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

[Goofygirl17]

It's a soaking wet, thunder and lightning day in the magic kingdom. We're holed up in back of
The arcade in space mountain waiting out the lightning. Definitely not a passing storm- it's been about an hour. I don't mind rain but the lightning is pretty scary right now.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

It's a soaking wet, thunder and lightning day in the magic kingdom. We're holed up in back of The arcade in space mountain waiting out the lightning. Definitely not a passing storm- it's been about an hour. I don't mind rain but the lightning is pretty scary right now.

I hear ya!! I just came in from sitting on the balcony. We decided yesterday we weren't going to the parks today. I glad we didn't. DS is pretty bummed that he can't even go swimming. We're just going out for dinner tonight.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[dvcville]

oh you have to love the 30 day smell!!!!! im moving up onto the 60 day mark and im packed already. have a great trip!!!!


I can say this, I'm very surprised my DW didn't break out the suitcases at the 90 day mark. Then we made it passed the 60 day mark. I was real confused :then. It looks like we are back on track now. I need to inspect the mini van change the oil & all filters and we will be off to the house of mouse.

 

[dvczerfs]

It's a soaking wet, thunder and lightning day in the magic kingdom. We're holed up in back of
The arcade in space mountain waiting out the lightning. Definitely not a passing storm- it's been about an hour. I don't mind rain but the lightning is pretty scary right now.

there is one thing that my dd does not miss about working outside in the summer in florida............ rain!!!!! she said after a while, you get use to being wet. not so much your body but your feet. slopping around all day in wet socks....... yuk!

she got a four key card written up for "dancing in the rain" by a manager. if there was lighting with in five miles of the mk, they got "101ed" meaning they had to close and head to there 101 spot away from the lighting. she loved being 101ed, not only out of the lighting but also got to get out of the puddles.

 

[dvczerfs]

oh you have to love the 30 day smell!!!!! im moving up onto the 60 day mark and im packed already. have a great trip!!!!


I can say this, I'm very surprised my DW didn't break out the suitcases at the 90 day mark. Then we made it passed the 60 day mark. I was real confused :then. It looks like we are back on track now. I need to inspect the mini van change the oil & all filters and we will be off to the house of mouse.

the car is already to go. just picked it up Saturday from the dealer. got its annual done, break flush,breaks adjusted, filters changed I didn't know it even had, tires rotated and a list of other things they check.

I started loading the car today. ran the vac, not that there was much to vac but in the back before I put bags in there. middle of next month I will finish vac and wiping off the inside and filling it with gas.

 

[BC1836]

Gas prices have been relatively stable of late, although they're still too high: local prices for regular grade range from $3.49 (Delta) to $3.53 (Wawa).

All the best.

 

[dantedisney]

Another advantage of driving down to FL is that you can decide to to take another vacation without worrying about airfares! Just for giggles, I priced out how much it would cost to fly and rent a minivan for a family of 6 in August - $3500.00! It cost roughly $600 round trip for diesel in February (including a side-trip to Clearwater). I'm expecting it to be less next month since diesel prices are down! One month to go!

 

[darrengs]

I keep reading about all these different routes our trip isnt intil Sept, but leaving from NYC is I95 THE best route?

I am from Northern NJ and I also like the inland route (78/81/77/26/95/4). We took it back in 2012, and plan to do the same this August.

 

[wmcyip]

Sure thing!

So, you would take the Garden State Parkway all the way to the end (Exit 0) and then turn right (don't go into Cape May). That's Rt. 9 and by the second light you're taking a NJ "jug handle" by exiting right to turn left and head straight to the ferry (through 3 lights). Once you make the crossing, you exit the ferry by turning right, and then following signs and the other passengers to Rt. 1.

From there the route we take is:

Rt. 1 S (about a mile on very heavily traveled multi-lane road. Stay right).
Rt. 24 (W, I think, but there's only one way to go on Rt. 24 at this point, so don't worry about it. About 15 miles. Two lane road. Several lights and lots of services along that way -- gas, mini-marts, restaurants, etc. Usually about 45 mph travel speed.).
Rt. 113 South (this turn comes after passing through a small town and seems to come out of nowhere. Once you're on it, it's a divided highway for a bit with some traffic lights. About 50-55 mph travel speed. Eventually the lights are done with and it's smooth sailing.
Rt. 13 South (this is also a divided highway with traffic lights. When in VA, do not exceed the posted speed limits much. Near the "towns" the speed drops from 50 mph to 45 mph...that seems to be where the cops get irritable. Between towns local folks seem to go 55 - 60 mph, but drop right to 45 mph in the towns).
Rt. 13 will take you all the way to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. That's pretty cool. After coming out of the second tunnel you can hang a right (immediately) and check out the rest area with restaurant and gift shop...
Then, you'll drive Rt. 13 through VA. Beach area. Stop and go for a bit. About 40 mph...but with traffic and traffic lights.

(Around the VA Beach area is a spaghetti string of highways all with the number 64 in them. No one ever thinks anyone would possibly come this way to pass through, so don't expect to see a sign for Rt. 58 or I-95. We have done this pass through incorrectly so many times, we have decided on this next part of the route for us, which adds about 2 miles to the journey.)

Rt. 64 towards Suffolk. Suffolk is your key word here. Just head towards Suffolk. Travel this for almost 20 miles.
Then you will briefly be on I-664 until you are exiting on Rt. 13 towards Suffolk, which becomes Rt. 58.

Rt. 58 you take across VA and hook up with I 95 S. This area has a few lights and is not a limited access highway, but most the time, travel speed is about 55 mph.

