Driving from DC area via I-81

[Certifiable WDW Nut]

Has anyone driven from the Washington DC area, or north of there, to Orlando via I-81 to I-77 to I-20 to I-95 near Charleston, SC? We live pretty far west of DC and are thinking of doing this route this weekend rather than sitting in the beach traffic on I-95 in Virginia and North Carolina. I'm just curious if any has had any experiences.

TIA.

 

[Suzyq9241]

My hubby and I perfer to drive I-95 all the way....

I do know we are from NJ but we try different ways of driving on trips than the norm .... Just to see if there is any easier ways of coming and going...

But like I said we like I-95 to I-4

I believe it's easier than driving different ways and there are more places to stop if need be.

 

[stacy6552]

Hey neighbor! I know exactly where you are and have taken that route part of the way quite often to Charlotte and a couple of times home from Hilton head that way. Here's what I can tell you: Its about 6 hours to Charlotte and then another 2-ish to the 95 past Columbia. Friends in Charlotte told us it takes about 7-8 hours to get from there to Orlando. The traffic is pretty great, with the exception of the area immediately north of Charlotte, which can become a parking lot at the wrong time of day. If you want to stay overnight in Charlotte, I would reccommend that Courtyard Marriott in Ballentyne, or if you need a villa, the Staybridge Suites also in Ballentyne area. Its a smidge off the 77, but both places are nice and safe.

Now when we drove to WDW, we took the 95. It took us about 16 hours and was a pretty good drive, so good that we drove straight through on the way down. However, we wouldnt do it again, because we felt really jetlagged about the second day at WDW. The plus to this route is that there is a fantastic website that can tell you what is at every exit along the 95 between here and there. So around lunch time, I could look at myt list and say, "ok gang either we stop now at BK or Subway or we wait 10 miles until McD's...." That site is called usastar.com

 

[bdcp]

Hey, I live in Ashburn too! We're not that far west of DC. To avoid Springfield, we take a couple of back routes to I-95. We took I-81 to Tennessee last year and all I can say is you must love trucks. I-81 is a major truck route. I-95, particularly south of Richmond isn't too bad. My best suggestion is to leave early in the am, like 5 am or so and get south of the main beach areas of VA Beach, (I-64) towards Outer Banks, before noon. Saturday traffic going south is always worse than going north, which is worse on Sunday afternoons. We always leave early for road trips and it makes a huge difference. Last year we took the Auto Train and are doing it again this year. The route you're talking about will take longer than going I-95 even if there is heavy traffic.

 

[Certifiable WDW Nut]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I think we are going to try it. If we were leaving early, then 95 would definitely be the way to go. We've done the 15 to 234 in Manassas route to 95 and that helps. But we can't leave until after lunch on Saturday because DH has to work Saturday morning and I'm really concerned about the beach traffic heading to the Virginia beaches and North Carolina. According to mapquest, it is about an hour longer, which I figure we'll make up by missing the beach traffic. Trucks aren't really an issue for us and the ride down I-81 is really beautiful. I'll let you know how it ends up when we get back in TWO WEEKS!!!!!

Thanks again and happy travels.

 

[hmp2z]

Just a suggestion - if you can possibly time it to avoid hitting Charlotte around rush hour, I'd do that at all costs. I-77 is a terrible interstate here to begin with, and it gets pretty messy around rush hour, far worse than I-85. We live in north Charlotte and it's taken us 60-90 minutes just to get north of the city, traveling during rush hour on I-77.

We take I-77 to I-81 to visit my in-laws; when you get to Staunton, VA, you are exactly 4 hours from Charlotte. When you get to Charlotte, you are 7-8 hours from Lake Buena Vista.

Cheers!
Heather W

 

[stacy6552]

Check us out...we could have our own lil Dis-meet, at home!

 

[Robert P]

Just an FYI on mileage - from the NC/SC line (just below Charlotte) to WDW exit 64B is @ 535 miles. The 7 to 8 hour estimate is correct, without major stops.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

Looking at the map, there's another possibility if you're not adverse to driving highways other than interstates. You could take 29 down to Charlottesville, then I-64 east toward Richmond, Route 288 around Richmond to I-95 between Richmond and Petersburg. Or, 29 to Culpeper, 522 south to I-64 east to 288 to I-95. Once you reach 64, it's interstate-level highway all the way, and should avoid all the beach traffic.

 

[bdcp]

I-64 takes you to VA Beach and the major route to the Outer Banks so there's beach traffic also. It takes 2 hours to get to Charlottesville from Ashburn (my son just graduated from UVA so plenty of trips down there) then, it's another hour to Richmond on I-64 so you're not saving time at all and probably aren't saving any miles either.