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

[java]

My dd who lives in Pooler, GA just made the trip north following that route last Tuesday and are returning home this week. They traveled with four kids between 12 and 16 (set of twins in there) and came up for my mother's funeral. One thing notable was the lack of public rest areas. Most were closed due to covid. They actually got to the point once where they were pulling into the drive-thrus of fast food places and asking if the bathroom was open. No bathroom, no order, they just drove to the next one. I think dd said it took five drive-thrus before they finally found a fast food place that had a bathroom open. Several that said their bathrooms were not open pointed to portapotties in their parking lot. Now, can you imagine THAT being clean???

we found open bathrooms the entire trip not sure what they ran into. We used rest stops

 

[java]

Just drove through the Georgia/Florida border headed down. Happy to report no checkpoints!!!

 

[Anthony Vito]

So, just starting to dig in here. We come in just under 1,000 miles each way, but hope no one holds that against us (although if we drop/pick-up the dog at my in-laws, we go over 1,000). We're traveling from central Delaware. For those traveling recently and soon, I definitely would like to hear more about how things are right now. I did this trip a few times as a kid (except opposite directions and from South Florida up to Delaware & New York). We did make the trip in 2009 with just my wife, my brother, and me, but we were in our 20s and without kids, so it was easy, especially with 3 drivers to switch off through the night.

We will be doing the trip now with our two kids, ages 6 & 8. We're going down at the end of August - check in on 8/22 - so we're planning on leaving on 8/21, in the evening, and driving straight through the night and getting down to WDW mid-to-late morning. We decided that we would feel much safer driving rather than flying. Plus this way we'd have our car and would be able to drive to the non Magic Kingdom parks and avoid buses.

My main concerns have to do with stopping along the way - I'm seeing mixed things on rest stops as far as people wearing masks, etc., and it was just mentioned about some being closed. I'm also concerned about safe rest stops for stopping if I really need to in order to nap for an hour or two (about to turn 40, I'm not sure how I'll do staying up most of the night any more). My father made this trip a bunch of times relatively recently, and he said there are rest stops that have 24-hour armed security, so they're safer, so I guess I need to keep an eye out for that (if needed).

I'm sure I will ask more questions as I prepare for this - so thanks for insight in advance.

 

[FlappyFish3D]

Just drove through the Georgia/Florida border headed down. Happy to report no checkpoints!!!

thanks for the tip! did you have any issues in finding rest stops being closed/open? I assume you drove down the I95 corridor?

 

[MNswimmer18]

Hi. We're suposed to go to Florida in October for a wedding. We are planning on going to Disney 3 days while there. Last time we went, we flew. This time, if we go, we may drive to limit our exposure to others. We live in near, Saint Paul, MN. Any pointers? We have three kids who will be 6, 4, and 2.

We went to Colorado earlier this summer. We drove about 900 miles each way. We took three days, mostly because the first night we stayed with a friend 325 miles from home. We were camping in Colorado, so I didn't want to get to camp late, so we split up the rest of the 9+ hour drive (~570 miles) into two days. On the way home we took two days, 355 miles (did some site seeing on that day), and 600 miles to home.

We're staying in a condo offsite. Any tips on where to break up the trip? 2 or 3 days with kids our ages? On our CO trip, they were getting antsy towards the end of the day. We have a DVD player in the van, and we only used it once each day for maybe an hour.

 

[java]

thanks for the tip! did you have any issues in finding rest stops being closed/open? I assume you drove down the I95 corridor?

No I did 81/77/26/95. Every one I came across was open. Some services were not available (like on site reservation people) but bathrooms were open

 

[Anthony Vito]

Does anyone use a roof cargo box? We're traveling down in 3 weeks, and we got the manufacturer installed crossbars on our roof rack on our 2016 Honda Pilot when we bought it 4 years ago. We can fit everything in the car without the extra space, but it's a bit tight and I'd prefer not to block my rearview-vision for such a long trip or just feel like we're cramming everything in so much (also don't want to make sure to keep the area by the kids clear to just make it feel more comfortable). However, the decent ones are quite expensive. Part of what we're trying to figure out is what we can actually fit in these. We've seen YouTube videos, but they're not that helpful (that we've found), and we've read the spec dimensions, but it's not clear where are those measurements are, plus they only open up so far to get things into them. So, for example, can we fit a suitcase or two? Can we fit a stroller? Etc.

