For 2,000+ mile round-trip drivers only!

[collcass]

Question for recent 2,000+ round-trip drivers who drove Monday-Friday: Has the construction on I-95 in Georgia affected your driving time?

In fact, are there any other recent construction-traffic problems on the I-95 corridor from the Northeast to Northern Florida?

last August we drove to NC. the construction in VA was horrible. I am sure it is probably gone now, but they were working on the bridge going across the Potoma. that took 1 1/2 hours to go 2 miles. It put us in the lunchhour traffic coming out of DC and took a ton of time to go through. There was a lot of construction between Quantico and Fredricksburg.

Coming home it wasn't nearly as bad but we did hit more traffic in Va from weekday construction

 

[KristiMc]

We are planning on driving for the first time this October from Ohio. We plan to leave after school on Friday and drive to Charlotte, NC for the night. The next day we will drive the rest of the way.

 

[Maverick Mike]

I love driving all of the way in one shot!

We do the 1,015 mile trip from 4:30 am - 10:00 pm!

You are tired when you get there, but man does it feel good to jump in that pool that night at Pop Century!

 

[BC1836]

In September, we got hung up in Georgia for a while mid-morning on a Friday. Southbound was condensed into one lane for a stretch that was probably 5 miles long, but the back up getting to the stretch was horrible!

Howdy, "neighbor!"

As you can see by our "signature," our last drive was in December so we're looking for current construction reports. Our next trip is March. Hey, that's next month!

But your story about a mid-morning traffic jam on a Friday does not surprise me. We've had those experiences, especially in the DC area. Still, it's better (at least to us) to be in your car for that amount of time than to be sitting in a plane on the runway for the same amount of time.

All the best.

 

[4 DZNY NUTZ]

Question for recent 2,000+ round-trip drivers who drove Monday-Friday: Has the construction on I-95 in Georgia affected your driving time?

In fact, are there any other recent construction-traffic problems on the I-95 corridor from the Northeast to Northern Florida?

Just returned yesterday and we are sad & depressed. Nothing like 85 degrees and then coming home to this cold Jersey weather. The construction didnt slow us down at all. In fact the ride there & home went very well. We left home on 1-31-08 at 5:00 am and stopped in Savannah Georgia by 6:30 pm. Before we left Jersey, we stopped at Dunkin donuts for coffee etc. and then stopped to eat at the Waffle house at noon.....also a few bathroom breaks & to stretch the legs. Left Savannah at about 9ish a.m. and arrived at WDW by 1 - 2ish pm.

We left WDW on 2-9-08 at 8 am and drove straight thru. Arrived home by
12:30 am. That includes stopping for breakfast and eating in the car, then stopping at the Waffle house for lunch (see the trend!!) and then stopping for some burgers and stretching the legs.....also a few bathrrom breaks. On our trip counter our total driving time was something like 14 hrs and a few minutes.

 

[BC1836]

Just returned yesterday and we are sad & depressed. Nothing like 85 degrees and then coming home to this cold Jersey weather. The construction didnt slow us down at all. In fact the ride there & home went very well. We left home on 1-31-08 at 5:00 am and stopped in Savannah Georgia by 6:30 pm. Before we left Jersey, we stopped at Dunkin donuts for coffee etc. and then stopped to eat at the Waffle house at noon.....also a few bathroom breaks & to stretch the legs. Left Savannah at about 9ish a.m. and arrived at WDW by 1 - 2ish pm.

We left WDW on 2-9-08 at 8 am and drove straight thru. Arrived home by
12:30 am. That includes stopping for breakfast and eating in the car, then stopping at the Waffle house for lunch (see the trend!!) and then stopping for some burgers and stretching the legs.....also a few bathrrom breaks. On our trip counter our total driving time was something like 14 hrs and a few minutes.

Thanks for the report. And sorry for that weather change: 85 degrees in WDW to the sub-freezing wind chills w/gusts around 60 mph in NJ!

 

[karenklo]

We live right on the shore of Lake Michigan and we have driven to WDW everytime but one. We stop south of Atlanta the first day around 4-5pm and swim and relax. Then the next day it is a few hours to WDW!! I hate the hassle of flying and love that I can pack our Suburban full of anything we might need! We have a DVD system in the car so the kids don't ever ask if we are there yet. They have fun watching Disney movies like Swiss Family Robinson on the way down. It really gets them excited. On the way back we spend a day or two at Chattanoga or Mammoth Cave. Last time we took a few days to go over to Ft. Myers beach. I love the freedom driving gives you.

 

[allie1078]

We are making the 2600 mile round trip in June. the kids are very excited about every part of the trip. I know the oldest 3 (11,8,7) won't have any problems as we have done long road trips before, but we have never traveled with the baby who will be 20 months at the time.

