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

[sharadoc]

i wouldnt say better, but pending on the time of year, its a little faster and alot more to see. a bit less boring than 81-77-26. when in october??? dw and i are going down sept 27th and coming home the 8th. that trip, ill be going 81-66-17-95. this june im taking 81-77-26. we are leaving on a friday afternoon and if i can avoid as much shore traffic i will. our dd18 will be starting school in august so its just us. we have a town and country, its well disney marked. dw and i were just talking last night, the sep.-oct trip will probley be its last. its a 2006 and its been to disney 8 times and it only has 21k miles on it. it sits in the garage most of the time. dw has another car and i drive a company car. now that dd wont be with us on our trips, we no longer will need a minivan. dw wants to get a lexus lx350. something a little smaller but confort is the name now. when we were first married, we use to drive down in a pont. sunbird, sleep in the car and stay at the days inn on 192. we paid our dues. its sad our little girl is grown, but june will be her "last" trip as a "kid". june trip is her grad. present. she wanted to stay at the contemp. in the tower facing the mk. shes 18 and this trip will be number 22 for her. (all drives) hopefully dw and i made a life time of mems. for her. dw and i were down for our 25th last may, we had a blast. we would go over to dtd at 7am, walk around, nobody in sight. stop at earl of sand and get a breakfast sand. we would go to the parks for a few hours in the morning and a few hours in the late afterrnoon,early evevning. were looking forward to it just being us for awhile till maybe some day, grandkids that we take. dd asked, grandkids? what about me???? anyway, sorry for the rambling, have a great trip!!

Aww - so sweet. I can picture you guys at 80 years old, holding hands strolling around World Showcase! Hopefully, we'll be doing the same, meeting you for dinner somewhere!

Last year, my daughter looked at me when we were walking down Main Street one morning and said "Mommy, this is my favorite place to be with you." I think I get teary-eyed every time I think of it. I know she'll be going off to college before I know it, and it's so nice that you had all that time to spend together and make so many wonderful family memories. She'll always be your baby

Oh yeah, let me know when you want to sell it! Our old Caravan is going to need replacing.

 

[dvczerfs]

Aww - so sweet. I can picture you guys at 80 years old, holding hands strolling around World Showcase! Hopefully, we'll be doing the same, meeting you for dinner somewhere!

Last year, my daughter looked at me when we were walking down Main Street one morning and said "Mommy, this is my favorite place to be with you." I think I get teary-eyed every time I think of it. I know she'll be going off to college before I know it, and it's so nice that you had all that time to spend together and make so many wonderful family memories. She'll always be your baby

Oh yeah, let me know when you want to sell it! Our old Caravan is going to need replacing.

ill let you know sharon. i have dd car and loan in my name. she bought a 2010 chevy colbalt last april. she all most has it paid off. she owes something like 3800.00 on it yet so hopefully she should have it paid off by the end of the year. than we can put it in her name and "i" wont have a car loan. thats when tammy wants to start looking. i love the way she buys cars, walks on the lot, looks around for 5 min. and points and says, "that one." now, to buy a pair of shoes is a week long ordeal.

 

[BC1836]

Well, we're leaving today for the very long (24-25 hours) drive to Disney! Probably leave when the kids get out of school and hopefully go through to night to get through the northeast corridor without too much traffic. I'll try to post some updates along the way.

Thanks for all the great tips I've learned on these threads!

Cool! You're on the road to WDW, the driving experience that makes members of this thread unique.

Have a safe drive.

All the best.

