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

[staceywj]

Perfect, that is exactly what I wanted to hear and feel assured that this is the right way to go! Thanks for everyone's assistance!

leave as early as you can. 2/3/4am. Taking the inland route isn't bad at all on a Saturday. There is no shore traffic and the camper and weekend people are already where they are going on Friday night.

 

[BC1836]

All the best to those who are getting ready for the first weekend of summer 2015 driving!

 

[BC1836]

Who will be the first to make "the drive" in July?

All the best!

 

[Vinnyboombots]

I am long time lurker and I am very thankful for the information. We are on our way to Wilderness Lodge and leaving at 9:30pm July 1st. DW, DS14, DD9 and I have done this 4 times before and I do not stay overnight, leave from Syracuse and take 81/77/26/95/417 or I4 do not stop until I get there. It happened by accident our first drive down, just kept going until I could not drive any more and that happened to be the Boardwalk.

 

[Vinnyboombots]

This year we will be in our new Toyota van, traded in my SUV for what feels like a lot more space. 3 days until we leave and I am more excited than the kids!

 

[ftwdw]

Is there a good way to find out where the construction is? Our GPS is a couple years old, but isn't super great. I remember the good old days when AAA would give you trip tiks with the construction area's marked out. LOL. We are headed from the Midwest in a few weeks.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

We are getting ready for our next drive. We are leaving Sat. The 4th- a little nervous about that, but didn't have a choice this year. I teach in N.E. And had to make up 7 snow days! Ugh

We are doing the 81/77 route to avoid 95 on that weekend. We've only done that route once before. It's a lot longer for us but beats sitting in traffic.
We're stopping in VA for the night. We usually stop in NC When driving 95.
Has anyone driven that route 4th of July weekend? I'm nervous to hear the answer. Lol

Thanks for your help.

 

[dvczerfs]

We are getting ready for our next drive. We are leaving Sat. The 4th- a little nervous about that, but didn't have a choice this year. I teach in N.E. And had to make up 7 snow days! Ugh

We are doing the 81/77 route to avoid 95 on that weekend. We've only done that route once before. It's a lot longer for us but beats sitting in traffic.
We're stopping in VA for the night. We usually stop in NC When driving 95.
Has anyone driven that route 4th of July weekend? I'm nervous to hear the answer. Lol

Thanks for your help.

Hi DD!!! My quess would be it shouldn't be to to bad. Most places are using Friday as the holiday. Which I'm guessing Thursday night and Friday would be the heavy travel days. Most likely the Florida 95/4 area will be busy with locals bug the rest of it should be ok.

 

[dvczerfs]

I am long time lurker and I am very thankful for the information. We are on our way to Wilderness Lodge and leaving at 9:30pm July 1st. DW, DS14, DD9 and I have done this 4 times before and I do not stay overnight, leave from Syracuse and take 81/77/26/95/417 or I4 do not stop until I get there. It happened by accident our first drive down, just kept going until I could not drive any more and that happened to be the Boardwalk.

That is how we started doing the nonstop drives! Lol We would say, we only have four more hours, why stop now. Till you check in to a hotel, bring some bags in, take showers and fall a sleep , if you can fall a sleep, just as well keep on going.
Not for everyone, but if you can do it, it's great. We leave at midnight, get to the resort at 4-5pm , room is ready and so are we. Lol

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Hi DD!!! My quess would be it shouldn't be to to bad. Most places are using Friday as the holiday. Which I'm guessing Thursday night and Friday would be the heavy travel days. Most likely the Florida 95/4 area will be busy with locals bug the rest of it should be ok.

Thanks Dave! I feel much better now.
Can't wait to leave! It's been a very long school year.
Tomorrow's my last day.

 

[Vinnyboombots]

That is how we started doing the nonstop drives! Lol We would say, we only have four more hours, why stop now. Till you check in to a hotel, bring some bags in, take showers and fall a sleep , if you can fall a sleep, just as well keep on going.
Not for everyone, but if you can do it, it's great. We leave at midnight, get to the resort at 4-5pm , room is ready and so are we. Lol

I am that way with everything, I can not relax until the task is done. I love waking up and not having 4 or 5 hours left, but it is not for everyone I am just very good at sitting down tasks.

