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

[halssister]

This thread is awesome. I just finished reading through all 42 pages of posts! I am so excited but yet nervous for our first ever drive from SouthWest Michigan down to POR. Our trip isn't til Feb 2011, but we are getting super excited and I am planning my heart out. I have no idea what to expect on a 1300 mile one way road trip with 4 kiddos. Not to mention February around the great lakes can be AWEFUL. Any tips or suggestions are oh so welcome. Oh yeah and might I add our 2 yr old gets cars sick, fun stuff.

The plan is to leave on Thursday sometime and drive straight through to POR and arrive early afternoon on Friday. So what time would you all suggest we leave? The route we plan to take is I94 to I-69 to I465 to I-65 to I-24 to I75. We are hoping to arrive at POR with enough time to wind down, take a short swim, a nap and be to the Contemporary by 4:30 or so for our 5:00 ressies at Chef Mickeys.

We are driving from northern Indiana (South Bend area) in two days to POR! Similar route as you too, though not 94 to 69...not sure where in southwest MI you are coming from, but for us going to 69 and then back to 465 is actually doubling back too far. We aren't able to drive straight through though, as DH gets carsick if not driving and DS couldn't handle that long in a car without significant stops! We're just heading a few hours to south of Indy, then on Sat. going to south of Atlanta, and will be at POR by around 1:00 on Sun. I will post when we get back though in terms of how long the route took in total driving time and such; obviously you have weather to contend with more in February as well!

Have a great trip!

 

[thumbalyna]

I just booked my hotel for my drive back - booked the Howard Johnson in Rocky Mount/Battleboro NC for 45 for the night - has anyone ever stayed here - i am not looking for anything fancy just a place to crash for the night...thanks

 

[Hankshouse]

I just booked my hotel for my drive back - booked the Howard Johnson in Rocky Mount/Battleboro NC for 45 for the night - has anyone ever stayed here - i am not looking for anything fancy just a place to crash for the night...thanks

We swear by Tripadvisor.com for hotel reviews. Sometimes I do find you need to look at a number of them to get a clear picture of a place and I always check out the photos. Have a great trip!

 

[Hankshouse]

If you're on LI, the best thing to do is convince a relative to move to North Carolina. You'll always have a place to stay at the midpoint!

You're too funny! We do have relatives who are in NC for 6 months of the year...but they had the nerve to buy in Asheville - the western end That said, we do enjoy visiting them there, just a bit inconvenient for the beeline we're hoping to make to Florida.

 

[thumbalyna]

We swear by Tripadvisor.com for hotel reviews. Sometimes I do find you need to look at a number of them to get a clear picture of a place and I always check out the photos. Have a great trip!

Thanks i checked tripadvisor and its a toss up there - some say good others say horrible - oh well i will see what it is once we get there - like i said it was only 45 for the night so as long as it is clean it will serve its purpose.

 

[crzy4dsny]

Too funny but husband and I are trying to plan a trip down during February break and with the high cost of flying, I'm trying to convince him to drive. We're also at Exit 63 off the LIE...LOL!! We've driven to FL once before when kids were tiny and this past summer did a road trip to NC. Although there were a few moments when I doubted my sanity, I think I'm actually starting to look forward to a drive down. Saw your comments on departure times and overnights to FL (Kingsland, GA?) but was wondering what you guys recommend for the trip home? I'm pretty sure that straight through won't work for us and considering the hotel has an 11am checkout, I was wondering what time you usually hit the road and where you recommend staying? Thanks for the help

We leave early, it stinks but we go around 3:00am. I like to get as much driving in as possible when the kids will sleep. One trip we drove straight home, I think on a weekend. Traffic wasn't bad and we got home around 8:30pm. If it's a weekday you will hit traffic around the east and north side of DC. Up until that point you should be clear. If your going to stop overnight I would suggest getting as much driving done on the first day as possible. Consider stopping in Northern VA. Get about 12 hours in the first day, that would leave you about 5 hours the second if you time it right.
Our other 3 trips we stopped to visit my sister in northern VA. Leaving at 3:00 gets us there between 2:00 and 3:00. She is about 20 miles south of DC.

 

[crzy4dsny]

Watch out for traffic on the DE/MD border on 95. They are doing some extensive work around a toll both there. Coming back from VA this past Sunday afternoon we hit some crazy traffic there. I know Sunday afternoon is a bad time to travel but we didn't have much of a choice this time.

