Driving to Disney

[dreamcatcher]

Were driving down to Disney from New Jersey in August. Any suggestions on were to stay over for the night. I was thinking maybe South of the Border?

And what do you think the Temp will be in August at Disney?

Thanks:

 

[AspiringCindy]

Try Florence, SC. There are alot of places to stay at that exit. We drove from Jersey to WDW last summer and we opted for Santee, SC which is further south than where your inquiring. We stayed at the Holiday Inn and it was surprisingly very nice($50). It was immediately off of I95, and there was a gas station across the street and a McDonalds. We would stop there again. Being further south, made the next days traveling time a lot shorter!

 

[funhouse8]

AspiringCindy--

Can you tell me how much further you had to travel the last day. We are driving down in December and looking for a place to stay and Santee, SC sounds nice. Thanks, Gina

 

[colleen costello]

Cindy, your post made me smile. When I was a kid from Bayonne NJ in the 1970's, we drove to WDW with our trailer most summers to camp at Ft.Wilderness. We often stayed in Santee. There was a KOA campground there and a Hardee's restaurant and not much else! We have great pics of a rainbow there one evening, must have been about 1975. Back in those days our vehicles had no seatbelts and no air conditioning... Very different time.

Have fun in Santee!

 

[AspiringCindy]

The 2nd days travel was only about 6 hours. Not a bad ride! Especially when you know your sooooo close to WDW! Santee was a great place to stop. The Holiday Inn was recently renovated and was very clean and roomy. We used AAA for a discount.

 

[GenePA]

We live in southestern PA and drive down all of the time. We generally drive straight through but have stopped once on the way down and once on the way back......for an overnight stay. Personally, I would never stay at South of the Border. I find it cheesy and sleezy....just not our kind of place. We have stopped here before and the place is a real scam. From what I saw, is not very well kept either.

On the way down, if I stopped over, I would wait until further down in South Carolina or even just into Georgia (around the Savannah exits). This will leave you with about 5 hours to get to WDW the next day which will allow you to enjoy a lot of your day with Mickey. There are plenty of choices to stay in this area so you should not have a problem finding a nice place.

 

[ftwildernessguy]

We usually stay at Florence. Seems to be a good midway point. I once got all the way to Savannah, which made for a really short trip to WDW the next day, but that was one rough first day of driving!

 

[Gette88]

We drive down from Jersey and we have stopped in Georgia (Savannah exit. ) I don't think I'd like South of the Boarder for an overnight stay. Just for gas and to strecth. We drive straight into Daytona Beach. We wake up in the morning on the beach. We hang out till about 12:00 or so. Usually we stop at the Daytona International Speedway then head over to Disney. If you can handle getting most of your driving done the 1st day I suggest trying this.

 

[primax]

The is my bump to remember to reading this thread in July

 

[pointandshoot]

Just say no to South of the Border. Stay in Lumberton, NC or Florence, SC as suggested. If you make it to GA, Savannah is nice.

When we leave from NC (usually late) and do not want to rush, we stay in Brunswick, GA (45 minutes south of Savannah). They have an Embassy Suites attached to a mail that is safe and convenient to I-95. From that point, you have a 4 hour trip in the morning.

 

[funhouse8]

I just did mapquest and it should take 12 hours to get to Santee from Long Island. I like the idea of having only 6 hours left but not sure if 12 hours will be too much for my DH to drive. He drives a tracter-trailer at nights so the night driving is ok. Does anyone have any good ideas for something a couple of hours closer to home. By the way my kids love to stop at south of the border. It's so tacky, it's fun. But you are right I would never sleep here.

 

[Jo-Jo21]

This June will be our 3rd drive down from New Jersey and we like to stay in Fayetteville, NC. We drive 4 hours and stop for gas and a meal in Fredricksburg, VA. 4 more hours to Fayetteville and stay the night. The next morning we go 4 hours to Savannah and stop for gas and a meal. Then the last leg is about 4.5 hours into WDW.

 

[Jacksmom99]

South of the Boarder is soooo gross that I wouldn't even pee there!! We have stayed in Lumberton, NC and Santee, SC. Both nice. Santee has a population of 600. 4 hotels and a pigglywiggly. We are staying in Florence this year.

 

[dancechick99]

We are also driving down from Jersey in August. Try www.usastar.com. From there follow the link for I-95 exits or something like that. They list every hotel and restaurant in every state that I-95 passes through. Have a safe trip.

 

[funhouse8]

Thanks Dancechick99- That was a great site. I saved it for our trip in Dec. It will be very handy.