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

[dvczerfs]

Reading all of these flying horror stories makes me feel that much better about attempting the drive this year. Some of the stories sound bloody miserable.

Here's a question for those who have made this drive before. How many of you stop and see some sights along the way, and how many just drive until you get there? I'm debating whether or not I want to plan a few stops on the way down (the "world's biggest ball of twine" type) or just limit stops to the gas/bathroom/leg stretching variety. I'm leaning heavily towards limiting the stops because it's only the wife and I, and we want to get past Atlanta on the first day, which is around 870 or so miles. That would leave us with a little over 400 miles to Orlando.

we stop every two/three hours or so for gas, restroom breaks at rest stops. we only stop to do what we have to. for us, the more stops you make and the longer the stops are, the longer your drive will be. it could make for a looooooooooooooooooooooong drive .

 

[preschoolmom]

we stop every two/three hours or so for gas, restroom breaks at rest stops. we only stop to do what we have to. for us, the more stops you make and the longer the stops are, the longer your drive will be. it could make for a looooooooooooooooooooooong drive .

This is us exactly.

 

[dvczerfs]

This is us exactly.

we stop every two/three hours or so for gas, restroom breaks at rest stops. we only stop to do what we have to. for us, the more stops you make and the longer the stops are, the longer your drive will be. it could make for a looooooooooooooooooooooong drive .

we tend to stop at the state welcoming centers and we stop 4 times for gas.
the first w.c. we hit is the virginia wc. its about at the three hour mark. i think 5-7 min. is about the longest we stop at a time.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Here's a question for those who have made this drive before. How many of you stop and see some sights along the way, and how many just drive until you get there? I'm debating whether or not I want to plan a few stops on the way down (the "world's biggest ball of twine" type) or just limit stops to the gas/bathroom/leg stretching variety. I'm leaning heavily towards limiting the stops because it's only the wife and I, and we want to get past Atlanta on the first day, which is around 870 or so miles. That would leave us with a little over 400 miles to Orlando.

Ordinarilly, I'm a "stop & look" kind of traveler, depending on where we're going. We did not stop on our way to Wisconsin Dells, but did do House On The Rock on the way home. We're skipping the aquarium at Chattanooga this trip, but have stopped there many times (first drive to Orlando, not first to FL). 870 is a pretty hard day's drive though - I wouldn't think you could get much sight-seeing in if you want to get that done. My brother-in-law & I once made 1,085 in a day, but no kids on that trip and BIL has a heavy right foot. Even still, that was leaving at 5:00 a.m. & arriving around 10:30 p.m. with a time change in our favor (Central to Mtn).

 

[artesian]

I just did the drive from NJ the past week and on the way down decided to stop every 2-3 hours and stretch and it adds to the drive time. It seemed extra long going but on the way back did gas stops only and i was able to shave 90 mins. Was interesting driving Saturday morning with fog in the Carolinas so thick that visibility was less than a 1/4 mile for about an hour.

 

[SmallWorld71]

I am happy to report that a friend will be traveling with the kids and I to FL next month, so I now have a second driver. We are going to Cape Coral, not WDW, but we will be driving by Disney on our way, so I will be keeping my eye on the thread and will share our experience. And maybe I can convince her that we need to stop at DTD on the way.

Our current plan is to leave Friday after school and drive straight through. My friend did this last month with her sister and it worked out well - leave Boston area before traffic, get to New York after traffic and hit DC area in the middle of the night. We're just figuring on 95/ NJ turnpike all the way.

 

[BC1836]

I just did the drive from NJ the past week and on the way down decided to stop every 2-3 hours and stretch and it adds to the drive time. It seemed extra long going but on the way back did gas stops only and i was able to shave 90 mins. Was interesting driving Saturday morning with fog in the Carolinas so thick that visibility was less than a 1/4 mile for about an hour.

Thanks for the report...and welcome home!

What times did you depart from home and from WDW?

All the best.

 

[artemis4]

Joining in this thread. We are making our first trip to WDW this September. Given the cost of flying for a larger family along with the hassles with air travel nowadays, we made the decision to drive. Almost 1300 miles each way, per Google Maps.