 

[DISNEYFAMILYOFFOUR]

We leave early, it stinks but we go around 3:00am. I like to get as much driving in as possible when the kids will sleep. One trip we drove straight home, I think on a weekend. Traffic wasn't bad and we got home around 8:30pm. If it's a weekday you will hit traffic around the west and north side of DC. Up until that point you should be clear. If your going to stop overnight I would suggest getting as much driving done on the first day as possible. Consider stopping in Northern VA. Get about 12 hours in the first day, that would leave you about 5 hours the second if you time it right.
Our other 3 trips we stopped to visit my sister in northern VA. Leaving at 3:00 gets us there between 2:00 and 3:00. She is about 20 miles south of DC.

Thanks again for all of your great advice. What time do you suggest we leave WDW if we are not in a hurry to get home and plan to stop one night on the way.

 

[crzy4dsny]

Thanks again for all of your great advice. What time do you suggest we leave WDW if we are not in a hurry to get home and plan to stop one night on the way.

I'll give you the average times that I have for each state. You can kind of gauge how long it will take you to get to where you want to stop give or take. I have a trip log and I averaged out all the times that I have written down for each state. These are based on pretty much no traffic.

FL- 2hr 30min
GA- 1hr 40min
SC- 3hr
NC- 3hr
VA- 2hr 40min
MD- 1hr 50min
DE- 16min
NJ- 1hr 20min (Exit 13 NJTP)
NY- 1hr 15min (Exit 63 LIE)

 

[Hankshouse]

I'll give you the average times that I have for each state. You can kind of gauge how long it will take you to get to where you want to stop give or take. I made a little trip log and I averaged out all the times that I have. These are based on pretty much no traffic.

FL- 2hr 30min
GA- 1hr 40min
SC- 3hr
NC- 3hr
VA- 2hr 40min
MD- 1hr 50min
DE- 16min
NJ- 1hr 20min (Exit 13 NJTP)
NY- 1hr 15min (Exit 63 LIE)

This is great info! Thanks!

 

[sharadoc]

I'll give you the average times that I have for each state. You can kind of gauge how long it will take you to get to where you want to stop give or take. I made a little trip log and I averaged out all the times that I have. These are based on pretty much no traffic.

FL- 2hr 30min
GA- 1hr 40min
SC- 3hr
NC- 3hr
VA- 2hr 40min
MD- 1hr 50min
DE- 16min
NJ- 1hr 20min (Exit 13 NJTP)
NY- 1hr 15min (Exit 63 LIE)

This should be on the first page - first time I've seen this so concisely. I always underestimate Virginia, I think it should be 2 hours border to border.

 

[sharadoc]

Thanks again for all of your great advice. What time do you suggest we leave WDW if we are not in a hurry to get home and plan to stop one night on the way.

We leave around noon if we're not in a hurry and drive to Wilson, NC for the night. They have some nicer "suite" hotels there and of course, a Cracker Barrel for a quick dinner. We like the Country Inn and Suites there - they actually have eggs for breakfast and not just the make-your-own waffles!! Nice people working there, too. It's a long drive the first day.

If you want a shorter first day, then stop around Florence, SC. There's lots of nice hotels there.

 

[nbs2]

I'll give you the average times that I have for each state. You can kind of gauge how long it will take you to get to where you want to stop give or take. I made a little trip log and I averaged out all the times that I have. These are based on pretty much no traffic.

FL- 2hr 30min
GA- 1hr 40min
SC- 3hr
NC- 3hr
VA- 2hr 40min
MD- 1hr 50min
DE- 16min
NJ- 1hr 20min (Exit 13 NJTP)
NY- 1hr 15min (Exit 63 LIE)

Looking at this chart, leaving from MD, we can get down to WDW in 12.5 hours, plus a little time to get to the VA border and a little extra time since we'll probably do 81-77 instead of 95. So, maybe a total of 14 hours. This undercuts the Google Maps estimate of 16.25 hours by a massive chunk.

I had planned on an extra three hours during the drive to let the kids stretch their legs and not leak through diapers and the missus has decreed that a nonstop is out of the question. Well, she says it's okay if I am willing to deal with her grumpiness the next morning - so a "we're getting tired, priceline a hotel in the next hotel district" stop was planned. But 17 hours will have us getting to WDW at 10pm, where we'd just find something cheap and get our room the next morning.

