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

[BC1836]

Oh yes! I know about the Dc area...definitely want to skip that nonsense. Lol when your awake....That works !

My concern is the driving straight through..How long has it take people from the Jersey area?

Although it depends when you depart (and on what day) and where you depart from, your total drive time (assuming you only stop for restroom breaks and gasoline) will be about 17 hours.

[Check the all-time driving records on page 1, post #1]

All the best.

 

[mjmyers10]

We are 10 minutes from sharadoc and go the same way. Always take the Blue Route because 202 as so much construction.

From South Jersey, I would leave at 3 am and head over the Delaware Memorial bridge. You will be through DC way before rush hour. We always stop at the last Wawa in VA for gas and iced tea.

If you go straight through, you'll be at the world by dinner. If you want to stop, there is a nice Hampton Inn in Jacksonville across from a Dave and busters. Puts you about 2.5 hours away. Get you free breakfast and hit the road. Can usually get a room for around $100.

 

[4luv2cdisney]

nevermind!

 

[rimomma66]

Hi All!
We're doing the "inland" route (95-287-78-81-77-26-95-4) in April leaving RI on Good Friday, staying in Statesville NC, and finishing the drive on Saturday. We're reversing it on the way back, only staying in Christiansburg, VA instead. Are there any really neat things along the way to stop quickly at and see or do that don't take too long? I saw one suggestion to stop at the FL welcome center for the orange juice. So maybe just little things like that, or a 20-30 minute rest diversion along the way. It will be me, DH, and our DS who will be 4.
I've never driven it before, but airfare over April vacation is insane for the 3 of us.
Thanks!!
~Kris

 

[patclairesmom]

lololol you must think i am a total ding dong...lol

Not at all...you're probably pretty frazzled trying to plan a drive down to disney

 

[4luv2cdisney]

Hi all!

Driving to WDW from the Chicago 'burbs in 2 weeks and my inlaws warned us not to be anywhere near Atlanta during rush hour. We will be travelling on a Friday. So, specifically what span of time is it really bad? 4pm - 6pm? 5pm -7pm? And is it really that bad??!!

We have made the drive plenty of times before, but usually leave after the kids get out of school and drive through the night. So, we hit Atlanta at 3 - 4 am. This time we are planning on leaving home between 3 - 5 am Friday morning, hoping to get to WDW around midnight or so. I guess we are getting too old. The "through the night" doesn't seem so appealing anymore!

Thanks!

 

[your friend]

We made it!!! Left the Delaware bridge at 7:00 pm stopped an hour for breakfast right before Jacksonville and pulled into Orlando at 11:15am. Got pulled over on I-4 after an officer caught me on a speedy decline after passing a tractor trailer. I was honest and thankfully only got a warning. After driving a bit at 60 mph on I-4 we were being passed like we were standing still. Fine with me I will never pass again on I-4. Overall great trip. The kids were wonderful and there was no traffic. Now on to a great vacation.

 

[cruisingkat]

Hi all!

Driving to WDW from the Chicago 'burbs in 2 weeks and my inlaws warned us not to be anywhere near Atlanta during rush hour. We will be travelling on a Friday. So, specifically what span of time is it really bad? 4pm - 6pm? 5pm -7pm? And is it really that bad??!!

We have made the drive plenty of times before, but usually leave after the kids get out of school and drive through the night. So, we hit Atlanta at 3 - 4 am. This time we are planning on leaving home between 3 - 5 am Friday morning, hoping to get to WDW around midnight or so. I guess we are getting too old. The "through the night" doesn't seem so appealing anymore!

Thanks!

Atlanta is about an 11 to 12 hour drive from the west Chicago burbs.

 

[4luv2cdisney]

Atlanta is about an 11 to 12 hour drive from the west Chicago burbs.

What I was wondering was what is the time frame we want to avoid driving thru. Atlanta. I want to adjust our departure time to avoid the worst of it if possible. I'm kind of thinking we're going to be stuck in it no matter what, though. It will be on a Friday, which I'm sure makes it even worse. Oh, well!

 

[MarissaHershkowitz]

My wife my 3 children (14,8,6) are leaving in 1 week. We are driving down from Long Island. We are planning on driving straight through. My kids get out of school at 11:00 am and we plan on hopping in the car and leaving from there.
Any suggestions to keep the kids from killing each other and us from killing them?

how did the trip go. I will be driving from the island in May

 

[marius97]

Hi all!

Driving to WDW from the Chicago 'burbs in 2 weeks and my inlaws warned us not to be anywhere near Atlanta during rush hour. We will be travelling on a Friday. So, specifically what span of time is it really bad? 4pm - 6pm? 5pm -7pm? And is it really that bad??!!

