For 2,000+ Mile Round-Trip Drivers Only! (II)

[dvczerfs]

What is the other route that avoids I-95 the whole way? We've done the 81-77-26 but I thought there was another way that people have tried and liked. I would like to avoid Charlotte and Columbia.

we take 81 to 66 to 17 to 95. you hit 95 at mile 133 above richmond. you go through warrenton, opal etc... its faster than going 77-26 but, dont hit these areas on a sat. morning or rush hours. 17 is basicly 2 lanes going in each direction and the speed limit is 55 in most areas but there are traffic lights. the first time i went this way, in 1996, i followed someone and since than thats the way we go. that being said, next june we are leaving on a friday afternoon and we are going 81-77-26. i dont want to hit all that traffic.

 

[pwdebbie]

we take 81 to 66 to 17 to 95. you hit 95 at mile 133 above richmond. you go through warrenton, opal etc... its faster than going 77-26 but, dont hit these areas on a sat. morning or rush hours. 17 is basicly 2 lanes going in each direction and the speed limit is 55 in most areas but there are traffic lights. the first time i went this way, in 1996, i followed someone and since than thats the way we go. that being said, next june we are leaving on a friday afternoon and we are going 81-77-26. i dont want to hit all that traffic.

After re-reading my post I realized I didn't word things correctly. I want to be on I-95 for as little time as possible but not take the 81-77-26 route and definitely don't want to go near Atlanta. I'm a country girl that doesn't like highways and big cities. (You'd never know I was born and raised in Baltimore!) I am thinking we took 66-17 when we went to Willliamsburg a few times, I remember crossing 95 above Richmond. So, is there a good option south of 17 but north of 26?

 

[dvczerfs]

After re-reading my post I realized I didn't word things correctly. I want to be on I-95 for as little time as possible but not take the 81-77-26 route and definitely don't want to go near Atlanta. I'm a country girl that doesn't like highways and big cities. (You'd never know I was born and raised in Baltimore!) I am thinking we took 66-17 when we went to Willliamsburg a few times, I remember crossing 95 above Richmond. So, is there a good option south of 17 but north of 26?

does it matter how long of a drive it will be with in reason or are you looking to stay off 95 and still make it in good time? i havnt found a way yet south of 17 and north of 26 that wont add hours and alot of miles to your trip. i think 81-77-26 is going to be the most scenic, unless your looking for roads like 17, which i havnt found yet.

 

[Kinziepoohsmom]

Just returned from 1st drive to/from Disney and it was 3013.7 miles. I made a very bad choice of returning on RT95 and ended in a 3 hour traffic jam in NJ and NY. The drive down was so much better on the alternate route and we are doing it again in October

 

[Ksquared]

Need some opinions on this:

We are driving down for the 2nd time in December coming from South Jersey (about 10 mins from Walt Whitman Bridge). We left around 2:00 a.m. last trip and made great time down to Orlando. This year we are taking an xmas trip and leaving xmas day. I originally thought I would leave that evening, after visiting with family but now I'm not sure.

My reasoning is that we won't be getting to bed early on xmas eve by the time we set up kids' gifts etc. We won't be able to nap if we spend the day at my parents house as it wiill be filled with family and lots of kids. So we'll be starting out around 8:00 at night with no sleep being up early.

My new thought is to leave after the kids open presents and we have a nice breakfast (maybe around 11:00?). Then we could drive to Georgia (Savannah or Brunswick) get some sleep and then finish up the trip the next morning.

Do you think we'll hit much traffic on Christmas Day?

I'm so torn. We will obviously lose the advantage of the kids sleeping for the bulk of the trip but we will gain sleep that night and not be dragging or feel like we have to go to bed early the first night we are there. I think the kids will be so excited about all their new stuff (which we will let them pick something to take with them) and we always get them a new movie or two each and they'll each get new DS games so hopefully the excitement will carry us through the first part of the trip and their new stuff will keep them occupied for the rest.....

thoughts? stick w/ original plan driving straight through or leave earlier and stop over

 

[dvczerfs]

Need some opinions on this:

We are driving down for the 2nd time in December coming from South Jersey (about 10 mins from Walt Whitman Bridge). We left around 2:00 a.m. last trip and made great time down to Orlando. This year we are taking an xmas trip and leaving xmas day. I originally thought I would leave that evening, after visiting with family but now I'm not sure.