Is there something I'm not getting?

Note: For the return, we'd leave in the afternoon, so this suggests that we could get to Savannah for the night.

 

[crzy4dsny]

Looking at this chart, leaving from MD, we can get down to WDW in 12.5 hours, plus a little time to get to the VA border and a little extra time since we'll probably do 81-77 instead of 95. So, maybe a total of 14 hours. This undercuts the Google Maps estimate of 16.25 hours by a massive chunk.

I had planned on an extra three hours during the drive to let the kids stretch their legs and not leak through diapers and the missus has decreed that a nonstop is out of the question. Well, she says it's okay if I am willing to deal with her grumpiness the next morning - so a "we're getting tired, priceline a hotel in the next hotel district" stop was planned. But 17 hours will have us getting to WDW at 10pm, where we'd just find something cheap and get our room the next morning.

Is there something I'm not getting?



Note: For the return, we'd leave in the afternoon, so this suggests that we could get to Savannah for the night.

I live out on Long Island about an hour east of Manhattan. I have made it from my house to Disney in 16.5 hours, which is what my GPS estimates. Your trip should be much shorter. I just did the trip from Disney to my sisters in VA in 11.5 hours. She is in northern VA in Woodbridge, I think it's exit 156 on 95. When I leave her house it's about 25 minutes to the MD border. Just add on how long it would take you to get to that point. Again, that is with no traffic and stopping just for gas and maybe a quick bite to eat. I always kid with my sister and say if I lived here I would drive to Disney every weekend. Don't forget this is an average of the times I have written down. It could take longer or ever a little shorter.

 

[honeymo78]

We leave in just a few hours and I'll try to post an update of how our first drive went either tonight after the first leg (to Kingsland) or tomorrow after we get to WDW.

Of course I can't sleep - excited, didn't have dogs to wake me up in the middle of the night, and got up as if I had to get ready for work (why can I do that when I don't have to go work but when I do, that alarm goes off way too early)

 

[BC1836]

A recent drive (Wed.) from Ocean County, NJ to outside Richmond, VA encountered lots of construction in DE and MD but the late morning/midday drive encountered no traffic to speak of. With two quick rest stops, we still averaged 61 mph for the entire 6+ hour drive.

All the best.

 

[sharadoc]

Posting to get us back on page 1.

Waffle House or Huddle House? Discuss.

 

[nytimez]

Posting to get us back on page 1.

Waffle House or Huddle House? Discuss.

Blech! Can I pick neither?

 

[Andrea464]

I'm at about 1300 miles round trip, but I'm still going to post here- it's an all day trip for us!

We leave around noon if we're not in a hurry and drive to Wilson, NC for the night. They have some nicer "suite" hotels there and of course, a Cracker Barrel for a quick dinner. We like the Country Inn and Suites there - they actually have eggs for breakfast and not just the make-your-own waffles!! Nice people working there, too. It's a long drive the first day.

If you want a shorter first day, then stop around Florence, SC. There's lots of nice hotels there.

Woohoo! We live about thirty minutes east of Wilson. Beautiful little town. Try some of the BBQ next time! Or a Bojangles cheddarbo biscuit. True southern goodness right there! Bojangles is only one stop light down from the Cracker Barrel!

Posting to get us back on page 1.

Waffle House or Huddle House? Discuss.

Waffle House all the way!!! DH hates it, I love it. All-Star platter, hash browns instead of grits, bacon, scrambled, Coke to drink. HEAVEN (or at least one step closer thanks to all of the cholesterol)!

Blech! Can I pick neither?

No. :lol:

 

[Andrea464]

I will also look into Rocky Mount for our return trip.

Buzz kill here- Rocky Mount has some shady, scary areas to it. I'm not too familiar with the I-95 area there, but there are some scary parts I wouldn't go to there.
Wilson is much nicer, at least the area near 95 is. I've driven through there more times than I can count (used to drive through there back in the day before they built a bypass around it heading towards Raleigh), and that part of Wilson is nice. Wilson is only about 20 minutes south of RM.
Roanoke Rapids is closer to the VA border, and I think there are some nicer places near there too.