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

[rotlex]

We don't live too far from Philadelphia. We always use the same route. 95 straight down to Florence, SC. We stay at the Hampton Inn, Civic Center. It's right off 95 and across from a strip mall with a Target for the things that the kids inevitably forgot (cell chargers anyone?). It's nice and clean and most important to us, has inside room entries (we don't do outside entries). It's 10 to 12 hours (depending on traffic) from the Jersey Shore. That leaves us a drive of about 7 hours to WDW. On the way back we stay at a Hampton Inn in Rocky Mount, NC.

On the next drive I am tossing around the idea of driving further south on the way down, maybe in the area of Hilton Head. I really want to minimize the time in the car on the second day and get the WDW as early as possible.

We live in the Lehigh Valley area of PA. Until we started driving straight through a few years ago, we used to drive to Georgia\Savannah area. It's maybe 11-12 hours from where we are and made the drive into Disney the next day very short. 4 hours or so.

 

[BC1836]

Two weeks from today, we start our next drive: #45!

All the best!

 

[shafke]

Hi all... leaving tomorrow morning for the drive... Leaving from Long Island around 5am and heading south... planned route one we hit NJ is 78-81 stopping at Carowinds for a couple of days and then continuing on to FL working our way back to 95. Is there anything we need to be aware of on these roads?

 

[ddluvsdisney]

We leave in 6 days!!!! I can't wait.

 

[Dean1953]

We are leaving Kansas City on May 26, going the St. Louis-Nashville-Atlanta route. I will be doing all the driving and not looking forward to that. The plan was to leave at 6AM, get through Atlanta between 7 and 8 PM and make it to Byron, Ga., about an hours south of Atlanta. That would leave a 5 hour drive the next day to Orlando an some evening time at Magic Kingdom. I'm going to follow how bad the bridge collapse affects traffic and may try to leave earlier, like around midnight to try to make it between the morning and afternoon rush hours. If it looks really bad, trying to get through Atlanta, l may go through Memphis and Birmingham to Orlando.

 

[ILUVDizney]

Just got back yesterday from a great Spring Break week at WDW. I drove down by myself from SW MI with the kids and we stopped to visit and stay with friends in Knoxville, TN. We stopped again in Valdosta, GA (thanks for the tip on staying there) and just had a short 3.5ish hour drive from there to WDW (we made sure to stop at the FL welcome center after reading about it here ). The drive down was pretty uneventful - traffic was moving - only a couple slowdowns. We took I-75 the entire way (cutting over from I-69 in IN) and didn't have any issues except once my GPS told me to get off the highway for an accident close to Knoxville. Northbound lanes were a different story though and I was glad we were driving South. The I-85 closure I believe affected Northbound I-75 according to what I read at the GA welcome center.

My husband flew down and met us for vacation so on the way home we drove straight through. We left Friday at 1:30 pm. The brush fire off I-4 didn't really affect us (we could see it, but traffic kept moving), but there was tons of traffic and made me glad that we stay on-sight to avoid it on a daily basis. The toll road out of Orlando was packed and had some slow downs. We stopped around 7:00 pm to eat and get gas. There was an accident up ahead anyway - and it was cleared once we finished and were back on I-75. We kept checking GPS to see which way (I-65 or I-75) would be quickest once hitting Chattanooga, TN. My husband wanted to take I-65 for some reason and we did end up doing that because it said there was no time difference. I wish we had taken I-75. I hit a lot of construction while driving at 4 am which wasn't fun. I also did not like only having two lanes each way instead of three. Once out of construction, I-65 was very bumpy too - like hitting potholes going 70 mph...

We arrived home at 9:30 am yesterday (Sat), so not too bad I thought with having to stop a few times (and a 30 min dinner break).

 

[ILUVDizney]

Wanted to also add that on the way down I hit Atlanta on Sat around 3 pm. Traffic was busy, but moving (fast) and I didn't have any issues. Coming home, we hit Atlanta around 10 pm Friday night and it was ok (busy, but not too crazy). But the Southbound traffic was at a stand-still due to the construction that they're doing at night. I felt bad for those people stuck in that sandwiched in between all the semis. Just an fyi if you're considering going South through ATL at night.

 

[Mainemama]

We are traveling from Philadelphia right after July 4th to the gulf coast (beach time precedes the Disney portion of our trip.) Recommended route/stops? We have 3-4 nights to work with either leaving on 7/4 in the afternoon, directly off my kids' parade performance, or 7/5 in the morning.) Drives up to 8 hours a day, but less is good, too. We have stayed in Savannah before and enjoyed it, but I am having a hard time coming up with a logical drive plan. We have 3 kids and are open for adventures along the way. I am also considering the auto train with either a couple of nights in DC first or a couple of nights somewhere non-Disney/non-Beach in FL after. I would appreciate any ideas!

 

[mdinme]

Hi Maine mama, NW York County rez here and a former Amtrak employee. I'd skip the Auto Train unless you've got deep deep pockets and spare time...way too pricey and time consuming. There is just one train each way each day.

