Driving from Raleigh, NC. What should I expect?

[Dopeyforlife]

Hello all. We are driving down in Oct. from Raleigh, NC with our 2 year old. I was wondering what the best route would be, anything better then just 95? Does anyone know about how long it takes? mapquest has it about 9 1/2 hours but I know this could be way off. Any help would be great.

 

[coolbeans]

I'm just a bit north of Raleigh and we are allowing 10 - 12 hours to drive. We have a DS that is 2 1/2 so we are anticipating a few extra rest area stops just to stretch. We are doing all the driving at nite so hopefully DS will snooze most of the trip. Plus I want to hit the outlets in Orlando when we get there. On our last trip we took 95 the whole way (I'm almost positive of that, when I was driving DH was directing and I was soooo busy watching traffic that all I knew was I was going to Disney and not what roads we were on!!!)

Don't follow Mapquest all the way, we followed it to the letter and when we should have been pulling into the parking lot of the hotel we were in some K-Mart parking lot I had to call the hotel for directions from where we were. All the road names were right, it was really wierd!

 

[SLDL]

Hi there! We will be driving from Raleigh (w/ a stop in Myrtle Beach a few days before) next week! We will probably be taking 95 most of the way too. If there is anything I can add when we return, I'll try to do that.

 

[srandsr76]

We have driven several times from Raleigh. Usually with DMIL, DFIL, DH, and DD6. Last road trip was with DD5....take lots of Disney DVDs to get prepared for WDW. We usually play the licenses plate game for the adults.

Make sure you stop at the SC welcome center and FL welcome center. At the FL welcome center you can get a free cups of grapefruit juice or orange juice.

Good luck on your trip!! We are driving again in December!!

 

[dawnball]

We go straight down 95. Anything else will make the drive longer, and really - isn't that exciting. We're on the west side of Raleigh, and it takes us 11.5 hours door to door, including stops (and did when DD was <2, 2 and 3). I aim for a stop every 2 hours until we hit florida. We alternate 15 minute stops (gas/restarea) with half hour stops (meal/snack). Once we're in Florida no one wants to stop, and there never seems to be a really good place to stop after the first rest area.

I always print out the lists of exit services at http://www.wdwinfo.com/Transportation/Driving_to_Florida.htm - the Chick-fil-a at exit 3 in Georgia is always very popular (clean, well run, excellent service), and usually features as a lunch or dinner stop for us.

 

[sms]

I live in Lumberton nc. It usually takes us about 8-9 hours to drive. I go I-95 most of the way except I go I-295 around Jacksonville Fl. You don't have to go through all that traffic through the city, and there is always construction going on there. It takes about the same amount of time but less hassle. We have a 5 year old. We went when he was 3 & 4. Dvd is a must! Sometimes we stop in St. Augustine if we have more time. Its a great place to stop and look around see historic sites and shop!

 

[owensamo]

We've driven from Durham/Cary/Apex a number of times, and with my DD, we usually allow 12-14 hours for the drive. We try to stop every 2-2.5 hours at a Wal*Mart, Target or a mall so we can get out and stretch and walk for a few minutes. We also drive around 295 around Jacksonville and stop at the Orange Park Mall. We've also been known to stop at the Belz mall (now prime outlets?) in St. Augustine for a Disney Outlet.

When my DH and I drive it alone, it takes 10-11 hrs, but we don't stop as much.

Amanda

 

[scavon]

We are from Charlotte, NC and take 77 to 26 through Columbia, then 95 to 4. We like to stop in St. Augustine at Comfort Suites at World Golf Village (great free breakfast and can sleep up to 6 in some rooms!) Before getting to St. Augustine we stop at the Chick-fil-A in Pooler, GA (exit 104 off I-95) on the way down to give the girls (6 and 4) a chance to play and burn off some energy. When we leave disney we know the girls are completely worn out and can make the trip all the way back with usually just 2 stops. We stop in St. Augustine on the way down simply because we never know exactly what time we will be leaving with DHs schedule and we are more rested to start our vacation. We are suprising the girls during our November trip with the MVMCP. We leave sometime Thursday afternoon, drive down to St. Augustine, then Friday morning we get up and have just a couple more hours to drive and can roam the resort before heading over to MK for MVMCP.

PP stated dvd's are a must. Plus, we pack special new toys, coloring books, new crayons, and glow sticks just for the drive.

Funny story...On our very first trip to Disney we were less than a mile from home, stopped to fill up the gas tank, went to put in Toy Story and our vcr/dvd player decided that it didn't want to work anymore.
To our surprise the girls did great the whole trip down and back. They were 3 and 18 months. I think we were all "too excited" that it didn't matter.

 

[proteus]

We drive from the Washington D.C. area and it takes us about 13.5 hours, this includes 30-40 minutes for rest stops and food. One year when I bought a GPS I saw our average speed, it was 72.4 mph. I don't drive too fast but usually go around 5 mph over the speed limit.

Oh and yes we do 95 all the way, never had a problem going down (up is another story). Once we hit the North Carolina border it is usually less than 10 hours for us.

 

[Dopeyforlife]

Thank all for your help and insight. Alot of helpfull info

 

[disneyandme]

Anyone ever leave 95 at Jacksonville and head west on 10 to 75 south? We always seem to hit terrible traffic on 95 s in FL and last time on the way home we took 75 n and then cut over to jacksonville and took 95 the rest of the way. It was milage wise longer but seemed to take a lot less time.