Campers from New England Help

[jclos1980]

My wife and I are from Rhode Island and are making our first trip to Ft. Wilderness in our new tear drop style camper. I have never driven to FL with a camper attached, and was just wondering if there were any inside tips anyone from our neck of the woods cared to share with a rookie. Any roads to avoid, best roads to take to get there the easiest, nice stops along the way would all be helpful. Our reservations are for the 30th of November and I was planning on leaving early on the 27th and making a stay over stop in SC and one in St. Augustine, FL. Staying on 95 South the entire time. Arriving at Fort Wilderness at 1 PM on the 30th of November. How do the rest of you break up the drive time from New England? Also, do they usually have the campsites ready by 1 PM? Any Help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[kskone]

Well now lets see... oh where to begin!! my wife and I are from so.east MA. just to the west of plymouth so here go's, We leave around 4-5am. and drive to ashland VA. and stay over there a night, The name of the campgound is Americamps right off the hiway nice clean and we get gas just before we check in that way the tank is full for morning departure, Next morning we leave about the same time and drive to the new green acres campground in Walterboro SC. and yes it is right off the hiway it is also nice and clean. The next day we leave not as early mabe around 6am. or so and then its a 6 hour drive to the fort, So thats about the jist of it just remember you will be driving through D.C. and baltimore and NJ. and these citys tend to have very bad traffic at rush hours so plan accordingly!!!! As long as you get past those citys between 10am-2:30pm. you should have no problems BUT BE FORWARNED GETTING COUGHT IN RUSH HOUR ON THESES BELTWAYS CAN BE VERY TIME CONSUMING!!!! Also no hazmats in tunnels aka no propane in the fort mchery tunnel so you will have to go the long way around the city of Baltimore. Other than that it's a pretty strait forward drive, And one more thing try to go though GA. in day lite it is with out a doubt one of the most prettyest streches of road on your trip the hiway passes over quite a few bridges and the spanish moss hanging off the trees is beautiful, Good luck and enjoy your trip!!! My wife and I will be doing that same drive in January for a few months stay at the fort. Cheers K.

 

[mamaloya]

Can't help you north of North Carolina, but 95 south of there is fine. And I have never had a prob with a campsite being ready by 1pm. They are sometimes ready before then.

Happy Camping!!

 

[thecplusplusguy]

I drive a 30' Motorhome, so different then a tear drop, but I would avoid the whole NY to DC stretch and go through Penn. then pick up 95 s of DC.

Dan

 

[disney4dan]

We are from north central MA and I typically like to avoid the NYC area when I can, and really enjoy taking I-84 out to I-81 for the scenery. It adds about 100 miles to the trip, but they are much more enjoyable and road conditions seem to be better. We eventually connect to I-95 south somewhere in either Fredericksburg, VA or much further south in the Carolinas.

Part of the reason for this is due to my work requiring me to drive into the metro NYC area once in a while and I have too many unhappy memories of sitting in bumper to bumper traffic wishing I had taken a different route.

I second the recommendation for the New Green Acres RV park in Walterboro SC. We stopped in on our last trip home from the Fort and were very impressed with the number and size of level pull through sites. Did not have to disconnect and very little work was needed to get the trailer set up. Shaded by several large pine trees (no low branches to worry about hitting the trailer).

 

[CDNCruiser]

I'll join the group suggesting you avoid Baltimore & DC. We travel south on I-81 to VA where we catch I-77 south to I-26 which takes us to I-95 in SC.

The Shenendoah Valley is always a gorgeous drive and coming down the mountain in the Fancy Gap/Mount Airy area from VA into NC is an amazing vista!

Another suggestion - There is never-ending construction on I-95 in Jacksonville, FL. Take the 9A bypass in Jacksonville, it's all 4 lane restricted access highway and it's shorter and more scenic than the 295 bypass.

Ditto on New Green Acres . . . we stop there every time. We drive about 350 miles a day and our normal stops are Harrisburg East Campground, Harrisburg PA, Wytheville KOA, Wytheville VA, New Green Acres, Walterboro SC. We often stop for a night or two at North Beach Camp Resort in St. Augustine on the way south. This ensures that we arrive at the Fort by noon and get a good campsite.

