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

[sharadoc]

Took the whole family on our first trip this past June. All 12 of us in 2 cars . I was concerned that it would turn into a nightmare with the kids, but they ended up loving the ride down and back.

Now we are planning to go back in 2012 for a Christmas season visit and I'd love to drive again. But school schedules may make it a problem. But school aside, driving is definitely the way to go for us from now on!

Congrats and welcome to our cult!

 

[BC1836]

This thread, in its second incarnation, has broken the 50,000 view mark!
Here we go....

All the best.

 

[BC1836]

And who has been dealing with these Northeast roads of late? A short local drive can feel longer than a 2,000+ mile round trip drive to WDW!

Enough of the snow already.

All the best.

 

[PrincessMom4]

It was mild enough for some of the ice to finally melt from under the snow.

 

[dvczerfs]

And who has been dealing with these Northeast roads of late? A short local drive can feel longer than a 2,000+ mile round trip drive to WDW!

Enough of the snow already.

All the best.

 

[pamkev]

And who has been dealing with these Northeast roads of late? A short local drive can feel longer than a 2,000+ mile round trip drive to WDW!

Enough of the snow already.

All the best.

I had to take my daughter back to NYC last Saturday she lives in Queens from Central Pa the trip up was not back finding a place to park a nightmare we circled blocks to find a space wasn't gonna happen so just parked in the street and got all her stuff out while DH and her took it into her apartment. I stayed with the car in case I had to move it thankfully didn't have to then just left could not stay

 

[starwood]

There is a new iphone/ipad app for I 95. It's .99.

 

[ccstrickler]

Have 2 possible ways to go. OBX to Henrico, VA to Melbourne, FL (free place to stay overnight) to WDW. The other is to skip Melbourne and stay at the above Holiday Inn (on reward points, so sort of free). Has anyone stayed there? OBX to Henrico to Melbourne to WDW or OBX to Henrico to Brunswick to WDW. Ideas? Thanks

 

[nytimez]

There is a new iphone/ipad app for I 95. It's .99.

any good? wanna give us a review?

 

[starwood]

I haven't downloaded it yet. We are driving down again in March and DH may have his Iphone by then. If not we may use it for his Ipad.

 

[MeMomof3]

I'm new to this thread and need some advice on driving from Southern Maine to WDW. We need to check in at POR on 4/16. We have 3 little ones (3, 5 and 8) who are generally pretty good travelers.

I'm wondering if it would be best for us leave on 4/15 at 1 am and drive while the kiddos sleep and get a good chunk of the driving done without the "are we there yets?" and try to make it to SC on that day. Or should we leave after work (3 pm) on 4/14 and drive for a few hours (say until 8pm) and stop to rest? Then leave early on 4/15 and stop somewhere else along the way. I want minimal driving for the WDW arrival day.

Also, what might be the best route for us to take? This is our first time driving any significant amount with the kids.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks!

 

[justakrazymom]

I would leave around 1-2am and drive as much as you can that day. We usually leave about 2-3am when we head to georgia.. You can get yourselves to SC by night and find a nice motel... sleep then do the rest of the drive the next day...

 

[Fwd Facing Tentacles]

I'm new to this thread and need some advice on driving from Southern Maine to WDW. We need to check in at POR on 4/16. We have 3 little ones (3, 5 and 8) who are generally pretty good travelers.

I'm wondering if it would be best for us leave on 4/15 at 1 am and drive while the kiddos sleep and get a good chunk of the driving done without the "are we there yets?" and try to make it to SC on that day. Or should we leave after work (3 pm) on 4/14 and drive for a few hours (say until 8pm) and stop to rest? Then leave early on 4/15 and stop somewhere else along the way. I want minimal driving for the WDW arrival day.

Also, what might be the best route for us to take? This is our first time driving any significant amount with the kids.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks!

The general consensus around here is that it depends on how experienced a long distance driver you are. If you haven't driven 16+ hours straight before I would take the extra day and just try and get around NYC the first day.

As far as what route to take, people here are divided. The shortest distance is straight down 95. But many people, ourselves included, much prefer 81,77,26. It's slightly longer but you avoid Baltimore and DC traffic (although you do go through Charlotte) so it probably won't take you any longer. Also, and more importantly to us, it's a much nicer drive. You go through the Shenandoah mountains in VA which is one of the most beautiful parts of the eastern US. It can be a problem in winter weather but not in April. Coming from NJ, we stop around Columbia SC and get to WDW early afternoon the next day so our room is usually ready when we check in. If you want to consider this route, let me know and I can give you more details.

 

[MeMomof3]

The general consensus around here is that it depends on how experienced a long distance driver you are. If you haven't driven 16+ hours straight before I would take the extra day and just try and get around NYC the first day.

As far as what route to take, people here are divided. The shortest distance is straight down 95. But many people, ourselves included, much prefer 81,77,26. It's slightly longer but you avoid Baltimore and DC traffic (although you do go through Charlotte) so it probably won't take you any longer. Also, and more importantly to us, it's a much nicer drive. You go through the Shenandoah mountains in VA which is one of the most beautiful parts of the eastern US. It can be a problem in winter weather but not in April. Coming from NJ, we stop around Columbia SC and get to WDW early afternoon the next day so our room is usually ready when we check in. If you want to consider this route, let me know and I can give you more details.

