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

[dvczerfs]

and i just noticed, shes out of inspection!!!!
i better get that taken care of before may 11th.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

[the old girl is a 2006. she has about 32,000 miles on it and has been to walt disney world 10 times. my dd calls her the garage princess.

So, 1/3 of the miles on your van have been from Disney trips?! That's kind of a fun fact

 

[BC1836]

Headin' out in about an hour: trying to beat some of the thunderstorms. Looks like we won't be able to avoid them in the Carolinas, Georgia and northern Florida tomorrow, though.

The Mickey antenna feature is on our satellite radio antenna.

All the best.

 

[sharadoc]

Is it still under warranty? I seem to remember the Chryslers of that era had a 7 or 10 year one.

No DVD in there, right?

 

[dvczerfs]

So, 1/3 of the miles on your van have been from Disney trips?! That's kind of a fun fact

its more 2/3 of the miles. its about 1086 miles each way. with driving around in wdw, i do about 2250 miles per trip. i only have about 10k-11k on it other than a disney trip. thats about 1800 miles per year.
the last three years, i have been running my wife tammy to wills eye hospital/ jefferson hosp. in philly 6 times a year. she had a tumor on her optic nerve causing her to lose her vision in one eye. now we are down to twice per year. the van seems to be a good luck charm. other than our first visit when they discovered the tumor, every trip we have taken to philly has been good news for her. so we tend to take it to philly.

 

[dvczerfs]

Is it still under warranty? I seem to remember the Chryslers of that era had a 7 or 10 year one.

No DVD in there, right?

no dvd player and i think most of the manufactures, little parts warranty ran out in march. id have to look but i think most of the big parts are warrantied for 10 years. its never seen snow, other than from the garage window and it only been in the rain 4 times. my mechanic just shakes his head. alot of the stickers are still on the engine and the engine isnt even dusty much less dirty. he changes the oil and said the oil coming out is cleaner than the oil he puts in. very nice ride. it can cruise at 90 with no vibration or even know your going that fast. (so i hear )

 

[Disneyholic]

and i just noticed, shes out of inspection!!!!
i better get that taken care of before may 11th.

Just a heads up....

Be careful driving it to the inspection station. Watch out for State Police. DS was driving his to an inspection station when he passed a Statie on Airport Road and was stopped. His had expired in September, too, but he had been working on it and had to run it to get the computer to reset. The Statie didn't want to hear any of it and gave him a ticket. Said it was out of inspection for too long. He put in for a hearing and was found guilty, but had the fines reduced a little.

Wouldn't want you to get a ticket. That money could be used for better things (Like Disney).

 

[dvczerfs]

Just a heads up....

Be careful driving it to the inspection station. Watch out for State Police. DS was driving his to an inspection station when he passed a Statie on Airport Road and was stopped. His had expired in September, too, but he had been working on it and had to run it to get the computer to reset. The Statie didn't want to hear any of it and gave him a ticket. Said it was out of inspection for too long. He put in for a hearing and was found guilty, but had the fines reduced a little.

Wouldn't want you to get a ticket. That money could be used for better things (Like Disney).

wow, some statey was crabby that day. the garage i go to is less than 2 miles away and my mechanic picks it up at my house and brings it back. hope he dont get a ticket.

 

[BC1836]

Howdy!

Trip report:

In order to miss the large rainstorms passing through Virginia, we departed the Jersey Shore at 9:31 p.m.

DE...11:01 p.m.

MD...11:15 p.m.

VA...1:00 a.m.

NC...4:10 a.m. A few showers.

SC...8:33 a.m.

GA: 11:40 a.m.

FL...1:22 p.m. A few showers.

[Three short naps along the way.]

[No traffic problems at all until mm 77 on I-4, nine miles from the first WDW exit. Stop and go for nine miles, and the wait at Exit #68 was horrible.]

Arrived at our off-site hotel after 1,066 miles. Tomorrow morning we drive over to the Grand Floridian.

All the best.

 

[dvczerfs]

Howdy!

Trip report:

In order to miss the large rainstorms passing through Virginia, we departed the Jersey Shore at 9:31 p.m.

DE...11:01 p.m.

MD...11:15 p.m.

VA...1:00 a.m.

NC...4:10 a.m. A few showers.

SC...8:33 a.m.

