Driving to WDW...which scenario?

[Carriesouthard]

Myself, dh and dd's ages 7, 8 & 9 are driving to WDW for the 1st time, scared...we always fly. I am toying with 2 different routes and departure times, help!

We will be driving from NW Connecticut. We will leave sometime on Tuesday august 13th for arrival on Wednesday the 14th.

1st option is 95 all the way down, the other is the inland route, 81 I believe....I've heard the inland route is less stressful....thoughts?

Also, we will be driving straight through. Our original plan was to leave at dinner time but now I am thinking I want more time to relax at AKV and take in the sights of the resort. We rented DVC points for our first night just to see the resort and will be checking in for 9 nights at the poly the next day. Could we leave at 1 or 2pm and miss rush hour in NYC and DC? So leave dinner time or early afternoon? We will be splitting the driving and dh sleeps anytime anywhere so I'm not worried about the overnight drive.

Thoughts, opinions....thanks!!!!

 

[Betty Rohrer]

only thing I can add is to check on bridge repair in the Harriburg, Pa area. I live in the area and right now it is okay but when repairs start that could a mess. have not heard a timetable yet

 

[monorailsilver]

I am from CT too & I don't know about driving straight thru. I know people who have done it but will you be able to sleep when you get there because I am sure you will be exhausted.

That being said, we drove down in April but to Ft. Myers. We live about 7 minutes north of exit 64 on 95 but we spent the night at my moms in Trumbull to save about 50 min in the am.

We did 95 the whole way. I looked at 81 but it was longer & longer was not better for us (kids were 11, 9 & 7).

We took the GW since there was no traffic & that way was quicker then taking the Tappen Zee which my dh wanted to do. And took Baltimore/DC parkway or whatever it is called & took the eastern loop around DC.

We left at about 6-6:02am & only made it to Santee, SC on day 1. We had about a 30 min bathroom stop in New Jersey between my dh & my ds. We made it to the DC loop around 11-11:30.

The only traffic we hit was when we were in VA & before Richmond. We ended up getting off to get gas & stayed on Route 1 for a few miles and that was about an hour.

Our goal was to make it to Savannah for the night, or even the GA/FL border or close to it. MY dh did all the driving since he wouldn't let me drive & he was getting sleepy in SC considering he was up at around 4-4:30-couldn't sleep jitters.

We stopped that first night at around 9:30-10pm.

If you left in the afternoon, I do think you will miss most of the NYC traffic but some people may leave at about 3for the day. You will be in the Baltimore/DC area during rush hour-roughly 5-6 hours after you leave CT.

I have taken 81 but to Nashville & while it is less stressful, it also has some pretty mountain views but it is longer, IMO.

95 wasn't bad one bit stress wise. My kids love to see the planes coming in/out of Newark when we fly by it & LOVE looking at NYC on the way home (OK maybe that is me but I use my kids as an excuse!).

I did get trip tiks for each of my kids. I was going to print them but they were 35 pages each so I ordered them each one.

They all had travel activity books & some kind of electronic device or two.

My most favorite stop was the first stop we took in FL. It was on 95, the south end of Jacksonville. It was a TA or something like that. They had the cleanest bathrooms!! The second favorite is the farthest north on the NJT (Vince Lombardi I think). The view of the Empire State Building is just amazing there. I have to remind my kids how tall that building it.

We used iexit on the iphone to see what was around & how many exits to gas stations or food or hotels.

Oh & once you hit FL, it is really an easy drive. The time just flew by.

Virginia was LONG. South Carolina was LONG. North Carolina was LONG & my kids hate paper mill trees!! Georgia wasn't too bad. I said I'd rather sit in traffic on the Jersey Tpke then drive thru 95 in those states.

It really was a quick drive until we hit Virginia & then it seemed like time stood still & it was a never ending road trip to.....

FYI, we are flying home the day you are leaving.

