Getting there

[amylevan]

We are planning our first trip to FW in our fifth wheel!! Hooray!! (Previous trips to the Fort had us flying down and crashing on the couch in our parents fifth wheel).

We are coming from the Lehigh Valley (a little more than 1 hr north of Philly), and we are estimating a 16-17 hr drive. It'll be us, our 2.5 yr old DS and 2 jack russell terriers. I have scoured the transportation boards, and DH and I are in agreement. If we were driving a car, we'd leave after bedtime for DS and drive straight through. It would hopefully mean we'd get 50-75% of the driving down while DS is sleeping and that we'd go through DC and Baltimore overnight, avoiding the biggest traffic snarls on 95.

However, we all know how much more tiring pulling something can be. Has anyone attempted a similar schedule while towing? Our farthest trip to date in our 5er was 12 hrs. But we split that up into 2 days driving since my parents were on the way. And I have never driven while towing. So DH will probably do all the driving. (We are contemplating letting me do some since 95 is straight and flat, but DH isn't sure he'd be able to rest with me driving anyhow...)

Thoughts?

 

[dindy]

We are from right outside of the Valley Forge area. We always drive to Disney straight through the night. We just made our first long trek to FW towing our pop-up this past April. We were fine with it, and there were no surprises! We always leave around 4 or so in the afternoon, so that we can get there by noon the following day. I would say it took us closer to 19/20 hrs though, with all the stops for gas (a LOT more stops since we were towing), dinner, and the potty breaks for the kids (we've got 3 young boys). I had never personally driven towing anything, but I did end up driving part of the way so my husband could sleep. I was surprised that i did ok. Also, we always end up driving that alternate route- turnpike to 81, to.... that way we avoid DC traffic. We like it. Anyway, i think it's doable- we're doing it again this April and we'll stick to the same schedule! Good luck!

 

[kkwis2]

We just drove our MH to the Fort from northern Minnesota a few weeks ago. It was the first time driving it for me so I was a bit nervous. I preferred to stay on the "straight and flat" parts, too, but there were times that I was in more traffic and all still went well. I ended up driving while going through the ups and downs and curves around Gatlinburg and we're all still here to talk about it!

I found for myself that I preferred driving in the right hand lane whenever possible (especially when there were 3 lanes of traffic), and I went the speed that felt comfortable for me. Anything over 68 felt too fast for me, so even if the speed limit was 70, I stayed closer to 65 and let people pass me.

We left at 4:30 in the afternoon on a Saturday, drove all night and all day Sunday and pulled into the Fort Wilderness check-in at about 10:00 p.m. Everyone was able to get some sleep during the night (well, except for the overnight driver) and then napped some during the day.

If you decide to take a turn driving, take the TT out on the road once or twice to get the feel for it. You may find that it's not as bad as you think it will be. I was more comfortable driving our MH than I thought I would be.

 

[tim5055]

I will add, when you get to DC make sure you stay on 95 and go around the beltway to the east around DC. The loop to the west around DC has major construction on the west side, with most construction happening at night!!

 

[Buzz's Buddy]

We are coming from the Lehigh Valley (a little more than 1 hr north of Philly), and we are estimating a 16-17 hr drive.

Just wanted to let you know that 16-17 hours is probably unrealistic. We live in Burlington County, NJ, just outside of Philly and managed a little over 16 hours driving straight through at night without a trailer. And that was traveling over the speed limit the entire way with minimal stops.

 

[dngtrumps]

Just got back from the our first Fort trip 3 days ago. We left on Friday 6/17 from Baltimore at 2am so that we could bypass the Baltimore, DC, and Richmond beltways on 95 south before morning rush hours. We drove 14 hours the first day, stopping every few hours to refuel, and overnighted in Brunswick, GA. The following morning we only had a 3.5 hour drive into WDW.

Coming back on Monday 6/27 we hit Richmond about 6pm but didn't get any of the expected traffic Thru Richmond, DC, or Baltimore.

Take your time, stop often for the little one and the dogs, maximize the driving time when they are asleep, and drive carefully. Enjoy your trip!

 

[amylevan]

Just wanted to let you know that 16-17 hours is probably unrealistic. We live in Burlington County, NJ, just outside of Philly and managed a little over 16 hours driving straight through at night without a trailer. And that was traveling over the speed limit the entire way with minimal stops.

We have a supplemental fuel tank in the bed of DH's truck so we should only have to stop for gas 1 time on the way down. (You don't even want to know what the cost of that is to fill - diesal - ....) So the only breaks would be potty, food and stretching. So if we drove at night, I would hope they would be minimal.

Granted, we aren't driving as fast when pulling. So maybe 18 hours?

I'd probably prefer to break the drive into 2 days, but who the heck wants to get back in the truck that 2nd day? Certainly not me, and I can only imagine what DS will think.

 

[cruising spud]

We live outside of the Lehigh Valley in Bucks County. Now, we have a Class C, not a travel trailer, but here is my intake. Before we had a Class C we drove down to Disney and this took eighteen hours, not counting the stops we made. And, we too, left in the middle of the night to avoid the Beltway traffic. Once we got the Class C, the trip took longer, again, not counting stops. And, there is a tunnel/bridge/something in, I'm thinking Baltimore,that
any vehicle with propane is not allowed to take. This requires a bit of a detour. Not a lot, but maybe twenty minutes. Even though we go a bit higher than the speed limit with our rv, we just don't make the time in it that we do with a car. I'd estimate that when we go Route 95,the trip takes us about twenty-twenty two hours. Hope this helps.

 

[JCJRSmith]

If you want to avoid the Baltimore-DC-Richmond corridor all together, drive two hours west to Harrisburg and pick up 81. Take 81S to 77S to 26E to 95.

Living in Mechanicsburg PA (just west of Harrisburg) this is the route we take. We used to go 15 south to 270 to 495 (west around DC) to 95. Taking the 81S route adds a whopping 30 miles to the trip, and traffic is non-existant.