Route for driving Ottawa to WDW

[CanuckTraveller]

I'm starting to plan our driving route and see that there are a lot of opinions on how best to get to WDW. We live south of Ottawa, so would normally cross at Gananoque and take 81 south, but where do you suggest we cross over to the 95 for the fastest route? We leave on a Thursday night, plan to drive to Scranton NY, which we know is 5 hours from home as we just did a cruise out of NYC and got to clock this distance. After Scranton, I'm a bit confused as to the fastest way to go. Plus on the way home we will leave from Port Canaveral, and need to get home in 2 days. I know PC has easy access to the 95, but again where do we cross over to the 81 to get home? If someone could also post how long it takes on their driving route going about 70mph that would be great too.
Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[minnie mum]

We've done the drive several times from our home near Trenton. We take the bridge across the river near Gananoque, and start south on I 81. We try to avoid the I 95 for as long as possible, to avoid the major cities along that route. If you end up near any of those cities during high traffic times, you are in for major delays.

We stay on the I 81 until we hit the I 77. Then it's I 77 to I 26, merging onto the I95 near Charleston. Then stay on the I95 (taking the bypass around Jacksonville) till you get to I4.

Coming home, just reverse the process.

Going this route, the halfway point would probably be somewhere around Roanoke Virginia. But we take longer to get there, doing it in 3 days. We drive to Harrisburg or Hagerstown the first day, Columbia SC the second day and arrive in Orlando on the 3rd in late afternoon.

We always do a CAA trip tik, and I think it gives a driving time of around 21 hours. While those time estimates are for listed highways speeds, we drive a bit faster than that. But with stops for gas, meals, pee breaks, etc, we find it pretty accurate.

This spring we're thinking about doing it in 2 days. We'd probably try to go for about 16 hours and get down around Charlotte or Columbia if possible on the first day.

 

[CanuckTraveller]

We've done the drive several times from our home near Trenton. We take the bridge across the river near Gananoque, and start south on I 81. We try to avoid the I 95 for as long as possible, to avoid the major cities along that route. If you end up near any of those cities during high traffic times, you are in for major delays.

We stay on the I 81 until we hit the I 77. Then it's I 77 to I 26, merging onto the I95 near Charleston. Then stay on the I95 (taking the bypass around Jacksonville) till you get to I4.

Coming home, just reverse the process.

Going this route, the halfway point would probably be somewhere around Roanoke Virginia. But we take longer to get there, doing it in 3 days. We drive to Harrisburg or Hagerstown the first day, Columbia SC the second day and arrive in Orlando on the 3rd in late afternoon.

We always do a CAA trip tik, and I think it gives a driving time of around 21 hours. While those time estimates are for listed highways speeds, we drive a bit faster than that. But with stops for gas, meals, pee breaks, etc, we find it pretty accurate.

This spring we're thinking about doing it in 2 days. We'd probably try to go for about 16 hours and get down around Charlotte or Columbia if possible on the first day.

Thank you
Funny you mention CAA trip tik, we just did one for our trip to NYC and it wasn't all that helpful once we got into the city. I guess I'm old school and still don't completely trust the GPS, but it got us to our destination lol!

 

[minnie mum]

Thank you
Funny you mention CAA trip tik, we just did one for our trip to NYC and it wasn't all that helpful once we got into the city. I guess I'm old school and still don't completely trust the GPS, but it got us to our destination lol!

Yeah, that's the thing with those trip tiks. And the online things like mapquest. They only use mileage algorithms to calculate the shortest or fastest routes. You pretty much need to be able to manipulate the maps it gives you to get the best route. When we first input the departure and arrival points, it wanted us to go thru Buffalo! So we had to manually alter the route.

Have you checked out the Transportation forum? There's a terrific thread on there For 2,000+ miles return drivers. We picked up all kinds of great tips for our trips there. Here's a link: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2815923

Something else that we found handy: gasbuddy.com Tell them where you are, where you're going to, the year, make and model of your car. It will tell you how much your gas will cost (return), how many gallons you'll need, and how far you have to drive. It will also give you the name and address of cheap gas at your likely refuelling stops along the way. It's a really neat website.

 

[CanuckTraveller]

Yeah, that's the thing with those trip tiks. And the online things like mapquest. They only use mileage algorithms to calculate the shortest or fastest routes. You pretty much need to be able to manipulate the maps it gives you to get the best route. When we first input the departure and arrival points, it wanted us to go thru Buffalo! So we had to manually alter the route.

