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

[kbarrett]

Thanks for the help! Going to look into that book and updated my GPS!

 

[loveysbydesign]

Hit the orad Thurs. at 9a.m. After smooth sailing out 78 and 81 we were stuck in awful traffic right after getting on I-77 due to construction(over an hour to go 5 miles), we used the GPS and finally got off near Fancy Gap and took the old Fancy Gap higway, down the mountain and picked up I-77 down further South
Arrived yesterday after driving through torrential downpours and storms in Ga and FL.
Did get to hit Daytona beach for 2 hours before driving to the house.
Was at MK for ropedrop today, 6/22. Very uncrowded today! Totally surprised by that!
Did Space, Buzz, Pooh, Teacups, Barnstormer, Space w/Fp, TTA, lunch, Peter Pan w/FP, POTC, had dole whips and then headed out for our break! Kids and dh swam while I ran to the store.
Heading back around 6ish. I was really shocked about the low wait times. It was a pleasant surprise for our 17th anniversary.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Hit the orad Thurs. at 9a.m. After smooth sailing out 78 and 81 we were stuck in awful traffic right after getting on I-77 due to construction(over an hour to go 5 miles), we used the GPS and finally got off near Fancy Gap and took the old Fancy Gap higway, down the mountain and picked up I-77 down further South
Arrived yesterday after driving through torrential downpours and storms in Ga and FL.
Did get to hit Daytona beach for 2 hours before driving to the house.
Was at MK for ropedrop today, 6/22. Very uncrowded today! Totally surprised by that!
Did Space, Buzz, Pooh, Teacups, Barnstormer, Space w/Fp, TTA, lunch, Peter Pan w/FP, POTC, had dole whips and then headed out for our break! Kids and dh swam while I ran to the store.
Heading back around 6ish. I was really shocked about the low wait times. It was a pleasant surprise for our 17th anniversary.

Sounds like you had a great day so far. To bad about that awful construction. But you got there and that's all that matters. Have a magical trip

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[Yellowstonetim]

Hit the orad Thurs. at 9a.m. After smooth sailing out 78 and 81 we were stuck in awful traffic right after getting on I-77 due to construction(over an hour to go 5 miles), we used the GPS and finally got off near Fancy Gap and took the old Fancy Gap higway, down the mountain and picked up I-77 down further South
Arrived yesterday after driving through torrential downpours and storms in Ga and FL.
Did get to hit Daytona beach for 2 hours before driving to the house.
Was at MK for ropedrop today, 6/22. Very uncrowded today! Totally surprised by that!
Did Space, Buzz, Pooh, Teacups, Barnstormer, Space w/Fp, TTA, lunch, Peter Pan w/FP, POTC, had dole whips and then headed out for our break! Kids and dh swam while I ran to the store.
Heading back around 6ish. I was really shocked about the low wait times. It was a pleasant surprise for our 17th anniversary.

Congrats and happy anniversary!!

 

[goofyfigment]

Left from north east pa yesterday around midnight. Did 81-77-26-95-4 route and it took 16 hours. I prefer that to our usual 81-66-15/17-95-4 route. Let the vacation begin

 

[LoriC1964]

We are traveling from CT in August and plan on taking 95 on the way down and the inland route to go home. This is our first trip by car. We have travelled 81 a couple of times to go to Nashville, so I know how that road is. I keep hearing how desolate/deserted 95 is in NC and SC. What Are 77 and 26 like?

 

[loveysbydesign]

We are traveling from CT in August and plan on taking 95 on the way down and the inland route to go home. This is our first trip by car. We have travelled 81 a couple of times to go to Nashville, so I know how that road is. I keep hearing how desolate/deserted 95 is in NC and SC. What Are 77 and 26 like?

We just drove down that route a couple of days ago and there is plenty of places to stop along the way. The amount have places has really grown since the 1st time we drove that route 3 years ago.
You can go on google maps and then zoom in along the route to see what's there.

 

[patclairesmom]

I knew a new thread was started, but wow, 8 pages already. I guess I've been busy driving my DS to lacrosse practice and out to Philly area twice this weekend. The "new to me" Odyssey is doing great and I can't wait till the drive down to Disney in Nov.

 

[dvczerfs]

Trip 55 in the books. Left at 2:45 am and pulled in at home at 7:00pm last night. Traffic wasn't bad at all. Had two slow ups. One little fender bender that everyone had to slow down to look at and a guy who blew a rear tire and decided it was safer to stop in traffic then roll 10 feet to the side of the road. I'm sure he's still standing there directing traffic. Lol

81 more days we do it again!!!!

 

[ArwenMarie]

We drive from MA, and always use I 95. We actually stay in Elizabeth, NJ the evening before the big road trip to avoid the congestion at the NY bridges. We head out from NJ at at 5am and pretty much sail right through to Savannah, GA where we spend the night. I'm never too happy about paying for that extra night in NJ, but it does rescue us from the inevitable traffic insanity. Sorry to hear about that 'Disney flu'; between that and your escape from Hurricane Sandy, you are certainly due for an 'uneventful' trip this time around. Here's to a great road trip!!

Wow, that's awesome that you can make it all the way to Savannah by leaving at 5 am. We're pretty close to Elizabeth, so that could work for us! Thanks!

 

[ArwenMarie]

Last month, we drove down to Virginia from NJ to go to Busch Gardens (what an awesome park by the way!) Anyway, the construction on 95 was horrendous, it felt like along the whole route. Especially on the north side. Anyone drive that route recently? Just trying to figure out if it was a blip or a permanent feature for this summer.

