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

[Muhlenberg]

Ok think I missed soemhing we are going down next month and we are from lower bucks and going to be staying overnight in kingsland ga...what is the 81 route?? i only know how to do 95

Rt 81-77-26-95. If you're from lower Bucks...take the Tpk to Carlisle and get on 81. That route avoids Balt./Wash./Richmond.

 

[rotlex]

I was going to ask you if you did 95 or 81. We love the 81 route. It's so much nicer than 95.

Absolutely!

I'll probably never do 95 all the way again. The portion you have to take once you get down there is bad enough!

 

[pilferk]

Question for those who do the 81 route:

How is it during the winter?

We've contemplated routing that way, but our recent drives have been in December and January, respectively. I want to plan a route and stick with it....and not have to keep an eye on the weather. My concern with the 81 route was that, if there was winter weather to deal with, 95 would be in better shape.....

 

[dvczerfs]

We had originally planned on doing 95 as well, as it seem so much more direct. (It is also the only route I had ever taken on my business drives years ago).

I'll tell you this, after traveling the 81 route, I will never, ever do 95 again. It is really no more direct, and dealing with the traffic, big city area's, and crazy drivers, just makes it very unpleasant, IMO. Even my wife, who normally abhors driving, enjoyed this past trip!

Have a great trip, and enjoy the planning!

we take 78-81-66-17-95 and the only place i ever sit in traffic is on rt22!!! (the parking lot of the east.) have you ever hit 77 during a clear day coming down the mnt? looks like you can see forever. we use to stay overnight in polaski in a red carpet inn. i alwys wondered if that place was still there.

 

[dvczerfs]

Question for those who do the 81 route:

How is it during the winter?

We've contemplated routing that way, but our recent drives have been in December and January, respectively. I want to plan a route and stick with it....and not have to keep an eye on the weather. My concern with the 81 route was that, if there was winter weather to deal with, 95 would be in better shape.....

we hit a snow storm one year. spent the night in our car at whites truck stop.

 

[BC1836]

we hit a snow storm one year. spent the night in our car at whites truck stop.

Question, dvczerfs: How many of those 47 WDW trips were drives?

All the best.

 

[junipertree5]

Im taking my two DS, 4 and 12 by myself down to Disney in August. Im driving by myself and I want to leave sometime in the evening with a stop for dinner and then straight down to orlando. Im wondering what have some of you other Detroit DISers out there done to make it easier to get there around 3-4 pm the next day. We are staying offsite. Very limited budget this year. Hence the no motel stop. Any advice would be appreciated. Really. ANYTHING. Best caffine drinks, energy drinks, best place to stop if I HAVE to get a couple hours of shuteye with out getting a ticket

Thanks so much.

 

[Flyerfan]

Question for those who do the 81 route:

How is it during the winter?

We've contemplated routing that way, but our recent drives have been in December and January, respectively. I want to plan a route and stick with it....and not have to keep an eye on the weather. My concern with the 81 route was that, if there was winter weather to deal with, 95 would be in better shape.....

This happened to us in January one year. We were watching the weather channel while at WDW and saw a storm heading right for the 81 corridor in VA. We opted for 95 straight up. We still ran into a little snow but not as bad as it would have been on 81. Yes, if it snows, 77 and 81 through the mountains can be tricky so you would have to be prepared to change your route.

 

[marius97]

Im taking my two DS, 4 and 12 by myself down to Disney in August. Im driving by myself and I want to leave sometime in the evening with a stop for dinner and then straight down to orlando. Im wondering what have some of you other Detroit DISers out there done to make it easier to get there around 3-4 pm the next day. We are staying offsite. Very limited budget this year. Hence the no motel stop. Any advice would be appreciated. Really. ANYTHING. Best caffine drinks, energy drinks, best place to stop if I HAVE to get a couple hours of shuteye with out getting a ticket

Thanks so much.