HTH

Coming from Brooklyn, it'll be a whole different ride for you, as you're going through a lot of rural areas, esp. on the Eastern Shore, esp. in MD and VA. If you see a place you want to stop to eat, DO IT. We have had good luck with random places along the way -- definitely not chain restaurants!

Website for the ferry: http://cmlf.com/

Website for the bay bridge-tunnel: http://www.cbbt.com/

THANKS Nono!!!

 

[ParrotBill]

So my DW has broke out the suit cases. That tells me we have hit the 30 day mark till we depart Looks like we will be leaving right after rush hour around here.. I still need to give the car a pre- trip inspection ,change the oil and rotate the tires.

Outstanding... my 30 day mark is in 8 more days but the car oil change and tire rotation is done... just got back from another trip so I told the family I am doing laundry and repacking it all!

 

[talb714]

We leave in 4 days from Massachusetts and drive all night. Can anyone tell me who has been down 95 at night is there construction going on? Big delays? Thanks for your help.

 

[skywaywaver]

We leave in 4 days from Massachusetts and drive all night. Can anyone tell me who has been down 95 at night is there construction going on? Big delays? Thanks for your help.

Would like to know this too! 24 days until we leave!

 

[ParrotBill]

Bring up the new Google Maps and click the button to "show traffic"... you will see reported construction zones.

You can also get construction zones from AAA Trip route Maps if you have access to them online as well.

My wish list is that both of these would tell you if they are SB, NB or both!

 

[cranbiz]

Well, I can't tell you about night construction right now, back in mid May, there was none from NC to MA with the exception of one night in MD for bridge beam placement. The highway was down to one lane but was still moving pretty good. There were no paving projects then.

 

[sharadoc]

sunday 3pm last day of holiday update!!!

last car has been washed

corn on the cob has been dehaired

nap has been taken

and last but not least, the bottom of the 5th inning and the stinking Phillies are loosing again!!!!!

such an exciting life I lead.

Ha Ha! We had a good 4th weekend,

Thursday night went out to dinner.
Friday morning food shopping, got corn on the cob, burgers and dogs
Friday afternoon parent came for dinner
Saturday - Mike's birthday, baked a cake
Saturday night - Mike's old band came over and played together, pizza and salad and birthday cake
Sunday - collapsed on the couch

All that time - Phillies were losing LOL. I give up!!!

Monday - Mike got the call - the band's getting back together, first show is in November LOL.

What a weekend.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

WDW Hess ( across from HS) was 3.49 today
Not bad.... cheaper than home in MA and FL

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Just a little update on my trip ( just for you dvczerfs) lol... Went to HS today with DS13. I really wanted to see the "Frozen" trading post. I thought we wouldn't be able to see it bc I thought it would be packed ( I don't love it to wanna stand in line). It wasn't bad at all we walked in to see the skating rink. DS would've loved to skate ( he plays hockey) but I wasn't paying $10.
Then on the other side they had frozen merchandise. Holy cow there was a lot!! We rode GMR, RNRC, and saw the Indy show. It was a good morning. We are back swimming now, well DS is.

 

[Momma2PrinceNPrinces]

Sorry if this has been talked about but I can't go through 150+pages! Anyone drive from the St. Louis area? Do you stop for the night or go straight through? If stop, where do you stay??

Our first family trip we went as far as we could and ended up stopping in Tipton, GA at like midnight. No one slept much at all. Last summer trip we went straight through...left STL at 6:30 and got into Orlando around 12:30 am. Our upcoming Oct trip I'm not sure what we're going to do. We normally don't travel during the school year so I'm debating if we take the kids out of school an extra day (already will be out for 5 days) and heading out Friday, staying the night somewhere that night and driving the rest Saturday. Or leaving here super early Saturday morning (like 3/4 am) and driving straight through. And as much as I've asked, DH refuses to drive overnight so leaving after school Friday is not an option :/

 

[Aquatic]

Sorry if this has been talked about but I can't go through 150+pages! Anyone drive from the St. Louis area? Do you stop for the night or go straight through? If stop, where do you stay??

Our first family trip we went as far as we could and ended up stopping in Tipton, GA at like midnight. No one slept much at all. Last summer trip we went straight through...left STL at 6:30 and got into Orlando around 12:30 am. Our upcoming Oct trip I'm not sure what we're going to do. We normally don't travel during the school year so I'm debating if we take the kids out of school an extra day (already will be out for 5 days) and heading out Friday, staying the night somewhere that night and driving the rest Saturday. Or leaving here super early Saturday morning (like 3/4 am) and driving straight through. And as much as I've asked, DH refuses to drive overnight so leaving after school Friday is not an option :/

Our first trip to WDW was last year (May 2013), and we left St. Louis around 6:30 AM. We stopped a lot because only DH was driving. Like you, we spent the night at Tifton, GA, but we got there before 9. And we were able to sleep.
We are going again in January 2015 (right after New Year's... So yes, DD6 will miss 5 days of school but we figured this will be the first and last time we'll be able to do that). If we can't fly for under $900, then we will drive again. And we plan to stop at Tifton again since there is no way we will be able to drive straight through. I will probably help out a little with the driving this time, but we don't plan to be on the road for more than 11 hours.

I hope you will hear from others who have done this drive. I am interested to hear what their experience is like.

 

[nono]

We don't drive from St. Louis, but our trip is about 16-17 hours (or something like that -- I don't sweat the details! ). One thing I've learned for our team is to be off the road by 9:30 pm at the latest if we're doing a stop. If we don't, we don't sleep well.

I prefer to drive until about 7 pm, where I can have a nice dinner, sleep and get up early and be the first driver early the next morning.

Well in all honesty, I prefer to do the all night trip when I have enough time to sleep well before leaving, but I'm the only one in my family who likes this, so we don't do it anymore.