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

[LBHouse]

Good luck, and I hope you get out on Sunday. I heard you're getting some pretty bad snow this weekend.

We are always able to get out of the local area, biggest problem comes when the snow starts falling in southern Indiana or Kentucky. The road crews around here are used to some pretty big snowfalls. The southern areas on the other hand seem to get backed up by just an inch or two.

We are right in the middle of the lake effect snow areas, so 12" plus isn't unusual at all.

I am hoping to make it somewhere south of Atlanta to avoid any extra traffic, we normally can get to Macon or even to the Florida line on our first day. Just going to watch this storm and head farther to the east to avoid it if we have to.

 

[Tanooki]

Avoid I95 south around and south of DC on the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. I got caught in that mess a few years ago on a solo trip using a navigation system I wasn't used to. Before I left home in PA, I95 route was showing as clear. Started hitting heavier traffic midafternoon in MD. By the time I got south of DC, I95 was a parking lot. Side roads were also jammed. Absolute nightmare. I don't think it was from any accident. Just the volume of people returning home after their Thanksgiving trips. We will be traveling next weekend as well, but Black Friday will be our main travel day and we hope to be past DC and Fredericksburg VA by 6am. Safe travels!

Thank you for this. We'll be in Fl by that time on Sunday but we're pretty sure we'll use our usual route (through 81-77-26) just to make sure. Now we just need to look at the weather... But since we've done it once in December and a few times in February/March, it should work our fine. Thank again!

 

[nono]

Thank you for this. We'll be in Fl by that time on Sunday but we're pretty sure we'll use our usual route (through 81-77-26) just to make sure. Now we just need to look at the weather... But since we've done it once in December and a few times in February/March, it should work our fine. Thank again!

Safe travels! I think Sunday of Thanksgiving Weekend is one of the biggest travel days. I can think of at least a half dozen places I've been stuck in massive traffic jams along the East Coast. Never in FL though! Best of luck.

 

[Tanooki]

Safe travels! I think Sunday of Thanksgiving Weekend is one of the biggest travel days. I can think of at least a half dozen places I've been stuck in massive traffic jams along the East Coast. Never in FL though! Best of luck.

We'll hopefully be far enough down south when traffic gets bad We usually eat lunch in SC and are in FL around 3pm. Weather looks great so far for traveling this weekend (no snow!) so it should work out fine. Anyway, we'll be in WDW by Monday morning (staying offsite)!

 

[cruisingkat]

Just starting to plan our 32nd drive to Disney for the middle of this Dec. We were supposed to leave on a Thursday, stop in Nashville for the weekend to visit with our daughter and her husband, and get to Disney on Monday. But now we had to change our plans due a death in the family. So we will leave after the memorial service on Saturday afternoon and probably only make it to Paducah that evening. That leaves us Sunday to drive somewhere closer to Orlando so we can begin our stay at Disney on Monday as planned. Plans to visit youngest daughter on the way down are cancelled. So I guess we have to stop on the way home.
Hopefully we won't encounter snow or bad weather for the trip down as we have to make good time as we have reservations for the Candlelight processional on Monday evening. I was able to snag a Chefs de France dinner package for that Monda.

 

[Tanooki]

We'll hopefully be far enough down south when traffic gets bad We usually eat lunch in SC and are in FL around 3pm. Weather looks great so far for traveling this weekend (no snow!) so it should work out fine. Anyway, we'll be in WDW by Monday morning (staying offsite)!

We got here yesterday evening
Traffic was busy Saturday on I-81 so we made it a little later than usual to Salem (VA), our overnight stay. The 2nd day started out great but it got real bad on I-26 around 6 miles before the I-95 connection and it remained stop-and-go pretty much all the way out of SC with very few streches where we could actually go close to the limit. As we entered GA, the road becomes a 3-lane and it solved everything. I've never been so happy to be in GA! So our "short" driving day, which is usually a 12-hour one, ended up a 14.5 one
Still very happy to be here as this was a last-minute spur-of-a-moment one but I don't think we'll ever drive down on a holiday weekend!

