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

[cruisingkat]

Awesome! Thanks! Can you bring your own water into the parks?

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Yes you can bring your own water - we find it easier to bring our own water bottles (they have an insulating sleeve covering them) and fill it with ice in the morning - by the time we want a drink, the ice is melting so we have fresh water. When we need a refill in the park, we stop by a counter service restaurant and get a free cup of ice that we add to the bottle. We use the liquid flavor drops (like Mio) to flavor our water to taste - as ice melts or we add more, we just add a few more drops. Only have to carry one bottle each to the park instead of the several that we brought when we bought water by the case.
We don't bring a lot of food - just some munchies and sandwiches for the drive down - but we are just two adults and enjoy eating at Disney - especially during food & wine fest.

 

[lauradis]

The only issue I had is you can't pay at the pump with the per paid cards

That's not true you just need card with more then $75 on it to pay at pump just took $500 prepaid MasterCard on road trip last oct to Miami, never had problem with it

 

[your friend]

Question: with the construction on 95 seeming to last until 2015 would it make sense to take route 301 to Richmond them pick up 95? We are leaving from south jersey, Delaware bridge area so picking either 95 or 301 is pretty easy. We also plan on leaving around 6pm and driving through the night. Any suggestions?

 

[goofyfigment]

That's not true you just need card with more then $75 on it to pay at pump just took $500 prepaid MasterCard on road trip last oct to Miami, never had problem with it

Must depend on the station. I tried it in pa and MD and they made me go in. So after that I stopped trying! Good to know for the future though

 

[DisMom1981]

Yes you can bring your own water - we find it easier to bring our own water bottles (they have an insulating sleeve covering them) and fill it with ice in the morning - by the time we want a drink, the ice is melting so we have fresh water. When we need a refill in the park, we stop by a counter service restaurant and get a free cup of ice that we add to the bottle. We use the liquid flavor drops (like Mio) to flavor our water to taste - as ice melts or we add more, we just add a few more drops. Only have to carry one bottle each to the park instead of the several that we brought when we bought water by the case.
We don't bring a lot of food - just some munchies and sandwiches for the drive down - but we are just two adults and enjoy eating at Disney - especially during food & wine fest.

Great tip! Thanks!

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[lauradis]

We got to Fayetteville NC last time ( that was going the long route). We thought this time we could easily get to SC going 95, but we are taking our dog this time. We needed to find a decent pet friendly hotel and I couldn't find one really close to 95 so we are just staying in the hotel we stayed last time- Holiday inn Fayetteville. I guess that kinda makes things a little easier and the boys can probably take a swim before bed.
I'll try my best to remember to post as we're driving or shortly after we arrive. Safe travels everyone!

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All Red roof inns are pet friendly

 

[glen65]

Hi,
I also live in the Lehigh Valley PA and I’ll also add my two cents on the 81-77-26-95-4 route along with some tips.

1. I have driven 95 south countless times and have always hit traffic. The worst seemed to always be northern Virginia. Now that I know about and have traveled the 81-77-26-95-4 route, I will never take the 95 route again! Avoiding Philly, Wilmington, Baltimore, DC, and Richmond is priceless.
2. The day of the week and time of the day makes a big difference. We usually drive both ways on Saturdays… leaving at 2 AM. There’s less construction and a lot less traffic at that time, so you can get some decent distance under your belt before the sun comes up and the traffic increases.
3. Check out http://www.i95coalition.org/i95/TravelInformation/511Information/tabid/184/Default.aspx. It’s helpful but unfortunately, each state has different maps. For some reason my home state (Pennsylvania) has it broken up by sections. It’s a real pain.
4. That’s why I also like Google Maps. After you have your route mapped out, click on Traffic under the Map/Satellite view (upper right on the map). Not only does it show current traffic but it shows construction spots along the route. If you hover over the construction icons, it will tell you what’s going on and when.
5. After you click on traffic, you will notice a Live Traffic box pop up in the lower left hand corner of the map. You can click change and change the date/time to get an idea of what the traffic is historically like during that time. That’s helpful if you are planning to be around a particular city at a particular time.
6. This last tip isn’t really a travel trip but I just discovered it so I figured I would pass it along. We’re going to be staying in a condo and will need to pick up some basic supplies when we arrive. I found that Publix’s web site lets you pick a store (the one closest to our condo) and build a shopping list. The list has the isle numbers for the store added to the grocery list next to each item. That way, we can zoom through the store when we arrive and get out of there quickly. Not huge but it’s a time saver.

Happy travels.

 

[DisMom1981]

Hi,
I also live in the Lehigh Valley PA and I’ll also add my two cents on the 81-77-26-95-4 route along with some tips.

