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

[ceruleansummer]

I'm assuming that is NOT a good time to be around Washington? Can someone tell me exactly how much time, travelling that area at that time, will likely add to our trip? VS, waiting the day out and driving at night through that area?

That area on 1-95S isn't horrible if you hit it before 3-ish. I live in Richmond and experience I-95 traffic on my way to Richmond and Blacksburg to visit my sister at VT. I was also in DC last month on a weekend trip with my boyfriend. It can slow down significantly around the Washington/Arlington exits, but it shouldn't be horrible. Unless they're doing some construction (I know on 1-95N during our trip in March, there was some roadwork in the right-hand lane), you should be perfectly fine if you hit it early. I definitely wouldn't wait, it's not worth it. You'll waste time you probably want to spend getting closer to Disney. Hope this helps!

 

[wdwobsessed]

Please don't take it personally. There have been plenty of debates of flying vs. driving elsewhere on this board, but this thread is full of people who LOVE to drive. We have our reasons and strongly believe in them.

I don't know what the poster was thinking of course, but he was just posting what a lot of us think. Folks generally talk flying 1.5 hours vs. driving 15 hours, and don't take into consideration the time and cost of going to the airport, waiting, flying, waiting again, driving to WDW via ME or rental car, plus cost of rental car. We calculate that time as 8-10 hours from our house, so we don't feel like we're wasting two days by driving, but just the second day is extra hours for us.

Plus the additional cost of flying and the additional cost of the room at WDW for two extra days makes the difference MUCH higher to fly. We spend between $400 and $500 to drive, depending on how much we eat out vs. in the van. To fly would be around $1,200 for our family plus transportation to the airport/valet to park. So we get three trips out of that $1,200 by driving. Add in APs and discounts on the room and we get to go on more trips!!!

Anyway, I think that's where it was coming from. If you'd like to debate pros and cons of driving, you may only get one side here - we're dedicated drivers on the this thread. It's why it was started in the first place. If you page through the transportation board, you should find plenty of pro and con discussions - they can get heated!! Or feel free to start one yourself, just be prepared to be called crazy and smart in the same thread

Thanks ...maybe I was just being a little sensitive but I kinda felt like I was being laughed at ...that is all that rubbed me the wrong way!

I wish we were only 8-10 hours away! That would make it much better.

My whole flying thing is just because I wanna get to the mouse quicker! In the end I will probably stick with driving and console myself with stops at cracker barrell and waffle house.

 

[kidd_freeper]

Congratulations to disneyfan55 for post #3,000 on this site!

Now then, any recent reports on the lengthy I-95 construction in GA?

I found this website (http://www.i95exitguide.com/alert/index.php. It contains road construction information. It is a really good site.

 

[sharadoc]

In the end I will probably stick with driving and console myself with stops at cracker barrell and waffle house.

As we all do!! Chicken and Dumplings - MMMM

 

[wdwobsessed]

As we all do!! Chicken and Dumplings - MMMM

Oh Yummy! Great ... now I HAVE to drive! LOL

 

[sharadoc]

Oh Yummy! Great ... now I HAVE to drive! LOL

See - there are things that make the drive good! Listen to music that you haven't heard in a while, get a good book on tape, look for fun little tourist traps along way, or find a restaurant with some good Carolina barbecue!

Stop at every welcome center, get some orange juice in Florida. We have lots of YAY moments in the car when we pass specific landmarks!

 

[dvczerfs]

Thanks ...maybe I was just being a little sensitive but I kinda felt like I was being laughed at ...that is all that rubbed me the wrong way!

I wish we were only 8-10 hours away! That would make it much better.

My whole flying thing is just because I wanna get to the mouse quicker! In the end I will probably stick with driving and console myself with stops at cracker barrell and waffle house.

thats why you dont like driving, the waffle house?? boy i got some storys about that place.( im just kidding with ya)

 

[wdwobsessed]

Honestly this will be my first time driving my "all by myself" since my divorce. This past summer I drove caravan style with family. The last several times have been straight through ... that is hard... I gave out after about 10-11 hours this past trip!

This time it's just me, my two sons and my niece (18). We plan on stopping for the night getting as close to WDW as possible the first day without killing me!

It will be interesting just driving with people I like.

HAHAHA

WDWO

 

[leahjade]

My husband wants to drive this year but I think it's very unsafe to drive straight through 1000 miles. I just saw a news report saying that tired drivers are as dangerous as cell phone texters!

 

[tjbaggott]

My husband wants to drive this year but I think it's very unsafe to drive straight through 1000 miles. I just saw a news report saying that tired drivers are as dangerous as cell phone texters!

