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

[chepic]

We are leaving around 3:00 am next Saturday from the Jersey Shore area for our first drive to WDW. I've loaded the GPS with the addresses of hotels etc. and I got directions from AAA. Now I need some opinions from the experts. AAA and GPS have us going west on the DC beltway but I have read that east is the better route. We should hit the DC area around 7:00 AM Sat. so no rush hour to worry about, but which way should we go? Also are there any other areas of concern as we travel down 95? Any opinions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

The GPS and AAA told us the same thing, but we went the Eastern route without any issues...same thing as you, Saturday but around noon I believe. It really wasn't bad, no real traffic back ups. We pretty much followed the Tom Tom and the AAA recommendations, except when they took us around the big cities....we just stayed 95 and plowed through them.

I have to say the biggest issues we found on 95 was the amount of accidents in the Carolinas. It is really straight and dull driving through there, with a big grassy median most of the way. I think people start driving 75-80 and then lose control and end up in the trees. Just watch for that.

Have a safe trip.

Cheryl

 

[dvczerfs]

The GPS and AAA told us the same thing, but we went the Eastern route without any issues...same thing as you, Saturday but around noon I believe. It really wasn't bad, no real traffic back ups. We pretty much followed the Tom Tom and the AAA recommendations, except when they took us around the big cities....we just stayed 95 and plowed through them.

I have to say the biggest issues we found on 95 was the amount of accidents in the Carolinas. It is really straight and dull driving through there, with a big grassy median most of the way. I think people start driving 75-80 and then lose control and end up in the trees. Just watch for that.

Have a safe trip.

Cheryl

75-80 cheryl, those are the right laners.85-90 to keep pace. you get us northeastern with our narrow lane highways and short ramps on the open interstate and some of us go nuts!!

 

[BC1836]

We are leaving around 3:00 am next Saturday from the Jersey Shore area for our first drive to WDW. I've loaded the GPS with the addresses of hotels etc. and I got directions from AAA. Now I need some opinions from the experts. AAA and GPS have us going west on the DC beltway but I have read that east is the better route. We should hit the DC area around 7:00 AM Sat. so no rush hour to worry about, but which way should we go? Also are there any other areas of concern as we travel down 95? Any opinions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

We have departed several times at 3 a.m. or earlier on a Saturday and used I-95 exclusively.

Indeed, you should have no DC-area rush hour to confront at that time on a Saturday. As always, from NJ: If possible, leave very very early on a weekend morning.

All the best.

 

[chepic]

75-80 cheryl, those are the right laners.85-90 to keep pace. you get us northeastern with our narrow lane highways and short ramps on the open interstate and some of us go nuts!!

I didn't say WE drove 75-80.....I think at some points, when my head was in a book, my husband was cranking into the high 80's. He was running a race with the Tom Tom and trying to make up all the time we spent running into the bathrooms...

che

 

[Tina]

We are leaving around 3:00 am next Saturday from the Jersey Shore area for our first drive to WDW. I've loaded the GPS with the addresses of hotels etc. and I got directions from AAA. Now I need some opinions from the experts. AAA and GPS have us going west on the DC beltway but I have read that east is the better route. We should hit the DC area around 7:00 AM Sat. so no rush hour to worry about, but which way should we go? Also are there any other areas of concern as we travel down 95? Any opinions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Please be aware that, although you'll have no DC rush hour traffic to contend with, you will have to deal with the Outer Banks travelers. I95 from DC to about Richmond/Rocky Mount will be heavily bogged down with vacationer traffic. Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings are the heaviest times. A good portion of the traffic will turn off 95 at Richmond, heading for Virginia Beach. Many others will keep going a bit further as they head to the Outer Banks of NC. If there are no accidents, you'll likely have little slowdowns, but just heavy traffic. Other times, you can sit and move fairly slowly.

However, this traffic only occurs during the summer months.

 

[sdchickie]

I guess we're right around the 2,000 mile mark and we did it 7 times last year!!! QUOTE]

Seven trips to WDW in 2009?

Yep, it's a small addiction of mine. When I told my husband I got AP's because we had 2 trips planned in one year and they would pay for themselves after the 2nd trip I think he kenw what was comming. Our AP's expired on NYE and I'm still going through withdrawls. I have no idea what to do with the kids this summer!

