Driving from Central Jersey to WDW...help me pick a route please.

[Pivotalrex]

Hi, we're driving to WDW in Mid Sept. We'll be leaving early Friday morning between 4-6am. I've read posts on here but wanted to get some opinions on what will be the better route:

1) 95 south straight down or

2) 81 - 77 - 26 - 95.

We'll have an almost 3 yr old in tow so we'll be stopping to stretch/bathroom breaks a good bit.
Also, if you could suggest a good point to stay over for each route both going down and return trip I'd appreciate it. Looking to get 10-12 hrs of driving in before stopping on the way down. From what I've read a lot of people stop at Florence, SC if taking 95 and Savannah, GA for 81/77.

thanks

 

[cranbiz]

Personally, I would just take I95. The 81-77-26-95 route is more round about and a decent portion of it is in the mountains.

12 hours on I95 should get you well into GA. I would probably stop in the Pooler/Brunswick area, which has a decent selection of hotels and places to eat. If you get further, Kings Bay is just before the FL line, has a decent selection of places to stay and is about 4 hours from WDW.

Plan for DC traffic and leave as to miss it. That's really the only concern for day 1. Consider I495 around DC and possibly I295 around Richmond.

 

[java]

How close are you to PA? We are about 5 minutes and love the 81 route. It's longer mileage Wise but it's a nice drive. We just did it about a month ago. We left 3:30 am got to savannah right around 3. Had dinner at Vinny Van's go go pizza. Oh so yummy. Thin crispy crust pizza. Love it and you can eat outside. We do 4 hours, stop for gas, 4 more hours lunch potty. 4 more we stop.

 

[cindy17]

Hi, we're driving to WDW in Mid Sept. We'll be leaving early Friday morning between 4-6am. I've read posts on here but wanted to get some opinions on what will be the better route:

1) 95 south straight down or

2) 81 - 77 - 26 - 95.

We'll have an almost 3 yr old in tow so we'll be stopping to stretch/bathroom breaks a good bit.
Also, if you could suggest a good point to stay over for each route both going down and return trip I'd appreciate it. Looking to get 10-12 hrs of driving in before stopping on the way down. From what I've read a lot of people stop at Florence, SC if taking 95 and Savannah, GA for 81/77.

thanks

We are from Morris County, and we have left 6 am on a weekday, with only 1 potty/lunch stop combo, and maybe a couple of gas stops, and we did 12 hours to Florence, SC. And with no major traffic to speak of. Florence is a great place to stop - many hotel and food choices. I believe we stayed at a Comfort Inn (or Quality Inn), and it was within easy walking distance to a Target, Kohls, mall with food court, and many other food places to choose from. The next day we were on the road by 7:30 am or so, and pulled into Disney by 3 pm. Happy Travels!

 

[cindy17]

We are from Morris County, and we have left 6 am on a weekday, with only 1 potty/lunch stop combo, and maybe a couple of gas stops, and we did 12 hours to Florence, SC. And with no major traffic to speak of. Florence is a great place to stop - many hotel and food choices. I believe we stayed at a Comfort Inn (or Quality Inn), and it was within easy walking distance to a Target, Kohls, mall with food court, and many other food places to choose from. The next day we were on the road by 7:30 am or so, and pulled into Disney by 3 pm. Happy Travels!

Oh and we usually take 95 on the way down, and 81 home (just to change it up a bit)

 

[melanie18]

We are from Mercer County and take 95 all the way down with some deviation using the Waze app when we hit traffic in MD/DC/VA. It's 12 hours to Savannah and we love staying there overnight because depending on where you stay it's a short drive to the riverfront area. Great for walking around, seeing some sights and having a nice dinner.

 

[edbo77]

I'm a 95 guy as well - make sure you time your departure so that you miss Baltimore/DC traffic and you'll be fine.

In terms of places to stop, see how much you can stretch it out after the little one goes down. Savannah is a good 2+ hours past Florence, if you can make it a bit further on Day 1 it's that much less driving the next day. I've stayed at a Fairfield by the Savannah/Hilton Head AP a couple of times. Right off 95, plenty of other choices there as well.

My last drive was in February - left Boston at 4A, was just ahead of NYC traffic and hit DC around lunchtime so I made out great. Got all the way to Jax just after 10P.

 

[jm106]

We live close to pa. We just did 81 to 64 to 95 (Richmond VA) which worked well. We planned to stop in Florence again but it was early and kids were in great spirits so we drove on. Stopped at Hampton inn just south of Savannah, on 17 in Richmond hill GA ( there's a holiday inn as well as a best western and quality inn too.) it was perfect, easy stop and clean.

 

[Pivotalrex]

Thanks for the responses. We're going to plan it out both ways depending on weather at the time. I hear that the 81 route isn't good if there's rain (too much fog in the mountains). If the weather is good we'll take that route, otherwise 95 and avoid Baltimore and DC. Thanks for the replies and advice.

 

[Anesthesia Fine]

Chiming in a bit late; we're from Burlington and usually do 1-95 as well. We've done the trip with little guys who need frequent stops and usually end up spending the night in Fayetteville, though honestly if I had my way I would've waited till we hit SC.

 

[RookieLady]

The I-81 route is gorgeous. I am from NC and literally just returned from Boston via this route. My car kept trying to route me to I-95. The expected arrival time using I-95 was 2:30 am. Got home at 11:00 going I-81. Traffic on 95 can really slow you down if you don't hit it correctly. Also, I-95 through South Carolina is ridiculous (I am originally from SC). Locals don't use the road and it hasn't been sufficiently widened. If you go the 81 route to 26, you are only on 95 in South Carolina for 87 miles. Otherwise, its several hours. However, 26 is undergoing major construction. If you take that route, you can by pass that traffic taking Highway 21 just east of Columbia and pick 95 up further south, around exit 40. If you do get off the highway, make sure you do exactly the speed limit in those little towns.