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

[MaestroTK]

Our Honda CR-V rests quietly in the valet parking lot of the Grand Floridian after another 1,000+ mile drive (#29 since 2002) to WDW.

Today's transportation: a front People Mover car, an XP-37 Space Crusier, and a launch from the MK to the GFR.

All the best.

Enjoy!

 

[BC1836]

P.S. TORNADO WATCH for all WDW parks until 10 P.M.

 

[Goofygirl17]

Enjoy!

Hey... we're going to be there at the same time!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

We are driving from St Louis in 18 days. We didn't make any advance reservations. I went through hotels.com and picked out some hotels that look decent and stored the numbers in my phone. I figure I would call and make a reservation depending on how far we get. We are traveling with our just turned 2 year old, so I have no idea what to expect. When we drove 2.5 years ago we just pulled into a Hampton Inn in Gainesville and they had rooms available.

The rest area at Metropolis was closed last Summer, but the one in Paducah is still up. No idea if that'll help or not, but thought I'd toss that out there. Have a great trip.

 

[loveysbydesign]

What time did you leave your home and how many stops did you make and for how long? We are going in sept and have never driven. We plan in leaving from Hershey, PA anywhere between midnight and 2am and hope the kids sleep a good portion of the night. Still wondering how long it will take, what time we will be pulling into POFQ. Google maps days 14 hours and 30ish minutes. Bing days about the same and mapquest says a lot more time???

Are you taking 78-81-77-26-96 or heading down 95 the entire way?

 

[feet1]

Are you taking 78-81-77-26-96 or heading down 95 the entire way?

we are planning on going 95 the whole way. We are going to leave and go on15 south through gettysburg area and get on I-270 in MD take that to 495 around DC and then on 95 for the rest of the way...I've read to take 295 around Richmond, but not sure about that? We are thinking we will hit richmond between 4 and 6 am depending on what time we leave. We are also leaving on a thursday, don't know if weekdays are worse for traffic with rush hour...
Thanks for any advice you may have. Looking for the fastest way to get to my happy place in Disney! oif course, flying would be the way to go but 7 of us it's just too much moola...

 

[loveysbydesign]

we are planning on going 95 the whole way. We are going to leave and go on15 south through gettysburg area and get on I-270 in MD take that to 495 around DC and then on 95 for the rest of the way...I've read to take 295 around Richmond, but not sure about that? We are thinking we will hit richmond between 4 and 6 am depending on what time we leave. We are also leaving on a thursday, don't know if weekdays are worse for traffic with rush hour...
Thanks for any advice you may have. Looking for the fastest way to get to my happy place in Disney! oif course, flying would be the way to go but 7 of us it's just too much moola...

We live between Allentown and Kutztown in Alburtis and we skip 95 and go 78-81-77-26-95 as we LOVE the drive through the gorgeous mountains and avoiding the 95 traffic.
We love driving that way but some people prefer 95 all the way.

 

[ancestry]

We did do our drive straight through. Left Maine on Thursday at 1:30 PM (25 miles north of Portland) and arrived at the world at 2:00 PM on Friday. Only stopped to refuel, use the restroom, and to have a nice breakfast at cracker barrel.

There was virtually no traffic except for a little bit in Connecticut at rush hour. No one was even on the George Washington Bridge when we went across.

Being in a car for 24 hours straight was brutal but not as bad as we all were expecting.

Now for the drive home this coming weekend. . . so not looking forward to that. Especially considering we will all be tired and not really wanting to leave Florida.

 

[nlyons75]

we are planning on going 95 the whole way. We are going to leave and go on15 south through gettysburg area and get on I-270 in MD take that to 495 around DC and then on 95 for the rest of the way...I've read to take 295 around Richmond, but not sure about that? We are thinking we will hit richmond between 4 and 6 am depending on what time we leave. We are also leaving on a thursday, don't know if weekdays are worse for traffic with rush hour...
Thanks for any advice you may have. Looking for the fastest way to get to my happy place in Disney! oif course, flying would be the way to go but 7 of us it's just too much moola...

We drove down from Philadelphia this past August. Left around 2:30 AM on a Saturday morning. Our driving directions had us taking 295 around Richmond also but at 6:00 on a Saturday morning there was virtually nobody on the road in that area so we decided to stay on 95 the whole way. If you are passing through Richmond around 6:00 AM during a week day I would think that the traffic wouldn't be too bad and you could probably skip the 295 loop. The later into rush hour you get, 295 may help. Driving from Philly we stopped once in NC or gas, and then stopped again at South of the Border in the NC/SC state line for the kids to get out and stretch and get something to eat.

 

[sea nymph]

P.S. TORNADO WATCH for all WDW parks until 10 P.M.

We were wondering what was going on?
The wind and rained started right after the parade and ruined the fireworks show for our kids!