 

[Fueledbycoffee]

Leaving Sunday from Southwest Michigan. 1068 miles each way. 13th trip since May 2013

This will be our first trip with 4 kids. New born, 2yo, 3yo, and 5yo.

We usually drive 69-65-24-75. Mapquest shows I-75 being 5 minutes faster, anyone have experience with that?

We are trying to make the same decision... If you get a chance I would love to hear how the faster route went. We leave in a couple of weeks for a non-stop trip.

 

[cruisingkat]

So excited- our last minute trip (well -not quite last minute - it is a whole 3 weeks away from our decision to go) is finally becoming a reality. At 2 weeks out, I was able to score the exact Candlelight Processional package for the restaurant, day and time I wanted, and last night (actually in the wee hours of this morning) I was able to get a reservation for the merry and bright dessert party at Hollywood studios for the day I wanted.
Now to get the car cleaned out, oil changed, tires rotated, clothes packed, etc. Made our hotel reservations for the way down, did our black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping online and having all sent to my daughter's address just in case the packages should come while we are gone. Magic bands ordered, AP cards found, finishing all the leftovers - what am I forgetting?

 

[amcnj]

So excited- our last minute trip (well -not quite last minute - it is a whole 3 weeks away from our decision to go) is finally becoming a reality. At 2 weeks out, I was able to score the exact Candlelight Processional package for the restaurant, day and time I wanted, and last night (actually in the wee hours of this morning) I was able to get a reservation for the merry and bright dessert party at Hollywood studios for the day I wanted.
Now to get the car cleaned out, oil changed, tires rotated, clothes packed, etc. Made our hotel reservations for the way down, did our black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping online and having all sent to my daughter's address just in case the packages should come while we are gone. Magic bands ordered, AP cards found, finishing all the leftovers - what am I forgetting?

That it will all be worth it!

 

[ForeverDisney6793]

Time to drive again from South Jersey. Heading to Disney next Wednesday and was going to leave at midnight for a straight drive, arriving on Thursday afternoon. My daughter just found out she has to work till only noon on Wednesday so I was thinking of driving down leaving at 1PM Wednesday and stopping overnight along the way and continuing the trip on Thursday morning. Looking for experts to give advice regarding traffic along the way if I decide to leave that early OR do you think it is best to stick to my usual midnight time. Would hate to get stuck in too much traffic. I am used to driving straight thru and having very few folks on the road late at night.

 

[edbo77]

Time to drive again from South Jersey. Heading to Disney next Wednesday and was going to leave at midnight for a straight drive, arriving on Thursday afternoon. My daughter just found out she has to work till only noon on Wednesday so I was thinking of driving down leaving at 1PM Wednesday and stopping overnight along the way and continuing the trip on Thursday morning. Looking for experts to give advice regarding traffic along the way if I decide to leave that early OR do you think it is best to stick to my usual midnight time. Would hate to get stuck in too much traffic. I am used to driving straight thru and having very few folks on the road late at night.

You want want to do the math to make sure you don't hit afternoon rush hour in Baltimore/DC. Outside of that, you really shouldn't hit traffic anywhere.

 

[ForeverDisney6793]

You want want to do the math to make sure you don't hit afternoon rush hour in Baltimore/DC. Outside of that, you really shouldn't hit traffic anywhere.

What time is afternoon rush in Baltimore/DC area?

 

[nono]

Time to drive again from South Jersey. Heading to Disney next Wednesday and was going to leave at midnight for a straight drive, arriving on Thursday afternoon. My daughter just found out she has to work till only noon on Wednesday so I was thinking of driving down leaving at 1PM Wednesday and stopping overnight along the way and continuing the trip on Thursday morning. Looking for experts to give advice regarding traffic along the way if I decide to leave that early OR do you think it is best to stick to my usual midnight time. Would hate to get stuck in too much traffic. I am used to driving straight thru and having very few folks on the road late at night.

