Driving from NJ?

[kimatigger]

My reason for leaving in the evening is I know my kids will sleep through the night. If I leave at 3 am they will be up with the sun and make the drive a real long one. DH is a night owl and actually likes to drive. Me not loving the car so much. I am still considering flying if the airfare comes back down. If we fly do I really need a rental car?

 

[RachaelRol]

we drove from Bayonne last year. We left at 6 am on Saturday and arrived at noon on Sunday. We spent the night near the SC/GA border. WE're going again in Sept nad will fly. Got a grat deal for airfare and rental. Roundtrip airfare for 3 was $400 on Jet Blue and got a midsize rental for $190 from Priceline

We did enjoy the drive, it's just actually cheaper for us to fly this year.

 

[JediMaster]

You can do it in 16 1/2 hours ,with stops. After D.C. its about 2 hours to pass each state.

 

[ducklite]

You can do it in 16 1/2 hours ,with stops. After D.C. its about 2 hours to pass each state.

Considering it's 180+ miles from one end of NC to the other, just how fast are you driving?

Anne

 

[JediMaster]

I did say about 2 hours! though I have gone as high as 95!


Audi NEVER FOLLOW

 

[RichieGraciemom]

I have been driving my with my family since I was small, now I am ??????. Most of the time we leave at three am, get throught wash about six and then stop for breakfast about nine. We do stop in savannah for the night, by four have dinner and get up and in disney by two. sometimes we stop in jacksonville at the budweister plant and have a free tour and our lunch and the free beer sample. our two children go back to sleep a few hours after we wake them up, they love it they are three and four, it is the leaving in the dark and being excited for disney that I llove. we are in the trenton area.

 

[mickeymousefan]

We will leave from Burlington county at 10-11 pm this Saturday. I anticipate being at Summer Bay between 4-6 pm on Sunday. The trip for us is 18-20 hrs, depending on the amount and duration of our stops. We typically make lots of stops since we have two young girls.
My DH is a truck driver and he is use to driving at night. He will get a good 7-8 hours of sleep before we leave. If your drivers cant get a good amount of sleep before leaving, then leaving at 3 am is a better choice. 95 is a long, dark road at night, especially VA and NC.
Make sure you dont use a radar detector in VA. It is illegal and the cops can tell if tou have one turned on.
The trip really isnt bad. We have a DVD player in the car, and have some new "surprise" DVD's for the ride. We bring lots of snacks and drinks. This web site has a great driving section with a list of each exit and what is available for dining, fuel and lodging.
Have a safe trip....

 

[AspiringCindy]

I have been driving my with my family since I was small, now I am ??????. Most of the time we leave at three am, get throught wash about six and then stop for breakfast about nine. We do stop in savannah for the night, by four have dinner and get up and in disney by two. sometimes we stop in jacksonville at the budweister plant and have a free tour and our lunch and the free beer sample. our two children go back to sleep a few hours after we wake them up, they love it they are three and four, it is the leaving in the dark and being excited for disney that I llove. we are in the trenton area.

This is a great way to make the trip!

 

[ducklite]

I did say about 2 hours! though I have gone as high as 95!


Audi NEVER FOLLOW

Is it really worth the risk to get there two hours faster?

Anne

 

[MEK]

You are all an ambitious bunch. Someday I will drive from Philly, but as long as I can get cheap airfare ($488 RT/4 people in just a few weeks), I will continue to fly. Gas is far too expensive right now to even consider driving especially since cheap airfare can be had. I spend 8 - 10 hours commuting every week. I don't want to spend one more second driving when I am on vacation.

But if I had to drive it would definately be an early am start for me.

_______________________________________________________

Max is my favorite cat!

 

[Chuck-PA]

We have flown numberous times and driven twice. We like both choices for different reasons of course.

I have a question, since the last time we drove, I have developed a pinch nerve in my back. My leg tends to go numb while driving. I reposition myself or just put on the cruise control.

We are going again Aug 27th, we are flying.

I would like to drive again. Has anyone every driven with this problem, if so how long did it take or did you do anything different to relieve the pain?

 

[kimatigger]

The only reason I would even consider driving on this trip is because of the ages of my boys and the amount of stuff we need. I can shop for drinks and snacks before we go and I will have the car seats and the stroller and of course the car. The airfare is cheap but when I add the airport parking,rental car and the car seat rentals that more then doubles the cost of driving. We could go without a rental car but it almost seems easier to drive for us at this time. I do understand all of your concerns about driving through the night. My DH drives a 1000 miles to work and back commuting each week so a break would be nice. He says he doesn't mind driving and like I mentioned earlier he is a night owl.My driving plan was for us to leave at around 6. I would drive for as long as i could before I got tired. Then DH can drive and when he gets tired we can switch again. I keep checking the airfare so alas i am still undecided.

