Driving from NJ - July 3rd

[sushilover]

We are planning on driving from Northern NJ to WDW on Saturday, July 3rd. We were planning on leaving around 8:30 - 9:00 AM but the more I read, I'm thinking maybe we should drive down to the Baltimore/DC area and spending Friday night there before starting out on Saturday morning. That way we would be dealing with the VA traffic around 10AM rather than later in the afternoon. My husband is not an early riser so leaving earlier is not really an option. Your opinions please? TIA

 

[sticker231]

Not sure how busy DC gets during the Fourth of July, but the Jersey traffic at that time on July 3rd will be terrible.

 

[HeatherC]

I started a recent post on this which you should be able to see if you do a quick search. You may find it interesting/helpful. Sorry .... but I don't know how to link it.

We are actually in the same boat. But..we are leaving from Massachusetts.

The general consensus seems to be that we are pretty much nailed since it is July 4th weekend. It is also beach turn over day for all the beach rentals from Delaware to the Outer Banks.

I actually think Friday would be worse. A lot of people will be heading out for their July 4th weekend, leaving work early and trying to beat the traffic. I think if that is the only time you can leave, you may consider leaving even later. That way more people will have already gotten where they need to be.

We have decided that we will leave around 2 am on Friday morning and will take the inland 81 route. It adds about an hour to the ride, but based on when we leave, it will avoid the New York, Baltimore/Washington corridor.

Maybe that is another option for you? You could always take 78 to 81 and then jump on 64 back to Richmond to connect with 95 again.

You can actually plan out your route on google maps to see how long it might take.

Wish I could help more! Have a wonderful trip!

 

[vicki_c]

I don't think your plan is going to help with traffic much that weekend. It's going to be a traffic nightmare all around the NJ/DE/MD/VA area starting on Friday. I don't think hitting VA traffic at 10 AM is going to be any help at all, vs. another time during the day. We live in the Annapolis area and don't plan on trying to go much of anywhere on 4th of July weekend that involves any highway.

 

[msmayor]

If you plan to leave on Friday and make a stop, do yourself a favor and get south of DC BEFORE you stop. This way, in the morning, you'll be past some of the worst traffic spots.

 

[Suzyq9241]

I agree with msmayor... Please go south of the dc area....

 

[sushilover]

I think we are probably going to take the inland route - I-81 with a possible stop at the Luray Caverns on Saturday morning.

HeatherC - I did a search on your name and was able to pull up your posts which has alot of information about I-81. Thanks.

 

[dblr]

For what it's worth I think Nascar will be in Daytona over the holiday weekend, not sure when they are raceing but I would think there will be heavy traffic around that area. Not sure when you plan to be go thru that area just giving a heads up.

 

[theterms]

Have you considered driving at night? We've driven from NJ many times and leave around 10pm, sometimes earlier. We hit the DC area about 2am, nothing on the road then! Breakfast is usually SC, disney by about 3pm.

If you're able to do that, it's great. Our kids slept all night, I drove after breakfast into FL, then DH took over again after about a 5 hour nap.

We actually like driving and will still do it if the airfare is just too much.