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

[cranbiz]

I95 southbound tolls are in NJ if you take the NJ Turnpike, The Delaware Memorial Bridge the Delaware Turnpike and in MD for either the McHenry Tunnel or the Baltimore Harbor tunnel depending on which way you go. Northbound, you have all except the Delaware Memorial Bridge but you pick up the JFK Turnpike tolls in MD in exchange.

In FL, if you decide to get off of I4 to avoid the center of Orlando, there are tolls on SR417.

 

[BC1836]

I95 southbound tolls are in NJ if you take the NJ Turnpike, The Delaware Memorial Bridge the Delaware Turnpike and in MD for either the McHenry Tunnel or the Baltimore Harbor tunnel depending on which way you go. Northbound, you have all except the Delaware Memorial Bridge but you pick up the JFK Turnpike tolls in MD in exchange.

In FL, if you decide to get off of I4 to avoid the center of Orlando, there are tolls on SR417.

Heading south, paying that $4 McHenry Tunnel toll is a kind of milepost since it's the last one to pay on the way to WDW!

All the best!

 

[cruisingkat]

Finally back home from our month long trip to Disney and visits with the Florida and Texas grandkids. Put over 4000 miles on the car this trip. Enjoyed visiting with the grandkids, and really enjoyed Disney with just the two of us. also had a great time seeing Elliot Dyson (former performer at Scat Cat club at POFQ) when he performed at a sports bar in Orlando on the Saturday night while we were at Disney. It was also great catching up with some of his regular fans that we got to know while watching him at POFQ. We also did the frozen premium package on Sunday. It gave us a great viewing spot for the Frozen Welcome parade and the ice cream and waters were very welcome with the heat. The desert party was very nice and we enjoyed the reserved firework viewing area - plenty of room to stand and not be packed like sardines.
All in all, this 30th drive to Disney since March 2007 was extremely successful.

 

[isabellea]

Planning on driving down from Montreal (straight-thru) July 17th. That's 1437 miles each way (2874 miles wound-trip). We were thinking of leaving right after lunch (when youngest is due for her nap) drive west to cross the border at 1000 Islands to get directly on I-81. Dinner around Syracuse. Usually we do I-81/I-77/I-95 but this summer we don't want to drive all night in the mountains so are thinking of switching to I-95 around Washington, DC (should get there around midnight). Any suggestion on what road to take? Google Maps suggests I-270 and I-495...

Another option would be to do I-87/I-95 but July 17th is the day half the province will start their summer vacations and the border crossing to get to I-87 will be CRAZY busy. Also, I'm not a fan of going thru the NJ turnpike. According to Google Maps, this choice would only save us 20 minutes without traffic.

 

[BC1836]

Planning on driving down from Montreal (straight-thru) July 17th. That's 1437 miles each way (2874 miles wound-trip). We were thinking of leaving right after lunch (when youngest is due for her nap) drive west to cross the border at 1000 Islands to get directly on I-81. Dinner around Syracuse. We don't want to drive all night in the mountains so were thinking of switching to I-95 around Washington, DC (should get there around midnight). Any suggestion on what road to take? Google Maps suggests I-270 and I-495... Usually we do I-81/I-77/I-95.

Another option would be to do I-87/I-95 but July 17th is the day half the province will start their summer vacations and the border crossing to get to I-87 will be CRAZY busy. Also, I'm not a fan of going thru the NJ turnpike. According to Google Maps, this choice would only save us 20 minutes without traffic.

The NJ Turnpike (I-95) is not an enjoyable drive, especially between exits 9 and 6 heading south. The "merge" around 8A is particularly bad, and it will remain so despite a project designed to widen lanes.

All the best!

 

[ddluvsdisney]

We are on our way driving the inland route. All I can say in July 4 is great for traveling!!! No traffic.. No construction!!!
I am loving this route I wonder if it's like this all the time. We never go this way bc it's out of our way and takes about 2 hrs. Longer. But w sitting in traffic on 95, it's probably the same.
We left at 3:30 and are passing Chambersburg exits in PA.
Just wish it wasn't raining, but I can't complain.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Planning on driving down from Montreal (straight-thru) July 17th. That's 1437 miles each way (2874 miles wound-trip). We were thinking of leaving right after lunch (when youngest is due for her nap) drive west to cross the border at 1000 Islands to get directly on I-81. Dinner around Syracuse. We don't want to drive all night in the mountains so were thinking of switching to I-95 around Washington, DC (should get there around midnight). Any suggestion on what road to take? Google Maps suggests I-270 and I-495... Usually we do I-81/I-77/I-95.

Another option would be to do I-87/I-95 but July 17th is the day half the province will start their summer vacations and the border crossing to get to I-87 will be CRAZY busy. Also, I'm not a fan of going thru the NJ turnpike. According to Google Maps, this choice would only save us 20 minutes without traffic.

