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

[BC1836]

News report: Big-time monorail problems, especially the Epcot track and the TTC-MK track. We saw one being "towed" away this afternoon.

All the best!

 

[jm106]

question again- Google Maps route is 78 from NJ to route 15(near but not getting on 81) to 95 looks like in Bethesda MD. If I stay on 81, which route do you like to get over to 95? I thought people told me 64 but I recall when SIL lived in Charlottesville VA, heavy weekend traffic(it has been a while though so I cant say we were on 64.)
Starting to get anxiety about this drive again. UGH, I hate it

 

[BC1836]

Ugh! The drive home begins tomorrow morning.

All the best.

 

[java]

We usually shoot across 77 from I81 then get on 26(I think) hitting 95 near Charleston. When are you leaving? We leave Tuesday early AM and I'm debating which route to take. I 95 is usually a traffic bomb but aAA told me of construction on I 81. Don't know how bad that is. Aaaah! I just want to hit the road.

question again- Google Maps route is 78 from NJ to route 15(near but not getting on 81) to 95 looks like in Bethesda MD. If I stay on 81, which route do you like to get over to 95? I thought people told me 64 but I recall when SIL lived in Charlottesville VA, heavy weekend traffic(it has been a while though so I cant say we were on 64.)
Starting to get anxiety about this drive again. UGH, I hate it

 

[java]

Hey are we neighbors?

I'm on north west NJ, no place near the shore, just a few minutes from PA

I am t-3 right now and freaking out. On the road again. I can't wait to get on the road again. Oh and our trip down starts in Fort Myers! So add about 3 hours onto the trip. (Where is my fainting guy?)

 

[jm106]

Hey are we neighbors?

I am t-3 right now and freaking out. On the road again. I can't wait to get on the road again. Oh and our trip down starts in Fort Myers! So add about 3 hours onto the trip. (Where is my fainting guy?)

We leave next Saturday! Also freaking out!! We plan to drive it again in December too
We head to west palm after Orlando then debating, west coast of FL or go with orig plan of Savannah and Charleston(weather lately has me questioning touring the city and just heading to the beach.

 

[java]

I will update which route we end up taking and how it went before you leave. My boys are flying down that day out of Lehigh. Got a great deal on allegiant. But we will ALL be driving back.

 

[dvcville]

Hi All,

So I’m looking for some I-81 driving experiences. We usually take I-95 down to the house of mouse but this year we are leaving on a Friday and I know from experience, that the shore traffic from DE through VA can be a nightmare. So I am looking at the 81,77,26,95 to I-4. I’m looking for best time to drive 81 and any areas of congestion and construction, that I need to look out for.

Thanks in Advance

 

[java]

I got trip tix from AAA
These are the construction highlights
I 81 at exit 310
Mile marker 170
Exit 150
Milepost 155.5, 151.7, 147.6
Exit 94

I77
Mm 31
Between exit 1-8
At junction with I 40

I 26
Exit115-129
Seems like a boatload! Which is why I am thinking of 95.
Would love to hear from someone that has driven i81 recently.

 

[dvcville]

I got trip tix from AAA
These are the construction highlights
I 81 at exit 310
Mile marker 170
Exit 150
Milepost 155.5, 151.7, 147.6
Exit 94

I77
Mm 31
Between exit 1-8
At junction with I 40

I 26
Exit115-129
Seems like a boatload! Which is why I am thinking of 95.
Would love to hear from someone that has driven i81 recently.

Thnx! for the construction updates. I Usually take I 95 and the construction is endless in VA. I have heard there is construction on 95 in SC now too. I have never driven 81 and that’s why I am tossed on which route to take.