My reasoning is that we won't be getting to bed early on xmas eve by the time we set up kids' gifts etc. We won't be able to nap if we spend the day at my parents house as it wiill be filled with family and lots of kids. So we'll be starting out around 8:00 at night with no sleep being up early.

My new thought is to leave after the kids open presents and we have a nice breakfast (maybe around 11:00?). Then we could drive to Georgia (Savannah or Brunswick) get some sleep and then finish up the trip the next morning.

Do you think we'll hit much traffic on Christmas Day?

I'm so torn. We will obviously lose the advantage of the kids sleeping for the bulk of the trip but we will gain sleep that night and not be dragging or feel like we have to go to bed early the first night we are there. I think the kids will be so excited about all their new stuff (which we will let them pick something to take with them) and we always get them a new movie or two each and they'll each get new DS games so hopefully the excitement will carry us through the first part of the trip and their new stuff will keep them occupied for the rest.....

thoughts? stick w/ original plan driving straight through or leave earlier and stop over

you should be ok leaving 11am or so christmas day. you would think by christmas day, most people will be were they want to be for the day. i would go for it. now its gonna be another story when you get to wdw.

 

[PrincessMom4]

any experiences on overnight driving with an extra day to rest before disney??

 

[disneyfan55]

any experiences on overnight driving with an extra day to rest before disney??

No, but I've driven overnight and gone right to the MK! We arrived at about 3:15 am and parked in the CBR lot and checked in as soon as it opened and then went to MK! No rest!

 

[Jamesfam]

Need some opinions on this:

We are driving down for the 2nd time in December coming from South Jersey (about 10 mins from Walt Whitman Bridge). We left around 2:00 a.m. last trip and made great time down to Orlando. This year we are taking an xmas trip and leaving xmas day. I originally thought I would leave that evening, after visiting with family but now I'm not sure.

My reasoning is that we won't be getting to bed early on xmas eve by the time we set up kids' gifts etc. We won't be able to nap if we spend the day at my parents house as it wiill be filled with family and lots of kids. So we'll be starting out around 8:00 at night with no sleep being up early.

My new thought is to leave after the kids open presents and we have a nice breakfast (maybe around 11:00?). Then we could drive to Georgia (Savannah or Brunswick) get some sleep and then finish up the trip the next morning.

Do you think we'll hit much traffic on Christmas Day?

I'm so torn. We will obviously lose the advantage of the kids sleeping for the bulk of the trip but we will gain sleep that night and not be dragging or feel like we have to go to bed early the first night we are there. I think the kids will be so excited about all their new stuff (which we will let them pick something to take with them) and we always get them a new movie or two each and they'll each get new DS games so hopefully the excitement will carry us through the first part of the trip and their new stuff will keep them occupied for the rest.....

thoughts? stick w/ original plan driving straight through or leave earlier and stop over

We are about 45 minutes north of you and I was wondering what time you did end up in Orlando on your first trip. We are planning on leaving about 2am as well on our November trip. Did you miss the DC traffic? My hope is to make it to Kingsland GA on our first day.

 

[chepic]

Just returned from 1st drive to/from Disney and it was 3013.7 miles. I made a very bad choice of returning on RT95 and ended in a 3 hour traffic jam in NJ and NY. The drive down was so much better on the alternate route and we are doing it again in October

Same thing has happened to us twice in the past 3 years that we have driven. Next year we are going to plot an alternate course and see what happens. It would be better to arch around and go 1.5 hours out of the way versus sitting for 3 hours and getting grumpy.

cheryl

 

[pwdebbie]

does it matter how long of a drive it will be with in reason or are you looking to stay off 95 and still make it in good time? i havnt found a way yet south of 17 and north of 26 that wont add hours and alot of miles to your trip. i think 81-77-26 is going to be the most scenic, unless your looking for roads like 17, which i havnt found yet.

I'm flexible on time. We are going to spend two nights on the road on the way down this time. Not going to pull into the POFQ feeling exhausted. I want to be off the road at a reasonable hour to be able relax before going to bed. I don't want to play the "let's see how far we can get before we are too exhausted to go any farther" game this trip. And if I want to stop and see something, I want the freedom to do that. We leave on Sunday after church and our reservation doesn't start until Tuesday.