Have you checked out the Transportation forum? There's a terrific thread on there For 2,000+ miles return drivers. We picked up all kinds of great tips for our trips there. Here's a link: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2815923

Something else that we found handy: gasbuddy.com Tell them where you are, where you're going to, the year, make and model of your car. It will tell you how much your gas will cost (return), how many gallons you'll need, and how far you have to drive. It will also give you the name and address of cheap gas at your likely refuelling stops along the way. It's a really neat website.

I didn't know about gas buddy.com, thanks for the suggestion! I have looked through the transportation forum, but honestly I find that there is a lot of information and the searches I've done haven't located the information I want. At this point I probably don't have enough time to read it all, digest it and figure out how it works for us, kwim?
The only good thing about trip tiks is that they tell you about construction and road closures

 

[Evelyne]

Hi,
we always drive to the World (we are in Plaisance Québec, 1 hour from Ottawa), we cross near Gananaque 81, 83, we always avoid Baltimore and Washington so we go by 695 and 495 then 95, until the 4. It is always 23 to 24 hours of driving. When taking 695 and 495 avoid peek hours, the best is between 20 pm and 5 am.
Hope this helps, have a magical trip

1990 to 1992 Off site
1994 and 1995 Off site
1998 and 1999 Off site
2000 to 2003 All star Sports
2004 to 2011 Pop Century
2012 The World was great again (Pop Century) without the kids for the 1st time
March 2013 Disneymoon with the kids

 

[Nagle]

I agree with Minnie Mum. 81, 77, 26, 95 and 4. (We live in Brockville, Ont btw)

We used to cut over to the 95 using 66 and 17, hitting the 95 just south of D.C., but the truck traffic on 95 just got ridiculous. We much prefer the route stated above. We have driven straight through, spent one night in a hotel and spent two nights in a hotel. All depends on anticipated weather and length of vacation.

When we spend 1 night in a hotel, we aim for Rock Hill S.C. It is just past Charlotte. There is a Hilton Garden in right by the off ramp.

When we take our time and spend two nights on the road, we spend the first night in Staunton Va. Then Hilton Head or Savannah. Then on to Orlando arriving early afternoon.

Cheers
John

 

[Josh Hendy]

...
We stay on the I 81 until we hit the I 77. Then it's I 77 to I 26, merging onto the I95 near Charleston. Then stay on the I95 (taking the bypass around Jacksonville) till you get to I4.
...

I second (or third or fourth) this suggestion. The traffic on I-95 throughout the state of Virginia is IMHO just awful, extremely heavy. The beltway around DC is a nightmare. Other shortcuts exist from I-81 to I-95 in Virginia but I think that I-95 is excessively crowded all the way south to the border with NC so I don't use those shortcuts

Taking I-81 through the western part of Virginia, the only difficult parts are towards the south where it starts to wind up into the hills. Sometimes there are a lot of trucks and it takes steady nerves to have them all around you. It's similar to the more mountainous parts of I-81 in PA. Just stay cool, be patient, and allow lots of room around your vehicle.

Going through Charlotte is a little bit busy and nerve wracking, similar to 417 in downtown Ottawa.

In Jacksonville because of the somewhat heavy traffic and the weird little left-hand exit you have to make to stay on I-95 south, I strongly recommend taking the bypass around to the west which is fast and very easy to drive.

When you drive through the middle of Orlando on I-4 it can be very heavy traffic with people zipping around you cutting in and out to get on and off the highway (sometimes using left-hand exits). My strategy is get in a middle lane at a safe distance behind a large truck (close enough to discourage people from cutting in front of you but far enough for braking and so that the truck driver can see you). Make sure you know which exit you want, on which side of the highway, and have a responsible passenger beside you to watch the traffic signs.

 

[CanuckTraveller]

I agree with Minnie Mum. 81, 77, 26, 95 and 4. (We live in Brockville, Ont btw)

We used to cut over to the 95 using 66 and 17, hitting the 95 just south of D.C., but the truck traffic on 95 just got ridiculous. We much prefer the route stated above. We have driven straight through, spent one night in a hotel and spent two nights in a hotel. All depends on anticipated weather and length of vacation.

When we spend 1 night in a hotel, we aim for Rock Hill S.C. It is just past Charlotte. There is a Hilton Garden in right by the off ramp.

When we take our time and spend two nights on the road, we spend the first night in Staunton Va. Then Hilton Head or Savannah. Then on to Orlando arriving early afternoon.

Cheers
John

Fantastic, thanks! How many hours do you spend driving? We are 35 mins from Brockville so not much further than you

 

[myzel]

You say you're leaving on a Thursday, but when makes a big difference. If you only plan to go to Scranton Pa. the first night then I would not hesitate to take I83 to the I695 then follow I95. Leaving Scranton in the morning you will have no problem getting through the Baltimore/Washington area before 2pm. Traffic in the Capitol area is not bad until about 3ish.

