Driving help (NJ to WDW) and once there...

[erick10520]

Just a couple Q's on driving down........
Besides NJ Turnpike, what other tolls will I come upon.
How do I handle Washington DC and Baltimore (Is there a beltway or continue thru on 95).
Are service stations on 95 itself??
Once I get to VWL, can I self park as I will need some access to unload and store things...

Thanks!!

 

[cds62]

I've done the drive from New Jersey to Disney World several times and found that if you schedule your time and avoid D.C. at rush hour you usually don't have a problem. Just take I-95 south until you reach Daytona Beach and than take I-4 West which will take you right to Disney, I believe Exit 25 or 26 (signs are posted).
When you get outside of D.C. there is a section of I-95 that has HOV (high occupancy vehicle0 lanes, try to use them because you will usually avoid the traffic jam that is on the outside lanes.
Once you leave Maryland there are not gas stations directly on the highway and you will have to exit to get gas. There are plenty of signs along the highway which will tell you what gas stations are at that particular exit.

 

[BillPA]

As far as tolls, once you leave NJ, the bridge tolls, then I95 in Delaware is $1.25, Hevre De Grace has a $2.00 toll but only north bound. Then I take I895, through the old tunnel at Baltimore $1.00, then I take I295 south (Balt-Wash parkway) to the south end of the beltway, you have no more tolls down or back.

At Richmond, if you hit at rush hour take the I 295 by pass.

Then again at Jacksonville if it's rush hour take I295 (they sure use that route number a lot) this adds about 23 miles to the trip, but it can be faster.

 

[NJmouse]

check out this website. www.usastar.com
It has information for places to stop for gas, food and lodging on I-95. It was most useful to us on our trip to WDW. Also check our mapquest and mapblast for alternative routes around Baltimore and DC. We took one I don't remember exactly the route but it really saved us some time and got us out of some major traffic.

 

[sgtpet]

How long is that trip? Do you do it in 2 days?

Just curious because if I purchase it would make sense to drive to WDW.

 

[cds62]

If you drive straight through it should take you approx. 16hrs from the southern part of New Jersey. Just be careful of the speed limits in some of the areas as they do drop from 70mph down to 55mph. It is approx. 1100 miles.

 

[Lesley]

The only tolls I can recall are at the Ft. McHenry tunnel near Baltimore.

We generally take 295 around Jacksonville. We've never hit rush hour at Richmond so we just stick with 95.

The 16 hour figure is about the same for us. Our last trip we left PA at 1pm and arrived at WDW around 10am...and I'm pretty sure we did have around 5 hours worth of stops (dinner, breakfast, gas and go pit stops, and the baby had trouble falling asleep!).

The previous year we did it in 2 days. Left about 7:30 am and stopped at about 7:30pm in Walterboro SC. Next morning we were on the road at 7:30 again and made it to Daytona by 11.

Our car has a tiny gas tank and we had to stop for gas about every 4 hours. Looking forward to driving our van down as according to my calculations we'll only need to fill up twice!

 

[Baileymouse]

Just got back from driving down - Bayonne to Jackson, NJ and then Jackson to Orlando.

NJ tolls include the turnpike and the bridge to Delaware. Then there's that Ft. McHenry tunnel. Coming back there was another toll, I forget where it was, but it was as you enter Delaware (I think).

You definitely take the 295 loop to go around DC, it's not too bad unless you hit it at rush hour.

We drove about 9 hrs - included a lunch stop in Maryland and two gas stops (I have a Sentra) and 2 potty breaks. Stopped in Fayetteville for the night, and drove another 9 the next day (included 2 gas stops, 2 potty breaks, lunch near Savannah and a stop outside of Orlando).

Don't speed in VA - cops were everywhere - but people were all doing 80+ through the Carolinas and GA.

On the way back I pushed it and didn't stop until I hit Petersburg, VA, stopped at the HI Express, and then VA to Jackson and then Bayonne the next day.

Good luck with the drive and don't forget to stop for something tacky at South of the Border - it's a tradition.

 

[antnee]

Where is a good place to stop for the night on the way down. When I was a kid my dad used to stop at South of the Border is it still there?

 

[erick10520]

Thanx for all the replies..even though our trip is still 400+ days off I like to long term plan things like this....

 

[NJmouse]

Yes it is still there. I would stay furthur south maybe in Florence.

 

[PKK/MJK]

South of the Border is definitely still there--and it is huge!! We generally went further south of there on our first day. We usually stopped in Santee, South Carolina. That left a trip of about 6 hours on the second day. It allowed us to sleep in a bit before leaving the second day and still arriving at a decent hour. This year we drove from Central Jersey to WDW in one day and it took 17 hours. The biggest problems are the traffic tie-ups around the big cities like Baltimore, Washington DC and Jacksonville.