We just made the trip for the first time last month. I no long live in Detroit
but still head back there all the time from our southwestern MI home. We don't get on I75 until Chatanooga, but the second half of the drive is fine. The rest stops down there are nothing like what we have here in MI. Here, the rest stops at night are only for people looking for problems. I would never dream of taking a nap there. The ones down south are actually nice and clean and respectable. We took a two hour nap on our drive home. There were probably at least 100 other cars woth sleeping people. I didn't feel unsafe at all...I did Red Bull while driving. I don't like coffee and I have a tiny bladder. Red Bull seemed to have a bunch of caffeine for me, but not too much liquid. Still Daddy needed more potty breaks than the kids did....We left after dinner, drove through the night and then stopped for breakfast at McDonalds. We sat down for that one just to get out of the car. Kids just ate in their pj's. We then did drive through for lunch. All and all, we'd do it again in a heart beat.

 

[dvczerfs]

Question, dvczerfs: How many of those 47 WDW trips were drives?

All the best.

all of them. my first time down in 73 i was 8. it seamed my dad could drive forever. he would come home from work around 3pm,go to sleep and we would leave at midnight. we would drive straight thru, pee breaks and howard johnson resturants!! when i got married, dw wouldnt fly, im not nuts about it either. im an outside rep. so i drive 40k per year for work so driving dont bother me. its part of the trip and we like the drive. i play the theme from smokey and the bandit on the way down, dw just rolls her eyes and says dont get a ticket!!!

 

[BC1836]

all of them. my first time down in 73 i was 8. it seamed my dad could drive forever. he would come home from work around 3pm,go to sleep and we would leave at midnight. we would drive straight thru, pee breaks and howard johnson resturants!! when i got married, dw wouldnt fly, im not nuts about it either. im an outside rep. so i drive 40k per year for work so driving dont bother me. its part of the trip and we like the drive. i play the theme from smokey and the bandit on the way down, dw just rolls her eyes and says dont get a ticket!!!

Forty-seven drives! Impressive.

We've been driving since 2002 when an airline refused to refund our ticket because of a local power failure caused by a thunderstorm. We couldn't leave our home without knowing when power was going to be restored (refrigerator contents, home alarm system, timers, etc.). Because the power failure wasn't regional they couldn't confirm our town's loss of power. We simply could not get to the airport while we were powerless. We decided to drive if the power came back by a certain hour. It did and we packed the vehicle. So the airlines lost the next 14 potential round trip flights purchases.

So it's 15 2,000+ mile round trip drives for us. We've got some catching up to do, though, dvczerfs.

All the best.

 

[dvczerfs]

Forty-seven drives! Impressive.

We've been driving since 2002 when an airline refused to refund our ticket because of a local power failure caused by a thunderstorm. We couldn't leave our home without knowing when power was going to be restored (refrigerator contents, home alarm system, timers, etc.). Because the power failure wasn't regional they couldn't confirm our town's loss of power. We simply could not get to the airport while we were powerless. We decided to drive if the power came back by a certain hour. It did and we packed the vehicle. So the airlines lost the next 14 potential round trip flights purchases.

So it's 15 2,000+ mile round trip drives for us. We've got some catching up to do, though, dvczerfs.

All the best.

one of my older brothers was stationed at homestead afb. we would drive down to see him twice a year.thats how we started going.there was always the anual trip in august,4 night,5day to beach haven,long beach island! i havnt been there in about 20 years. im sure it has changed like eveything else. when i was a kid i thought how cool it was because down south that had this great thing called self serve gas stations!! my dad would let me pump the gas! what is odd is im 44 and alot of the trips we made when i was a kid, i remember more of the ride and the fun we had in the car than alot of the times in the park etc..

 

[junipertree5]

We just made the trip for the first time last month. I no long live in Detroit
but still head back there all the time from our southwestern MI home. We don't get on I75 until Chatanooga, but the second half of the drive is fine. The rest stops down there are nothing like what we have here in MI. Here, the rest stops at night are only for people looking for problems. I would never dream of taking a nap there. The ones down south are actually nice and clean and respectable. We took a two hour nap on our drive home. There were probably at least 100 other cars woth sleeping people. I didn't feel unsafe at all...I did Red Bull while driving. I don't like coffee and I have a tiny bladder. Red Bull seemed to have a bunch of caffeine for me, but not too much liquid. Still Daddy needed more potty breaks than the kids did....We left after dinner, drove through the night and then stopped for breakfast at McDonalds. We sat down for that one just to get out of the car. Kids just ate in their pj's. We then did drive through for lunch. All and all, we'd do it again in a heart beat.

