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

[Disneynutbsv]

We might have the opportunity to spend two weeks in Florida! So, we'll leave again on a Friday early in the morning, stop in North Carolina, arrive in Ormond Beach the next day and spend the week at the beach...then a week at Disney! This way with driving it makes it a little more worth while

 

[goofy4tink]

Welcome to the Transportation board you guys. You have a ton of good info for others. Have fun!

 

[PhotobearSam]

Hi.



We plan to sleep overnight at the SC/GA Border, probably around Walterboro, then arrive at WDW around 3:00 on Monday. We plan on one good meal stop, and numerous snack and leg stretching breaks on the way.

We have stayed in a really good Hampton Inn in Walterboro for 3 trips now...they are really well priced and the rooms are great and they have a free HOT breakfast. Check it out...

 

[PhotobearSam]

We might have the opportunity to spend two weeks in Florida! So, we'll leave again on a Friday early in the morning, stop in North Carolina, arrive in Ormond Beach the next day and spend the week at the beach...then a week at Disney! This way with driving it makes it a little more worth while

Have you been to Ormond Beach before? What is there to do around there? DH and I have an oppertunity to go there next year and don't know anything about the place...

 

[BC1836]

Welcome to the Transportation board you guys. You have a ton of good info for others. Have fun!

Is it possible for this thread to be placed as a sticky just below the "For Those Folks Driving" sticky?

Both threads are mutually beneficial to all drive; however, this thread caters to marathon-like drivers who have different on-the-road needs.

Please consider!

 

[Disneynutbsv]

Have you been to Ormond Beach before? What is there to do around there? DH and I have an oppertunity to go there next year and don't know anything about the place...

We were there last April and I loved it! Much smaller than Daytona (meaning less touristy), I really enjoyed it, we were literally 50 feet from the beach, I really enjoyed being there!

 

[onelugnut]

great thread,

I have a question, i see everyone talking about getting thru d.c. area before morning traffic, but what about evening? when does that evening rush start and end?
I have a new plan i am thinking of.
if we leave in the afternoon like 3,
get on the road
(beating that NJturnpike traffic that seems to suprise me every year)
then before entering the Balt-Wash travesty, stopping at a rest stop
and having a lengthy picnic.
lets kids run eat potty then back in the car
for the long haul and go thru the night
the d.c traffic should be done before we get there right?
if we are thru D.D. by 10, that should
put us in orlando by 11 am right?



ormand is a great place,
you are not far from st. augustine, and you should check it out
town and castle that is. (oldest city in north america i think?)

 

[pilferk]

great thread,

I have a question, i see everyone talking about getting thru d.c. area before morning traffic, but what about evening? when does that evening rush start and end?
I have a new plan i am thinking of.
if we leave in the afternoon like 3,
get on the road
(beating that NJturnpike traffic that seems to suprise me every year)
then before entering the Balt-Wash travesty, stopping at a rest stop
and having a lengthy picnic.
lets kids run eat potty then back in the car
for the long haul and go thru the night
the d.c traffic should be done before we get there right?
if we are thru D.D. by 10, that should
put us in orlando by 11 am right?



ormand is a great place,
you are not far from st. augustine, and you should check it out
town and castle that is. (oldest city in north america i think?)

DC is the great morass.....but here's what we've found:

Avoid DC in the am (7 am to about 9:30 am) and early evening (3:30 PM til around 7 PM) if at all possible. The early and late ends of the spectrum are better, but still busy.

Also, DC traffic can get pretty heavy on Friday and Saturday nights, depending on what's going on in the city. Sometimes you'll hit a pocket of traffic around 9 to 10 PM-ish. It's NOTHING like rush hour traffic, but it's heavier than you would expect at that time of night and it might slow you down some.

We were through DC about 11 PM-ish on our last trip, and into Orlando around 11:30 AM-ish. That 12 hours included about a 45 minute cat nap/rest stop in Georgia right around dawn (the halflight was killing my eyes) and multiple bathroom stops for the kids.

 

[LovePug]

We are leaving next week for our drive from Cleveland. We are doing it a bit different this time. We are leaving in the afternoon and driving for about 6 hours then spending the night. The next day we will drive to the other side of Jacksonville and the following morning the rest of the way to WDW. It is tough with a little one and trying to decide how far we can go with her in 1 day. On the way home we are staying at Disney's HH resort for 2 nights.

We're in Northeast PA and used to make one stop to sleep on the way. With the addition of my son, we started making two sleepovers. The first trip was in January and day one was tough because he was not handling the drive well. I learned that when he started getting fussy, to stop and get him out of the car to eat, etc. He was just turning one at the time. He's going to be 21 months this trip and I think he'll do better, but we are still going to stop over twice. It sure makes the drive easier stopping over twice, but I'm hoping when we go next year that I can go back to
one night again. I'm anxious to see how he does this time.