That sounds good to me. If we leave Maine around 3pm we should be close to NYC by 830pm correct? I would prefer to avoid as much traffic as possible especially considering it will be Spring Break and I'm assuming there will be heavy traffic everywhere!

When you leave from NJ and arrive in Columbia, how many hours have you driven? And about how many hours do you have remaining the next AM? Any recommendations on hotels in/around Columbia? Due to the fact that we are a family of 5, it is tough for us to find a hotel that will house us all in one room. Do you have small kids?

Appreciate you help!

 

[justakrazymom]

Even from NYC you have a very long haul .. We are on the NY/MA border and If we were doing the trip in 2 days i would def want to be further south than NYC.. I say shoot for below the mason/dixon.. from there on 95 is a straight shot ..

 

[MeMomof3]

Even from NYC you have a very long haul .. We are on the NY/MA border and If we were doing the trip in 2 days i would def want to be further south than NYC.. I say shoot for below the mason/dixon.. from there on 95 is a straight shot ..

Thanks Krazymom! I meant that I would drive for a few hours on Thursday afternoon (3pm) after work and hope to be in NY by around 8. Then sleep and drive until SC on Friday (day 2). Then on Day 3 of travel (Saturday) we will have only about 7 hours or so to go. I don't know how accurate these times are, since I have never actually driven it myself. I drove with my family when I was little, but was obviously not paying much attention. These are estimates given to me by Expedia.

 

[justakrazymom]

Ahh..my bad.. I missed the 3 days of driving thing..LOL.. I still "vote" for leaving early in the AM...lol .. we have about 21 hours of driving from my locale and we are leaving about 5am.. we plan to go straight thru but that will bring us to POP very early..so we may adjust... we've left at 4am and 12 noon to go to Savannah ( about 4.5 hours from WDW)..noon got us in at 5am..ack.. and 4am we went to DC for the day and then continued on our way until the NC/SC border then stayed the night..

 

[Luvamouse]

The general consensus around here is that it depends on how experienced a long distance driver you are. If you haven't driven 16+ hours straight before I would take the extra day and just try and get around NYC the first day.

As far as what route to take, people here are divided. The shortest distance is straight down 95. But many people, ourselves included, much prefer 81,77,26. It's slightly longer but you avoid Baltimore and DC traffic (although you do go through Charlotte) so it probably won't take you any longer. Also, and more importantly to us, it's a much nicer drive. You go through the Shenandoah mountains in VA which is one of the most beautiful parts of the eastern US. It can be a problem in winter weather but not in April. Coming from NJ, we stop around Columbia SC and get to WDW early afternoon the next day so our room is usually ready when we check in. If you want to consider this route, let me know and I can give you more details.

I agree 100%. We leave from RI and detour off Rte 95 at CT Exit 69, jumping over to 691W, then 84W to 81S. We have gone farther south on 95, but it can be a real pain as I swear the southern portion of 95 in CT is always under construction. The 81-77-26 route takes us about 100 miles farther, but as stated above, is beautiful and peaceful. I wouldn't go 95 again unless forced to by really bad weather. I can see no benefit, no time savings in actual use. We've often gone to mid. NC the first day-- about 13 hours. Tough to say how far you'll get with the little ones, everyone's limits are different, but we are only about 3-3 1/2 hours from southern Maine. You could get to mid-Virginia easily in one long day I'd say. You'd be looking at another 12-13 hours from there to WDW.

That sounds good to me. If we leave Maine around 3pm we should be close to NYC by 830pm correct? I would prefer to avoid as much traffic as possible especially considering it will be Spring Break and I'm assuming there will be heavy traffic everywhere!

As I mentioned above, avoid NYC. Jump around it in mid CT and you will not regret it.

When you leave from NJ and arrive in Columbia, how many hours have you driven? And about how many hours do you have remaining the next AM? Any recommendations on hotels in/around Columbia? Due to the fact that we are a family of 5, it is tough for us to find a hotel that will house us all in one room. Do you have small kids?

Appreciate you help!

From Columbia to WDW is about 7 1/2 hours give or take. We have enjoyed Country Inn and Suites. Also Holiday Inn Express and Suites would be able to give you enough room for 5. My girls hate to share a bed, so we often get the suites which have a sleeper sofa. We love the new HIE, they have treated us very well at a reasonable rate.

Good luck, have fun, and enjoy the drive-- it is beautiful!

 

[MeMomof3]

I think the 84/81 route sounds the best for us. I can only imagine the gripes from the backseat in bumper to bumper traffic! Not a good idea! I think we will shoot for leaving super early on Friday and go as far as we can tolerate. I really don't want to have 13 hours left of driving on day 2, but we will see.

Do you usually just "wing it" in regards to booking hotels on the drive down, or do you book something in advance? I would like the security of knowing that something is waiting for us when we are tired, but I don't want to book something just in case we are doing really well and everyone is happy. If we get to our goal and we think we can "squeeze" a couple more hours out of the kiddos, then I want the option to do so.

 

[justakrazymom]

about how long is the 81 route? We have only ever done the 87-95 route.. we have gotten into DC traffic once.. nothing too major though..