1. I have driven 95 south countless times and have always hit traffic. The worst seemed to always be northern Virginia. Now that I know about and have traveled the 81-77-26-95-4 route, I will never take the 95 route again! Avoiding Philly, Wilmington, Baltimore, DC, and Richmond is priceless.
2. The day of the week and time of the day makes a big difference. We usually drive both ways on Saturdays… leaving at 2 AM. There’s less construction and a lot less traffic at that time, so you can get some decent distance under your belt before the sun comes up and the traffic increases.
3. Check out http://www.i95coalition.org/i95/TravelInformation/511Information/tabid/184/Default.aspx. It’s helpful but unfortunately, each state has different maps. For some reason my home state (Pennsylvania) has it broken up by sections. It’s a real pain.
4. That’s why I also like Google Maps. After you have your route mapped out, click on Traffic under the Map/Satellite view (upper right on the map). Not only does it show current traffic but it shows construction spots along the route. If you hover over the construction icons, it will tell you what’s going on and when.
5. After you click on traffic, you will notice a Live Traffic box pop up in the lower left hand corner of the map. You can click change and change the date/time to get an idea of what the traffic is historically like during that time. That’s helpful if you are planning to be around a particular city at a particular time.
6. This last tip isn’t really a travel trip but I just discovered it so I figured I would pass it along. We’re going to be staying in a condo and will need to pick up some basic supplies when we arrive. I found that Publix’s web site lets you pick a store (the one closest to our condo) and build a shopping list. The list has the isle numbers for the store added to the grocery list next to each item. That way, we can zoom through the store when we arrive and get out of there quickly. Not huge but it’s a time saver.

Happy travels.

I LOVE the Publix tip!

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[loveysbydesign]

Just got back last night
The drive yesterday was fine but our 1st day on Sun. was just awful! The heavy storms made us be almost 2 hours beghind and we did not get to our hotel in Cornelius NC til after 10 pm. I am so exhausted today!
Missing the Disney magic right now!

 

[dvczerfs]

Just got back last night
The drive yesterday was fine but our 1st day on Sun. was just awful! The heavy storms made us be almost 2 hours beghind and we did not get to our hotel in Cornelius NC til after 10 pm. I am so exhausted today!
Missing the Disney magic right now!

welcome home to hot, humid, rainy northeast!!

glad you had a safe trip. the sat. you got to the mk, we were already back at the room. we went to bed early to get up at 2am and drive home.
we had our good byes with briana and headed out of the park.

we our counting the days down, 72!!! till we head back down again!!!
today is brianas day off, I get a text this afternoon, hey dad, guess where im having lunch????? be our guest!!! im eating buttered noodles for lunch and shes eating at be our guest.

we are taking the Nissan down in September. she wants to stay with us and there is no way she is parking our Mercedes in that mk cast member parking lot. glad you had a good trip.

 

[dvczerfs]

here is a pic from that afternoon:

 

[dvczerfs]

two days before that she worked till 3am. she got up at 7am to go to breakfast with us. of course she had to have her picture taken with the boss.



don't look bad for sleeping about 3 1/2 hours.

 

[dvczerfs]

last one



this sat. will be seven weeks that she has been there. shes having a blast!!!

looking forward to working the parties, Halloween and Christmas. she not sure what she wants to do when her dcp comes to an end. she can extend, come home, go seasonal or try for full time. either way, we support her. she does like being in florida and loves working for the mouse. she said she would love to try other jobs. she is crossed trained to be a stocker. they are the people that supply the carts she works at. I said you wont deal with the guest? she said dad, you walk in that park with a name tag on, you get to inter act with the guest. she loves the little kids. she loves the questions they ask.

my wife and I had to laugh, the one morning briana had on a hoodie. I said are you nuts? its 73 degrees out!! she said you stand out in the 94 degree heat all day and 73 seems cool. lol if she comes homes at the end of here dcp, she will be coming home to the northeast on January 4th!!! lol she an old Floridian already!! lol

 

[NJRRK]

here is a pic from that afternoon:

http://s901.photobucket.com/user/dvczerfs/media/null_zps64981bc9.jpg.html

Who's the hot guy on Brianna's right?

 

[dvczerfs]

Who's the hot guy on Brianna's right?

check out them legs!!!!

 

[4littleones]

Such nice pics of all of you!

I just wanted to post that we have decided to rent a 12 passenger van for our October trip from Pittsburgh, PA. This will be our 3rd trip driving (although I did many driving trips as a child). It will be myself, hubby, my mom, my mother in law, and our 4 kids ages 6, 6, 5 and 3.