GA: 11:40 a.m.

FL...1:22 p.m. A few showers.

[Three short naps along the way.]

[No traffic problems at all until mm 77 on I-4, nine miles from the first WDW exit. Stop and go for nine miles, and the wait at Exit #68 was horrible.]

Arrived at our off-site hotel after 1,066 miles. Tomorrow morning we drive over to the Grand Floridian.

All the best.

not bad for a rookie! glad you made bc. keep us posted and have a good time!

 

[sharadoc]

no dvd player and i think most of the manufactures, little parts warranty ran out in march. id have to look but i think most of the big parts are warrantied for 10 years. its never seen snow, other than from the garage window and it only been in the rain 4 times. my mechanic just shakes his head. alot of the stickers are still on the engine and the engine isnt even dusty much less dirty. he changes the oil and said the oil coming out is cleaner than the oil he puts in. very nice ride. it can cruise at 90 with no vibration or even know your going that fast. (so i hear )

That's awesome! Exactly what we like to buy, low mileage, well taken care of, don't care about the model year. I hope we can hold out until then! Mike's van is slowly dying!!

 

[disneymarie]

Just a heads up....

Be careful driving it to the inspection station. Watch out for State Police. DS was driving his to an inspection station when he passed a Statie on Airport Road and was stopped. His had expired in September, too, but he had been working on it and had to run it to get the computer to reset. The Statie didn't want to hear any of it and gave him a ticket. Said it was out of inspection for too long. He put in for a hearing and was found guilty, but had the fines reduced a little.

Wouldn't want you to get a ticket. That money could be used for better things (Like Disney).

Wow, who was the magistrate? I hope not the one for by Dorney Park

On a side not, if you call the insp station, get the appointment excempt from a ticket. Many people buy cars that need work, are seasonal, and long exp, periods.

I would appeal the guilty plea.....
I Was a PA law enforcement and NEVER wrote for insp, gave warning. IF it was that long exp, escorted to local shop of their choice for appt or service. FOr their protection. But, I was a different sort of PD. Serve and protect, not entrap and take $$$$$ for inspection.
Hated co workers that sat on first of month looking for the veh for exp insp.....

NOW if it was a death trap, that was a different issue because why in the world was it even inspected. Had my share of fake and stolen insp stickers too, but not get the $$$ for seasonal car.


As I sit here recalling last week, the new off the car lot last May's car windshield screamed out, "2-12" DUH, car was inspected prior to purchase!!! This was a week ago, luck was on our side.

 

[Disneyholic]

Wow, who was the magistrate? I hope not the one for by Dorney Park

On a side not, if you call the insp station, get the appointment excempt from a ticket. Many people buy cars that need work, are seasonal, and long exp, periods.

I would appeal the guilty plea.....
I Was a PA law enforcement and NEVER wrote for insp, gave warning. IF it was that long exp, escorted to local shop of their choice for appt or service. FOr their protection. But, I was a different sort of PD. Serve and protect, not entrap and take $$$$$ for inspection.
Hated co workers that sat on first of month looking for the veh for exp insp.....

NOW if it was a death trap, that was a different issue because why in the world was it even inspected. Had my share of fake and stolen insp stickers too, but not get the $$$ for seasonal car.


As I sit here recalling last week, the new off the car lot last May's car windshield screamed out, "2-12" DUH, car was inspected prior to purchase!!! This was a week ago, luck was on our side.

No not magistrate by Dorney.

He was on his way to the inspection station. He even had a paper from an inspection in September when it failed because the computer hadn't reset. He then had to work on the car some more to try to reset computers which is why it was so far out of inspection. Statey didn't care. DS-in-law is PD for a local force and called the guy the next day. Didn't care. He called a friend who is higher up at State and that guy said that the new guys were gung-ho ticketing & nothing you could say would change their minds.

 

[disneymarie]

No not magistrate by Dorney.

He was on his way to the inspection station. He even had a paper from an inspection in September when it failed because the computer hadn't reset. He then had to work on the car some more to try to reset computers which is why it was so far out of inspection. Statey didn't care. DS-in-law is PD for a local force and called the guy the next day. Didn't care. He called a friend who is higher up at State and that guy said that the new guys were gung-ho ticketing & nothing you could say would change their minds.