 

[pwdebbie]

Does anyone use a roof cargo box? We're traveling down in 3 weeks, and we got the manufacturer installed crossbars on our roof rack on our 2016 Honda Pilot when we bought it 4 years ago. We can fit everything in the car without the extra space, but it's a bit tight and I'd prefer not to block my rearview-vision for such a long trip or just feel like we're cramming everything in so much (also don't want to make sure to keep the area by the kids clear to just make it feel more comfortable). However, the decent ones are quite expensive. Part of what we're trying to figure out is what we can actually fit in these. We've seen YouTube videos, but they're not that helpful (that we've found), and we've read the spec dimensions, but it's not clear where are those measurements are, plus they only open up so far to get things into them. So, for example, can we fit a suitcase or two? Can we fit a stroller? Etc.

We used to use one when our kids were still home (hey, I'm going back to pre 2000 there). It cuts down on your gas mileage noticeably. And we had it pop open once, not fun. My dd had the same thing happen to them last year, stuff was strewn all over an interstate. After our catastrophe, we decided never again. I think my dd would say the same.

 

[dvczerfs]

We used to use one when our kids were still home (hey, I'm going back to pre 2000 there). It cuts down on your gas mileage noticeably. And we had it pop open once, not fun. My dd had the same thing happen to them last year, stuff was strewn all over an interstate. After our catastrophe, we decided never again. I think my dd would say the same.

We tried it once years ago. After that we bought a minivan. You know it's there that's for sure. Spent the trip looking in the mirror to make sure our luggage wasn't on the interstate. lol I'm just more comfortable with everything on the inside. You do see a lot of them.

 

[dvczerfs]

Well last weekend we made the decision to forgo our two week trip to the Boardwalk next month. We feel it was safer going to Disney than shopping at our local grocery store but a few things figured into our decision. Anymore we spend about 2-3 hours in a park. We spend a lot of time dining and hitting our favorite establishments. Lol
Most of what we like to do is closed. We have an 8 night planned for March at the Polynesian and another two week planned for September of 2021. ( not sure if September 2021 trip will happen either)
We also have made the decision not to make the 2000 mile drive anymore. Yes, March will most likely be our last hurrah. My wife does visit Wills Eye in Philadelphia every year so we will either drive or fly back north for that appointment once a year but our beloved WDW driving trips are ending.
I haven't been around too much lately but I have met a lot of wonderful people here on this thread. Some are not with us anymore. I miss our visits at the World with our friend Sarah.
It's been great talking to everyone over the years.
I will still be around, in fact even closer than before. Lol
When things settle down and people start heading back to central Florida, give me a shout I would like to meet up even if it's just a hand shake. I love meeting people with the same love of"driving to WDw" as I do..

 

[nono]

Well last weekend we made the decision to forgo our two week trip to the Boardwalk next month. We feel it was safer going to Disney than shopping at our local grocery store but a few things figured into our decision. Anymore we spend about 2-3 hours in a park. We spend a lot of time dining and hitting our favorite establishments. Lol
Most of what we like to do is closed. We have an 8 night planned for March at the Polynesian and another two week planned for September of 2021. ( not sure if September 2021 trip will happen either)
We also have made the decision not to make the 2000 mile drive anymore. Yes, March will most likely be our last hurrah. My wife does visit Wills Eye in Philadelphia every year so we will either drive or fly back north for that appointment once a year but our beloved WDW driving trips are ending.
I haven't been around too much lately but I have met a lot of wonderful people here on this thread. Some are not with us anymore. I miss our visits at the World with our friend Sarah.
It's been great talking to everyone over the years.
I will still be around, in fact even closer than before. Lol
When things settle down and people start heading back to central Florida, give me a shout I would like to meet up even if it's just a hand shake. I love meeting people with the same love of"driving to WDw" as I do..

So, congrats are in order??!

 

[dvczerfs]

So, congrats are in order??!