I don't have a good plan for this road trip other than to get there as fast as possible. I don't care what time we leave it could be 2am as long as we are not stuck in traffic. I would love to drive through the night since we will have 4 adults.

I am joining this thread in hopes for lots of tips on making this 3rd trip better than the last two. Although I guess the last 2 trips (7 people then 6 people) couldn't have been too terrible because we keep doing it again and again

 

[sharadoc]

last one



this sat. will be seven weeks that she has been there. shes having a blast!!!

looking forward to working the parties, Halloween and Christmas. she not sure what she wants to do when her dcp comes to an end. she can extend, come home, go seasonal or try for full time. either way, we support her. she does like being in florida and loves working for the mouse. she said she would love to try other jobs. she is crossed trained to be a stocker. they are the people that supply the carts she works at. I said you wont deal with the guest? she said dad, you walk in that park with a name tag on, you get to inter act with the guest. she loves the little kids. she loves the questions they ask.

my wife and I had to laugh, the one morning briana had on a hoodie. I said are you nuts? its 73 degrees out!! she said you stand out in the 94 degree heat all day and 73 seems cool. lol if she comes homes at the end of here dcp, she will be coming home to the northeast on January 4th!!! lol she an old Floridian already!! lol

She looks adorable!! And you and Tammy do too

Could be a good thing to move there, couldn't she finish her college free if she's a Florida resident? Or doesn't that happen anymore?

I hope we get to take our trip and see her. Lauren still hasn't heard if she made it into Shrek. She had two callbacks so it seems pretty good that she'll be a fairy tale character. The other "kids" that she had a 2nd callback are the elite level kids, so hopefully she's crossed over into that group.

 

[MulanMom]

Hi,
I also live in the Lehigh Valley PA and I’ll also add my two cents on the 81-77-26-95-4 route along with some tips.

1. I have driven 95 south countless times and have always hit traffic. The worst seemed to always be northern Virginia. Now that I know about and have traveled the 81-77-26-95-4 route, I will never take the 95 route again! Avoiding Philly, Wilmington, Baltimore, DC, and Richmond is priceless.
2. The day of the week and time of the day makes a big difference. We usually drive both ways on Saturdays… leaving at 2 AM. There’s less construction and a lot less traffic at that time, so you can get some decent distance under your belt before the sun comes up and the traffic increases.
3. Check out http://www.i95coalition.org/i95/TravelInformation/511Information/tabid/184/Default.aspx. It’s helpful but unfortunately, each state has different maps. For some reason my home state (Pennsylvania) has it broken up by sections. It’s a real pain.
4. That’s why I also like Google Maps. After you have your route mapped out, click on Traffic under the Map/Satellite view (upper right on the map). Not only does it show current traffic but it shows construction spots along the route. If you hover over the construction icons, it will tell you what’s going on and when.
5. After you click on traffic, you will notice a Live Traffic box pop up in the lower left hand corner of the map. You can click change and change the date/time to get an idea of what the traffic is historically like during that time. That’s helpful if you are planning to be around a particular city at a particular time.
6. This last tip isn’t really a travel trip but I just discovered it so I figured I would pass it along. We’re going to be staying in a condo and will need to pick up some basic supplies when we arrive. I found that Publix’s web site lets you pick a store (the one closest to our condo) and build a shopping list. The list has the isle numbers for the store added to the grocery list next to each item. That way, we can zoom through the store when we arrive and get out of there quickly. Not huge but it’s a time saver.

Happy travels.

Thank you for your tips! We've driven before, but did 95 by driving through the night. For our upcoming, we will be leaving around 4am on a Saturday. Originally thought about taking 95 since we would be past Richmond by 9am and miss a lot of heavy traffic. However, in the past, when we've done beach trips, we've found 95 south of Richmond could be a traffic nightmare with beachgoers. We're not as familiar with the 81-77-26-95 route though we did take it years ago. Is it a lot easier drive than 95? I seem to recall heavy truck traffic on 81 through VA.

Would you (or anyone) recommend staying with 95 if we leave at 4am? Thanks in advance for your response. Still struggling with which route to take.

 

[mjmyers10]

I would just take 95. We leave from the King of Prussia area at 3 am and only have ever hit traffic in NC and SC on Christmas Eve. We are making the drive to HHI next weekend and don't anticipate much traffic through that stretch.

 

[TIGGERmetoo]

here is a pic from that afternoon:

http://s901.photobucket.com/user/dvczerfs/media/null_zps64981bc9.jpg.html

I just love reading all about your trips and your daughters adventures working there. Thanks for sharing,