 

[Carriesouthard]

Wow, thanks for all the info!! We really want to try and go straight through on the way down. We shall see how it goes! The way home we plan on stopping in DC for a night and some sightseeing! Would love some more tips from others too

 

[monorailsilver]

Wow, thanks for all the info!! We really want to try and go straight through on the way down. We shall see how it goes! The way home we plan on stopping in DC for a night and some sightseeing! Would love some more tips from others too

On our way home, we left downtown Disney (yes I had to stop for dinner) and out goal was Jacksonville.

My Dh did not want to do the drive home in 2 days since he was tired as we all were from sitting in the car. But I was 3 hours south of Disney.

I think we left Jacksonville which is 2-3 hours from Disney (really the time flew by in Florida) late the next morning. I think we left that area around 9-10 and got to a hotel south if DC, just south of Lorton in VA around 10 that night if not a little later.

It's great to do the drive once to see if you like it or not. If I had to do it again I would but I would not do it in 2 days. Well maybe to Disney in 2 days but they would be long days.

Next year we are going to ft. Myers again but we are going to try the autotrain. We can leave my moms around 5:30-6 am and be there around noon. And then have about a 3-4 hour drive once we hit Florida.

Oh and if you don't have an ezpass, get one. After Baltimore you won't need it.

And I am thinking if you are in northwest ct then it wouldn't be wise to go over the gw, right? The tapped z would be better, right?

Oh and we, well me since I was the navigator used the google maps traffic part of the app to see where the back ups were. It was pretty consistent.

Oh and don't speed. We saw lots of police down south and at one point there were 3 ct cars in a row, us being one of them and the one behind us got pulled over because he was driving fast to catch up to us. That was in sc I think.

 

[disneymayz]

From Central PA we have the option to go down 95 just past Baltimore or go 81. We have done both. I liked 81 so much better just so we didn't have to deal with Washington and the loop around Baltimore. We usually leave at 7PM and still hit traffic in Washington and the Baltimore loop which we get to around 8-8:30. It is a tad longer but you would make that time up I think not having to go through Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington. You are coming home using 95 so if you go down 81 you will get to experiance both.

 

[ParrotBill]

I am a fan of I-81/I-77/I-26 because it is less stressful, and, I find the average speed is easily 70 or even 75 at times. So the higher speed makes up for the extra distance.

From Elizabeth NJ to the I-26/I-95 junction
Via I-95 695mi at 62mph average 11.2 hours
Via I-78/I-81/I-77/I-26 789mi at 70mph average 11.2 hours

Decide based on how fast you drive, your preference (my wife won't drive on I-95) and your own idea of how likely it is to have slowdowns or delays on each route!

 

[Goofygirl17]

We've driven from shoreline CT 3 times and are going again this summer. The first time we went down 95- it tooks 21 hours total.

The last 2 times we took the inland route and it was 19 hours. I think it's a nicer, less stressful ride.

Have fun!

 

[nono]

SOOO, here's my 2 cents (former CT, NY and Northern NJ resident). If you are leaving earlier, why not work your way over to the NY Thruway and take the inland route? I don't think 1 - 2 p.m. is a good time to leave NW CT and use the coastal route. Just asking for trouble.

If you are leaving around dinner time, and choose the I-95 route, you may catch some NYC traffic*, but that should be it for rush hour.

GET EXTRA SLEEP the couple days before. It'll help. Pillows and light blankets for the kids. Small pieces of luggage for footrests for the smaller ones. Don't be afraid to have a middle of the night picnic at a populated rest area. (Bug spray for Aug. might be a good idea!) My kids loved that, and the interrupted sleep and walkabout in the middle of the night seemed to work better for them overall than the times we haven't done that. You know your kids though, so take that suggestion with a grain of salt.

Have fun!

*If you are as far up as Canaan, no issue. You should be behind normal traffic issues with a 6 p.m. start. And if the Yankees are in town, you should miss that exit traffic back to NJ too...

 

[Carriesouthard]

SOOO, here's my 2 cents (former CT, NY and Northern NJ resident). If you are leaving earlier, why not work your way over to the NY Thruway and take the inland route? I don't think 1 - 2 p.m. is a good time to leave NW CT and use the coastal route. Just asking for trouble.

