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

[C&G'sMama]

Hey guys! New to Disboards, leaving Saturday and driving down from Michigan. Planning to spend the night in northern Georgia on the way down and back. We stayed in Dalton, GA at the Holiday Inn last year and it was pretty nice, hopefully we can make it that far before getting tired for the night. I will be doing the driving (yikes!) my mom (grandma) and 9, 8, and 7 year old for a three generation road trip to Disney! My mom used to drive us down when I was a kid so I'm trying to get pumped about being the driver this time around (my husband drove last year but he is not going this time). Honestly a little nervous about traffic but also excited about the drive since I love road trips!

We drove from SW Michigan at the beginning of this month 2 adults 2 kids (14 and 11). We left on a Thursday at about 4 in the afternoon and stayed in Indianapolis on Thursday and in Macon GA Friday night. Our official trip started on that Sunday so we booked a room only at AS Sports on that Saturday. Have a great trip and drive safe!

 

[BC1836]

Ugh. We have to fly to Texas next week. Already concerned about the potential of weather-related delays, making our connecting flight, baggage issues, etc.

However, next week is March...and the month after that includes our next WDW drive: drive #36!

All the best.

 

[MomTo3PrincessesInNJ]

Any suggestions for driving from Southern NJ to FL in an RV (with propane tanks)? H wants to take 95 as much as possible (he said there's a spot we have to get off because of the tanks), I'd rather swing out into PA and avoid 95 until we are well past DC.

We're planning to leave around 3am, so we would hit DC around 5:15 -- is that too late?

 

[amcnj]

Any suggestions for driving from Southern NJ to FL in an RV (with propane tanks)? H wants to take 95 as much as possible (he said there's a spot we have to get off because of the tanks), I'd rather swing out into PA and avoid 95 until we are well past DC.

We're planning to leave around 3am, so we would hit DC around 5:15 -- is that too late?

Can't help with the propane though maybe the Baltimore Tunnel is an issue? I leave early morning too and am passing through the DC area about 5:30 AM and just sail through. So you should be fine at 5:15 AM.

 

[DisneyNutzy]

Any suggestions for driving from Southern NJ to FL in an RV (with propane tanks)? H wants to take 95 as much as possible (he said there's a spot we have to get off because of the tanks), I'd rather swing out into PA and avoid 95 until we are well past DC.

We're planning to leave around 3am, so we would hit DC around 5:15 -- is that too late?

Hmm. I would be interested in this also. We are not taking the RV on our March trip but will be in the future. I didn't realize there were any restrictions on 95.

 

[BC1836]

Had a mobile e-mail message sent from a neighbor yesterday who was returning from FL: "non-moving traffic on I-95, 131 miles south of Florence." And that's the last word we got. Yikes.

Note: locally, gas jumped 8-cents on one day yesterday.

All the best.

 

[BC1836]

March has come like a lion (roads in the northeast are treacherous; Jersey Shore is all icy rain); however, next month: a WDW drive!

All the best.

 

[BVC4us]

Love this thread. Thanks to everyone who has posted here. We have always driven I95 from Massachusetts to Disney. After reading all these posts I think we may try 84-81-77-26-95. I really want to avoid the Fort McHenry tunnel....I don't like tunnels! For anyone who has done this other route, can you tell me if there are any tunnels? thank you in advance.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Love this thread. Thanks to everyone who has posted here. We have always driven I95 from Massachusetts to Disney. After reading all these posts I think we may try 84-81-77-26-95. I really want to avoid the Fort McHenry tunnel....I don't like tunnels! For anyone who has done this other route, can you tell me if there are any tunnels? thank you in advance.

We did this route only once a few years ago. We are also from MA. I don't remember any tunnels, but it does take considerably longer from MA.
We decided we like 95 better.

 

[amcnj]

Had a mobile e-mail message sent from a neighbor yesterday who was returning from FL: "non-moving traffic on I-95, 131 miles south of Florence." And that's the last word we got. Yikes.

Note: locally, gas jumped 8-cents on one day yesterday.

All the best.

