Driving from Northern New Jersey....

[OrlandoHelp]

We are driving to Disney from Nothern New Jersey during presidents week. We plan to leave on Thursday around 4pm and hope to get to Florence NC for the night (I have heard this is the half way point). Is this posible? Any hotel recommendations in Florence off of 95?

Also, should we take I-95 all the way. Mapquest has us going around the DC are but we will be travelling during the evening so I am hoping that traffic is not that bad.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[NJRRK]

Florence NC is WAAAY off I-95. Florence SC is along I-95 but if you're leaving at 4 p.m. I don't think you want to go that far (11+ hours) before you stop for the "night." That would be after 3 a.m.

I don't know what you're doing during the day, but if you are working most of the day I would limit yourself to less than 8 hours that first day bringing you to about Rocky Mount, NC, then do the other 11 hours that second day.

 

[OrlandoHelp]

Sorry, I meant to say Fayetteville, NC. Does that make a difference? We plan to leave after the kids finish school for the day and we have 2 drivers.

Is there a hotel in Rocky Mt that you would recommend?

 

[NJRRK]

No hotel suggestions from me, I usually leave early and go to St. George SC or further south

Someone will chime in I'm sure.

 

[nono]

OK, so here's what I would do. (Take with a grain of salt, because really what we normally do is drive all night! )

Assuming you're somewhere around Paramus, in 6 1/2 hrs., you can be in Emporia, VA assuming no huge traffic issues. So, you arrive around 10:30 p.m. Sleep for as long as you can, and have a deal with the family - whenever the first driver wakes up, everyone has to rally to get on the road. I'm the first driver in my family, so that usually means I get up around 3 a.m.ish and shower. DH showers the night before, so he needs 15 min before we're out the door. So, by 3:30 a.m., we'd be on our way again.

From Emporia, VA to WDW is about 12 hours with gas stops and a lunch break.

Whatever you decide, there's many ways to do it right!

 

[juliebean]

We've driven from North NJ two times to Florida, and flown once - we are flying in April because my dh has an actuary exam shortly after we return and needs all the study time he can get...

That said - we usually leave afterschool too. Dh is a champion driver and we either just drive straight through (I drive for a couple of hours while he sleeps) or we have stopped in SC. We usually stay at Springhill Suites, because I know they can accomodate 3 kids, but I cannot remember where it was exactly. How far just depends on how things go - one time we did get stuck on 287 due to an accident and it took us two hours extra to just get out of NJ. It is really not a terrible drive - I think it usually takes us around 16-18 hours. We actually have had the fastest trip going on 84 and then across PA... We've also gone along the outer banks and the kids loved the ferries and it is a built in break, but it added about 6 hours to the trip. Have a good vacation!

 

[dblr]

we tend to drive right thru with only 2 drivers, we leave around 5@ night and get to WDW around 9-10 AM with fuel stops and a breakfast stop. When you get around Balt DC area tune to 103.5 FM they do the traffic on the 8's they are pretty good and also give routes to get around any problems. Have a safe trip.