 

[Ksquared]

We are about 45 minutes north of you and I was wondering what time you did end up in Orlando on your first trip. We are planning on leaving about 2am as well on our November trip. Did you miss the DC traffic? My hope is to make it to Kingsland GA on our first day.

Well, even though we left at 2:00 a.m. we got down to the Philly airport and my husband asked if I put my laptop in the car...all of our tickets were in there. So we had to turn around and go back home. We definitely lost about an hour to get home and back to the airport area. We cruised through the DC area that day. It was lightly snowing and we sat behind some slooow plow trucks on 95 and still made good time. Honestly, we hit most areas at a good time...didn't sit in Richmond traffic and stayed on 95 through Jacksonville with minor delays. I'd say we got to my brother in laws in Davenport around 8:30 or so that night. Not too bad.

 

[blondietink]

On the trip back, we left AKL at approximately 9 am and made it to Lake Norman, just north of Charlotte at 6:45 pm. We thought it would take us 12 hours, but it took less than 10! Since we had a hotel ressie, we didn't go any further, but in October we will plan on at leat making it north of Statesville, NC on the way home. We just sailed throough Orlando, Jacksonville and were going against the rush hour traffic south of Charlotte.

 

[monymony3471]

Just pulled in last night from a great time in WDW.

Drove a total of 2457.2 miles!

Gas is clearly cheaper in the south. We paid 2.32 a gallon in Georgia and once back in michigan the prices were near 2.70 a gallon.

Stay far far far away from America's Best Value Inn in Chattanooga TN! Gross!!!

The Hamptons are so nice and CLEAN!

The weather was HOT and we got lots of rain!

Stopping for the night in TN was a nice way to break up the drivng.

We had no issues while driving. Except, only because there were 2 accidents within a mile of eachother in Atlanta, we had maybe a 10 minute hold up, but other than that, it was great.

Loved using the book Along Interstate I-75, very helpful!

 

[Vickis3js]

Need some opinions on this:

We are driving down for the 2nd time in December coming from South Jersey (about 10 mins from Walt Whitman Bridge). We left around 2:00 a.m. last trip and made great time down to Orlando. This year we are taking an xmas trip and leaving xmas day. I originally thought I would leave that evening, after visiting with family but now I'm not sure.

My reasoning is that we won't be getting to bed early on xmas eve by the time we set up kids' gifts etc. We won't be able to nap if we spend the day at my parents house as it wiill be filled with family and lots of kids. So we'll be starting out around 8:00 at night with no sleep being up early.

My new thought is to leave after the kids open presents and we have a nice breakfast (maybe around 11:00?). Then we could drive to Georgia (Savannah or Brunswick) get some sleep and then finish up the trip the next morning.

Do you think we'll hit much traffic on Christmas Day?

I'm so torn. We will obviously lose the advantage of the kids sleeping for the bulk of the trip but we will gain sleep that night and not be dragging or feel like we have to go to bed early the first night we are there. I think the kids will be so excited about all their new stuff (which we will let them pick something to take with them) and we always get them a new movie or two each and they'll each get new DS games so hopefully the excitement will carry us through the first part of the trip and their new stuff will keep them occupied for the rest.....

thoughts? stick w/ original plan driving straight through or leave earlier and stop over

Definatly the earlier the better!!!!! Our first trip we left WDW on the 27th and the traffic south bound on 95 was INSANE!!! I mean from Georgia all the way to DE was bumper to bumper. Some spots there was movement others it was dead stop. DH and I looked at each other and we both agreed that we would have turned around. Last year we left WDW on the 26th and it was a tad better there was more movement then stops but it was steady and you could tell not many places was the speed limit being reached. Sorry I couldn't give you good news. But the earlier you can leave I think the better off you will be!

 

[Vickis3js]

We are about 45 minutes north of you and I was wondering what time you did end up in Orlando on your first trip. We are planning on leaving about 2am as well on our November trip. Did you miss the DC traffic? My hope is to make it to Kingsland GA on our first day.

