1 last question about driving from MA

[mom42860]

We are leaving Thursday night 11 pm to drive to Disney, will drive all night while the kids sleep (hopefully). Do you find find the rest areas well lit and safe for stopping at night? I know if we are drinking coffee we will have to stop and am just curious.

[eeyoresmom]

HI we are leaving fron central MA 4 am friday am so we'll be right behind you!We just did the drive,overnight,in Jan and it was soooooo much better than I expected! The rest stops on 95 are great,well lit and populated. You wont feel unsafe. Beware in VA,the speed limit is slow and the are state police everywhere. Have fun!

[MNT568]

How long did it take you drive from MA? Where you tired when you finally arrived? Did one person do all the driving or did you switch off? My Mom loves Disney but she isn't too keen on flying and the train is too expensive. I was playing with the idea of driving but I don't know if it would be too much.

[toystorymom]

We have the long trip from MA to Disney coming up too, and with 3 small kids. We are thinking of leaving around the kids bedtime and driving through the night. We have 2 drivers who can switch off and it would get a big chunk of the drive out of the way while they are sleeping. We would keep driving through the next day too and stop as needed. We plan on staying over one night and then heading out early and arriving at Disney by lunch. Does this sound reasonable? Obviously this is a first for us.

When you guys get back you'll have to let us know how the journey was. Honestly I'm not really dreading it too much - the drive home though is another story!

[eeyoresmom]

Toystorymom, if you planon driving thru the night and the next day you will be at Disney that evening(we drove down from central Ma in Jan and it only took 20 hrs) If you leave right after rush hour you will be thruough NY and DC area overnight and the traffic is so light overnight you'll really save time.We left at 5pm drove straight through stopping for gas and bathrooms3-4 times. WE stopped for breafast in SC and checked into the All Stars at 2pm. We werent too tired , we did dd that night, ate at Planet Hollywood. The biggest lifesaver was the tv/vcr. We had 5 kids. Will probably never fly again. BTW, with all the $ we saved on airfare we'Re going again in 2 days!

[LBYC-19]

I wish you guys a very safe trip driving and a magical vacation once you arrive,
maybe we'll see you there!

[airhead]

I'm still in the "thinkin'-about-it" stage,so I'll be lookin' for a road report when you get back!
Take notes!! Above all,have fun,drive safe!!!!


airhead

[toystorymom]

Thanks eeyores mom. We are still trying to decide our actual plan but we know it will include the tv/vcr!

Hope you all have a safe journey and a truly wonderful time. Please let us know how it goes!

I can't wait until June!!

[jenny2]

We've done the drive from central MA a few times, and the drive down is a breeze (compared to the drive home :) ). We leave around dinner time, DD falls asleep around 7 and sleeps the night. DH and I switch on and off through the night, and we're usually in VA or NC by breakfast and at WDW by early afternoon. It usually takes us around 20 hours to get down there.

We have yet to leave at a good time for coming home, though. We usually feel like we should leave early in the morning... which is fine while we're driving during the day. But when it starts to get dark after driving all day and we're only in VA or DC... it's REALLY hard to stay awake. We end up taking more breaks, and getting home around 6AM (about 24 hours later) which is the start of the next day... ugh! At that point all I want to do is crawl into bed, but DD is ready to get up!

I told DH next time we're either keeping the same schedule as the drive down and leaving after dinner, or we're stopping somewhere for the night. You just don't have the excitement for the ride home like you do for the ride down!

We bought a 9" TV/VCR on the last ride home so we'll be trying it out on our next trip (2 kids this time!).

Have a great trip!!

[PattnFmly]

Has anyone ever left from the Boston area at 9:00 in the morning? My DH works 3rd shift and I figure if I have everything ready the night before, then when he gets home at 7:30 am we can just load the last minute things and head off. I'll drive first while he takes a nap. We do have 2 small children, so they'll be awake some during the day, but should sleep that night. I just don't want to have to waste a whole day before leaving in the evening.

[eeyoresmom]

Pat, I would make sure you don't hit th DC area at the evening rush hour. Besides that you should be fine. By driving during the day you'll just add a couple of hours to the total.

[PattnFmly]

Has anyone ever left from the Boston area at 9:00 in the morning? My DH works 3rd shift and I figure if I have everything ready the night before, then when he gets home at 7:30 am we can just load the last minute things and head off. I'll drive first while he takes a nap. We do have 2 small children, so they'll be awake some during the day, but should sleep that night. I just don't want to have to waste a whole day before leaving in the evening.

[PattnFmly]

Thanks for the reminder. Sorry about the extra post, I got scared when I couldn't find it. Is it about 10 hours to DC from Boston? I figure with the kids, we'll probably stop a little more so I'm hoping we'll hit it right after rush hour. I want to miss leaving in rush hour in Boston too.

[eeyoresmom]

Pat. we drove overnight and are about an hour closer than you and we hit dc in less than 7 hrs. I would think you'll hit it in about 9 which would put you there around 6. But the problem is it's not just dc, it's that whole metro area which is pretty big. What day of the week are you going?

[toystorymom]

I am really starting to think that we can do the whole trip without an overnight stay by driving through the night and the next day with just a few stops. I just know it would be so much easier on the kids. Even if we could make it to Disney by dinner time that would give us the whole next day instead of spending more hours travelling. I just think the kids would hate to finally settle into a hotel only to get up the next morning and get back in the car. We are already south of Boston so that is no problem, and if we can make it through the DC area before the morning traffic we would be much better off. Any other trouble spots to watch for?