We have made the drive plenty of times before, but usually leave after the kids get out of school and drive through the night. So, we hit Atlanta at 3 - 4 am. This time we are planning on leaving home between 3 - 5 am Friday morning, hoping to get to WDW around midnight or so. I guess we are getting too old. The "through the night" doesn't seem so appealing anymore!

Thanks!

Sorry, I can't speak as to the timing of it because we just drive through like you guys. But yes, it is THAT bad. We've been unable to avoid it a few times and I just want to get out and walk because you'll go faster. Couple of tips though:

Try to find a radio station that has traffic. I know there is a Sirius/Xm station that does Atlanta traffic every ten minutes. We don't decide if we are going through Atlanta or around it until about an hour before we get there and then keep reevaluating as we get closer. Study the names of the roads so that you have a chance of understanding what they are talking about. All things being equal, going around on 285 West is only a few (5?) minutes longer, so if there is any backup through town...go around.

Use the HOV lanes. They are great. Just stay in them and don't get out for any reason. The first year driving down, we got caught in rush hour. The regular lanes were stop and go, yet our HOV lanes kept going from 40-50 MPH.

Good luck. I wish that we were following you soon.

 

[mikek]

Sorry, I can't speak as to the timing of it because we just drive through like you guys. But yes, it is THAT bad. We've been unable to avoid it a few times and I just want to get out and walk because you'll go faster. Couple of tips though:

Try to find a radio station that has traffic. I know there is a Sirius/Xm station that does Atlanta traffic every ten minutes. We don't decide if we are going through Atlanta or around it until about an hour before we get there and then keep reevaluating as we get closer. Study the names of the roads so that you have a chance of understanding what they are talking about. All things being equal, going around on 285 West is only a few (5?) minutes longer, so if there is any backup through town...go around.

Use the HOV lanes. They are great. Just stay in them and don't get out for any reason. The first year driving down, we got caught in rush hour. The regular lanes were stop and go, yet our HOV lanes kept going from 40-50 MPH.

Good luck. I wish that we were following you soon.

Just a general tip- if someone in the car has an android smartphone the google maps app has free real time traffic. You dont need to dig around the radio dial, wait for the traffic report, or know what they call the roads locally.

We come from the northeast so dont deal with Atlanta, but it's a lifesaver for Philly, Baltimore, DC, Richmond Va, and Jacksonville Fl. All those have multiple routes and picking the wrong one can cost you dearly.

Even more fun is when there is an accident on THE one main route- traffic on 95 stopped and you look at google maps and see it's a mess for 10-15 miles due to an accident you get off the next exit and drive down past the west nowhere hardware store and hop back on the interstate just after the mess.

Google maps/nav is a killer feature.

Another free option (on android at least) is Trapster. I'm sure there are plenty others. But that one not only shows you real time traffic it also crowd sources speed traps, radar cameras, and the like. It's pretty amazing. (not that i would ever speed...)

 

[marius97]

Just a general tip- if someone in the car has an android smartphone the google maps app has free real time traffic. You dont need to dig around the radio dial, wait for the traffic report, or know what they call the roads locally.

We come from the northeast so dont deal with Atlanta, but it's a lifesaver for Philly, Baltimore, DC, Richmond Va, and Jacksonville Fl. All those have multiple routes and picking the wrong one can cost you dearly.

Even more fun is when there is an accident on THE one main route- traffic on 95 stopped and you look at google maps and see it's a mess for 10-15 miles due to an accident you get off the next exit and drive down past the west nowhere hardware store and hop back on the interstate just after the mess.

Google maps/nav is a killer feature.

Another free option (on android at least) is Trapster. I'm sure there are plenty others. But that one not only shows you real time traffic it also crowd sources speed traps, radar cameras, and the like. It's pretty amazing. (not that i would ever speed...)

Hah...You're assuming someone (me) isn't too cheap to get a smartphone. I'm still stuck with my dumbphone...literally and figuratively.

 

[4luv2cdisney]

Sorry, I can't speak as to the timing of it because we just drive through like you guys. But yes, it is THAT bad. We've been unable to avoid it a few times and I just want to get out and walk because you'll go faster. Couple of tips though:

Try to find a radio station that has traffic. I know there is a Sirius/Xm station that does Atlanta traffic every ten minutes. We don't decide if we are going through Atlanta or around it until about an hour before we get there and then keep reevaluating as we get closer. Study the names of the roads so that you have a chance of understanding what they are talking about. All things being equal, going around on 285 West is only a few (5?) minutes longer, so if there is any backup through town...go around.

Use the HOV lanes. They are great. Just stay in them and don't get out for any reason. The first year driving down, we got caught in rush hour. The regular lanes were stop and go, yet our HOV lanes kept going from 40-50 MPH.