We almost always have a site by 1:00 p.m., only had to wait once, until about 3:00 p.m.

 

[two4theroad]

Some people don't mind the 95 corridor. Me, I can't stand it . Personally I hate the 95 ride down until I reach VA, then It's not as bad. We are also from RI and will be leaving here Thanksgiving morning to the Fort for 2 weeks. We are taking the other route ourselves. We took a test run to almost Roanoke VA and tweeked the route a little to stay away from cities and traffic as much as possible. I like to enjoy the ride and not have a death grip on the door We start out on 95S but leave it as soon as possible. These are the exact routes we will take, it sounds like alot but really it isn't. Also it's just a nice ride. 95S...CT 9-91-691-84...PA 380S-80-81...( you can skip the 380S-80 and just get on the 81 but we found it to be a lot busier and const.) From there it should be easy breezy... Route 77-26-95-(295 Jacksonville FL)-95-4-Disney!!!
We tow a 5th wheel, so if we take 95 we can't go on the Parkways up here. We have to go around anyway which adds time, and traffic threw the cities adds time. We figure we'll be even when all is said and done. Also going our new route I only saw 1 toll. As for me I'm taking the road less traveled and will be arriving at the Fort with a hugh smile on my face. Good Luck to you whichever road you choose.

 

[flbmcman]

My wife and I are from Rhode Island and are making our first trip to Ft. Wilderness in our new tear drop style camper. I have never driven to FL with a camper attached, and was just wondering if there were any inside tips anyone from our neck of the woods cared to share with a rookie. Any roads to avoid, best roads to take to get there the easiest, nice stops along the way would all be helpful. Our reservations are for the 30th of November and I was planning on leaving early on the 27th and making a stay over stop in SC and one in St. Augustine, FL. Staying on 95 South the entire time. Arriving at Fort Wilderness at 1 PM on the 30th of November. How do the rest of you break up the drive time from New England? Also, do they usually have the campsites ready by 1 PM? Any Help would be greatly appreciated.

STAY OFF THE FREEWAYS JUST JOKING

I live on the N. side of Jacksonville, FL. There is a major construction site just past the airport exit. If you are going to use I-95, at the min., use the CENTER lane. The granny (outside) lane disappears at the 295 exit.

After going to WDW many times, I would 2nd exit past the AIRPORT. This will take you on the E. of the city, TOWARD THE BEACHES. Stay on 9A S. This is newly finished road, only about 1 mile of construction at the start. This will take you to the S. side of the city where you can join up with I95S(toward Dayton). Continue to I-4, just past Daytona Intl. Raceway exit. Of course, Orlando is ALWAYS a challange. You may want to try SR-429 which is a NEW road going on the W. side of Orlando, however it is a TOLL road. WDW has an exit on the W. side of the property.

 

[EpcotQueen]

Drove to Dc not all that long ago. Lots of construction on 95 just north of Baltimore. May want to keep that in mind.

 

[wrongagain]

Since I am joining this late in the conversation, all I can say is the traffic that the others have mentioned is an understatement.
I usually do 2, or 2-1/2 days down trying to stay out of the heavy traffic areas during rush hour, and as close to straight thru as I can on the way back, but at around 1300 miles it is more than a chore, as the only driver.
Mostly 95 the whole way, bringing the bus thru new york is an experience.
Dont forget to get a fast pass or you have to stop every 10 feet until you are out of the new york area to pay tolls.
I know you will love the constant road construction, we do every time.
And I dont care what the gps tells you about making it in 20 hours, my best time is about 25 hours, but the top end in the bus is about 65.
And if you are looking for all the state troopers you didnt see along the way,... they are all hiding on the edge of the road in Virginia, I kid you not.

 

[BradyBz12]

Here now from southern NH. We pull a 21' hybrid and DH likes to avoid NYC. Our route is MA Pike to 84 through CT to 87 to Garden State Pkwy to 95. A bit longer, but the road is generally good.

We don't mind the 95 ride down as long as we plan to miss the big cities during peak times (Baltimore, DC, Richmond) We drove the first leg down during the night and only hit a tiny bit of construction in VA that was no big deal with no traffic.

