Driving from Northern Virginia to Orlando

[jennafo3]

Hi! We are planning on driving down from Northern Virginia to Orlando, leaving REALLY early July 3rd (3-4AM) and plan on spending the night in Savannah area to visit some friends before continuing down to Disney on July 4th. Anyone know how bad traffic will be or if there are any hotspots to avoid? We'll be traveling with 5 kids (ages 9, 7, 5, 3, 10 mths YIKES) so we'll be stopping quite a bit I can imagine. Any advice on good places to stop with kids?
Our reservations don't start until the 5th, so we could leave early on the 4th instead.
Are we shooting ourselves in the foot by leaving on the 3rd (with traffic, before a holiday, and on a Friday)
Would love any advice! Thanks so much!
Jenna

 

[musical2]

I would take I-295 around Richmond instead of going through it on I-95. It meets up again with I-95 on the southern end. By leaving at the time you are on that Friday, you should avoid all the rush hour traffic around Richmond. I do the same thing when I drive. In Jacksonville, FL some like to stay on I-95 and some like to go on I-295 around it. I haven't had a problem either way. I also have stopped just south of Savannah (in Brunswick, GA) and make sure I leave just after breakfast from Brunswick so the traffic isn't that bad by the time I reach Jacksonville. Since you are going through Jacksonville on a Saturday morning, you shouldn't have as much trouble as you would on a weekday morning (rush hour traffic and all).

 

[MattM]

I dont know how non-Florida roads would be. But I would say that since the 4th is on a Saturday of a three day weekend, that traffic in Florida wont be bad at all on that day. In Florida, I would stay on 95 all the way down to I-4 and take I-4 all the way to Disney. Saturdays on I-4 are usually free and clear.