 

[pamkev]

What road does everyone take once you get into Florida to actual get into Disney. I keep hearing I 4 can be a mess so does anyone have a better way into Disney. We will be staying the French Quarters

Pam

 

[pwdebbie]

i wouldnt say better, but pending on the time of year, its a little faster and alot more to see. a bit less boring than 81-77-26. when in october??? dw and i are going down sept 27th and coming home the 8th. that trip, ill be going 81-66-17-95. this june im taking 81-77-26. we are leaving on a friday afternoon and if i can avoid as much shore traffic i will. our dd18 will be starting school in august so its just us. we have a town and country, its well disney marked. dw and i were just talking last night, the sep.-oct trip will probley be its last. its a 2006 and its been to disney 8 times and it only has 21k miles on it. it sits in the garage most of the time. dw has another car and i drive a company car. now that dd wont be with us on our trips, we no longer will need a minivan. dw wants to get a lexus lx350. something a little smaller but confort is the name now. when we were first married, we use to drive down in a pont. sunbird, sleep in the car and stay at the days inn on 192. we paid our dues. its sad our little girl is grown, but june will be her "last" trip as a "kid". june trip is her grad. present. she wanted to stay at the contemp. in the tower facing the mk. shes 18 and this trip will be number 22 for her. (all drives) hopefully dw and i made a life time of mems. for her. dw and i were down for our 25th last may, we had a blast. we would go over to dtd at 7am, walk around, nobody in sight. stop at earl of sand and get a breakfast sand. we would go to the parks for a few hours in the morning and a few hours in the late afterrnoon,early evevning. were looking forward to it just being us for awhile till maybe some day, grandkids that we take. dd asked, grandkids? what about me???? anyway, sorry for the rambling, have a great trip!!

I enjoyed your ramble! Wow, I just can't imagine so many trips to Disney. We've never been with kids so our Disney trips have always been the "emtpy-nest couple" experience.

I think I've decided on the 81-66-17-95 route for our next trip (April 2012).

 

[pwdebbie]

What road does everyone take once you get into Florida to actual get into Disney. I keep hearing I 4 can be a mess so does anyone have a better way into Disney. We will be staying the French Quarters

Pam

On our first trip, we took the toll road around the east side of Orlando. The "Greenway" I think it is called. Horrible horrible horrible! We only took it because I had read here on the DIS about how bad I-4 is and this was the suggested alternative. Going home we took I-4 and wondered what everybody's issue was. The next two trips we stuck with I-4 and had no problems. Just avoid rush hour and you should be ok.

There is also a toll road that comes in on the west side of Disney (I believe it is called the Western Way), but no one seems to say much about that route. I know it is also toll and takes a bit longer, but I'm not sure how it is in terms of traffic.

 

[dvczerfs]

I enjoyed your ramble! Wow, I just can't imagine so many trips to Disney. We've never been with kids so our Disney trips have always been the "emtpy-nest couple" experience.

I think I've decided on the 81-66-17-95 route for our next trip (April 2012).

thanks. they all become a big blur anymore. but we love it. im lucky my dw and dd like to drive. we all ways have good luck on 66-17. you will see a huge sign on 66. i95 south via 17. when you get off, just follow the "to i95 south" signs. theres also a bypass, it will take you around warrenton. we stick to 17 business. the bypass, will take you out and around and its not bad going through warrenton. we get gas and hit the burger king in warrenton. but it is very,very easy. you will hit 95 at mile marker 133. try to avoid 17 at the rush hours. ive driven though in december around 7am and didnt have a problem. we usually hit it around 9am and its clear. just watch your speed, its 55mph but its easy to get going and the virginia state troopers like to hang out on that road.

 

[dvczerfs]

What road does everyone take once you get into Florida to actual get into Disney. I keep hearing I 4 can be a mess so does anyone have a better way into Disney. We will be staying the French Quarters

Pam

i use i4 but i dont hit it on a sat. we hit it on a week day and in the mid morning or around 7pm. (knock on wood) we never sat. but there is alot of traffic sometimes. they have the traffic uodate signs over head. it will say 7miles / 8 min. etc... and we get off the first exit, the cross roads and enter wdw through the back. it will bring you bt dtd.