I've been reading this entire thread with interest as it has been a while since we've done a trek this big. We've done big trips like Wisconsin to Maine, and Wisconsin to Texas before, though. We like to start our trips in the evening, drive about 12 hours, break in the morning for a few hours for DH to nap, drive a little in the afternoon and then stop at a hotel for the night. The kids are a bit older now, but I still think that will be our plan. If we hit it all according to plan, we should leave our driveway about 6-7 pm central time on a Thursday and roll into our hotel at WDW by noon on a Saturday.

We are coming from south central Wisconsin, two drivers and five kids. Should be a good time in the Family Truckster.

 

[dvczerfs]

Joining in this thread. We are making our first trip to WDW this September. Given the cost of flying for a larger family along with the hassles with air travel nowadays, we made the decision to drive. Almost 1300 miles each way, per Google Maps.

I've been reading this entire thread with interest as it has been a while since we've done a trek this big. We've done big trips like Wisconsin to Maine, and Wisconsin to Texas before, though. We like to start our trips in the evening, drive about 12 hours, break in the morning for a few hours for DH to nap, drive a little in the afternoon and then stop at a hotel for the night. The kids are a bit older now, but I still think that will be our plan. If we hit it all according to plan, we should leave our driveway about 6-7 pm central time on a Thursday and roll into our hotel at WDW by noon on a Saturday.

We are coming from south central Wisconsin, two drivers and five kids. Should be a good time in the Family Truckster.

looks like we are leaving close to the same day. have a great trip.

 

[artesian]

Thanks for the report...and welcome home!

What times did you depart from home and from WDW?

All the best.

I actually was in vero

Left 8pm on the 3rd. I was surprised to see a snitch of traffic in DC area other than that rest was uneventful.
Left 7pm on the 10th. 0 issues on the way back. except for the super creepy fog

 

[BC1836]

I actually was in vero

Left 8pm on the 3rd. I was surprised to see a snitch of traffic in DC area other than that rest was uneventful.
Left 7pm on the 10th. 0 issues on the way back. except for the super creepy fog

Thanks for the info.

Weather permitting, we may start a bit earlier than we usually do for our next drive (and we've been leaving between midnight and 1 a.m.).

All the best.

 

[Taylor'sMom]

Hi all! Our family is planning our 2nd road trip down, coming from Upstate New York (near Albany). We are annual Disney/Florida visitors but with rising flight costs, we decided to drive last year, and will do so again this year. Last year we left at 3:30pm on a Friday and drove straight through, only stopping for gas and food. I believe we took 87-287-95? I know we got on 95 pretty far north and stayed on that as long as possible, except for the beltway around DC, etc. I hope that makes sense? The trip wasn’t too bad. We hit heavy rain for about 2 hours through the Maryland/Virginia/DC area, but other than that, no problems.
This year, our schedules are a bit different and we’re planning to leave at 11:00am on Friday, April 27th and are actually headed to Naples on the west coast as our first destination. We’ll drive straight through again, only making gas & food stops. I’d love any suggestions for what route to take (would still prefer 95 as much as possible, but if we can avoid some metro areas, that’d be good too), and any issues we may encounter leaving at that time.
Drivers are myself and DH. Our DD (almost 9) will be with us as well. I’m a bit concerned the new travel time will mean a far long stretch of daylight hours to keep her entertained, 3but I think I’m well prepared.
Thanks in advance for any feedback/advice you guys may have!

I didn't get any feedback, so I thought I'd throw this out there again. I did some math and I'm worried our 11:00 departure will put us in D.C. at a very bad time... any way to avoid this coming from our direction? Or should we just suck it up? Or leave even an hour later (I'd rather spend an hour at home, than in standing rush-hour traffic. Thanks for any help...

 

[SmallWorld71]

I didn't get any feedback, so I thought I'd throw this out there again. I did some math and I'm worried our 11:00 departure will put us in D.C. at a very bad time... any way to avoid this coming from our direction? Or should we just suck it up? Or leave even an hour later (I'd rather spend an hour at home, than in standing rush-hour traffic. Thanks for any help...

I don't have any advise for you, but we are doing almost the same drive (Cape Coral) as you only 2 weeks before. We aren't leaving until about 4:00 in the afternoon, though. I do know that when I was a kid, my parents would always plan our drives south to avoid both NY and DC areas at traffic times. I would think the downside for you leaving a little later might be hitting NYC during rush "hour". Or, do you not go near NYC coming from upstate NY?