 

[dvczerfs]

What time did you leave your home and how many stops did you make and for how long? We are going in sept and have never driven. We plan in leaving from Hershey, PA anywhere between midnight and 2am and hope the kids sleep a good portion of the night. Still wondering how long it will take, what time we will be pulling into POFQ. Google maps days 14 hours and 30ish minutes. Bing days about the same and mapquest says a lot more time???

we dont use i95 anymore but the last time i recorded times going 81-77-26-95-4 looks something like this:

home to i81 1hour / 1min
i81 to ma state line 1hour / 19min
ma s.l. to wv. s.t. /10min.
wv s.l. to va s.t. / 22min.
va s.l. to i77 3hour/ 23min
i77 to nc s.l. /26min.
nc s.l. to char. nc 1hour / 44min.
char.nc to sc s.l. /11min.
sc s.l. to i26 1hour/ 13min.
i26 to i95 /49min.
i95 to ga s.l. 1hour/ 7min.
ga s.l. to fl s.l. 1hour / 44min.
fl s.l. to i4 1hour/ 42min.
i4 to exit68 /54 min.

 

[sea nymph]

What time did you leave your home and how many stops did you make and for how long? We are going in sept and have never driven. We plan in leaving from Hershey, PA anywhere between midnight and 2am and hope the kids sleep a good portion of the night. Still wondering how long it will take, what time we will be pulling into POFQ. Google maps days 14 hours and 30ish minutes. Bing days about the same and mapquest says a lot more time???

We left around 9:00 pm and only stopped for gas and grub! We were thinking about taking the 81 / 77 route, but because it was nighttime, we feared the deer!

 

[dvczerfs]

we dont use i95 anymore but the last time i recorded times going 81-77-26-95-4 looks something like this:

home to i81 1hour / 1min
i81 to ma state line 1hour / 19min
ma s.l. to wv. s.t. /10min.
wv s.l. to va s.t. / 22min.
va s.l. to i77 3hour/ 23min
i77 to nc s.l. /26min.
nc s.l. to char. nc 1hour / 44min.
char.nc to sc s.l. /11min.
sc s.l. to i26 1hour/ 13min.
i26 to i95 /49min.
i95 to ga s.l. 1hour/ 7min.
ga s.l. to fl s.l. 1hour / 44min.
fl s.l. to i4 1hour/ 42min.
i4 to exit68 /54 min.

for some reason, it wont let me edit my post. s.l. = state line along with s.t.
we leave nazareth around 2:30am. you are closer to i81 then i so it will be shorter for you. we dont stop for sit down meals but stop for a short stretch every 2 hours or so and or to get gas.
these times are aprox. a 16hour trip. i have managed to knock off a 1/2 hour since ive done these.

 

[dvczerfs]

Our Honda CR-V rests quietly in the valet parking lot of the Grand Floridian after another 1,000+ mile drive (#29 since 2002) to WDW.

Today's transportation: a front People Mover car, an XP-37 Space Crusier, and a launch from the MK to the GFR.

All the best.

AGAIN ROOKIE!!!!
have a nice trip bc!

 

[RSWA2]

Has anyone driven from Northern California to WDW? If so, is there any advice? It's about 2900 miles one way...

 

[NJRRK]

We drove down from Philadelphia this past August. Left around 2:30 AM on a Saturday morning. Our driving directions had us taking 295 around Richmond also but at 6:00 on a Saturday morning there was virtually nobody on the road in that area so we decided to stay on 95 the whole way. If you are passing through Richmond around 6:00 AM during a week day I would think that the traffic wouldn't be too bad and you could probably skip the 295 loop. The later into rush hour you get, 295 may help. Driving from Philly we stopped once in NC or gas, and then stopped again at South of the Border in the NC/SC state line for the kids to get out and stretch and get something to eat.

I prefer I-295 around Richmond at all times. IMHO, it's a nicer road. Higher speed limit too.

 

[feet1]

this is fantastic!! thanks for the breakdown!

we dont use i95 anymore but the last time i recorded times going 81-77-26-95-4 looks something like this:

home to i81 1hour / 1min
i81 to ma state line 1hour / 19min
ma s.l. to wv. s.t. /10min.
wv s.l. to va s.t. / 22min.
va s.l. to i77 3hour/ 23min
i77 to nc s.l. /26min.
nc s.l. to char. nc 1hour / 44min.
char.nc to sc s.l. /11min.
sc s.l. to i26 1hour/ 13min.
i26 to i95 /49min.
i95 to ga s.l. 1hour/ 7min.
ga s.l. to fl s.l. 1hour / 44min.
fl s.l. to i4 1hour/ 42min.
i4 to exit68 /54 min.

 

[feet1]

I prefer I-295 around Richmond at all times. IMHO, it's a nicer road. Higher speed limit too.

what's the speed limit? Is it not 65 the whole way down? I guess I'm just assuming it's 65mph since that is what our max is in PA.

 

[dvczerfs]

what's the speed limit? Is it not 65 the whole way down? I guess I'm just assuming it's 65mph since that is what our max is in PA.

speed limit? theres a speed limit????

most of it is 65mph. there are spots you will see 70mph. get into some city areas and it will drop down to 55mph.
just a heads up, once you hit orlando city limits to what ever your exit is for wdw, make sure you dont exceed the speed limit not even by one mile. fl. state police have a zero tol. pol. in that area. source? insider info.

 

[NJRRK]

what's the speed limit? Is it not 65 the whole way down? I guess I'm just assuming it's 65mph since that is what our max is in PA.

If you are referring to I-295 around Richmond it is 65 for part, but most is 70. Going through Richmond I-95 has a limit of 65 for a time, partly 55 and 60 for most of the highway.