Eeyore's mom, aren't you leaving in the morning?! Just curious, why did you decide to do the daytime drive, instead of overnight this time?

[mom42860]

eeyoresmom - thanks for the info on the rest stops, just stopped by for 1 last look on the Dis, have to pick the kids up from school, finish last minute packing and we are heading out after supper! Can't beleive it is finally here-have a great trip too

[eeyoresmom]

toystorymom,I am leaving in 7 hrs! I'm doing it overnight this time because my husband isn't coming along. Just me and 5 kids! Iwould prefer to do the drive overnight but if I should have mechanical problems I'd rather have it happen in the day.I'll post when I get back. BTW,this afternoon we were at a lawyers office refinancing our home,when he found out we were driving to Disney all he talked about was how much he and his family enjoy the drive. They do it every year.The ride home does get tedious,but when you think about the savings and flexibility for alot of people it's a better way to go.

[PattnFmly]

Have a great trip eeyoresmom! I wish I was going now. We're not actually going until October. I've driven before (years ago) and left 5 am-ish. But that was before I was married and had children! I couldn't remember the distance to DC. But perhaps if I get up a little earlier, and have the kids ready, we can leave as soon as DH gets home from work. I remember the last time I did hit traffic going around Baltimore, but just stopped at that time and ate supper and let the traffic go for an hour. Best wishes and have a safe trip!

[buzz5985]

Hi everyone - we drove down in Feb (left the 23rd, a Saturday). Left Wakefield at 4 am. Myself, DH, DS (5)and the Dog (11). We were going through NY at 8 am. I forget what time through Washington, a little traffic, but there was a car fire. Nothing compared to Boston rush hours!!! Stopped in Rocky Mount NC around 5 pm. Left Rocky Mount at 4:30 am, arrived ASMo at 3 PM. The most traffic we hit was around Orlando, believe it or not. Then on the way home we stopped at my sisters in NC, so I really can't comment on our return trip since we had a nice diversion.

[Uncleromulus]

buzz: having seen DC rush hour traffic at the "mixing bowl" I can't possibly imagine there being any place in the entire country worse than that!! Some while ago I heard about a psychologist who was advertising some sort of counseling for "commuter stress" in that DC/VA. area!! And there's the story about the lady who taught herself French and Spanish (via audio) tapes while sitting in mixing bowl area traffic.
So to drivers from Mass.--whatever you do, don't arrive at the mixing bowl anytime near morning or afternoon rush hour. We're driving down in May and will be leaving S. Pa. at 4:00 AM--just to be around the mixing bowl before 6:00 AM.

[genetic jackhammer]

Leaving from Framingham on May 24th, hopefully around 8-9 am. This will be our first drive to Disney and we are going to take our time, stopping two nights and arriving sometime on the 26th. We are using the AAA Triptik and the recommendation from them is to avoid 95 going thru Baltimore and DC. The route we are going is Rt 84 to Rt 81 which hopefully will save time even though its a few extra miles. For those of you on this thread (sorry I forget your names) that are driving in the daytime, you might want to check out this route.

[PattnFmly]

Thanks, genetic jackhammer, I'll keep that in mind. How soon before your trip did you need to order the triptik? A month or so? Do they tell you the prices of any tolls? I want to have some idea of the toll expense before we go.

[Jacksmom99]

I don't know how long it takes to get the Triptix, DH always gets them MONTHS ahead of time because he's so excited. They do give info on the toll prices. Last summer we left Brockton at 5am and were past DC in Alexandria, VA by 2:30 checked into a hotel and swimming in the pool. Last summer we did the drive in 3 days because we weren't sure how DS (2 1/2 at the time) would do. Each day we were in the hotel and swimming by 2:30/ 3:00 and the last day we reached OKW by 12:30 from Santee, SC. Each morning we were on the road by 5:30 because I was so excited I was up and repacked by 4:30 and trying not to make TOO much noise..... :D This year we are still leaving the first day between 4:30 and 5 am on a Friday and driving with 2 kids (DS 3 1/2 and the TBA baby who will be 2 1/2 months). We are planning to drive past Richmind, VA to Petersburg? on the first day. I think that's about 12 hours. We will eat in the car, only stopping to feed/change the baby and let DS run wild. DH is very set on getting to Orlando by Sat. evening to be able to watch the Pat's game at the ESPN club. I'm thinking he'll be the one this year to be up and packed by 4am:)

[buzz5985]

PattnFmly - I can help with the tolls. I left from Wakefield 2/23, I was keeping track of expenses to compare to flying. Total tolls down - $11.70. (Mass pike - $1.75, Garden State Parkway - $1.05, Jersey Turnpike $2.90, DE bridge $3.00, Kennedy Bridge DE $2.00, Kennedy Bridge MMD $1.00)

I didn't go 95 back, so I am unsure of the prices going north. I just know you pay for the Tappen Zee Bridge going North.

I ordered my Triptix from AAA over a weekend, online, and had the package by Thursday or Friday. AAA is very fast.

[PattnFmly]

Thanks Buzz5985. I"ll add your toll info to my planning book. Did you go down 95 through CT? Or out by Worcester to 84 in CT? I've done both, because I left with my parents from their house when I was younger.

[buzz5985]

Mass Pike to Route 84.

[Harryo]

We drive every year(DW, 2DS and DD). We leave around 9pm and drive until 3pm the next day. that puts us in Brunswick Ga which is about 4 hrs from Orlando. We get up and on the road the next day by 8am and where there by 12pm.