That is really sad, as said it is the new guys looking for insp stickers and one headlight out, instead of observation of real safety problems, or even helping out those in need.

Mag should have used a little rough justice, as I guess they did with the reduced fine...could have dropped it after knowing it was inspected and passed fine.
Paying money for a fine is a crime as it takes Disney funds away,

 

[Hasil72]

We bought our Disney travelling van with 65,000 miles on it. We're close to 120,000 now. It's well-maintained, has good tires, regular maintenance and oil changes and runs great. I drive over 1,500 miles a month, plus another 4-5000 per year to Disney.

We plan to continue to use it until we can buy DVCZerfs Disney van sometime next year, then we'll start the cycle all over again!!

If you give your van a total once-over, especially since it's a Toyota, you would most likely be just fine driving it to Disney. Plus make sure you have AAA and plan to be towed to a national repair chain and NOT a local repair shop if you do break down on the road.

100,000 miles used to mean the junkyard, but now, you can pay 5 figures for a vehicle with that many miles on it. They just don't break down like they used to!

I know, I know. I think we'd be fine but DH isn't willing to take the risk since getting a new car isn't in the budget. I have one reserved but I'll keep working on it in the meantime. I'd just like November to get here so we can go!

 

[discrazy2]

We are doing our first WDW drive from NJ. Surprisingly we are looking forward to it espcially since if all goes well we can visit WDW more than once a year! I've spent a lot of time reading through this thread and have tried to soak all in all great information. Does anyone have any tips on how to avoid traffic and construction on our way down I-95? Due to work and school schedules we are leaving Thursday 4/5 at 5:00 pm. Thanks for any help!

 

[dvczerfs]

We are doing our first WDW drive from NJ. Surprisingly we are looking forward to it espcially since if all goes well we can visit WDW more than once a year! I've spent a lot of time reading through this thread and have tried to soak all in all great information. Does anyone have any tips on how to avoid traffic and construction on our way down I-95? Due to work and school schedules we are leaving Thursday 4/5 at 5:00 pm. Thanks for any help!

leaving at 5:00pm you are going to hit the normal rush hour trafffic. im guessing you will for some time. there is only one way to avoid traffic is travel at night or stay away from i95. just off the top of my head, not trying to leave anyone out, but bc and sharadoc travel that way. (bc is from nj) he has his time lines posted in the last few pages. that will give you some idea as to what times to hit the road.

 

[artesian]

We are doing our first WDW drive from NJ. Surprisingly we are looking forward to it espcially since if all goes well we can visit WDW more than once a year! I've spent a lot of time reading through this thread and have tried to soak all in all great information. Does anyone have any tips on how to avoid traffic and construction on our way down I-95? Due to work and school schedules we are leaving Thursday 4/5 at 5:00 pm. Thanks for any help!

5 isn't bad. You'll hit some on the pike up to exit 5ish. Baltimore by 8 should be ok and DC after shouldn't be that bad. I've left at both 5 and 6 and the little bit later does usually help. Good luck and drive safe

 

[fibercut]

We are doing our first WDW drive from NJ. Surprisingly we are looking forward to it espcially since if all goes well we can visit WDW more than once a year! I've spent a lot of time reading through this thread and have tried to soak all in all great information. Does anyone have any tips on how to avoid traffic and construction on our way down I-95? Due to work and school schedules we are leaving Thursday 4/5 at 5:00 pm. Thanks for any help!

Driving thru the night is tough. I am leaving 4/6 3:00 a.m. from the top of the parkway exit 168. I will be in my room at the BLT by 8:00 p.m. Long day but worth it.

 

[Mom-2-2Princesses]

Hi everyone,

My family are attempting the drive from Northern Delaware to WDW for the first time next week. I was hoping for some guidence on timing and the route around the DC metro area.

Specifically, we are leaving on April 5, and will do the trip in 2 days. We were thinking of leaving around 8 am that day, which would bring us to the DC area around 11 (I think) and then Richmond just after lunch (I think). Should we leave earlier? Later?

Also, reviewing recommended routes on both GoogleMaps and Mapquest, they suggest different routes around DC. GoogleMaps goes 95/895/MD-295/MD-201/DC295/95. This seems... complicated. Mapquest suggests 95/495 (outer loop)/95. What do you all think?

Any help is hugely appreciated!