 

[java]

I also got a trip tix for 95 just in case. I'll try to post those delays later. Leaning towards i81

 

[dvczerfs]

I got a text from someone on this thread that said someone needs help with 81/77/26? I've driven it a few times. Lol
I was on this route may 16th, most of that construction won't slow you down. The mm31 was a small resurfacing project that held us up for about 15 min. Or so.
Not sure where or which way your coming from but places I don't hit at rush hour are, Lehigh valley pa, Harrisburg pa, Charolete nc. , and Columbia sc. Harrisburg and Charolete are the big ones.
Most of that is wide open highway, mountains.
There is no sure bet way of going but for me, where I live, I can get there faster and easier then going down the coast going 78/81/26/95.

 

[dvcville]

I got a text from someone on this thread that said someone needs help with 81/77/26? I've driven it a few times. Lol
I was on this route may 16th, most of that construction won't slow you down. The mm31 was a small resurfacing project that held us up for about 15 min. Or so.
Not sure where or which way your coming from but places I don't hit at rush hour are, Lehigh valley pa, Harrisburg pa, Charolete nc. , and Columbia sc. Harrisburg and Charolete are the big ones.
Most of that is wide open highway, mountains.
There is no sure bet way of going but for me, where I live, I can get there faster and easier then going down the coast going 78/81/26/95.

I live in Collegeville Montgomery county. I would have to drive out to Harrisburg using the turnpike then to 81. We are traveling on a Friday in a few weeks. What time would you suggest for departure?

 

[pwdebbie]

Greetings from the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa [the Walt Disney World Today TV channel plays in the background]!

We finally arrived here at 9:45 a.m. after stops in Richmond (1 night), Colonial Williamsburg (3 nights), Raleigh, NC (1 night) and Lake Beuna Vista (last night).

Driving on I-4 on Sunday was uneventful; in fact, no traffic slowdowns, even on Apopka (we made every green light from Exit #68 to the Holiday Inn, where we stayed last night).

All the best!

Weren't you there in April when we were there? Or am I thinking of someone else here? At first I was jealous that you were going back so soon and then I realized how hot it is down there and poof! jealously gone.

 

[BC1836]

Weren't you there in April when we were there? Or am I thinking of someone else here? At first I was jealous that you were going back so soon and then I realized how hot it is down there and poof! jealously gone.

You are correct yet again. We were there in April and just returned home this afternoon (traffic on I-95 in northern VA, most of MD and all of DE was the worst we ever experienced). Ugh.

The WDW weather was sunny and hot everyday with zero rain. The only thing that was bad was the monorail service: Major breakdowns/out of service issues for three straight days. Ugh.

We're scheduled to return in August and October.

All the best!

 

[dvczerfs]

I live in Collegeville Montgomery county. I would have to drive out to Harrisburg using the turnpike then to 81. We are traveling on a Friday in a few weeks. What time would you suggest for departure?

I'm in Nazareth so I'm about 85 miles from Harriburg. I hit the Virginia welcoming center in just under three hours. As a rule of thumb, I want to hit the i66/i81 exchange before morning rush hour. We generally leave at midnight, one am so I'm in the mountains of Virginia/ North Carolina well before any rush hour.
The turnpike, i78, i81 on a Friday during the summer can get very busy and jammed starting in the morning but once you get past the i66 exchange, the next area is Charolete. Rush hour is over by the time we get to Charolete.After Charolete would be Jacksonville. We hit Jacksonville at around 2pm. Always a crap shoot . Generally busy but moving at speed limit or just above.
We get home from work and go to sleep around 5pm or so. We get up around 11:30'and hit the road by midnight. I drive straight through. My wife will nap here and there but I drive all the way down. First stop is Viginia welcoming center. We hit the welcome centers and drive thru's. We don't stop long, walk in,do what you got to do and hit the road. Stopping about every two/ three hour, traveling 75 mph ( or with the flow of traffic in the left lane, running buddies) I can hit wdw in 15 1/2 hours. I've done it in 15 but that's moving.
Just a few things, until a few years ago, it was my wife,daughter and myself. All great car travelers. My daughter is 22 and don't go as often and it's just the two of us. It goes a lot faster the fewer people you have even though my dd moves as fast as we do. Lol I also drive approximately 40k per year for work, so I'm use to driving in all weather, day, night, traffic etc. I'm a very comfortable driver
I've seen just about everything and do I mean everything. Lol
Everyone is different, every family is different. What works for us may not work for you. if your not a "road tripper" no matter which way or what happens will drive you crazy. Like flying, there's a lot of factors, anything can happen to slow you down. The only difference is your in control.
I also use 81/66/17/95. But, leaving at midnight puts me below Richmond before rush hour and it's not during the summer on a Friday.
Generally for people in your area to drive up to 81 is a bit out of your way but in most cases it beats sitting in traffic and can make the time up.
Best I could say is give 81/77/26 a shot. It won't be any worse then 95. That being said, again, anything can happen to slow you down, wrecks, ghost construction projects, anything.
Time wise, both ways for me is the same time. Pending on season and departure time determines which way I go.
It's funny people ask me why do you drive west then south, just drive down 95? If you look at a map, I would drive east into one of the busiest traffic areas in the country just to drive the south west arch down to Orlando. So that's why it works for people in the Lehigh valley. I have driven and tried just about every way and for us, these two ways have proven faster and easier for us.