On another note, which way are you planning on traveling once you hit Florida? Some sites suggest heading west from Jacksonville towards Lakeland, while others have you go down to Daytona and then take I-4 west.

 

[la79al]

For those of you that drive your own vehicles-at what point would you no longer choose to drive them to FL and instead go with a rental or a different mode of transportation? Our van just hit 100k miles and DH is refusing to let me use it for our January FL trip (either to drive down or just use there). In his defense, it did refuse to start last summer on the way home from the beach but turns out it had the original battery (04). Replaced that and no problems since. We will need a minivan down there and I am cringing at rental prices .

 

[artesian]

I didn't get any feedback, so I thought I'd throw this out there again. I did some math and I'm worried our 11:00 departure will put us in D.C. at a very bad time... any way to avoid this coming from our direction? Or should we just suck it up? Or leave even an hour later (I'd rather spend an hour at home, than in standing rush-hour traffic. Thanks for any help...

Where upstate is your start point?

 

[katieam1]

For those of you that drive your own vehicles-at what point would you no longer choose to drive them to FL and instead go with a rental or a different mode of transportation? Our van just hit 100k miles and DH is refusing to let me use it for our January FL trip (either to drive down or just use there). In his defense, it did refuse to start last summer on the way home from the beach but turns out it had the original battery (04). Replaced that and no problems since. We will need a minivan down there and I am cringing at rental prices .

For us it is not about how many miles it has on the vehicle but how it runs. Our van has over 100K too and it is fine to drive down and back, we always right before we go have the van checked over just to make sure everything is in order with it. I guess if it came to the point where it was not running good enough to go to Florida we would trade it in and upgrade our vehicle. My husband is a Sales Manager at a Ford dealership so we tend to just upgrade quicker than some would but I would just have the vehicle serviced and make sure your van is in great condition before the trip. I hope it works out for you !! I would hate to pay rental prices too it is CRAZY!!!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

100,000 miles is no big deal on a late-model machine anymore. And batteries are really just one of those things that wear out, just like brakes & tires.

At 100,000 miles some extra maintenance may be in order. The serpentine belt should probably be replaced if it hasn't been yet. Hoses need to be checked for cracks & leaks. Fluid levels checked, etc. All stuff that needs to be done whether you take a big trip or not IMO, but especially before a trip so you don't wind up losing a day of your vacation to car service.

But, if your van is reliable & running well, by all means use it for your trip

 

[Taylor'sMom]

Where upstate is your start point?

Rotterdam, NY (Schenectady County)

 

[slusher]

For those of you that drive your own vehicles-at what point would you no longer choose to drive them to FL and instead go with a rental or a different mode of transportation? Our van just hit 100k miles and DH is refusing to let me use it for our January FL trip (either to drive down or just use there). In his defense, it did refuse to start last summer on the way home from the beach but turns out it had the original battery (04). Replaced that and no problems since. We will need a minivan down there and I am cringing at rental prices .

We've got 240,000km on the silver beast, it's going to have a brake job soon and my son will do that. We drive 70,000k a year. No, not kidding. I don't worry about the numbers on the odometer.

Edit: I'll take off the snow tires

 

[Taylor'sMom]

I don't have any advise for you, but we are doing almost the same drive (Cape Coral) as you only 2 weeks before. We aren't leaving until about 4:00 in the afternoon, though. I do know that when I was a kid, my parents would always plan our drives south to avoid both NY and DC areas at traffic times. I would think the downside for you leaving a little later might be hitting NYC during rush "hour". Or, do you not go near NYC coming from upstate NY?

On another note, which way are you planning on traveling once you hit Florida? Some sites suggest heading west from Jacksonville towards Lakeland, while others have you go down to Daytona and then take I-4 west.

Last trip, we passed nearby NYC (near the meadowlands racetrack in NJ) to pick-up the NJ Turnpike/I-95. There was a noticeable increase in traffic, but it was moving as a good speed and didn't really slow us down much. I definately think we're goign o hit DC at a bad time... not sure how to avoid that.

To answer your question, we will likely cut west around Jacksonville and take 301 and 75 into Naples. Last year we were going straight to Orlando so we went down to Daytona and took I-4. That part of the trip we know well. My husband lived in Daytona Beach in his "Bachelor" years and most years we visit friends there so we'll travel between Daytona and Orlando.