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

[dvczerfs]

Hello all, We made it, again. Lol Very little traffic. We hit 12 or so re paving projects from Pa to Nc. Most looked like over night projects, nothing to slow you down. Sunny till we hit Floida. It poured in Jacksonville and Orlando. I was sure we were going to sit but we moved through both cities at 60mph. We hit Jacks. a little after one and Orlando just before three so we missed rush hours but even so, traffic was light and moving at a good pace. Gas, didn't pay much attention, I use 93 Oct. in my car but i did see gas for 1.89. ( I live in taxylvania, home of the pot hole and the highest state gas tax per gallon in the union ) so anything under 2.36 is shocking. Lol
Other than that, it was a nice ride and looking forward to doing it again!

 

[amcnj]

Hello all, We made it, again. Lol Very little traffic. We hit 12 or so re paving projects from Pa to Nc. Most looked like over night projects, nothing to slow you down. Sunny till we hit Floida. It poured in Jacksonville and Orlando. I was sure we were going to sit but we moved through both cities at 60mph. We hit Jacks. a little after one and Orlando just before three so we missed rush hours but even so, traffic was light and moving at a good pace. Gas, didn't pay much attention, I use 93 Oct. in my car but i did see gas for 1.89. ( I live in taxylvania, home of the pot hole and the highest state gas tax per gallon in the union ) so anything under 2.36 is shocking. Lol
Other than that, it was a nice ride and looking forward to doing it again!

Enjoy your trip! Pretty ironic that the only place it was not sunny was when you reached the "Sunshine State"!!!

 

[BC1836]

Hello all, We made it, again. Lol Very little traffic. We hit 12 or so re paving projects from Pa to Nc. Most looked like over night projects, nothing to slow you down. Sunny till we hit Floida. It poured in Jacksonville and Orlando. I was sure we were going to sit but we moved through both cities at 60mph. We hit Jacks. a little after one and Orlando just before three so we missed rush hours but even so, traffic was light and moving at a good pace. Gas, didn't pay much attention, I use 93 Oct. in my car but i did see gas for 1.89. ( I live in taxylvania, home of the pot hole and the highest state gas tax per gallon in the union ) so anything under 2.36 is shocking. Lol
Other than that, it was a nice ride and looking forward to doing it again!

Welcome back to WDW and thanks for your report! We have updated the all-time records on page 1 and included your latest drive which, of course, has added to your epic drive roster total!

All the best!

 

[BC1836]

Within a few miles of us, regular gas is selling between $1.99 and $2.03. A number of places farther away are at the mid $1.90s.

The savings from a year or more ago on a round trip drive is equal to nice dining experience at WDW.

All the best!

 

[amcnj]

Lowest gas price I saw today was 1.87 (cash price) and lowest credit was 1.89. Most were in the low to mid 1.90's, but in my immediate area they are just under 2.00 still. For some reason price declines have been extremely sluggish as you get nearer the coast in NJ. I was hoping the price gap would close after Labor Day.

 

[kittylady1972]

So happy to watch these dropping gas prices! We just upgraded our SUV to a much bigger (and much less fuel efficient) Toyota Sequoia for our future trips. It so much more spacious for or family of five but the gas mileage is not nearly as good as our Honda Pilot that we traded. We make our next trip from MD to Florida in 3 weeks so hoping fuel prices remain low for next month too!

 

[AaronInWI]

So happy to watch these dropping gas prices! We just upgraded our SUV to a much bigger (and much less fuel efficient) Toyota Sequoia for our future trips. It so much more spacious for or family of five but the gas mileage is not nearly as good as our Honda Pilot that we traded. We make our next trip from MD to Florida in 3 weeks so hoping fuel prices remain low for next month too!

We're still in the mid $2.30's in my neck of the woods here in Wisconsin. We recently upgraded from a Toyota Rav4 to a Highlander, mainly because of our love of road trips. And I'll agree, we had to compromise fuel economy for more comfort, so the falling gas prices are really nice to see. We'll be making our first long distance drive in March, not to Florida but to Arizona for Brewers spring training. It'll be around 1900 miles one way, so that'll be a great test for the Highlander's first Disney drive (our third overall) in September 2017.

 

[dvczerfs]

On our way back to boardwalk from the magic kingdom tonight I noticed at the speedway station, gas just went from 2.05 to 1.99.

 

[BC1836]

On our way back to boardwalk from the magic kingdom tonight I noticed at the speedway station, gas just went from 2.05 to 1.99.

Thanks for the update!

All the best!

 

[BC1836]

Local Wawa gas (regular) had two 2-cent drops within 24 hours: it's now $1.97.

Other stations not too much farther away are in the mid $1.90s.

All the best!

 

[OKW Lover]

Local Wawa gas (regular) had two 2-cent drops within 24 hours: it's now $1.97.

Other stations not too much farther away are in the mid $1.90s.

All the best!

Where is that?

 

[BC1836]

Where is that?

Southern Ocean County, NJ.

All the best!

 

[sticker231]

Southern Ocean County, NJ.

