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

[artemis4]

Driving down from mlps in mid Oct. and I read in another place that all hov lanes in Atlana are now pay and even though you have the required number of passengers you still need to be registered (Peach pass). Was she only refering to I-85. Hopefully I read it wrong.

We drove the HOV lane in Atlanta on the morning of 9-14 on the I-75, and we did not have to pay or register anything.

 

[artemis4]

Anyone gone down from chicago lately??? were leaving next week and im planning on taking 57 versus 65. If so were there any issues?

We are from WI. We drove part of our trip on I-57 (down on 9-13, back on 9-23). We did not get on that interstate until Champaign (drove 39 and 74 before that), but from the time that we got onto I-57 until the I-24, there were no major issues. There is some construction that could slow you down some if you time it poorly, but we hit it on a Sunday or in the middle of the night, and it was no problem at all.

 

[jofleisch]

We drove the HOV lane in Atlanta on the morning of 9-14 on the I-75, and we did not have to pay or register anything.

Thanks, I was pretty sure that was the case, but its been alot of years since I drove truck through their and they frowned on us using that lane.

 

[jofleisch]

We drove the HOV lane in Atlanta on the morning of 9-14 on the I-75, and we did not have to pay or register anything.

Thanks, I was pretty sure that was the case, but its been alot of years since I drove truck through their and they frowned on us using that lane.

 

[BC1836]

Another two-cent drop in ther price of regular gas to $3.77. It had been $3.81 for a couple of weeks, and then several days ago, it fell to $3.79.

It would be nice if this trend continues.

All the best.

 

[AaronInWI]

Anyone gone down from chicago lately??? were leaving next week and im planning on taking 57 versus 65. If so were there any issues?

We drove home to Wisconsin via I-57 last week Thursday. There was definitely some construction along the way that slowed us down. (Sorry, I don't remember exactly where.) But that might not be an issue depending on when you leave. And even for us on a Thursday afternoon, it didn't add a ton of time. We took I-65 on the way down, leaving early Saturday morning, and it was smooth sailing.

 

[APB513]

Hello! I am planning to drive from Ann Arbor, MI to WDW (2,316 miles RT) in December to pick my youngest son up. He has been at WDW since May participating in the Disney College Program. I will be driving down with my oldest son.

This summer my oldest son and I took our first road trip in 10 years. We drove down to TX for a family reunion. We stopped in New Orleans for a few days. It was great!! I loved the leisurely pace of the trip. It was great getting out and seeing the country. This experience has convinced me to drive to WDW.

The drive will take about 18 hours. We will be traveling I-75. Right now the plan is to leave early (around 6:00 am) on December 20th. We will stop overnight in Atlanta. Then leave early the next morning (around 6:00 am) and arrive at WDW around 2:00 pm.

The trick this time will be to pack light so that we have enough room for my youngest son and all of his stuff. He's coming home this weekend for his birthday so I told him to bring home the stuff he won't use between now and the end of his program. And I also plan to ship some stuff home if necessary.

If anyone has driven this route lately, I would appreciate any tips or advice you are willing to give.

Thanks!

 

[DisneyPoly]

We drive from the Philly area ... In fact we last drove in August to pick our daughter up from her DCP ... We had a van and still had to ship home 3 boxes of clothes and linens via UPS . Good luck and safe travels!

 

[sticker231]

Gas is down to $3.73. I hope it continues to drop for our October trip.

 

[LadyBeBop]

The drive will take about 18 hours. We will be traveling I-75. Right now the plan is to leave early (around 6:00 am) on December 20th. We will stop overnight in Atlanta. Then leave early the next morning (around 6:00 am) and arrive at WDW around 2:00 pm....

If anyone has driven this route lately, I would appreciate any tips or advice you are willing to give.

Sounds like you're breaking it up 10 hours the first day and 8 hours the second day, with you stopping in Atlanta around 4 pm the first day.

I always say, get just south of Atlanta before stopping, so you won't have to deal with Atlanta traffic the next day. However, it looks like you're leaving early enough the second day, so that morning rush hour won't be a factor. And you'll get into Atlanta just at the beginning of evening rush hour.

Sounds like you have two options.

1) Leave at 6 AM on day one and stop at 4 PM just north of Atlanta (or downtown Atlanta if you want to risk the traffic). However, the second day, I'd leave no later than 6 AM.

2) Leave no later than 5:30 on day one and stop at 4 PM just south of Atlanta. That way, you can leave about 6:30 the next day.

Have you taken breaks into consideration? From Northern KY, it takes us about seven hours to get to Atlanta, including breaks. And I know you're more than three hours north of us.

 

[BC1836]

With our October drive approaching, we checked regular gas prices of recent October trips. Here's the low-high range during the 2,000+ mile round-trip drives:

Oct. 2011: $3.25 to $3.57

Oct. 2010: $2.69 to $2.79

Oct. 2009: $2.35 to $2.69

Oct. 2008: $2.49 to $2.99

All the best.

 

[amcnj]

Gas along my trek is still dropping, with many stations offering regular (cash or credit) for $3.64 now.