 

[Taylor'sMom]

Hi all. So much great info in this thread! We (DH, 7-yr-old DD and myself) are driving from the Albany, NY area to Orlando in mid-April. We plan on leaving the Albany area around 5pm on a Friday and driving straight through, only stopping for gas and bathroom breaks. We’re hoping this will get us into Orlando by 1pm. We are annual Orlando visitors but this will be our family’s first time driving (EEK!). I have 2 questions, but would welcome any other comments as well.
1. I’ve read many different suggestions for travelling south, but I was hoping someone from the Upstate NY area could give their 2 cents. Should we stick to I-95 as early and as long as possible, or do we need to avoid certain metropolitan areas? Given that we’re leaving at 5pm, I was hoping we’d avoid traffic for much of the trip.
2. The only big meal we need to stop for is breakfast. Given our timeframe, where is it likely we’ll be around 8-9am? Any suggestions for a place to eat? Nothing fancy, but decent food and a place to sit for a bit.
Thanks in advance!

 

[PrincessMom4]

Hi all. So much great info in this thread! We (DH, 7-yr-old DD and myself) are driving from the Albany, NY area to Orlando in mid-April. We plan on leaving the Albany area around 5pm on a Friday and driving straight through, only stopping for gas and bathroom breaks. We’re hoping this will get us into Orlando by 1pm. We are annual Orlando visitors but this will be our family’s first time driving (EEK!). I have 2 questions, but would welcome any other comments as well.
1. I’ve read many different suggestions for travelling south, but I was hoping someone from the Upstate NY area could give their 2 cents. Should we stick to I-95 as early and as long as possible, or do we need to avoid certain metropolitan areas? Given that we’re leaving at 5pm, I was hoping we’d avoid traffic for much of the trip.
2. The only big meal we need to stop for is breakfast. Given our timeframe, where is it likely we’ll be around 8-9am? Any suggestions for a place to eat? Nothing fancy, but decent food and a place to sit for a bit.
Thanks in advance!

I am Ontario near the Canadian border w/ a mail box in Ogdensburg, NY and know that area very well. We go down 81-66-17-95 which is a nice route. Another one is 81-83-15-95. It takes us about 23(ish) hours plus stops to get there from Ogdensburg. I would not push your self. According to google maps its faster for you to go 87-287-202-206-95.

I figured you would be in Manning, Georgia around that time. Might even be 730am. All depends on the roads.

 

[Taylor'sMom]

Thanks PrincessMom4. A co-worker was just telling me 81 is a better route when he frequently goes to Virginia. he said it avoids a lot of traffic and is toll-free (at least up to that point). I'll deffinately look into the routes you sugegsted.

 

[PrincessMom4]

we've tried a couple of different routes.

 

[disneyjunkie]

What a great thread! We are planning a huge WDW trip for August 2012. Family and friends have been asking me to do a group trip for a long time. I finally decided to give it a go. I wanted to fly down but was out voted, so we are hitting the road. We booked transportation with a tour company(56 passenger charter bus). We will have 2 drivers so no need for an over night stay. So far the plan is to leave out at 8pm on a Friday. Taking 95 down stopping to switch drivers, restrooms...Any idea where we will be by breakfast time (Hoping to hit a Cracker Barrel) and what time we can expect hit WDW? We will return home the day before Labor Day ~leaving the resort at 3pm. Off to finish reading the thread and taking notes.

 

[mousebymarriage]

So excited because we just booked another trip!

We will be leaving northern NJ on Friday June 24th at around 9pm, checking into ASsports on the 25th. We will be driving straight through (we have done the drive straight through and also stopping over but, driving straight through works best for us).
Unfortunatley, we are only spending a few days in Disney, checking out on the 28th but then we are heading over to the west coast (of Florida) to see family for almost a week. I haven't seen my family that lives in Florida since Feb. 2010 and my sis had a baby in December.
We are stopping in Disney rather than just seeing family the whole time because DS9 really wanted to spend his birthday in the Magic Kingdom (his birthday is June 27th). We also let him pick the resort, he is a major sports nut which is why he chose ASsports.
Did I mention how excited I am?