The last few increases seem to be occurring simultaneously at multiple stations in a sort of wide area too. Just the Wawa stations in my immediate area used to have differences in pricing, but now all have been jumping by the exact same amount and have the same price. And ones up to 40 miles away that I pass are also following the same pricing plan. They are up 48 cents (to 2.23) since their low of 1.75.

 

[omgninjas]

We leave Thursday morning! Starting around 5am from about an hour north of Toronto, ON. Planning on spending Thursday night in Knoxville, Friday night in Palm Coast and hanging out at the beach Saturday morning (weather/time permitting) before we trek over to POR. Lots of extra time built into the drive in case we get delayed or feel the need to explore and I am EXCITED. I think I might be looking forward to the drive down more than I'm looking forward to the actual Disney part of the vacation... Although cramming 3 adults and 2 children into a Nissan Versa for a 20+ hour drive might prove a little challenging.

 

[nvrenoughdisney]

Thanks for all of the tips! We are planning to drive down in early August from NH. I'm ok with our plan down, but I can't decide when to leave to come home. We would be leaving on a Tuesday, probably taking 95 the majority of the way. We don't have to be home at a specific time and we do plan on stopping overnight. If we leave sometime between 11:00-1:00, would we hit any major cities around rush hour? We've never done this before so I don't know if we will be motivated to get up early and drive home or if we will want to hang out for a bit. I figure it would be best to have a couple of different plans. I know NY and DC are areas to be avoided at rush hour but I'm not sure how bad the rest of the cities would be. Thanks!

 

[BC1836]

Indeed...avoid greater NYC and greater DC during rush hours if driving I-95. The only other one to concern yourself with is Richmond at rush hour. Of course, Jacksonville (with its construction) and Orlando present daily problems, but at least you've made it to FL by then. [You said 11:00-1:00. Was that a.m. or p.m.?]

All the best.

 

[nvrenoughdisney]

Thanks! This would be the way home, from Florida to NH. I'm not sure if we will feel like getting up early or hanging out for a bit. So, it would be early morning or probably after lunch, noon-1:00pm. I just wanted to have a couple different plans but I wasn't sure which cities, besides NY and DC were to absolutely be avoided at rush hour.

 

[BC1836]

If you cross the SC border as your head north, during certain times of the year the rest stop's first parking lot is packed because most folks don't know about the lot that runs perpendicular to the first lot...and most of the time it's empty.

The only problem is that you have to wait for the many cars to jockey for a position in the first lot because they don't even know the second lot.

All the best.

 

[nono]

Thanks! This would be the way home, from Florida to NH. I'm not sure if we will feel like getting up early or hanging out for a bit. So, it would be early morning or probably after lunch, noon-1:00pm. I just wanted to have a couple different plans but I wasn't sure which cities, besides NY and DC were to absolutely be avoided at rush hour.

Both Jacksonville and Richmond can get busy, but both have good alternates around the main artery, so if you are going to hit either near rush, just plan to do the couple extra mile jog-around.

As a rough guide, Emporia, VA is about 12 hours from WDW (with a couple bathroom breaks and a gas stop). Good luck with your plan!

 

[nvrenoughdisney]

Thanks! This is what I needed!

 

[disneysteve]

Don't forget you can also bypass DC and that whole traffic mess by taking the Harbor Tunnel, 97, 50/301 route.

 

[BC1836]

Why do we drive? We had a 12-hour air travel experience yesterday: home to San Antonio via Houston. Although the flight from Houston to San Antonio was only 46 minutes, we remained on the plane at the gate for nearly an hour awaiting the pilot! Ugh!

All the best!

 

[disneysteve]

Why do we drive? We had a 12-hour air travel experience yesterday

This is the garbage that people seem to forget about when they say, "Oh it only takes 2 hours to fly". I challenge anyone in this area (Philadelphia region) to get from their house to their hotel in Orlando in 2 hours. Ain't gonna happen. You're looking at a minimum of 6 hours and that if everything goes exactly as planned, which almost never happens. If your flight is delayed, if it takes a while for your bags to come out, if you're in line for a rental car, if there is traffic from the airport, the total trip door to door can easily be 8 or 9 hours or even more as you had yesterday. Compare that to the 17 it takes us to drive and the difference isn't so big anymore.