Have a great trip!

 

[BC1836]

DC is the great morass.....but here's what we've found:

Avoid DC in the am (7 am to about 9:30 am) and early evening (3:30 PM til around 7 PM) if at all possible. The early and late ends of the spectrum are better, but still busy.

Also, DC traffic can get pretty heavy on Friday and Saturday nights, depending on what's going on in the city. Sometimes you'll hit a pocket of traffic around 9 to 10 PM-ish. It's NOTHING like rush hour traffic, but it's heavier than you would expect at that time of night and it might slow you down some.

We were through DC about 11 PM-ish on our last trip, and into Orlando around 11:30 AM-ish. That 12 hours included about a 45 minute cat nap/rest stop in Georgia right around dawn (the halflight was killing my eyes) and multiple bathroom stops for the kids.

As usual, pilferk provides a qualitative reply, especially regarding those DC times. However, those DC a.m. times can be dealt with if you are driving on the weekend. From the Jersey Shore to the Potomac is usually a 3 1/2 to 4 hour drive for us.

 

[onelugnut]

yes, excellent info, thanks
i guess that means my plan is flawed at least
so if i leave the NJ shore,
maybe we will just leave at 3 ish
(pick kids up from school and go
that should be exciting if i dont tell them in advance)
stop for dinner out side of Baltimore,
and plan on getting to balt-wash around 7 to miss eve rush
that should put us in disney by 8ish even if we take a hour cat nap break?

does that sound right?

never mind, i see that i just repeated myself, sorry.
got it in my head and cant get it out

 

[JanineandMike]

we'll be taking our first WDW road trip in december. we were figuring on leaving long island around 8PM friday, driving through the night and getting to orlando saturday afternoon/evening. we have dinner reservations for ohana on saturday, so hopefully we can check in early enough to get a nap after the drive.

 

[grammynelliebelle]

Heading down mid october from NJ. Please keep us posted. Thanks! Grammy

 

[TinkOhio]

We'll be driving down this Christmas break from near Cleveland for the first time in many years...77 to 95. Are there any major developments, like construction or tolls that we should know about?

TIA!

 

[BC1836]

Gasoline prices in Atlantic County (around Atlantic City) today ranged from $3.07 to $3.12 a gallon. Encouraging news in these parts. But how are they in Georgia and the Carolinas, assuming there is ample gas there? In fact, how are prices along the I-95 corridor?

 

[TinkOhio]

I don't know about the prices, but my Mom and Dad spent the weekend driving from Ohio to S. Florida via 77 and 95. They gassed up north of Charlotte and had to go to 5 stations before finding gas. The same thing happened in Georgia. Luckily, they had prior warning and started looking for gas when they got down to around a half tank.

 

[loribell]

I have a freind that lives about an hour from Atlanta. She said she had to wait almost an hour for gas aat one of the two stations that got a delivery that day. I believe their prices are still over $4.

Today in Oklahoma ethanol gas was $2.89, non ethanol was $2.99.

 

[onelugnut]

alt fuels? thats cool
i have never seen a pump of ethanol.

can somebody explain exactly whats going on with the fuel
in i guess, south carolina and georgia?

where is the last chance to get reasonable gas?

I can go almost 500 miles so i might be able to span those two states
with out dealing with this.

 

[loribell]

From what I have been told with Georgia's problems they have a Georgia EPA mandated special blend that they are supposed to use. It is normally pumped from the Houston area I believe and the lines has problems from the huricane. The Georgia politicians didn't lift the restricitions in time to keep them from having a problem.

Once a problem starts panic begins and people get gas when they don't really need to, as in they stop and top off their tanks when they only need a few gallons. Of course this makes the shortage even worse so it just continues. Add to that the gas is all having to be trucked in and it takes longer to get to them. I hope the situation gets fixed for the residents of Georgia's sake real soon.

Again, this is what I have been told by a friend that lives in the area. I do not have first hand knowledge.

 

[BC1836]

Here's an encouraging post from another Transportation thread ("Gas along I 95"):

Just got back today = no problem with getting gas. The prices were much higher in the Carolinas and Georgia. The most inexpensive in FL was the Hess in WDW. It was 3.67 last Sun and 3.49 yesterday. There were great price fluctuations from exit to exit in the southern states and sometimes on the same exit. The most we paid was 3.89 last weekend and 3.50 this weekend. The cheapest was in NJ!! Glad to see our prices have even come down during the past week.

Improving news...and hopefully improving for the folks in and around Atlanta!