Driving from NJ: I-81 or I-95?

[LuckyGirl777]

We are leaving in about two weeks to go to WDW. We are driving down. (We are not flying because I am terrified of flying)

Anyway! We are going to break it up into two days, and stay over one night on the way down and back up. We are going to try leave early in the morning, stay over, get up, repeat. No driving through the night etc.

Two questions...

1. Is the inland route (81 to Charlotte etc) better than 95? I'm very familiar with the traffic that you can hit in the whole NJ/PA/DE/DC corridor and I'd rather be moving even if it is a bit longer?

2. What is a logical stop-over on the way down and the way back up?

Thanks!!!

 

[sticker231]

We take 95 down, but do it in one day. We are leaving this Friday. We leave around 7pm to avoid the traffic and it helps keep the kids in their normal sleeping time frame.

 

[dvcterry]

we drive down from Connecticut & have taken 95 down. Can be done in one day, but we do stopovers as well. Stayed in Virginia, the Carolinas. The traffic is stop & go. We've travelled different times of the year & it's the same areas you usually run into to stops. We leave early in the morning & again could make it through in one day so it really is not that bad. Drive carefully.

 

[jackparts]

We live near Reading Pa and used to drive to WDW. Left at 5AM, picked up I-95 and stopped 45 minutes past Savannah Ga. Gas, food and pit stops (3 kids) apprx 6pm. Next day, left at 6AM and arrived in WDW apprx 1PM and went to Downtown Disney to start our vacation. I-95 was really not too bad. Now with eleven of us, we fly. Don't want to waste the time and with five kids, mayhem rules.

 

[OKW Lover]

Funny this should come up now. My wife and I are in the middle of this right now. We drove through NYC/DC on Sunday morning. Not much problem in NYC and we even were ok in DC itself. But on 95 south of DC we were very surprised at the amount of traffic delays. We pretty much decided that on the return trip we would do the inland route.

 

[Brook1099]

We will be driving in 3 weeks. Our family has done the drive every year since 2004. My husband insists on going 95. We are central jersey so going to 81 is out of the way, but I would love to try one year. We have left many different times of the day and night, and 2 am works the best for us. We have stayed in Florence and Santee SC and Savannah GA. I prefer GA as the stop because we only have about 4 hrs to Orlando the following day. We have also drove straight thru and that just doesnt make for a happy family. A few times on the way home we have drove straight thru but most times we stop and stay in Virginia right before 295.

Have a great trip.

 

[amcnj]

I think some depends on where in NJ you are starting out from. I am down in the southeastern part, and taking the inland route is too far out of my way to be practical. That said, the time of year, the day of the week and time of day you expect to leave makes a big difference. On a workday, I leave around 2:30 am and am in the Orlando area by 5:30 to 8:30 pm depending on traffic/weather/stops. If you are leaving later in the day and might hit DC during its expanded rush hour times, you might want to consider the inland route. Weekends are probably less critical, but that can vary with the time of year as you might hit beach traffic in some states as you travel along 95and I have also read that the time of year can affect the inland route, so far as snow/ice. But hopefully two weeks from now will still be clear of that stuff! As far as stopping, that is something you will have to decide, as to how far you want to get that first day and how much traveling you still want to do that second day. Personally I would prefer to do most of the driving the first day.

 

[Kbendig]

I've never driven all the way to Disney, but I have family in NC and we have driven to SC. We took 81 once and it was much longer and to me, more stressful. I don't find 95 to be that bad, I've driven alone with my son through it, and because of Turnpike traffic we got there right around rush hour. They changed the roads a bit around DC so cutting through wasn't that bad and I hit the normal backup right after, but it was still no worse than driving here. Actually, I made it from DC to Richmond faster than I have made it from here to the shore on a normal summer weekend.

As far as where to stay, how much driving can you do and be ok? We talked about driving and figured we would stop around my sister's in NC, it's 10 hours from here and then another 8 from her. My limit in the car is about 12 hours, you don't want to be near me after that. I have friends who make the trip in one day, it's definitely doable but I prefer to stop around 10-12 hours. **We've never driven to Disney, but I have family all over the country and we drive there. I can deal with travel days for family, not for the mouse.**

 

[LuckyGirl777]

Oops, I should have written where I was starting out from....we live right by 78 where it intersects with 287.

 

[LuckyGirl777]

Funny this should come up now. My wife and I are in the middle of this right now. We drove through NYC/DC on Sunday morning. Not much problem in NYC and we even were ok in DC itself. But on 95 south of DC we were very surprised at the amount of traffic delays. We pretty much decided that on the return trip we would do the inland route.