 

[BC1836]

I am that way with everything, I can not relax until the task is done. I love waking up and not having 4 or 5 hours left, but it is not for everyone I am just very good at sitting down tasks.

Agreed.

That is how we started doing the nonstop drives! Lol We would say, we only have four more hours, why stop now. Till you check in to a hotel, bring some bags in, take showers and fall a sleep , if you can fall a sleep, just as well keep on going.
Not for everyone, but if you can do it, it's great. We leave at midnight, get to the resort at 4-5pm , room is ready and so are we. Lol

We've done 15 "straight-through" drives from the Jersey Shore to Lake Buena Vista (and one "straight-through" drive home); the last one we did was in August of 2014. However, they have become increasingly more difficult to handle (traffic, time of departure, quality of sleep the previous night, etc.). We'll see what happens on the next drive.

All the best!

 

[kittylady1972]

We have changed our mind on our drive from Baltimore, MD area now...and have decided to hit the road tomorrow afternoon now instead of Wednesday at 2:30am as originally planned. As it is, my DH was going to go to bed at 6pm Tuesday to wake at 2am Wednesday and start the drive. Kids wanted to just leave YESTERDAY...but we have other appointments to keep between today and tomorrow so we have chosen to leave around 1pm tomorrow. Plans are to try to make it to Savannah at least for an overnight stay, then have a short drive to make on Wednesday morning.

 

[nono]

We've done 15 "straight-through" drives from the Jersey Shore to Lake Buena Vista (and one "straight-through" drive home); the last one we did was in August of 2014. However, they have become increasingly more difficult to handle (traffic, time of departure, quality of sleep the previous night, etc.). We'll see what happens on the next drive.

All the best!

Some day, you'll join me on the "slow ride." Like I always say, it's not faster, it's not for everyone, but for the right travelers, it can be smooth sailing.

 

[Goofygirl17]

Sadly we're taking a non-Disney vacation this summer. The girls wanted to do something different. So, we're going to Hollywood FL and staying at the beach for a week. We're going to take the inland route (thanks DVCZERFS) and then going inland to GA to Noah's Ark Animal refuge to visit. We might stay there for 2 days then head south again. Orlando is on the way so we're going to stop for a day or 2 and go to Blizzard Beach. I had to get my Disney fix somehow then we'll head to south Florida for a week. I haven't decided what we're doing on the way home. We're leaving July 13th so I need to finish planning and start packing!

 

[sharadoc]

Some day, you'll join me on the "slow ride." Like I always say, it's not faster, it's not for everyone, but for the right travelers, it can be smooth sailing.

Yep, we love the slow ride! We don't need to lose sleep the night before, we don't need to start driving in the middle of the night, and we feel good the whole way.

Our schedule is leave home at 9 am, stop around 10-11 pm in lower SC/upper GA. Then another night's sleep, and we have around 5 hours to check-in. We can unpack and hit a park feeling great and not like a wrung-out dishrag, which is how we felt after our first (and last) straight-through drive.

 

[BC1836]

Another drive scheduled for next month...but we are discussing different times of departure. Lots of recorded info to examine (37 trips worth), but we are leaning towards a post-rush hour morning departure with an expectation to make it to Yulee, FL for the first night.

Who knows?

All the best!

 

[hiddenl1fe]

I've searched this thread and the interwebs, but I couldn't find a definitive answer so forgive me if this has already been answered. We are coming down from NJ and plan on going I-95 to I-4. I know there are tolls on I-95, but are there any tolls on I-4? Thanks in advance

 

[OKW Lover]

I know there are tolls on I-95, but are there any tolls on I-4?

No tolls on I-4. You're good to go.

 

[hiddenl1fe]

No tolls on I-4. You're good to go.

Thank you