 

[JimFitz]

When do you plan on making this trip? We are driving down in October and want to see how other people have made it with driving trhough the night.

 

[kimatigger]

We are flying now. I got a Ding from SW on Monday and DH said go for it.

 

[Aliki]

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

For us, it's still much cheaper to drive. Assuming gas $3.00/gallon,

IF WE FLY:
Plane tix for two round-trip from Newark to Orlando $300
Gas to Newark round-trip (~200+ miles) $30
Car rental 7 days $30/day for compact mid-size auto trans $210
TOTAL: $540

IF WE DRIVE:
Gas Southern Ocean County to Orlando round-trip (~2000 miles) $300
Hotel at Days Inn 2 nights (there and back) AAA discount $80
TOTAL: $380

We need the car because we're staying off-site at Summer Bay Resorts on I92. We'll be going down the third week of October.

 

[2infinityandbeyond]

For us, it's still much cheaper to drive. Assuming gas $3.00/gallon,

IF WE FLY:
Plane tix for two round-trip from Newark to Orlando $300
Gas to Newark round-trip (~200+ miles) $30
Car rental 7 days $30/day for compact mid-size auto trans $210
TOTAL: $540

IF WE DRIVE:
Gas Southern Ocean County to Orlando round-trip (~2000 miles) $300
Hotel at Days Inn 2 nights (there and back) AAA discount $80
TOTAL: $380

We need the car because we're staying off-site at Summer Bay Resorts on I92. We'll be going down the third week of October.

You're leaving out tolls, meals and wear & tear on your car. Your time is valuable, too, so figure in the driving time vs. drive to NWK and flight to MCO. I think flying may be cheaper.

Just curious, from southern Ocean county, do you take 195 across to the turnpike, or take the GSP south then cut over somewhere further south?

 

[mickeymousefan]

For us, it's still much cheaper to drive. Assuming gas $3.00/gallon,

IF WE FLY:
Plane tix for two round-trip from Newark to Orlando $300
Gas to Newark round-trip (~200+ miles) $30
Car rental 7 days $30/day for compact mid-size auto trans $210
TOTAL: $540

IF WE DRIVE:
Gas Southern Ocean County to Orlando round-trip (~2000 miles) $300
Hotel at Days Inn 2 nights (there and back) AAA discount $80
TOTAL: $380

We need the car because we're staying off-site at Summer Bay Resorts on I92. We'll be going down the third week of October.

That is why we drive!!! We have to buy 4 tickets though because we have 2 DD's and airfare could run us $800+. For us it is a lot cheaper to drive since we drive straight through and pack a ton of food and drinks.

I definitley recommeond the car for Summer Bay, even though they do provide free Disney transportation and you can pay for a shuttle to Universal, Sea World and some shopping spots. There is so much to do and see in central Florida and you need a car to see it!!

 

[100AcreWood]

We're thinking about driving in December unless I find a great rate.

Since dd is only 3 we're planning to start driving at 6pm so she will sleep through most of the trip. Has anyone done this? Does it work out? We have a 10 hour drive so we could split it up between dh and I.

Thanks!

 

[klofan]

It took my dad 16 hours. We stopped maybe 3 or 4 times to eat and go to the nasty bathrooms, haha. And he also drove 80 mph some of the way, so that's another reason why we got there so quick. We left around 4:30 pm and got there around 8:30 am. It was just too early. Since we wanted bunk beds we had to wait til 3 pm. (we went to our grandparents til 3 pm, lucky them, they live 10-15 mins from the magic)

 

[Aliki]

You're leaving out tolls, meals and wear & tear on your car. Your time is valuable, too, so figure in the driving time vs. drive to NWK and flight to MCO. I think flying may be cheaper.

Just curious, from southern Ocean county, do you take 195 across to the turnpike, or take the GSP south then cut over somewhere further south?

But think of all the wonderful things you get to see along the way! (Journey is half the fun, no?) As for wear & tear on our car, it's used to it by now We've driven her from south Jersey all the way to Quebec City, Canada; and several times a year to Cape Cod and Outer Banks. I think we put close to 40,000 miles per year?

We haven't decided if we want to take Turnpike, or go GSP south and take Cape Lewis Ferry. What do you think?