That's interesting...good luck on your return trip inland!

 

[LuckyGirl777]

Thanks everyone, still reading through and trying to decide!

I would feel better on 95 in general, other than the traffic situation. The earliest we could leave would be 630 am which means we would probably be ok getting through DC in time.

But then I've heard that Fridays all day are bad in DC?

And then living where we live (where 78 crosses 287) it's also tempting to just go west from there to 81 and avoid even the whole NJ traffic scene around Newark etc.

Tough decision!

 

[dvcterry]

the latest we left was 4 a.m. from ct. and no matter what day of the week, we always hit DC traffic.

 

[katrina1122]

We are in NJ and driving for the first time and taking 95 in 3 weeks!

81 isn't traffic free either. I lived in VA and went to school in SW Va at Radford which is right off 81 (1991-1996). It was trucks galore then and I'm sure is worse now. in 93 we drove to WDW for spring break from there. We did 81 for awhile and then cut across to 95. Good lord is North Carolina a long state to cross! It felt like half the trip. We could have gone further south on the inland route, but our AAA agent said cutting to 95 was easier and faster.

 

[LuckyGirl777]

We are in NJ and driving for the first time and taking 95 in 3 weeks!

81 isn't traffic free either. I lived in VA and went to school in SW Va at Radford which is right off 81 (1991-1996). It was trucks galore then and I'm sure is worse now. in 93 we drove to WDW for spring break from there. We did 81 for awhile and then cut across to 95. Good lord is North Carolina a long state to cross! It felt like half the trip. We could have gone further south on the inland route, but our AAA agent said cutting to 95 was easier and faster.

Yeah, I'm also wondering around cutting through at Richmond and hooking up with 95 there.....hmm....but that adds a lot of miles.

Good luck on your trip!

 

[OKW Lover]

We have stayed in Florence and Santee SC and Savannah GA.

We just spent two nights in Savannah, which really just gave us one full day there, and really enjoyed the city. So much history there and such a beautiful city. Highly recommend having dinner at Olde Pink House if you do stop there.

 

[Brook1099]

We just spent two nights in Savannah, which really just gave us one full day there, and really enjoyed the city. So much history there and such a beautiful city. Highly recommend having dinner at Olde Pink House if you do stop there.

Glad u had a great stay, I someday soon may actually take the time to enjoy a day in Savannah, before heading to the World.

 

[The VWL Five]

We are NJ folk and have changed over from 95 to 81. The time of day you leave is dependant upon the route. The 81 route is not bad if you can hook up with it easily. For us we are close to 78 so head west to Harrisburg and down we go. Since 81/77 heads due south at some points and 95 continues southwest, it is not as longer to go 81 than you think. At the start it is longer but you make up ground in NC/SC. Calculated overall 40-60 minutes more but a whole less hassle.

Have fun

 

[ParrotBill]

I am a big fan of the I-81/I-77/I-26 route.

From your location it is about 100 miles more... but I find I can average 75mph most of the way. I find I-95 averages about 60 with the inevitable slowdowns or stop and go in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington and Richmond!

That means I make the trip in nearly an hour shorter time despite the extra miles. I have done this numerous times. The alternate route is not perfect but any delay is usually weather or accident related. And it's a much lower stress drive.

 

[vicki_c]

So, we used to take the 77/26 roads when we traveled from Buffalo to FL. But we don't go that way any longer since we live near Annapolis. Does it even make sense for us to look into this route from our location? I'm thinking not because I would have to go north to catch 81 before heading south? Obviously we wouldn't do that. But whe I keep reading about NJ folks going this way, it's been making me wonder. And yes, I am off to look at a map and will probably figure it out for myself! But I'm open to any thoughts.

Edited: as I suspected, this just doesn't make sense for us. Google gives an option of going thru DC and out I-66 in VA to get to 77. That's a nightmare we won't do. The other option was going north into PA I think (adds 4 hours!). Guess we will just have to stick to our tried and true. We don't get on 95 until south of Richmond anyway, but always looking for the optimal route.

 

[glen65]

Like Patriot Bill, I am a big fan of the I-81/I-77/I-26 route.
We did this route 2 years ago I would recommend it. We left our house in the Lehigh Valley (Bethlehem, PA) at 2:30 in the morning and were at our hotel in Jacksonville, Fl at 5:15 that evening. Not bad considering I was traveling with 5 women who apparently had very small bladders! The ride there and back were on Saturday, so I'm sure that also helped with the traffic.

We are taking that route again this time and we are planning Saturdays and about the same times. The only difference is we are going to drive straight through this time.