Most of the rest of the way was pretty much smooth sailing - luckily all the construction we hit in GA last year seems to be done.

Good luck and safe travels!

 

[clkelley]

My wife and I are from Rhode Island and are making our first trip to Ft. Wilderness in our new tear drop style camper. I have never driven to FL with a camper attached, and was just wondering if there were any inside tips anyone from our neck of the woods cared to share with a rookie. Any roads to avoid, best roads to take to get there the easiest, nice stops along the way would all be helpful. Our reservations are for the 30th of November and I was planning on leaving early on the 27th and making a stay over stop in SC and one in St. Augustine, FL. Staying on 95 South the entire time. Arriving at Fort Wilderness at 1 PM on the 30th of November. How do the rest of you break up the drive time from New England? Also, do they usually have the campsites ready by 1 PM? Any Help would be greatly appreciated.

Can't help you on the drive as I come down 75, but "teardrop style" camper caught my eye!! What do you have?? I have a T@B and love it!!

 

[IslandHtsCampers]

if you drive NJ throught the night there is almost no chance of traffic
don't try the garden state parkway-- southern half is all under reconstruction
i leave NJ at 3am and always miss the balt/dc traffic

 

[jclos1980]

The brand of our camper is a Micro-Lite. I'll load some pics on here soon before our trip. So everyone can recognize my wife and I. Plus it's covered in Yankees logos , so I want to brag.

 

[RocklandRVers]

We have tried several ways down and back including using US301 through the DEL-MAR-VA area to avoid DC/Balt. I agree going through the Shenendoah Valley is more scenic and less traffic but is also mountainous. You little teardrop shouldn't make that an issue depending on your tow vehicle. That being said we now use I-95 down and back. For us its all about saving time. No matter how we look at it, I-95 is as close to the straight line between two points being the shortest than any other route. Sure its a roll of the dice around the big cities, but if you chose early morning and late at night to go through there, you can avoid the jams. Once your past Fredricksburg/Richmond its pedal to the metal and the miles seem to tick by without problems.

 

[VW camper Dan]

When we went last time from NY to FW in our classic VW camper we took I-95 all the way, wasn't any trouble. we pushed to Richmond (family there) and then to Savannah,GA then to WDW.
we added a few more miles the VA to GA day to cut some off the arrival at FW. In Savannah we stayed at Skidaway state park, and it was nice, just the other side of town but not hard to find and very nice Spanish moss hanging inthe marsh oaks. well worth a visit.

but for our returning trip this coming May 2010, we're taking a very liesurly pace down the coastal highways and OBX. of course this time there'll be near a dozen classic VW campers enroute. part of a VW Treffen I've put together to travel and see a large gathering in St Petersburg, FL.

also for stops in the SC area, think of Edisto Beach S.P or Hunting Island. they've both been highly recommended in our planning.
in Georgia Jekyll Island has some great historic and coastal charm.


Dan in NY

 

[thecplusplusguy]

I've been following this post and all the people saying just take 95S, so I plugged that in to MS streets and trips and it only saves me (with my driving schedule) about an hour and a half. Over 2 days thats no big deal to me given the chances for hitting traffic on 95S.

Dan

 

[blm2003]

It has been 10+ years since I've driven 95 all the way to Florida, and that year we left at 8pm local time and drove straight through, traffic was miserable through Richmond and the DC area, but the rest of the way was smooth sailing.

More recent trips from Mass to the Ft have had us going the following route, 95 to 78 to 81 to 77 to 26 and back to 95 around Charleston, SC.This is a beautiful ride, and made even more enjoyable by the lack of toll booths on this route. Paying the toll on 4 or 5 axle's makes me really think the little bit longer (only 105 miles for us) is very much worth it.

Having said that, we are going to be going down by way of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel our next trip, just to so the kids can see it, and me, I have to say, no matter how many times I drive over that stretch of road it is a marvel.

We will be watching the threads on the Georgia construction closely before we leave, may look to make our way around that stretch of 95 as much as possible if it's still a mess next year.

What ever way you go, have a safe trip and enjoy it. We can't wait to pull out next year for the Fort, Vacation just isn't the same if it's not at Disney!