Yes there is heavier traffic on this particular stretch of Interstate but it is shorter and faster, as for the advice of "closely following" a truck DON'T, simple, do not try to keep people from cutting in, people can't drive and you are just making it worse, let them in and keep a safe following distance. Better to get to your vacation 5min late than not at all.

It is only 30 miles longer to go through Charlotte NC so the choice is flat land or hills.

1342 mile using I95, 1378 miles using I81-I77-I26-I95 from Brockville On.

 

[CanuckTraveller]

You say you're leaving on a Thursday, but when makes a big difference. If you only plan to go to Scranton Pa. the first night then I would not hesitate to take I83 to the I695 then follow I95. Leaving Scranton in the morning you will have no problem getting through the Baltimore/Washington area before 2pm. Traffic in the Capitol area is not bad until about 3ish.

Yes there is heavier traffic on this particular stretch of Interstate but it is shorter and faster, as for the advice of "closely following" a truck DON'T, simple, do not try to keep people from cutting in, people can't drive and you are just making it worse, let them in and keep a safe following distance. Better to get to your vacation 5min late than not at all.

It is only 30 miles longer to go through Charlotte NC so the choice is flat land or hills.

1342 mile using I95, 1378 miles using I81-I77-I26-I95 from Brockville On.

We plan on leaving Thursday after school, and from our cruise last month out of NYC we know we can make Scranton in 5 hrs, including crossing the border. I don't mind heavy traffic as long as it is moving and I can get in with a pack of people moving at a decent speed...I define 70mph as decent I tend to be the one driving through big cities and have the need for good buffer zones all around me, so no truck following for me.
Thank you all for the advice and suggestions!

 

[michelb]

You say you're leaving on a Thursday, but when makes a big difference. If you only plan to go to Scranton Pa. the first night then I would not hesitate to take I83 to the I695 then follow I95. Leaving Scranton in the morning you will have no problem getting through the Baltimore/Washington area before 2pm. Traffic in the Capitol area is not bad until about 3ish.

...

We were on the I95 there mid-day on Dec 27th on the way to Florida and the traffic was TERRIBLE! (I think past Washington to before Richmond took over 3-4 hours. No idea why (I think the information sign we passed on the highway said '20 miles - 55 minutes' and it took longer)). I had considered taking the I77 way but decided against it because I was worried about snow in the mountains (we were in a 40' mh + car behind so really wanted to avoid snow and thought I'd get better mileage on the flat) and really paid for it. We also hit a lot of traffic the rest of the way. Next time we're definitely taking the I77.

My other recommendation would be to cross at Prescott / Ogdensburg instead of the 81. Every once in a while, I go through at Gananoque and it's SOOO MUCH busier than Prescott although maybe it's just that I only try Gananoque at bad times.

 

[Tanooki]

We've done the drive several times from our home near Trenton. We take the bridge across the river near Gananoque, and start south on I 81. We try to avoid the I 95 for as long as possible, to avoid the major cities along that route. If you end up near any of those cities during high traffic times, you are in for major delays.

We stay on the I 81 until we hit the I 77. Then it's I 77 to I 26, merging onto the I95 near Charleston. Then stay on the I95 (taking the bypass around Jacksonville) till you get to I4.

Coming home, just reverse the process.

Going this route, the halfway point would probably be somewhere around Roanoke Virginia. But we take longer to get there, doing it in 3 days. We drive to Harrisburg or Hagerstown the first day, Columbia SC the second day and arrive in Orlando on the 3rd in late afternoon.

We always do a CAA trip tik, and I think it gives a driving time of around 21 hours. While those time estimates are for listed highways speeds, we drive a bit faster than that. But with stops for gas, meals, pee breaks, etc, we find it pretty accurate.

This spring we're thinking about doing it in 2 days. We'd probably try to go for about 16 hours and get down around Charlotte or Columbia if possible on the first day.

We've done the drive from Beloeil (suburb of Montreal) a few times now and that's the itinerary we use (though we start from the 87 and 88 to get to the 81). It's just stress free and it doesn't add too much to our drive time (what's an hour when you have to drive for 24...)
We always stop for the night and our favorite mid-point is Roanoke or Salem, VA going down (great rates at the Comfort Suites in Salem, next door to a Food Lion where we can get stuff for the 2nd day) and we like to go a little further North when going back home so we stop at Harrisonburg, VA.

Have a great trip! I can't wait to go!