 

[marius97]

I didn't say WE drove 75-80.....I think at some points, when my head was in a book, my husband was cranking into the high 80's. He was running a race with the Tom Tom and trying to make up all the time we spent running into the bathrooms...

che

I'm so excited!!! I thought that I was the only one that raced the GPS. I won't push it quite to that extreme. But I will feel a very manly type of failure if I fall behond too much. I get very sad when we are about 3/4 of the way there and we stop for something like our 35th bathroom break and I have to give up the chace of the GPS.

 

[chipper10]

I'm so excited!!! I thought that I was the only one that raced the GPS. I won't push it quite to that extreme. But I will feel a very manly type of failure if I fall behond too much. I get very sad when we are about 3/4 of the way there and we stop for something like our 35th bathroom break and I have to give up the chace of the GPS.

What do you guys mean about racing the GPS? We don't have one, but we are borrowing my in-law's for our drive to Disney. Will it not know where we are if we don't keep up?

 

[Arenita]

We leave in 2 weeks for our first family trip to WDW, and we're driving from Texas. I'm taking a full 2 weeks of vacation from work (DH is a teacher), and we're staying 9 nights. That gives us enough time to take it pretty easy there and back. We're making two overnight stops out and back.

We decided 8-9 hours driving was our max. A couple of years ago driving home from Colorado we drove 14 hours straight....we were NOT happy campers towards the end.

We made the drive from Houston a couple of weeks ago. We drove to Ocala the first day and then had a 90 minute drive to WDW the next morning. That worked well for us. On the way back, I made a bad mistake - decided to drive until 10 pm and stop there. There were no rooms available for the next 200 miles! Instead of stopping in Mobile at 10, as planned, we spent the night in Walker, LA, settling into our rooms at 1 a.m. Lesson learned! All in all, stopping one night worked for us...BUT...an extra night on the road would have been nice! I'm glad you are able to do that. Not sure if you'll be on I20 or I10 but I know all the Gulf Coast states can use an extra night of hotel revenue!

Enjoy your trip!

 

[chepic]

What do you guys mean about racing the GPS? We don't have one, but we are borrowing my in-law's for our drive to Disney. Will it not know where we are if we don't keep up?

On the GPS, it gives you a time that you should reach your destination if you travel the path they give you and at the speed limit. When you adjust your speed, the amt. of time adjusts so you can see where you are versus the target time. My husband loves to race the timer.

We always borrow my niece's Tom Tom and as long as she goes in to BJ's every so often for updates, it stays very accurate. We keep it on the English accent man and always giggle when we get off the highway for the bathroom and it tells us to turn around to get back on the motorway.
che

 

[sharadoc]

Speaking of GPS - we don't read instruction manuals or anything, we just wing it with our technology Anyway, I learned something on our last trip. It's better to use the computer generated voice rather than a pre-recorded human. Why? Because the computer voice can say anything. So, it tells us the name of the road we have to turn on. That's especially good while driving around Disney World. One night, we ended up on I-4 because we took the "next" right, and really we were supposed to take the next road, and NOT the on-ramp.

Now our computer voice tells us, "Turn right on Epcot Center Drive" rather than "Take the next right". Much better!

Pardon to the GPS veterans, but I KNOW there's plenty of folks on here like us who only use the GPS for road trips and basically took it out of the box and plugged it in.

 

[BC1836]

Speaking of GPS - we don't read instruction manuals or anything, we just wing it with our technology Anyway, I learned something on our last trip. It's better to use the computer generated voice rather than a pre-recorded human. Why? Because the computer voice can say anything. So, it tells us the name of the road we have to turn on. That's especially good while driving around Disney World. One night, we ended up on I-4 because we took the "next" right, and really we were supposed to take the next road, and NOT the on-ramp.

Now our computer voice tells us, "Turn right on Epcot Center Drive" rather than "Take the next right". Much better!

Pardon to the GPS veterans, but I KNOW there's plenty of folks on here like us who only use the GPS for road trips and basically took it out of the box and plugged it in.

Sharadoc: As a veteran 2,000+ mile round-trip driver you don't need a GPS when traveling to and around WDW. However, the GPS folks could probably use your expertise for WDW info!