Ok, just ran a simulation on my old Streets and Trips from 2010? from Glassboro, NJ leaving at 12:30 pm which would have you entering VA around 3 p.m. That's my edge of tolerance for DC traffic (back when I dealt with it, now in Cape May County, not relevant). 1 p.m. may be pushing into the red zone as far as DC traffic goes. My $0.02 for what it is worth!

 

[amcnj]

What time is afternoon rush in Baltimore/DC area?

From what I recall from past posts by people familiar with that area, 3-7 PM was considered rush hour. Though I don't know if each hour is equally bad, or if say 3 PM is still fair, and it gets progressively worse as time goes on? Anyone experienced it at various times within that rush hour time period?

 

[ForeverDisney6793]

Ok, just ran a simulation on my old Streets and Trips from 2010? from Glassboro, NJ leaving at 12:30 pm which would have you entering VA around 3 p.m. That's my edge of tolerance for DC traffic (back when I dealt with it, now in Cape May County, not relevant). 1 p.m. may be pushing into the red zone as far as DC traffic goes. My $0.02 for what it is worth!

Thanks nono. That is what I was afraid of. I am leaving from Deptford, NJ.

 

[LBHouse]

We are trying to make the same decision... If you get a chance I would love to hear how the faster route went. We leave in a couple of weeks for a non-stop trip.

On the way to Disney, we took our normal route through Indy, Nashville, Chattanooga, Atlanta. Everything went very well. We delayed our departure until 7:00am (snow). Being a Sunday we had basically no traffic so it was pretty smooth trip. First night we made it to Perry, GA. Day 2, Left around 9:00am and made it to disney at 2pm.

For the return trip I used a free night at a Marriott just north of Chattanooga on I75 so came home that route. Its our third time driving home on that route and I wont do it again. The portion of trip from Disney to chattanooga is easy, its 3 lanes and traffic moves well. After chattanooga it drops to 2 lanes and trucks just slow it down to much for me. Also the timing seems to always leave me in rush hour around cincinatti and dayton, plus add in a dark drive from I75 to I69. Its just not my favorite route.

I will say though, we almost always head southbound on a Sunday and make it through Atlanta so traffic is not a concern on the way down. We ALWAYS return on a weekday. That might explain why the trip home seems so much worse.

Gas was MUCH less expensive on I75. 10 days apart though... We only spent $151.40 round trip on fuel. By far our cheapest fuel tab. Actually we had free hotel nights and packed our own food. Made it down and back for under $200 total.

 

[ForeverDisney6793]

Ok, just ran a simulation on my old Streets and Trips from 2010? from Glassboro, NJ leaving at 12:30 pm which would have you entering VA around 3 p.m. That's my edge of tolerance for DC traffic (back when I dealt with it, now in Cape May County, not relevant). 1 p.m. may be pushing into the red zone as far as DC traffic goes. My $0.02 for what it is worth!

I am taking the plunge. Going to leave at 12:30 and hope for the best. Wish me luck that I make it thru with minimum traffic. Going to stop in Savannah for some sleep and head to Disney on Thursday.

 

[Mom2JPL]

Hi all! We're leaving Friday (woo hoo!) from NEPA and have decided on the 81/77/26/95 route, and was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for hotels once we hit 77. We're leaving at 3:15 pm when kids get out of school and figure we can make it to 77 by 10:30/11:00 and was looking to stop then. We're actually not hitting WDW until Tues (visiting friends in Jensen Beach Fl before heading to WDW). Saturday will be our longer driving day for sure. Any suggestions on hotels would be appreciated (there are 5 of us).

Ellen

 

[peigirl]

We are leaving on Thursday from Stratford, PEI to drive to Kissimmee. 1953 miles each way. Wish us luck for great weather and traffic conditions.

Paula

 

[nono]

I am taking the plunge. Going to leave at 12:30 and hope for the best. Wish me luck that I make it thru with minimum traffic. Going to stop in Savannah for some sleep and head to Disney on Thursday.

Good luck. Remember you'll make it, just maybe with some stops and starts. And, maybe not any!!!