We live in Cape May county. We left our first year at 3am took the Delaware MM bridge over and we were in Savannah by 5pm. Last year we left at 2am and we were in Savannah by 3pm. Our first year we hit a little traffic in Richmond and that year we stopped for breakfast and lunch. Last year we breezed through everything and we drove down in rain from Va on down. This year we plan to leave around 2am again and this time we are staying in Brunswick so we hope to be there around 5pm or sooner.

 

[cemeb4dk]

Well we are 45 miles west of Chicago. If memory serves me we are about 1132 miles each way. So that puts us over 2000 round trip.

In the past we have left about 2pm and got to WDW about 10am or so. This trip I am going to leave about midnight, stop in Chatanooga visit Ruby Falls and then continue on arriving around 9-9 pm or so. Then grab a room at POP for the night til we actually check in the night after. If it doesn't work out I will stop somewhere after the FL border, and then get up rested and drive the rest of the way.

 

[dvczerfs]

I'm flexible on time. We are going to spend two nights on the road on the way down this time. Not going to pull into the POFQ feeling exhausted. I want to be off the road at a reasonable hour to be able relax before going to bed. I don't want to play the "let's see how far we can get before we are too exhausted to go any farther" game this trip. And if I want to stop and see something, I want the freedom to do that. We leave on Sunday after church and our reservation doesn't start until Tuesday.

ill have to look into that for you. there has to be a way to do it.

Just pulled in last night from a great time in WDW.

Drove a total of 2457.2 miles!

Gas is clearly cheaper in the south. We paid 2.32 a gallon in Georgia and once back in michigan the prices were near 2.70 a gallon.

Stay far far far away from America's Best Value Inn in Chattanooga TN! Gross!!!

The Hamptons are so nice and CLEAN!

The weather was HOT and we got lots of rain!

Stopping for the night in TN was a nice way to break up the drivng.

We had no issues while driving. Except, only because there were 2 accidents within a mile of eachother in Atlanta, we had maybe a 10 minute hold up, but other than that, it was great.

Loved using the book Along Interstate I-75, very helpful!

thats why we always stay at hampton inns, they maybe abit more but they are all the same.

 

[Ksquared]

Definatly the earlier the better!!!!! Our first trip we left WDW on the 27th and the traffic south bound on 95 was INSANE!!! I mean from Georgia all the way to DE was bumper to bumper. Some spots there was movement others it was dead stop. DH and I looked at each other and we both agreed that we would have turned around. Last year we left WDW on the 26th and it was a tad better there was more movement then stops but it was steady and you could tell not many places was the speed limit being reached. Sorry I couldn't give you good news. But the earlier you can leave I think the better off you will be!

Okay, this scares me a bit. One thing my DH did say was that he's afraid that once we get going, no matter what time it is, that he's not going to want to stop. If we are okay then maybe we don't stop over in GA. I'm wondering if we should keep going and just get into Orlando as early as possible before getting held up in traffic.

But here's another question. Let's say that we get into Orlando early, around 3 or 4 a.m. If we get a hotel room so we can crash for a bit, will we have to check out at 10:00 or 11:00 a.m. or do you think it would just count as a really early check-in. My only thought about this is that the depending on what time we get there the kids may sleep for a little bit but certainly not more than a few hours. I'm okay with getting in 3 or 4 hours and then going to Disney to check-in, even if our room won't be ready until later in the day.

 

[dvczerfs]

Okay, this scares me a bit. One thing my DH did say was that he's afraid that once we get going, no matter what time it is, that he's not going to want to stop. If we are okay then maybe we don't stop over in GA. I'm wondering if we should keep going and just get into Orlando as early as possible before getting held up in traffic.

But here's another question. Let's say that we get into Orlando early, around 3 or 4 a.m. If we get a hotel room so we can crash for a bit, will we have to check out at 10:00 or 11:00 a.m. or do you think it would just count as a really early check-in. My only thought about this is that the depending on what time we get there the kids may sleep for a little bit but certainly not more than a few hours. I'm okay with getting in 3 or 4 hours and then going to Disney to check-in, even if our room won't be ready until later in the day.

if it was me and wanted to spend time with the family on the 25th, leave at 11am or so, the 25th is not a heavy long distance travel day. go till about 7-8pm. get up the 26th and hit the road by 3am, kids will sleep the rest of the way in and you will get there around 10-10:30am a head of the traffic.