 

[BC1836]

What a great thread! We are planning a huge WDW trip for August 2012. Family and friends have been asking me to do a group trip for a long time. I finally decided to give it a go. I wanted to fly down but was out voted, so we are hitting the road. We booked transportation with a tour company(56 passenger charter bus). We will have 2 drivers so no need for an over night stay. So far the plan is to leave out at 8pm on a Friday. Taking 95 down stopping to switch drivers, restrooms...Any idea where we will be by breakfast time (Hoping to hit a Cracker Barrel) and what time we can expect hit WDW? We will return home the day before Labor Day ~leaving the resort at 3pm. Off to finish reading the thread and taking notes.

Lots of variables regarding your planned trip, especially the state of the world at that time. Neverthless, depending on when you have breakfast it appears that somewhere in VA will probably be it. You should reach WDW by dark.

All the best.

 

[nono]

Lots of variables regarding your planned trip, especially the state of the world at that time. Neverthless, depending on when you have breakfast it appears that somewhere in VA will probably be it. You should reach WDW by dark.

All the best.

Like you said, lots of variables!

I came up with a different scenario using Streets & Trips. I plugged in Brooklyn as a starting point, and 25 min breaks every 4 hours. That scenario shows crossing the border into South Carolina at 6 a.m. Figuring a 1.5 hour stop at a breakfast place (sounds like a big group), that would have them best case in WDW around 3:45 p.m.

The biggest thing will be dallying at the rest stops, or extra rest breaks. Synchronizing bladders will be tough, but I'm thinking your bus will have a bathroom which should help you keep on schedule.

 

[pamkev]

i use i4 but i dont hit it on a sat. we hit it on a week day and in the mid morning or around 7pm. (knock on wood) we never sat. but there is alot of traffic sometimes. they have the traffic uodate signs over head. it will say 7miles / 8 min. etc... and we get off the first exit, the cross roads and enter wdw through the back. it will bring you bt dtd.

We will be driving down on a Wed stopping overnight in Ga somewhere and hoping to get to Disney around noonish on Thurs. What is the back way in to Disney

Pam

 

[pamkev]

On our first trip, we took the toll road around the east side of Orlando. The "Greenway" I think it is called. Horrible horrible horrible! We only took it because I had read here on the DIS about how bad I-4 is and this was the suggested alternative. Going home we took I-4 and wondered what everybody's issue was. The next two trips we stuck with I-4 and had no problems. Just avoid rush hour and you should be ok.

There is also a toll road that comes in on the west side of Disney (I believe it is called the Western Way), but no one seems to say much about that route. I know it is also toll and takes a bit longer, but I'm not sure how it is in terms of traffic.

Thanks it's looking like I 4 it will be

 

[dvczerfs]

We will be driving down on a Wed stopping overnight in Ga somewhere and hoping to get to Disney around noonish on Thurs. What is the back way in to Disney

Pam

coming in on i4, take the first disney exit. (exit 68 rt 538) at the light at the end of the ramp, turn right. get into the left lane, at the next light, turn left onto hotel plaza blvd. (you will see the welcome to walt disney world sign) follow hotel plaza blvd and dtd will be on your right. pending on were you are staying, it may be faster than the other exits. we stay at okw or the contemporary so for us, it gets us there a bit faster and a little less traffic. if your staying at an "epcot resort" its easier. anything west of caribian beach, it would be faster going in off of eixt 67.

 

[pamkev]

coming in on i4, take the first disney exit. (exit 68 rt 538) at the light at the end of the ramp, turn right. get into the left lane, at the next light, turn left onto hotel plaza blvd. (you will see the welcome to walt disney world sign) follow hotel plaza blvd and dtd will be on your left. pending on were you are staying, it may be faster than the other exits. we stay at okw or the contemporary so for us, it gets us there a bit faster and a little less traffic. if your staying at an "epcot resort" its easier. anything west of caribian beach, it would be faster going in off of eixt 67.

Thank you we are staying at French Quarters so will this be the best way or exit 67