I know I could never do that as a single driver. But when there are two or more people able to drive, as long as one can sleep while the other drives, it could work. We are debating this, my dh and I. He can sleep anywhere. I have trouble sleeping in a moving vehicle especially at night. I think it's because I worry about dear and such on the road. We almost hit one on our way down last fall, and then on our way home, I was just too nervous to actually fall asleep even though I was beyond tired. DH drives the night time.

 

[leahjade]

I'm afraid if I get drowsy and nod off, then hubby could be getting drowsy as well and who's to keep him awake if I'm sleeping! Just thinking about all these sleepy people driving down I95, makes me want to pay whatever the airlines charge!

 

[dvczerfs]

I'm afraid if I get drowsy and nod off, then hubby could be getting drowsy as well and who's to keep him awake if I'm sleeping! Just thinking about all these sleepy people driving down I95, makes me want to pay whatever the airlines charge!

let me introduce you to a friend of mine who is a captain for a major airlines. you will never fly again! our best friends followed us the past few years, 1080 miles. they are flying this december.she did most of the driving and she was a wreck till we got there and got back home. some people just are not drivers and some just wont fly. dw wont sit in an air plane of any kind much less fly. im a rep and drive 50k per year and i also do some flying. for us, dw is happy driving and would be a wreck if she had to fly. it takes us 16 hours and for those 16 hours we talk more than most married people do in 10 years. we love the sights, rest stops. we have been stopping for gas at the same places for the past 16 years and look forward to seeing the same people every year. some know us by name. im nearing my 50th trip and they are all drives.

 

[Hasil72]

Doin' the happy dance, we just booked an unexpected WDW trip for November. Here's my dilemma. Do we leave Friday night, drive to somewhere in NC, then stop for the night and finish on Saturday or do we just leave at like 3am Saturday am and drive straight through?

Last November we left Friday night around 6, drove until about 1:30 am to Lumberton, NC about 20 miles from the SC border, then finished up on Saturday arriving around dinner time. On the way home, we drove straight through. The kids were great the whole time. Not sure what to do this time. It will be the start of the over-exaggerated Jersey week.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[nono]

I'm afraid if I get drowsy and nod off, then hubby could be getting drowsy as well and who's to keep him awake if I'm sleeping! Just thinking about all these sleepy people driving down I95, makes me want to pay whatever the airlines charge!

That's totally your call for your family! Nobody knows your dynamics better than you do.

As this is a fan thread for folks who want to drive, here's a good article about Drowsy Driving, with suggestions on keeping it reasonable on the road:
http://www.smartmotorist.com/traffic-and-safety-guideline/drowsy-driving-and-traffic-safety.html

I esp. like the reminder about things like Benedryl -- something so many people use during allergy season...

 

[dgagnon519]

We flew our first trip to Disney. The 2nd time I drove myself with my 2 kids. We made it a road trip and stopped twice on the way down. Virginia and then Georgia. I couldnt drive more than 7 hours at a time before i wanted a break. This year we are driving again but I will have someone to share the driving with. We are going to switch every 5 hours. It is a 19-20 hour drive. We are trying to drive straight through. Hoping to leave at 4pm and arrive in Disney by 2 pm figuring we will take breaks for 30 minutes. We will try if we cant we are prepared to stop and stay overnight if we have too. It is 2500 miles round trip

 

[sharadoc]

I just posted something similar in another thread. DH and I really reconnect when we're on those drives. We have CONVERSATIONS, not just snippets of sentences interrupted by the kids, or dinner, or homework. In a way, our drives to Disney are good for our marriage

 

[PrincessMom4]

Hey Sharadoc,

Driving is lots of fun. We usual have fun creative stories when we come back. Whiel driving we play "create a background" story for a vehicle around us. It can actually be quite humorous tales.

 

[disneydreamingdebby]

wdwobsessed,
I hope my post didn't upset you... I don't think I am biased about driving (we haven't done it yet...) We have flown twice and if we could get a great deal might consider it again for this year. (It is the drive back that I worry about.)
I do think it is a quicker method of transport. You added information in later posts that makes your apprehension understandable. If I had to drive the kids alone, I'd sell stuff to be able to fly.

Debby

 

[disneydreamingdebby]

Wawa seems to have made it as far south as Petersburg, VA (south of Richmond, after the Richmond Beltway re-merges with I95) -- looks like Exit 48 (head West). That's the last one you'll get. You will need the large coffee to get you the rest of the way.

Thanks. Looks like I will be plotting wawa locations until Petersburg...

Any like convenient stores the rest of the way that anyone would recommend?

 

[BC1836]

I found this website (http://www.i95exitguide.com/alert/index.php. It contains road construction information. It is a really good site.

Thanks! We are familiar with that I-95 website but your post, no doubt, alerted many other folks about it.

All the best.