Thanks so much for the insight. I have driven straight thru to many places, but that was when I was younger and didnt have kids. If I can alocate enough money for the extra 1 night motel stay on the way down, I will. Would like to get to at least Macon, Georgia. That way we could sleep in a little bit (as much as housekeeping will allow ) and be refreshed and ready for the day when we get to the condo.

In some ways, Im obsessed with planning the fun stuff, but I guess Im just nervous about being alone for the drive. Although being alone with my kids for this trip is going to be GLORIOUS!!!!

 

[Flyerfan]

Absolutely!

I'll probably never do 95 all the way again. The portion you have to take once you get down there is bad enough!

Do you ever have a problem with traffic around Charlotte? It seems we get there mid afternoon and traffic slows. Wondering if there is a way to avoid that area.

 

[glo]

I will never drive rte 95S again North of South Carolina! I took the 84/81/77/26/95/4 and did it in just under 24 hours. We had bad weather which slowed us up a bit in Worcester MA and just over the CT border torrential rain and thunder/lightning! It slowed us up a little bit as for about an hour we didn't go over 40- 50 mph. We had two stops to eat, about 30 minutes(including gas) each and about 3 stops to stretch or get gas. We finally hit traffic on rte 4 in Florida and went about 50 mph or we could have made it a little better time wise! Left on a Saturday night at 7 pm and arrived at the Swan Hotel in WDW at 6:50 pm on Sunday.

Thank you guys for all the help on this trip! We spent less than $170 in gas and tolls to get here. That is some savings for a group of 5. Leaving to go back tomorrow, don't want to leave Mickey!!!

 

[LovePug]

We took 81-77-26-95 to I4. VERY pleasent, and uneventful drive!

Last night I was playing with Google Maps and found that this route will shave about an hour off my normal route. I think I may try it so I'm glad to see you enjoyed this way. I'm trying to figure out where a good place to stop for the night since I had everything memorized on my previous route, I didn't have to worry about it. Could you tell me where (what State) you get on 95? Is it NC? Traveling with a 2 (almost 3) year old and want to be about 1/2 way when we stop. The last 2 trips we made two overnight stops and I really don't want to do that again, if I can help it.

 

[rotlex]

Last night I was playing with Google Maps and found that this route will shave about an hour off my normal route. I think I may try it so I'm glad to see you enjoyed this way. I'm trying to figure out where a good place to stop for the night since I had everything memorized on my previous route, I didn't have to worry about it. Could you tell me where (what State) you get on 95? Is it NC? Traveling with a 2 (almost 3) year old and want to be about 1/2 way when we stop. The last 2 trips we made two overnight stops and I really don't want to do that again, if I can help it.

Following this route you will pick up 95 in SC. I think I posted the link previously, but, we stayed overnight in Savannah Georgia, at the Fairfield Inn & Suites. Might be farther than you want to go, depending on where you are coming from, but I wanted no more than a 4-5 hour drive the 2nd day. It took us roughly 12 hours to get there from the Lehigh Valley area of PA.

Nice place, a minute off of 95, clean etc., for roughly $94 per night. We travelled with our almost 7 year old DD, and 8 month old son. Felt very safe\comfortable staying at this place. Here's the link to their web site:

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/savab-fairfield-inn-and-suites-savannah-i-95-south/

 

[Muhlenberg]

There's also a Hampton Inn in Walterboro, SC, which isn't long after you get on I95.

 

[daddisney]

We are from Eastern PA and take the 81-77-26-95 route to Florida then I-4 to WDW. If this is what your co-worker means then yes, it is more scenic and less traffic. You travel through the mountains of VA and NC and it's very pretty. We love this route. It takes us 17-18 total hours with stops.

We are planning on taking this route this year, we like stop a Smithfield NC for the night, does this route have alot of hotels & resturants like 95??

 

[chellewashere]

Rt 81-77-26-95. If you're from lower Bucks...take the Tpk to Carlisle and get on 81. That route avoids Balt./Wash./Richmond.

great thanks so much have to relay the info to the hubby!!