Driving from NJ?

[kimatigger]

Can someone tell me how long it reallly took you from NJ? We plan on leaving about 5-6 pm and driving right through except for gas and potty breaks. We will stop in the morning for breakfast when the kids get up. We figure leaving at this time of night we will miss all the Baltimore/DC traffic.

 

[HugsForEeyore]

I drive from NJ on every trip - usually I drive one way and take the AutoTrain the other. When driving, it takes me a total of 20 hours - which includes potty breaks, getting gasoline, and meals that I eat in the car. I live in Northern New Jersey, and it takes 2 and a half hours just to get to the Delaware Memorial Bridge. I also am not a speed demon when driving, so that could add to the time! When driving down, I usually drive about 15 hours, and spend the night in Southern South Carolina or Northern Georgia, then drive the rest of the way to WDW the next day.

Hope you have a nice trip!!

 

[momtoce&j]

Hi. We drove down straight through this past April. We left around 6 pm, DH and I took turns driving and we made it to the Mc Donald's at exit 94 just south of Savannah at 8:30 am. We made it to St. Augustine by 11:30 am and checked into our hotel. (We stayed here for one night for a 'beach day' .)

The drive really wasn't that bad. We stopped for gas around Richmond, then again in the morning by the Mc Donald's right after breakfast.

I must warn you though, driving through the night can be tough if you get really tired. That white line is all there is at 3 am. There are no lights, buildings, mountains, nothing just blackness and that little white line. We drove down on a Wednesday night, so there wasn't even any other cars to speak of.

We did keep track of where we stopped at what time and at what mileage it was, if you would like that I can look for that paper for you.


Hope this helps.

 

[AspiringCindy]

It took us 18 hours from Bergen County!

 

[fac]

AspringCindy and HugsForEyore,

when did you normally leave your home?

thanks
felicia

 

[AspiringCindy]

Going, we left at 8:00 AM and stopped in S.C. over night! So, not counting the stop...it was 18 hours traveling time.
Coming back, we drove stright through...and again it took 18 hours. We left WDW at 11:00 AM and arrived home somewhere around 6 AM. I would not recommend it!
If I were to do it again, I would leave at 3 AM and arrive at WDW at a decent hour. Plus you would miss all Wash DC traffic! For us, the most difficult part of the drive was between 1 and 4 AM...so if you start the trip at 3 AM, you are driving at the difficult time, but refreshed!

 

[fac]

Thanks.
I have read so much about driving to FL, I plan to talk DH into driving, but it may take a few years.

 

[Luigi's Girl]

We always drive from Monmouth County and with gas and potty and drive-thru stops, along with a one hour stop at Cracker Barrel for breakfast it takes us 19 hours. It's nice to take a break from the car for that hour to get us refreshed for the remainder of the trip. If we leave at 7:00 pm we are at a Cracker Barrel in Florence SC by 6:00 am and at WDW around 2:00 pm.

 

[kimatigger]

Thanks everyone! I plan on driving first and letting DH sleep for a while and then when I get tired he can drive and then I will take over again in the morning so he is not exhausted the whole day. We are in Southern Ocean County and from what I have read 1050 miles.

 

[HugsForEeyore]

AspringCindy and HugsForEyore,
when did you normally leave your home?
thanks, felicia

Opps, just saw this! I usually go solo, so I have to have a break the drive into two days. When going down, I usually leave my house (in Morris County) at 7:00 am. I arrive in Washington around noon, which can have some traffic, but nowhere nears as horrible as morning and evening rush hour! I usually get to my hotel in southern SC/or Northern Georgia a little after 10 pm, though once I lost an hour and arrived at 11:00 pm due to an accident on 95, where we were at a dead halt for an hour. Then the next day it's about five hours to Disney!

I am also a big fan of the Amtrak AutoTrain. If I am taking it down, I leave Jersey at about 6:30 am, and arrive at Lorton VA roughly noonish. Then I take the train and arrive in Florida early the next day, and be in Disney usually by noon!

Wish I could drive straight through, but I always take two days to get to the Mouse!

 

[della]

We are also Southern Ocean County. We don't drive too much any more but when we did we would leave late afternoon/early evening. We would miss the traffic around DC and the kids would actually sleep. Typically we stop in Hilton Head SC (we are DVC members and stay at the DVC resort there). It usually takes 12 hours to SC and another 6-8 to Orlando. Another thing about leaving later in the day/evening. When we would leave earlier the kids were not tired. As soon as it was my turn to sleep, everyone would need me! And I never got any sleep!

 

[djbleach]

As I read all this driving time, I wonder why not fly? My experience is, if you are flexible with your dates, you can catch a cheap SW or AT flight. For me this last time it was $160 for my daughter and I. Then $55 for a compact rental car for 3 days.
For me It would be worth another $160 If I had my wife and another person to go. My dad loves to drive. I feel like anything over 6 hours I will try and fly.
Driving Is tiresome. Flying Is not the most fun thing, but at least you can wake up, fly , get to Florida, and still enjoy the first day of your vacation.
When you calculate the expense of gas, wear and tear on your car, hotel room (for the overnight and return drive, probably around $100) the time, plus the condition your body feels after riding in a car so long, flying seems to be a much better way to travel. I've hit some crazy traffic jams before and the stress related to this probably has taken years off my life. LOL

 

[Teacher0510]

I've taken the Auto Train the last 2 trips. Since I try to allow lots of time for any delays I would leave the Giants Stadium area around 5-5:30 AM and have lunch in Lorton near the station.
When I have driven the whole way we left at around the same time, stoped for breakfast and lunch and then arrived in Fayettevile, NC around 4:30, in time for swimming and dinner and early bedtime. We'd leave the next morning around 5:30 and follow the same stopping schedule and get to WDW at about 5:30 PM. We're flying this time.