 

[princessfionasmom]

We will be driving to the world for the first time at the end of May with a couple of stops along the way. Heading out from south of Boston to Nashville then Enterprise, AL for my nieces HS graduation. We'll spend two nights there then head to Destin for two nights and from Destin on to WDW. We are spending 4 nights at WDW before we start our drive from WDW back home. I'm exhausted just thinking about it but because of my husbands health he cannot fly and we have to bring a lot of his equipment with us. I've never been on such a long trip before. The only thing close was driving to Virginia to visit my sister years ago. I'll take and tips and tricks I can get on here for making the trip sane or at least as sane as it can be.

I want to see Nashville which is why we are going thru there. Any suggestions on places to stay around Nashville? My sister and I will be taking turns driving so I'm hoping to head straight to Nashville spend the night then head on after spending the next day in Nashville.

Also any tips of fun things to see on the drive back from Orlando to Boston? It will just be DH and I driving back so we will need to stop and spend the night somewhere.

If this goes well we will probably do it again!

Thanks!!

 

[shafke]

Just an FYI for potential hot spots... I77 north of Charlotte. This is a mess. We lost a minimum of 1/2 hour there. We stopped at Carowinds and in speaking to the clerk at check in he said the traffic problem is basically "all day every day"

I95 in SC. We hit two backup... one for bridge work that will be going on til the end of June... about a 5 mile backup. The other was just before the GA border. Probably anth 2 or 3 mile. We didn't sit in this one and used gps to find an alt rte. in all we lost about 1 1/2 hours in SC.

 

[nono]

Also any tips of fun things to see on the drive back from Orlando to Boston? It will just be DH and I driving back so we will need to stop and spend the night somewhere.

If this goes well we will probably do it again!

Thanks!!

Virginia Beach is about 12 hrs. from Orlando (esp. if you leave Orlando around 6 a.m.!)

General tips -- comedy "albums" and audiobooks make for some shared fun while travelling for our crew of 4. Expect the travel to take 2 hours longer than any online mapping service says, just because real life interferes. Pack a cooler with easy to eat foods...we do cubed cheese, fruits, etc. Pack a full roll of paper towels. In the car, not the trunk. You're welcome. Synchronize the whole car's drinking so that bathroom breaks are coordinated, so as not to waste time visiting every rest area along the way. We abstain from drinking until 45-60 minutes before the next planned rest stop, and everyone is ready to use the facilities when we arrive.

If you have anyone who's short, put a piece of luggage under his/her feet as a foot rest so they don't get back fatigue from their feet not being on the floor.

 

[mantysk8coach]

Not sure if I should post this here or start a new thread...so feel free to slap my hand if needed.

Anyway, we are driving in August from Northeast Wisconsin, leaving about 9 p.m. and planing to drive through the night and make it to Atlanta. The kids want to go to World of Coke, and my ex-DH (who is coming on the trip too...long story) and I want to see Centennial Park. We have a hotel booked nearby those places. Is this dumb? How difficult is it to get in and out of Downtown Atlanta and back on the road?

Also...is there a good source to find out about tolls along our route?

Thanks!

 

[princessfionasmom]

Virginia Beach is about 12 hrs. from Orlando (esp. if you leave Orlando around 6 a.m.!)

General tips -- comedy "albums" and audiobooks make for some shared fun while travelling for our crew of 4. Expect the travel to take 2 hours longer than any online mapping service says, just because real life interferes. Pack a cooler with easy to eat foods...we do cubed cheese, fruits, etc. Pack a full roll of paper towels. In the car, not the trunk. You're welcome. Synchronize the whole car's drinking so that bathroom breaks are coordinated, so as not to waste time visiting every rest area along the way. We abstain from drinking until 45-60 minutes before the next planned rest stop, and everyone is ready to use the facilities when we arrive.

If you have anyone who's short, put a piece of luggage under his/her feet as a foot rest so they don't get back fatigue from their feet not being on the floor.

These tips are awesome! Thank you

 

[LAX]

Just an FYI for potential hot spots... I77 north of Charlotte. This is a mess. We lost a minimum of 1/2 hour there. We stopped at Carowinds and in speaking to the clerk at check in he said the traffic problem is basically "all day every day"

I95 in SC. We hit two backup... one for bridge work that will be going on til the end of June... about a 5 mile backup. The other was just before the GA border. Probably anth 2 or 3 mile. We didn't sit in this one and used gps to find an alt rte. in all we lost about 1 1/2 hours in SC.

Was this north or southbound? Perhaps both equally? Thanks.

LAX

 

[patclairesmom]

Just an FYI for potential hot spots... I77 north of Charlotte. This is a mess. We lost a minimum of 1/2 hour there. We stopped at Carowinds and in speaking to the clerk at check in he said the traffic problem is basically "all day every day"

I95 in SC. We hit two backup... one for bridge work that will be going on til the end of June... about a 5 mile backup. The other was just before the GA border. Probably anth 2 or 3 mile. We didn't sit in this one and used gps to find an alt rte. in all we lost about 1 1/2 hours in SC.

Where is SC was the backup. We're driving down at the end of June.

 

[BC1836]

Where is SC was the backup. We're driving down at the end of June.

According to the Waze app, yesterday, it was near Yemassee. We'll be driving there in a week.

All the best!

 

[pmdeve]

What is the Waza app? We will be driving in a few weeks.

 

[BC1836]

What is the Waza app? We will be driving in a few weeks.

Waze app! [typo]

All the best!

 

[pmdeve]

Just loaded the app, thanks.