 

[Maverick Mike]

We aren't going until July, but I can't wait to pack up and head down! I think it is the anticipation of driving, but I just love it!

And, there is also this.. You don't get this if you fly!

 

[BC1836]

We aren't going until July, but I can't wait to pack up and head down! I think it is the anticipation of driving, but I just love it!

And, there is also this.. You don't get this if you fly!

That photo sums up a major reason for the drive!
[But what highway is that?]

 

[flipflop]

We are going to be driving with our kids for the first time in Dec. They will be 3 1/2 at the time of the trip. Any opinions on whether it is better to leave really early in the morning (around 4:30) or after dinner? We are driving from NJ. I'm leaning towards early morning.

 

[summerlandjeff]

Our first 2 trips from So. Jersey were by car, but once my DW overcame her fear of flying... ACY to MCO in 2hrs & 10 mins for the same price as driving! No contest!

We would always leave early morning (last time 2 AM) to avoid DC traffic. We would stop in Santee SC over night (about 12 hours from Mays Landing) then continue to WDW the next day (about 8 hours from Santee). One time was enough for driving straight through!

Good luck, be careful, and above all... ENJOY

 

[Maverick Mike]

That picture is from the welcome area on I-75 South coming into Florida. We always try to make the 5:00 closing to get some free orange juice, but always miss it!

If you are traveling with kids, I would recommend leaving early in the morning. We usually leave around 5:00 am, so our daughter would sleep until around 10:00 or so, and we would already be in Tennessee!

It works for us!

 

[SplashMountainMama]

Just returned from driving from Windsor, Ontario (across the border from Detroit). Everyone thought I was crazy. I drove with 3 of our kids and my DH flew with our other 3 kids. Dh couldn't take extra time off work to drive so he flew, but I really wanted to drive and really wanted to have the car to use while we were down there. It was the best decision we could have made. I don't know how many times we were thankful we had the car with us. It made park hopping and getting to dinners at different resorts a breeze. I love driving so, for me, the trip down and back was part of the vacation. The kids did really well on the trip. I had my 9 yr old, 3 yr old and 3 month old with me. Except for the very 1st day of driving, the baby did great. The 3 yr old was glued to the dvd the entire trip down and back and the 9 yr old took in the sites, watched a little tv or played gameboy. When we returned I asked DS9 if he preferred flying (which we've done before) or flying and he said driving. I wouldn't hesitate to drive again. I just wish we could drive back soon!!!

 

[Maverick Mike]

Any tips you can share about having the baby in the car for that long? We will be driving down in July (16 hour drive) and we will have our 6 month old daughter with us. This is our first time driving that far with a baby!

Thanks!

 

[katiedid36]

We are leaving for our 2400 mile roundtrip in 17 days. We have driven from the Detroit area the last 3 years. Our 1st trip our DS was 9 months old. He did pretty well as long as we switched who was sitting next to him regularly. We can't go without packing the travel DVD system. We pack snacks and movies. We usually leave around 5:00 am & stop just south of Atlanta on our 1st day. We get up early the 2nd day & finish the drive. I love to stop at the southern restaurants and drink sweet tea! We just don't have that here in Michigan. I love the drive. It is part of our Disney experience!

 

[BC1836]

I concur with flipflop and summerlandjeff that an early morning departure from NJ is best, although 2 a.m. is practically staying up from the previous night. It all depends on what works best for the driver(s) physically. [see previous replies about driving times along the I-95 route].

Thanks Maverick Mike for the road identity. I-75 it is. And good luck with your next family drive to WDW!

 

[Maverick Mike]

It's great to hear from others who love the drive to WDW almost as much as getting there. I really think those will be the "memories" for the kids as they grow up of what "vacation" really is!

It is the anticipation of the day. Driving under those gates is truly magical!

 

[gk90]

That picture is from the welcome area on I-75 South coming into Florida. We always try to make the 5:00 closing to get some free orange juice, but always miss it!

If you are traveling with kids, I would recommend leaving early in the morning. We usually leave around 5:00 am, so our daughter would sleep until around 10:00 or so, and we would already be in Tennessee!

It works for us!

Great picture! They have the same sign on I-95 south welcome area and when we saw it we had to have our picture taken too. A group from Utah had the same idea too and we took a picture for them. Your I-75 picture looks much more tropical, though--I wish I could post ours, there's hardly any plants in it, just one palm tree and buildings.

 

[BC1836]

Great picture! They have the same sign on I-95 south welcome area and when we saw it we had to have our picture taken too. A group from Utah had the same idea too and we took a picture for them. Your I-75 picture looks much more tropical, though--I wish I could post ours, there's hardly any plants in it, just one palm tree and buildings.

Indeed! The I-75 looks more Florida-ish! But there's nothing like crossing that final border after driving around 1,000 miles on whatever interstate.