 

[isyt]

As I read all this driving time, I wonder why not fly? My experience is, if you are flexible with your dates, you can catch a cheap SW or AT flight. For me this last time it was $160 for my daughter and I. Then $55 for a compact rental car for 3 days.
For me It would be worth another $160 If I had my wife and another person to go. My dad loves to drive. I feel like anything over 6 hours I will try and fly.
Driving Is tiresome. Flying Is not the most fun thing, but at least you can wake up, fly , get to Florida, and still enjoy the first day of your vacation.
When you calculate the expense of gas, wear and tear on your car, hotel room (for the overnight and return drive, probably around $100) the time, plus the condition your body feels after riding in a car so long, flying seems to be a much better way to travel. I've hit some crazy traffic jams before and the stress related to this probably has taken years off my life. LOL

OHHH BOYYYY!! I used to say this to my cousin years ago all the time , now she makes fun of me. We are a family of 5 now, so if a really cheap air comes along I will fly but if not we drive. It cost us about $400 rt to drive compared to an average $1000 and higher to fly. Last year we caught $115 out of EWR and we flew. Its always a wait and see game.

This past June we drove ( we were there for 3 weeks) and we left our house at 5am and were in Disney about 12:15am. I made great time, not to fast just went with the flow. I don't think I could drive all night because I can't sleep in a car. We are also in Morris couny (north Jersey). Drive carefully!!!

 

[Kimkimba]

We are in PA, near Philly, close to the NJ/DE border.

We drove to Orlando in March, and it took us about 15 hours with stops for breakfast, lunch, and dinner ..... and gas and one or two rest stops. All fast food, but about an hour each time.

We are leaving at 2:00 am this time, and I plan on getting to Disney by 8:00 pm, but hopefully earlier. We are stopping in St. Augustine to see a piece of land we bought, so I know this will "cost" us an extra hour or more.

 

[ducklite]

I would NOT leave at 5:00-6:00pm. Instead I'd get to sleep early and get "REAL" sleep in your own bed for five or six hours, and leave at 3:00am. This will put you ahead of the worst of morning rush in DC. Once you get past Richmond it's LONG, BORING BORING ride. Very easy--make that wayyyy too easy to fall asleep at the wheel.

We've made the drive back and forth between NJ and Orlando about eight times in the past year, and it's almost impossible to do safely the way you are describing it. DH and I are both good "car sleepers" and it's still not good sleep.

Driving while tired is as dangerous as driving while drunk.

Anne

 

[JustineMarie]

I agree with Ducklite. When we drive we always get up around 3 or 4 am and leave then. The kids usually fall right back to sleep once they get in the car and we actually get plenty of sleep bc we go to bed early the night before. Plus, we get to WDW at night and are able to get a good night's rest and start the morning off fresh. We tried the whole driving through the night thing the first time we went. We thought it would be easier bc the kids were small and they would sleep most of the ride. We were wrong! The kids ended up trying to stay awake as long as possible which led to them getting completely off their schedules and my husband and I got so tired that we ended up stopping at a hotel in South Carolina just to get a couple hours sleep. We ended up not getting to WDW until 2pm the following day and the kids slept half the day bc they didn't get much sleep in the car. I guess it really depends on your family but with mine it works out much easier leaving early in the morning.

 

[JimFitz]

We are driving down in Oct. and we were going to leave at 7pm and drive through the night. Now I think 3am sounds better and better. If I go to bed at 7pm and get up at 3am I will be refreshed and ready to go. I think this is the better way to go.

My kids are young (twins boys 2 1/2 and a 15 month old boy) and I am afraid of them in the car for that long. I was thinking that leaving at 7pm would be a good way to get alot of the trip out of the way while they were asleep.

 

[degirl]

I live near the De Memorial Bridge and we drove a couple of years ago and left our house around 4am and we were in St Augustine by 7pm and that included a few stops for gas and food and of course potty breaks

 

[AspiringCindy]

We are driving down in Oct. and we were going to leave at 7pm and drive through the night. Now I think 3am sounds better and better. If I go to bed at 7pm and get up at 3am I will be refreshed and ready to go. I think this is the better way to go.

My kids are young (twins boys 2 1/2 and a 15 month old boy) and I am afraid of them in the car for that long. I was thinking that leaving at 7pm would be a good way to get alot of the trip out of the way while they were asleep.

You will be surprised how the good the kids will handle the drive. Our first drive to WDW, our youngest was 14 months, and she slept so much of the trip! We also purchased "Video in a Bag" and played a few movies. For us, it is more important for the adults to be rested and comfortable than the kids be good in the car because safety has to come first! When we drove through and left 11:00AM, it was torturous by the time it was 3:00 AM. That is why we have decided on our next trip to leave at 3:00AM!