 

[dvcville]

Thanks! We are seasoned road trip ers too. When pack a cooler and only stop for restrooms and to stretch. I may have a baseball or football catch with the boys to get the blood flowing, while we wait for the girls. We have always taken 95 but because of the day of the week and it being summertime I am looking at 81 as a option. We usually drive straight through but I think I might leave early am hours and stop around Kingslands GA. Unless we have good luck then we will drive to our straight through to our off site hotel add a night there before heading to OKW.

 

[staceywj]

Hey neighbor. Friday could be the absolute worst day to leave, you'll hit Jersey shore traffic down 95 to the Commodore Barry, then Delaware and MD beaches, then Virginia beaches. In the summer, I think the only safe time to leave on a Friday would be about 4-5 AM.

The other issue for traffic is that overnight is the best time to close lanes and do major construction on highways, so you won't necessarily have smooth sailing driving overnight. We left at 4:30 one Saturday in June, and sat for over an hour in DC on 495 at 6:30am because of construction. Screwed up the timing, so we hit Virginia beach traffic. Annoying.

When do you plan to check in to WDW? It might be best to leave around 8 pm, stop in Virginia for a few hours to sleep, then get back on the road in Virginia by 9 am. Friday and Saturday are really the hardest days to drive from our direction to WDW in the summer.

Maybe want to consider driving out west to Harrisburg and taking the inland road.

Wow! Thank you for the advice. If we plan I'm driving west to Harrisburg what time Friday or Saturday would you suggest to leave? We check-in Monday. I am such a planner yet I can't figure this out.

 

[kittylady1972]

You are correct yet again. We were there in April and just returned home this afternoon (traffic on I-95 in northern VA, most of MD and all of DE was the worst we ever experienced). Ugh.

The WDW weather was sunny and hot everyday with zero rain. The only thing that was bad was the monorail service: Major breakdowns/out of service issues for three straight days. Ugh.

We're scheduled to return in August and October.

All the best!

Ugh...sorry about the traffic. We usually head up 301N around Doswell (right past the King's Dominion exit) because we know that road well and don't have to deal with the majority of the I95/NoVa traffic that way.

Glad the weather was nice and no rain but sucks about the monorail. Staying at the Polynesian we are really looking forward to being able to walk to the TTC and hop on the monorail to EPCOT or MK, but this monorail service has me worried. I sure hope it's better before the major July 4th crowds...which is when we will be there!

 

[Jhuff8181]

We're driving down in September from New Hampshire. This will be fourth time driving down. We usually drive straight through with a three or four hour stop for a short nap. Normally we're pretty wiped out the first day so we were thinking about staying in a hotel close by so we can check in a little more refreshed. Can any one recommend a nice place to sleep over between Jacksonville and Orlando?