If you are leaving around dinner time, and choose the I-95 route, you may catch some NYC traffic*, but that should be it for rush hour.

GET EXTRA SLEEP the couple days before. It'll help. Pillows and light blankets for the kids. Small pieces of luggage for footrests for the smaller ones. Don't be afraid to have a middle of the night picnic at a populated rest area. (Bug spray for Aug. might be a good idea!) My kids loved that, and the interrupted sleep and walkabout in the middle of the night seemed to work better for them overall than the times we haven't done that. You know your kids though, so take that suggestion with a grain of salt.

Have fun!

*If you are as far up as Canaan, no issue. You should be behind normal traffic issues with a 6 p.m. start. And if the Yankees are in town, you should miss that exit traffic back to NJ too...

Thanks for the info! I love the idea of a picnic in the middle of the night!

So you think if we leave at 1pm and take the inland route we should avoid crazy traffic? We are in Litchfield...about a two hour drive from our house to the gw bridge...

Thx

 

[nono]

Thanks for the info! I love the idea of a picnic in the middle of the night!

So you think if we leave at 1pm and take the inland route we should avoid crazy traffic? We are in Litchfield...about a two hour drive from our house to the gw bridge...

Thx

Yes. If you leave at 1 p.m., I'd not shoot for the GWB, but maybe the Tappan Zee or another creative way to get to PA ...GWB is just so unpredictable even around 3 p.m....

Maybe folks in Harrisburg could chime in, but with 1 quick rest stop, you'll be in the Harrisburg area around 5:15 - 5:30 from Litchfield (assuming no traffic issues). You may want to adjust your start time to get there earlier or a little later depending on how I-81 flows at that time of day.

P.S. If I were coming from where you are, at that time of day, I'd just go right through Newburgh and pick up 81 after that. Stay away from the people! LOL

 

[Carriesouthard]

Yes. If you leave at 1 p.m., I'd not shoot for the GWB, but maybe the Tappan Zee or another creative way to get to PA ...GWB is just so unpredictable even around 3 p.m....

Maybe folks in Harrisburg could chime in, but with 1 quick rest stop, you'll be in the Harrisburg area around 5:15 - 5:30 from Litchfield (assuming no traffic issues). You may want to adjust your start time to get there earlier or a little later depending on how I-81 flows at that time of day.

P.S. If I were coming from where you are, at that time of day, I'd just go right through Newburgh and pick up 81 after that. Stay away from the people! LOL

Perfect maybe we will leave our house around noon time just to get through NYC area early enough!!!

 

[nono]

Perfect maybe we will leave our house around noon time just to get through NYC area early enough!!!

Yeah, if you can leave by noon, you should be good! Plus, it sounds like you aren't afraid of the GWB, which is half the battle. I personally don't mind the GWB at all, but don't suggest it routinely for everyone. Plus, I used to go to a neat little restaurant in Newburgh (If I could remember its name, I'd tell ya...), so any excuse I could find to go that way....

Again, have fun!!!! Also, bring a couple audio books for the kids....one we found hilarious if you can find it is called the Hoboken Chicken Emergency by Daniel Pinkwater (the library had it).

 

[Carriesouthard]

Yeah, if you can leave by noon, you should be good! Plus, it sounds like you aren't afraid of the GWB, which is half the battle. I personally don't mind the GWB at all, but don't suggest it routinely for everyone. Plus, I used to go to a neat little restaurant in Newburgh (If I could remember its name, I'd tell ya...), so any excuse I could find to go that way....

Again, have fun!!!! Also, bring a couple audio books for the kids....one we found hilarious if you can find it is called the Hoboken Chicken Emergency by Daniel Pinkwater (the library had it).

GW bridge doesn't bother us at all...DH will drive the 1st few hours and then I will take over so he can sleep...should be an adventure

 

[ParrotBill]

Another tip for late night driving... if you need a stop that has food, drink and bathrooms look for truck stop signs. After 9pm fast food places aren't open very many places.

 

[Carriesouthard]

Thanks for all the tips...keep em coming!!!!