour of shut eye and kept going. All I can say to that is I'd never do that again. Second time we stopped in Beckley WV. If I remember right it was about 7 or 8 hours from around Paris/Brantford area and the next day was about a 12 hour drive.

Thanks for the info. We would probably do the opposite and do the long drive the first day and the shorter on the second day. Currently I've got a room booked in Hardeeville, SC for our one night stop.

We do get the opportunity to test it out as we have a cruise booked in November ( without the kids) that leaves from Fort Lauderdale and we plan on stopping at Disney Springs on the way down so we are going to try to do a practice run. With just 2 people instead of 6 a room will be easier to get last minute. If we find we don't make it as far as we hope the first day I can adjust for our April trip.
 
Sounds pretty good. I know our last time we left home around 5 pm and crossed at Fort Erie. We don't cross at Niagara Falls anymore but anyways I thin we got there around 1am. Next day we got to Port Canaveral around 1 or 2 am. We love Fort Lauderdale. We are flying down next month and driving back to Orlando.
 
Thanks I was looking at around that area. 6 or 7 hours on the second day was about what we were thinking. Have you stayed in the area? Do you have any recommendations?

I've seen that you booked Hardeeville. It's probably a good option. I don't get that far south on the 1st day. I usually stop either in Lumberton, NC or Santee, SC. Be careful at the end of a long drive it's easy to lose focus on the road.
 
I've seen that you booked Hardeeville. It's probably a good option. I don't get that far south on the 1st day. I usually stop either in Lumberton, NC or Santee, SC. Be careful at the end of a long drive it's easy to lose focus on the road.
Thanks, we are taking that into consideration. When we do our trial run of we reach a point where we think we should stop I'll cancel our plans I Hardeeville and find something around where we got to. I checked your suggestions and they are in excellent locations. I may look into some hotels there to make day 1 of travel a little easier.
 
We are in London and have done the drive many times now. We like to leave around 4 in the morning. (we've left earlier and later but this is our usual time) We like to drive a big chunk the first day. We drive along i-75 and stop in georgia anytime after atlanta. (usually past macon) We always stop right after dinner, so usually by 7. The next day we have no more then 5 hours of driving and are usually in orlando by lunch time. I dont drive on any of the trips so its just my husband. This is what works for us, having a good nights sleep and a short day the second day makes us well rested for the rest of our vacation
 
We are in London and have done the drive many times now. We like to leave around 4 in the morning. (we've left earlier and later but this is our usual time) We like to drive a big chunk the first day. We drive along i-75 and stop in georgia anytime after atlanta. (usually past macon) We always stop right after dinner, so usually by 7. The next day we have no more then 5 hours of driving and are usually in orlando by lunch time. I dont drive on any of the trips so its just my husband. This is what works for us, having a good nights sleep and a short day the second day makes us well rested for the rest of our vacation
Thanks it's nice to read about people in very similar situations being able to do it.

I'm loving all the comments they are very helpful. Thank you every.
 
We're in Orangeville so about an hour north of you. We tend to leave around 5 am and stop just north of Charlotte in Huntersville (one of my kids really likes a restaurant there). That give us 13 hours the first day and 9 the second. To optimize driving time we pack food for breakfast and lunch both days. Traffic the second day can be interesting depending on the day of the week and your timing through Jacksonville and I-4 into Orlando. On our last driving trip I purchased and actived a Sunpass transponder at the Florida Welcome Centre to make using 417 around Orlando easier.
 
We're in Orangeville so about an hour north of you. We tend to leave around 5 am and stop just north of Charlotte in Huntersville (one of my kids really likes a restaurant there). That give us 13 hours the first day and 9 the second. To optimize driving time we pack food for breakfast and lunch both days. Traffic the second day can be interesting depending on the day of the week and your timing through Jacksonville and I-4 into Orlando. On our last driving trip I purchased and actived a Sunpass transponder at the Florida Welcome Centre to make using 417 around Orlando easier.
We also plan on packing lunch and breakfast options to eat on the go. With older kids it seemed like a better option then using an hour to sit down and eat at a restaurant.
 
We've driven several times from Niagara Falls, and with my brother who's from Hamilton. We have stopped in Columbia S.C., Charlotte N.C. both are a long drive the first day stopping around 9 pm but that's with a 6 am start. We had kids with us 6 and 9 yrs, so lots of bathroom/pent up energy breaks. Both get you to Disney around 5 pm with a 7:30 start next morning. Once we drove to Orangeburg which just off Highway 26 in South Carolina. I found that first day drive to be very hard. But we arrived at Disney early afternoon.

On the way back, we try to make it to Beckley, WV. That's a long drive too, but gets you back to the border in early afternoon.

Depends on whether you are used to driving a long time, and fatigue setting in when you are on a long stretch of road, you could make Orangeburg earlier than we did. I should say we don't stop for dinner until we are stopping for the night.

We didn't want to take half the week getting there as we have limited vacation time and we like to stay a full week at Disney, then chill out at a beach for a few days.

If you take 77/79 there are a lot of rest areas with picnic grounds and nice clean facilities, so bring a cooler with sandwiches and eat at those. You don't have to wait in a restaurant to get served, pay the bill etc. We really only leave the interstate for gas. Try to stay at a hotel that has a free breakfast. Once you hit I95 there aren't as many rest facilities and we would stop for a fast food lunch somewhere in Georgia.

Don't forget to stop at the Florida Welcome Centre for your free sample of Florida Orange Juice (or grapefruit)
 

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