 

[justussix]

Love this post it was like the Holy Grail for me to find another family from our area that drives!!!!! Where do you stay when you stop? Any suggestions welcome! How far in advance do you book?

Completely depends on when you plan on leaving. Last time we made it all the way to the downtown disney area and stayed at a Holiday Inn & Suites that had a nice 6 person suite with a King or Queen for my wife and I and two bunkbeds for the kids in a seperate area. That was around $125 a night?

The last couple trips, we did the "drive all night" routine so the kids sleep most of the way.

We book pretty much as soon as we know we're going. Nice thing about a big chain is that they can transfer your reservation down the road if you think you can make it farther. We did that our second trip and stayed in the Downtown Disney area. We had orginally booked in Lake City, FL. But we rolled through there around 4:00 or so and figured we could eliminate the drive the next day and get our room preferrence at POR by checking in early.

 

[pepe of ohio]

I've posted in this thread a few times so a repeat: we just returned a month ago, 16+ hours from northeast Ohio... We do the I76 to I77 and then the I26 to I95.....straight onto I4 to WDW...

We like to get 3/4 of the trip done before we stop... We have stopped in Kingsland Ga... A lot of motels in that exit but the last trip, said heck its 10 or 11 pm, Florida Welcome Center is a little ways more, like 20 miles.... lets stop there, and nap in the car....why pay 100.00 for a motel when we're only staying a few hours and taking off. We like to get into WDW as early as possible... It's like gaining an extra day...

We asked at the Welcome Center, and they said no problem, stay as long as you like... On property security person makes frequent rounds, we parked a few slot from his truck, there were others breaking there too... We took a 3 hour nap, we are excited , even though it was our 49th trip to WDW, and was ready to head on out for the last 4-5 hour drive to WDW... We checked in at 6 am.... It was beautiful...seeing the property and resort come to life....highly recommend doing thus ..

 

[RK13]

Last month, we drove down to Virginia from NJ to go to Busch Gardens (what an awesome park by the way!) Anyway, the construction on 95 was horrendous, it felt like along the whole route. Especially on the north side. Anyone drive that route recently? Just trying to figure out if it was a blip or a permanent feature for this summer.

From what I have read, it's a project to extend the 95 hov lane after I495, to reduce the bottleneck. It will continue thru summer. vamegaprojects.com is the website

 

[ArwenMarie]

From what I have read, it's a project to extend the 95 hov lane after I495, to reduce the bottleneck. It will continue thru summer. vamegaprojects.com is the website

Thanks! It was bad the day we were driving, and that was a Sunday
NJ wasn't too great either, with the Turnpike widening going on.
Will check out that site, thanks.

 

[cruisingkat]

Finally, a couple things I learned. First, tolls aren't cheap! I had in my mind that tolls would be in the 90 cent range. So I had about $40 in change for the drive. Most tolls were more like $2.50 or more. The only place I was able to use my change was in Florida, when we drove to Costco and Super Target for some supplies. Next time we go, we'll be getting an iPass, which will save us the trouble of having to be in the right lane or worrying about getting money out. (Unfortunately, the iPass does not work in Florida, where they have their own Sunpass system.)

Illinois toll roads are awful for cash. The cash toll is double what the the I-Pass toll is.
Living in IL, we have the I-Pass. Since we drive down to Disney about 4 times a year, we got the FL sunpass. Since IL went to open road tolling, DH hates having to stop to pay a toll. We got the regular Sunpass instead of the sticker as we can use it on different cars including rental cars.

 

[AaronInWI]

Illinois toll roads are awful for cash. The cash toll is double what the the I-Pass toll is.
Living in IL, we have the I-Pass. Since we drive down to Disney about 4 times a year, we got the FL sunpass. Since IL went to open road tolling, DH hates having to stop to pay a toll. We got the regular Sunpass instead of the sticker as we can use it on different cars including rental cars.

Huh, not sure if I knew that about the cash tolls be double the I-Pass toll. So it would save us money, too. Thanks for the info! After our great experience driving to Florida last year, we're going to be doing more road trips in the near future. We already have a few eastern and southern locations in mind, including Louisville next summer. So that I-Pass will come in handy anyway, even though we are able to get to Disney World "only" every 2-3 years.

 

[Ladygoldenhair]

Trip 55 in the books. Left at 2:45 am and pulled in at home at 7:00pm last night. Traffic wasn't bad at all. Had two slow ups. One little fender bender that everyone had to slow down to look at and a guy who blew a rear tire and decided it was safer to stop in traffic then roll 10 feet to the side of the road. I'm sure he's still standing there directing traffic. Lol

81 more days we do it again!!!!

Welcome home, glad it was safe travels. Before you know you will be "On the Road Again."
What date will you arrive your next trip? We are headed Sept 6-14.

 

[capegirl]

Just ordered our Trip-Tik from AAA. We have a GPS, but there's something about getting that map in the mail that gets me all excited! It's good for construction alerts too.

 

[pepe of ohio]

Just ordered our Trip-Tik from AAA. We have a GPS, but there's something about getting that map in the mail that gets me all excited! It's good for construction alerts too.

No matter how many times we've gone., with a AAA Triptik... I always order a new one... and save them all... We just came back last month and going again in October and my Triptik is already here !!