I would stick w your usual route. We are doing it today, and always do 95. This is so less stressful!!! My DH doesn't even want me to drive lol.

 

[mieuxmew]

Traveling from Central NJ - starting from exit 8A of NJ Turnpike. Leaving on a Friday morning mid August. What time do you recommend leaving to avoid the DC/Maryland/Virginia traffic? Is 4 am too late? Thank you!!

 

[OKW Lover]

As a general rule, you'd want to be beyond DC by 6 am.

 

[patclairesmom]

Traveling from Central NJ - starting from exit 8A of NJ Turnpike. Leaving on a Friday morning mid August. What time do you recommend leaving to avoid the DC/Maryland/Virginia traffic? Is 4 am too late? Thank you!!

You might want to try leaving later @6 or 7 am to avoid the DC traffic.

 

[mieuxmew]

So we should leave by 2am or wait until 6am? Which is better?

 

[patclairesmom]

So we should leave by 2am or wait until 6am? Which is better?

Are you stopping overnight? If so, I would leave at 6am.

 

[pwdebbie]

We are on our way driving the inland route. All I can say in July 4 is great for traveling!!! No traffic.. No construction!!!
I am loving this route I wonder if it's like this all the time. We never go this way bc it's out of our way and takes about 2 hrs. Longer. But w sitting in traffic on 95, it's probably the same.
We left at 3:30 and are passing Chambersburg exits in PA.
Just wish it wasn't raining, but I can't complain.

I drove home from a reunion in WV yesterday (July 4) on 81NB from Hagerstown to Greencastle (we hit 81 around 5:15 p.m.) and I was shocked at how MUCH traffic there was! The rest of the roads we took were empty, but 81 N was awful, which surprised me, I really expected it to be light traffic. Now, going south the day before, the traffic on 81 was very light, exactly as I expected.

 

[mieuxmew]

Are you stopping overnight? If so, I would leave at 6am.

Not planning to stop overnight. Hilton Head is our final destination (12 hour drive). My 11 year old son asked how much farther is Disney World from Hilton Head. I told him 4-5 more hours - he wants to go for a day trip!

 

[Cando86]

Can someone tell me when I DON'T want to be driving through Atlanta? We were planning on leaving at 7am which would put us in Atlanta around 7pm. We just don't want to get stuck in crazy ATL traffic.

 

[OKW Lover]

Can someone tell me when I DON'T want to be driving through Atlanta? We were planning on leaving at 7am which would put us in Atlanta around 7pm. We just don't want to get stuck in crazy ATL traffic.

I would think that's a good time. I wouldn't get there any earlier. Like most big cities traffic will be heading out of the city to the suburbs so the worst of it will be once you get into Atlanta.

 

[Cando86]

I would think that's a good time. I wouldn't get there any earlier. Like most big cities traffic will be heading out of the city to the suburbs so the worst of it will be once you get into Atlanta.

Okay, great! Then I won't have to re-do our plans for the 23937 time

 

[CopperWife]

Leaving tomorrow morning from northern Illinois - should be nice & thunderstormy for the first few hours - yay! (No not really)

Was wondering what route you took and how the drive went? We're from northern Illinois and will be driving down in September

 

[theyoungs07]

Okay, great! Then I won't have to re-do our plans for the 23937 time

I try to hit Atlanta later than that, but I also stop on the drive. If you are going to stop that night, you may want to leave an hour or so later just to get further from rush-hour or sports traffic. Driving in the HOV lanes after rush-hour is not bad. I've gone through as early as 7 and as late as 11pm and later was easier.

Was wondering what route you took and how the drive went? We're from northern Illinois and will be driving down in September

I've tried the Alabama route to avoid the mountains and Atlanta, but it didn't seem worth it to me. We take I-74 to Champaign and then cut down on I-57. In my case, Google and most GPS have me going towards St. Louis, but I've found that problematic as you do get off of the the interstate and we've run into construction. 57-25-75 is our standard route. Nashville is kinda stupid to drive through (traffic, left exits...etc) but ok if you have things pre-planned and aren't afraid of being aggressive changing lanes.

Use Waze and iExit, both are lifesavers on such a long drive.

We stopped in Macon Ga on our last trip, next time I think I'll stop closer to ATL as the drive got very boring and tiring once we left ATL, and it was late.

 

[dvcville]

Less than 24hrs till we depart. We decided to stick with I95. Our plan is to leave not later than 3am from Collegeville PA. This should get us down to Richmond, VA before the heavy traffic. We usually drive straight through but seeing we are leaving earlier than planned we will stop in Kingsland, Ga for an overnight stay. The best part of leaving earlier is now we have a whole extra day to plan!! Can you say Typhoon Lagoon!!