Good luck. I wish that we were following you soon.

Great. Thanks. Someone on another thread told me to try to get thru before 3pm. I don't know if that's going to be possible because of the time difference....and needing to use the bathroom, and needing to eat.... We have only driven thru Atlanta in the middle of the night before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I'm starting to think we may be better off leaving later in the morning (instead of 3 am) but we really want to get to our resort by midnight - 1 am at the latest. We usually do the drive in about 20 hrs. with stops, but I think that's because we drive overnight.....no traffic. Decisions, decisions.

Just a general tip- if someone in the car has an android smartphone the google maps app has free real time traffic. You dont need to dig around the radio dial, wait for the traffic report, or know what they call the roads locally.

We come from the northeast so dont deal with Atlanta, but it's a lifesaver for Philly, Baltimore, DC, Richmond Va, and Jacksonville Fl. All those have multiple routes and picking the wrong one can cost you dearly.

Even more fun is when there is an accident on THE one main route- traffic on 95 stopped and you look at google maps and see it's a mess for 10-15 miles due to an accident you get off the next exit and drive down past the west nowhere hardware store and hop back on the interstate just after the mess.

Google maps/nav is a killer feature.

Another free option (on android at least) is Trapster. I'm sure there are plenty others. But that one not only shows you real time traffic it also crowd sources speed traps, radar cameras, and the like. It's pretty amazing. (not that i would ever speed...)

Thanks. I have an Iphone. I'll have to look into what's available.

 

[mikek]

Hah...You're assuming someone (me) isn't too cheap to get a smartphone. I'm still stuck with my dumbphone...literally and figuratively.

nah, i didn't assume. I was sure to write "If" since i know many still don't have a smartphone.

But i tossed it out there becasue probably just has many have one (or more likely a kid with one) and don't know all you can do with it.

 

[marius97]

Great. Thanks. Someone on another thread told me to try to get thru before 3pm. I don't know if that's going to be possible because of the time difference....and needing to use the bathroom, and needing to eat.... We have only driven thru Atlanta in the middle of the night before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I'm starting to think we may be better off leaving later in the morning (instead of 3 am) but we really want to get to our resort by midnight - 1 am at the latest. We usually do the drive in about 20 hrs. with stops, but I think that's because we drive overnight.....no traffic. Decisions, decisions.

Even if you make it at 4:00, it shouldn't be too bad. You may have some slow downs and some stop and go, but it won't be the worst of it.

Look at it this way, if your choices are:

Leave earlier, but you can't
Leave three hours later so you avoid rush hour
Go some route that completely avoid Atlanta but adds two hours

In those scenarios, going right through the heart of Atlanta rush hour is probably still your best bet. Even if you lost an hour (just making up that number) you would still be ahead of any other option. Though that doesn't take into account for the hair that you'll be pulling out.

 

[amcnj]

Hey any fellow jerseyites! WE have decided to drive from South Jersey to WDW....why thank you for the applause, so kind! Anyhow we did it a loooooong way back .

Straight down the lovely yellow brick 95 and trust me we wanted to click our heels and go home. 95 had a bad accident ...not one where people hold up traffic to look to see if there is any blood or anything but bad enough to shut down all of 95 southbound.

It added hours and hours to our trip. We ended up stopping at Walmart and getting one of those giant map books...remember those? We ended up taking back roads . Anyhow we had a plan to stop and we did in Savannah.

My husband being the adventurous driving loving soul that he is has decided to not stop and just get our butts down there.

Sooooo I am assuming it is 95 all the way What are some of the routes you all take? What have you found is the best time to leave? All I care about is getting through that horrible Dc area..sorry peeps from dc...but your 495 just isn't fun.

I don't know if we would be able to handle driving all night long..we are delicate flowers who are exhausted most of the time... Seriously..my husband and I usually can't make it past ten o clock without falling asleep..

Hi. I am about an hour and ten minutes from the Delaware Memorial Bridge and try to leave home around 2:30 am. This puts me going past DC at 5:30 am, and arriving in the WDW/Orlando area around 6:30 pm. This includes about 2 hours in stops.

 

[mjmyers10]

Hi. I am about an hour and ten minutes from the Delaware Memorial Bridge and try to leave home around 2:30 am. This puts me going past DC at 5:30 am, and arriving in the WDW/Orlando area around 6:30 pm. This includes about 2 hours in stops.

That's the timeframe we use too but we are closer to King of Prussia. 76 to 476 to 95.....

 

[amcnj]

And gas prices are flirting with the $3.00 level in my area so must be below it in others now. I saw one cash price of 2.97, but the same price cash/credit stations were still at 3.00-3.02.

 

[mjmyers10]

In VA, I saw its $2.89!