 

[blondietink]

Hello everyone,

We have always flown to WDW but will be doing the drive for the first time in October. 1300 miles one way from outside of Toronto Canada. Doing 3 nights on the Dream and 6 nights at CBR. Looking at stopping overnight in Charlotte NC then day 2 to Cocoa Beach to stay with friends before the cruise.

Will be leaving Canada on Canadian Thanksgiving / US Columbus Day. Traffic will be very light on a holiday here. What is traffic like on Columbus Day? Going to be on I-79 and I-77.

Looking forward to trying the drive and thanks to everyone for the info in this discussion.

You should be fine. Not that much traffic on Columbus Day here. We live an hour east of Niagara Falls and it takes us about 12 hours to get to Charlotte the route you are taking. I would suggest you stop south of Charlotte just to avoid the morning rush hour the next day going into Charlotte. It can be bad. There is a hort cut through West Virginina on route 19. Be careful of the speed limits through there. We are leaving on the 10th going down the same route as you. We are driving to Miami for a cruise first, then a week at Disney. Have a great time!

 

[Elmo T]

If you go out to Harrisburg I highly suggest taking 81-77-26-95 which is leaps and bounds better than taking 95. I live in NJ and even I don't want to get on the turnpike

We did this last Thanksgiving and LOVED it. Except for the football game traffic in Columbia, SC coming home the Saturday after. Otherwise, while longer in miles, it was a more enjoyable ride with less stoppage.

Anyone make this run recently from the Philly area? We are assuming the same run this year.

 

[BC1836]

We did this last Thanksgiving and LOVED it. Except for the football game traffic in Columbia, SC coming home the Saturday after. Otherwise, while longer in miles, it was a more enjoyable ride with less stoppage.

Anyone make this run recently from the Philly area? We are assuming the same run this year.

Always be aware of major football games, especially when driving on I-95 (NJ: Giants and Jets; Baltimore: Ravens; and Jacksonsville: Jaguars). Home or away, kickoff time, end of game, etc. are all important bits of info when negotiating the east coast's major roadway.

All the best.

 

[miprender]

Traffic was great. We only had three short delays on the way down. Once in Kentucky, when we got behind a slow moving military convoy. We ran into some construction around the Titans' stadium in Tennessee. And we hit a brief t-storm in Florida that slowed traffic to a crawl. Otherwise it was smooth sailing. The drive home through Illinois was beautiful, but quite a bit more construction. Overall though, it was a great experience. I'm absolutely, 100% sold on driving. I LOVED it! I honestly can't see myself ever flying there (or just about anywhere else in the Lower-48) again. I was on my own schedule. We didn't have to worry about luggage weight, which is important when buying souvenirs. We got to see parts of the country we'd never get to see flying over it. I'm just sad that it'll be another three years before I get to do it again.

I am hoping we can say the same thing in April
Glad you had a great trip.

 

[Disney Vegas Couple]

You should be fine. Not that much traffic on Columbus Day here. We live an hour east of Niagara Falls and it takes us about 12 hours to get to Charlotte the route you are taking. I would suggest you stop south of Charlotte just to avoid the morning rush hour the next day going into Charlotte. It can be bad. There is a hort cut through West Virginina on route 19. Be careful of the speed limits through there. We are leaving on the 10th going down the same route as you. We are driving to Miami for a cruise first, then a week at Disney. Have a great time!

Thanks. Have a great trip.

 

[cruisingkat]

4 days until we leave for our 3rd drive to FL and Disney this year. Haven't started packing yet.
Got our Nov trip planned. Due to our Oct. trip, DH will miss the income tax class that he has to take, but found out it is offered in Orlando in Nov. So we will go visit the grandkids, go up to Disney for a night - I get to enjoy the park while he is stuck in some hotel near the airport during the daytime - go back to visit the grandkids for 3 nights and then back up to Disney for the weekend F&W half marathon to watch our son run. And from there leave for Thanksgiving in Texas visiting the other set of grandkids before heading home for a week to wash clothes and repack before leaving for Disney again in Dec.
When counting our days at Disney this year, our AP will end up putting our Disney admissions at under $15 a day - not bad!

 

[pwdebbie]

4 days until we leave for our 3rd drive to FL and Disney this year. Haven't started packing yet.
Got our Nov trip planned. Due to our Oct. trip, DH will miss the income tax class that he has to take, but found out it is offered in Orlando in Nov. So we will go visit the grandkids, go up to Disney for a night - I get to enjoy the park while he is stuck in some hotel near the airport during the daytime - go back to visit the grandkids for 3 nights and then back up to Disney for the weekend F&W half marathon to watch our son run. And from there leave for Thanksgiving in Texas visiting the other set of grandkids before heading home for a week to wash clothes and repack before leaving for Disney again in Dec.
When counting our days at Disney this year, our AP will end up putting our Disney admissions at under $15 a day - not bad!

Wow, you sure get to do a lot of trips! You have definitely made the most of your AP.

 

[TinkPirateMom]

Gas prices are headed in the right direction. $3.69/gallon here in NJ.

33 days until we leave for our drive to WDW I'm starting to pack things next week. Driving really feeds into my over-packing problem, lol!