All the best!

Costco was $1.87 yesterday

 

[OKW Lover]

The Speedway stations on WDW property are now at $1.99.

 

[Iowamomof4]

We made it back from our trip. The drive wasn't too bad, but I think we'll be trying harder to fly from here on out. It just adds too much time to the trip. We stayed at Quality Inn/Comfort Inns along the way (one of the few chains that consistently allows 6 in one room) and never had a bad hotel thanks to reviews from Trip Adviser. My favorite, by far, was the Comfort Inn & Suites near Fort Campbell (Oak Grove, Ky). Best beds, best space, nice breakfast.

All the information I gleaned from this board was really helpful, especially the part about staying in the HOV lane through Atlanta. I didn't really understand this advice until we were on our way back. Now I realize that the HOV lanes sometimes don't exactly follow the regular lanes of traffic (split away for a little ways) but then they join back up soon enough. We were fortunate to hit Atlanta at good times going both directions (after 9 pm on the Wednesday before Labor Day and on Sunday evening, September 13). Nashville was worse, hitting that after 3 pm on a Wednesday. We got backed up quite a bit, but we were prepared for that possibility so it didn't throw us off too much.

I wish I had known better what areas would be the most mountainous. For anyone else new to driving this route (I-24/I-75), southern TN is the worst of it. From about Monteagle, TN to Dalton, GA you'll be going up, down, and around. Before and after that, though, it's pretty straightforward.

 

[BC1836]

We made it back from our trip. The drive wasn't too bad, but I think we'll be trying harder to fly from here on out. It just adds too much time to the trip. We stayed at Quality Inn/Comfort Inns along the way (one of the few chains that consistently allows 6 in one room) and never had a bad hotel thanks to reviews from Trip Adviser. My favorite, by far, was the Comfort Inn & Suites near Fort Campbell (Oak Grove, Ky). Best beds, best space, nice breakfast.

All the information I gleaned from this board was really helpful, especially the part about staying in the HOV lane through Atlanta. I didn't really understand this advice until we were on our way back. Now I realize that the HOV lanes sometimes don't exactly follow the regular lanes of traffic (split away for a little ways) but then they join back up soon enough. We were fortunate to hit Atlanta at good times going both directions (after 9 pm on the Wednesday before Labor Day and on Sunday evening, September 13). Nashville was worse, hitting that after 3 pm on a Wednesday. We got backed up quite a bit, but we were prepared for that possibility so it didn't throw us off too much.

I wish I had known better what areas would be the most mountainous. For anyone else new to driving this route (I-24/I-75), southern TN is the worst of it. From about Monteagle, TN to Dalton, GA you'll be going up, down, and around. Before and after that, though, it's pretty straightforward.

Thanks for the report which includes important info for folks taking your route in whole or in part!

All the best!

 

[dvczerfs]

We are home!!!! We departed boardwalk villas this morning from our 12 day vacation. Dw and I had a blast,as always. We departed at 2am and arrived home at 6pm. 1109 miles / 16 hours. We stopped more than we usually do, just getting older. Lol We did our inland route, 4/95/26/77/81/78. The only thing we hit was rain. It rained from Georgia to northern Virginia. We had no traffic at all. I would have to say that was one of the best rides home we had in a long time. Cheapest gas I seen was 1.89 in s.carolina. Here in taxylvania it is 2.36.
Anyway, everything is unpacked and put away. One more day to rest than back to work!

 

[BC1836]

We are home!!!! We departed boardwalk villas this morning from our 12 day vacation. Dw and I had a blast,as always. We departed at 2am and arrived home at 6pm. 1109 miles / 16 hours. We stopped more than we usually do, just getting older. Lol We did our inland route, 4/95/26/77/81/78. The only thing we hit was rain. It rained from Georgia to northern Virginia. We had no traffic at all. I would have to say that was one of the best rides home we had in a long time. Cheapest gas I seen was 1.89 in s.carolina. Here in taxylvania it is 2.36.
Anyway, everything is unpacked and put away. One more day to rest than back to work!

Welcome back! Your latest round trip drive was actually entered on the all time records roster (page 1) on the day you arrived at WDW. (We had a feeling you wouldn't stay forever. At least not this time!).

All the best!

 

[BC1836]

As veteran drivers to WDW (our 39th drive since 2002 is scheduled for next month), we enjoy maintaining driving records so we can compare and contrast our travels. The records help us plan future trips because we have useful data that we can use accordingly.



We take a simple manila file folder and trim it so it can fit in an interoffice envelope (we where store our reservation info, annual passes, etc.). The cover of the folder states date of trip and hotel. The inner folder sides feature companion charts that indicate time of departure, spaces for times crossing state borders, etc. Both sides list I-95 rest stops south and north. The back page lists the best FL gas and fruit stops, all our overnight hotel possibilities, etc.

Too detailed. Absolutely! But it helps make the long drive a bit more pleasant.

All the best!

 

[Glenn&Sharon]

Leaving on Friday for our first trip to the Fort.