Yes. As you may of suspected.lol
This spring we are putting our house on the market.
After our house is sold and settled, we are going to rent an apartment in the central Florida area. It will give me time to get a job, welcome to walmart! Lol and to look for a house. If all goes well, we should be settled in by next Halloween/thanksgiving.
We have been talking about this since 1985 and after the year we all have had, it has taught us one thing, life is short. We are a little nervous. We both have never lived more than a few miles from where we were born but man, are we excited!!!!
Every year it got harder and harder to drive back north.
We know the area pretty well and we have some friends we have met over the years in the central Florida area so we'll be fine.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Yes. As you may of suspected.lol
This spring we are putting our house on the market.
After our house is sold and settled, we are going to rent an apartment in the central Florida area. It will give me time to get a job, welcome to walmart! Lol and to look for a house. If all goes well, we should be settled in by next Halloween/thanksgiving.
We have been talking about this since 1985 and after the year we all have had, it has taught us one thing, life is short. We are a little nervous. We both have never lived more than a few miles from where we were born but man, are we excited!!!!
Every year it got harder and harder to drive back north.
We know the area pretty well and we have some friends we have met over the years in the central Florida area.

Congrats!!!
Can’t wait for us to be able to do it too!

 

[TheHamm]

Does anyone use a roof cargo box? We're traveling down in 3 weeks, and we got the manufacturer installed crossbars on our roof rack on our 2016 Honda Pilot when we bought it 4 years ago. We can fit everything in the car without the extra space, but it's a bit tight and I'd prefer not to block my rearview-vision for such a long trip or just feel like we're cramming everything in so much (also don't want to make sure to keep the area by the kids clear to just make it feel more comfortable). However, the decent ones are quite expensive. Part of what we're trying to figure out is what we can actually fit in these. We've seen YouTube videos, but they're not that helpful (that we've found), and we've read the spec dimensions, but it's not clear where are those measurements are, plus they only open up so far to get things into them. So, for example, can we fit a suitcase or two? Can we fit a stroller? Etc.

We have a smaller car (ford c-max) and a Thule roof top bag. We were able to fit our city select double and two carry on suitcases in it without trouble. It did catch wind and it did impact our MPG, but not enough to be enough of a financial burden equal to renting a larger vehicle. We did find that the straps came loose after a bit, so we tightened them every time we stopped the car. We also wrap things in a heavy garbage bag as we have heard they become less weather resistant over time, and the zipper area is a bit sketchy anyhow. It seems less secure than a hard sided box so we didn’t leave much in it for overnight stops.

 

[BC1836]

Checkin' in with all of the marathon drivers.

Three WDW Speedway stations are being replaced by 7-11 stations.

All the best!

 

[disneysteve]

Three WDW Speedway stations are being replaced by 7-11 stations.

7-11 just bought Speedway

 

[RedSox68]

Biting at the bit to get out -- drive somewhere, anywhere -- see people, socialize, eat out, you know.

Thinking about the amazing driving trip we took in September/October last year. We started in New Jersey, drove down to the coast, staying in some lovely places including a bed and breakfast in St. Augustine (again), ended in Key West with a week-long stay at an amazing house I found out about on here. What a great place Key West is -- and with all the pros and cons I read about on here, I can honestly say we weren't disappointed about the drive through the Keys at all. We stopped at the dolphin rehab and (lucked out) that it was their one day a year with free admission -- saw some great shows and Flipper's grave. Loved all the places we visited going in and out of the Keys. Saw the African Queen boat in Key Largo -- had a great hotel there where we watched the sunset on the beach. Then spent 3 days touring both ends of the Everglades -- just stunning. Stayed 3 nights in Miami (that place has some of THE most insane drivers I've ever seen -- and I've driven in Boston, NYC and Los Angeles. Yikes -- their car insurance must be insane). Took a 10-night cruise on Oceania in the middle, visited Viscaya Mansion on our way out of Miami, stayed 2 nights in Jupiter (by-passed our planned visit to Cape Canaveral -- to hot), but LOVED Jupiter. The lighthouse and park were beautiful, visited Flagler's Mansion and then drove out of Florida and started on Route US 17. We spent 25 days on the road in total, 10 days on a cruise and drove over 2,000 miles and saw gators, crocks, armadillos and amazing scenery. I love road trips -- we were going to go north for our anniversary this month, but we're too afraid to stay somewhere right now. We are planning a driving trip next year around Belgium to visit the WWI and WWII battlefields. I truly hope we can travel by then. Good luck to all -- and stay safe.

 

[bower007]

Just canceled our Oct 2020 trip, so 2k mile trip #5 will now have to wait till April 2021. For those of you still headed to FL, please be safe!

 

[Sunelis]

I'm still holding on to my November trip... If the border is open I'll drive straight through from Montreal and hope for the best.

 

[BC1836]

Just checking in on all the long distance drivers who haven't been driving to WDW of late.

All the best!