Best route from NWNJ to WDW?

[tink_n_pooh]

We will be driving from NWNJ (just outside of Newton if anyone is familiar with the area) to BWV in about a week. We plan on leaving around 4am or 5am on Saturday the 8th, driving until around GA or southern SC, spending the night and driving the rest of the way to BWV in the morning (checking in on the 9th).

We will be driving with our 4 month old DD so constant movement would be great since she likes to cry if we sit still in the car for very long. Of course we will need to stop often to feed/change her so a route with clean rest stops is ideal too.

So what do you think? Take I-95 all the way? Or go the inland 81 route? Any suggestions? Ideas?

 

[GranddadTom]

I'd suggest that you take Rt. 95 all the way down. Now that schools are back in session Rt 95 in Northern Virginia on Saturday mornings will not be a problem. Finding clean rest stops will be no problem.

 

[I Love Pluto]

81 South to 77
26 to 95

This brings you into VA - avoiding all of the Washington area. We love it!

 

[J3nn78]

We drive from Blairstown.
We take
94-611-512-33-22-78-81-83/322-15-270-495 and then pick up 95 outside WDC.

We enjoy the earlier less highway route before sitting on 95 for all those miles. We have found it really does not add any additional time and avoids a lot of the cities traffic and stress.

 

[NJRRK]

Personally I'd take 206 south to I-287 south to 202 south to 31 south to I-95 south. But that's just me.

 

[darrengs]

We just drove down (still here now) from your area, (West Milford NJ). We took the inland route, we hit zero traffic and we plan to take this route again. We left at 3:45 AM and were supposed to stop in Southern Georgia, my wife and kids wanted to drive straight through and we checked into a hotel in Kissimmee at 10:30PM. We were in bed and sleeping by 11:30 and woke up rested and ready to go the next morning.

 

[monica9]

darren- How far is new milford nj from greenwich ct? We are driving too. How many stops did you take and for how long? How old are your children?

 

[tink_n_pooh]

We drive from Blairstown.
We take
94-611-512-33-22-78-81-83/322-15-270-495 and then pick up 95 outside WDC.

We enjoy the earlier less highway route before sitting on 95 for all those miles. We have found it really does not add any additional time and avoids a lot of the cities traffic and stress.

We are 2 towns over and will likely drive right through Blairstown

 

[DVCMikey]

 

[tink_n_pooh]

darren- How far is new milford nj from greenwich ct? We are driving too. How many stops did you take and for how long? How old are your children?

West Milford is about 1.5-2 hours from Greenwich (60 miles), depending on traffic

 

[tink_n_pooh]

We drive from Blairstown.
We take
94-611-512-33-22-78-81-83/322-15-270-495 and then pick up 95 outside WDC.

We enjoy the earlier less highway route before sitting on 95 for all those miles. We have found it really does not add any additional time and avoids a lot of the cities traffic and stress.

How long does it take you to get to 95 taking this route? And are there any rest stops along the way, maybe 3 or 4 hours into the trip? I'm looking for something open in the wee hours of the morning that would be clean enough

 

[monica9]

So it only took you about 19 hours? Which means about 22 hours for us then. How many hours worth of stops did you take? Just trying to gage b/c google maps says its only about 17 hours for us yet everyone tells me it will take at least 24 hours.

 

[DVCMikey]

So it only took you about 19 hours? Which means about 22 hours for us then. How many hours worth of stops did you take? Just trying to gage b/c google maps says its only about 17 hours for us yet everyone tells me it will take at least 24 hours.

I remember when I was a kid, when we drove down, it took a good almost 24 hours. Full day. From stopping to get gas, having food, etc.

I remember we always would stop and have at least one normal sit down meal either for breakfast or dinner on the way down which takes almost 2 hours for us since we had 6 just in our family and our grandmother usually went with us also.

 

[J3nn78]

How long does it take you to get to 95 taking this route? And are there any rest stops along the way, maybe 3 or 4 hours into the trip? I'm looking for something open in the wee hours of the morning that would be clean enough

We were in the DC area in less than 5 hours. There were plent of places to stop along the way. You can probably make better time leaving that early. We always leave mid morning and thus have more traffic. Nothing major, just normal traffic volume.

 

[LisaNJ25]

We are Here now also .. left from Jefferson at 5am(overslept) and took 78 to 81 to 95




Had a tire blow out outside of Baltimore that set us back 2 hours. Made it Georgia at 10 pm.


So glad were taking auto train home

 

[rock_doctor]

Good thread! We have been looking for a better way. Going south is ok on I95 but going north is a nightmare once you hit Virginia (bumper to bumper from Alexandra,VA to Baltimore, MD).

(South)We stop the first night in Florence SC (8hr drive from Philly) and the second night at a hotel in Kissimmee (~8hrs). We then check into our Disney hotel 9am the next morning. You are adding 2-3hrs to the first day. We stop for diesel in Latta, SC (FlyingJ - must use their frequent travelers card - the card is free and gives you a small discount and cash price w/CC) and exit 3 in Georgia (Fasttrack). They have the cheapest fuel and take a credit card for the cash price. I will leave off the other information that i know, which is where all of the Walmarts, Golden Corrals and Harbor Freights are along the way...

I will be plotting all of the suggested directions to see if any would work better for the trip north... Thanks for posting the thread...

 

[tink_n_pooh]

81 South to 77
26 to 95

This brings you into VA - avoiding all of the Washington area. We love it!

This is the alternate to I95 that google maps tells us to take. It is a difference of about 30 miles/40 minutes. I could easily sit in traffic for more than 40 minutes on the NJ turnpike or 95 around the DC area so I think it will be the winner.

 

[tink_n_pooh]

So it only took you about 19 hours? Which means about 22 hours for us then. How many hours worth of stops did you take? Just trying to gage b/c google maps says its only about 17 hours for us yet everyone tells me it will take at least 24 hours.

My father used to make pretty regular trips from Sussex County NJ to Daytona FL. He could get there in 18 hours but he only stopped for gas/bathroom breaks and would normally eat while driving. IMHO I would rather make it a 20 hour trip and sit down to eat (even if it is just fast food) and get out to stretch my legs once or twice. Not sure how far it is from Daytona to WDW, a few hours?