Note: National gas prices down again.

 

[rhondag508]

Thanks for this thread....We are driving from Oklahoma City metro (1250 miles each way) in October, and there were so many things mentioned here that I hadn't even considered yet. I really appreciate this resource!

For example, we realize rather than splitting it evenly we'd like to try for 12-14 hours the first day so that the second day will be a little less lengthy.

We've driven to northern Colorado and to San Antonio, Texas before, but never a distance quite this far.

 

[loveysbydesign]

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* Laminated cards for use over and over again
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Travel Card Games:

* Choose between two entertainingly difficult options for the Tough Choice Card Game
* Tough Choice Game involves players asking each other tough questions from cards that have two possible answers, for instance: " Use a time machine to go to the future or back in history?" or " Have a magic wand that can turn people into frogs or have a magic potion that turns frogs into people?"
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* I Saw It First Game involves players drawing a card with a picture and a point amount in an effort to find the card's image in real life. For instance: if a player sees Electrical Wires they get 1 point, if they see a Rainbow they get 50 points, if they see a UFO they get 1,000,000 points and everything in between
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These sell for over $10 a piece on Amazon!

 

[Amirah95]

We've never done this, but does anybody ship things down to Disney before they get on the road? If so, what do you ship down? How much did it cost you last time? I find that I'm taking the same things down there all the time and I was thinking maybe I can ship some things to save some room in the vehicle. I ordered an Owners Locker so we won't have to keep transporting the same stuff all the time, but I'm thinking shipping down this one time won't be so bad.

 

[nytimez]

We've never done this, but does anybody ship things down to Disney before they get on the road? If so, what do you ship down? How much did it cost you last time? I find that I'm taking the same things down there all the time and I was thinking maybe I can ship some things to save some room in the vehicle. I ordered an Owners Locker so we won't have to keep transporting the same stuff all the time, but I'm thinking shipping down this one time won't be so bad.

I did when I flew. But I don't when I'm driving, I find I can get everything I need in the car. A good-sized box of personal effects via the UPS store (they would box and package it too) was usually right around $20 -- although I didn't ship directly to/from Disney, I am usually in Florida for longer periods and would send my stuff to/from where my trips started and ended.

Also, I think the cost of shipping your stuff once or twice a year might be cheaper than an owner's locker, and you have better control over/access to your items.

 

[monymony3471]

I've used gardengrocer.com in the past. Delivers right to the resort. You pick date and time. Costs 12 bucks. Very reliable and well worth the fees I save with less luggage, or gives more space int he car.

They have alot more than just food.

 

[sharadoc]

Sharadoc: As a veteran 2,000+ mile round-trip driver you don't need a GPS when traveling to and around WDW. However, the GPS folks could probably use your expertise for WDW info!

Note: National gas prices down again.

Right, although in our desire to avoid the repaving backup between DHS and OKW, we turned right out of DHS and got VERY confused, so we took out the GPS. It was dark!!!! I actually did download the Tom Tom add-in that was posted on, I think, Mouse Savers. Didn't use it once!

Best tip we discovered was the "unnamed" road that runs right into Vacation Club Way - very short, shortcut.

Oh, and when are YOU starting the version 2.0 of our thread? We got trips to plan, man!

 

[taximomfor4]

75-80 cheryl, those are the right laners.85-90 to keep pace. you get us northeastern with our narrow lane highways and short ramps on the open interstate and some of us go nuts!!

heck, you aren't kidding. Made the drive down on 7/4, came home on 7/9. It was CRAZY trying to keep up with traffic. Speed limit 70? That means if you aren't doing 85 in the RIGHT lane, people are all up your rear end grumbling, gesturing, and swearing. Sorry for those I made slow down by only doing 79 mph. It wasn't worth a $100+ ticket to let YOU get somewhere faster, lol. Anyway, I was a lone driver on a 1080 mile trip(each way). I was alert, but not confident I was alert enough to go THAT fast!!

Especially since around here, our fastest speed limit is 65 and I got a ticket once for going 73. I am MUCH more careful to toe the line better, these days, lol.

 

[dvczerfs]

heck, you aren't kidding. Made the drive down on 7/4, came home on 7/9. It was CRAZY trying to keep up with traffic. Speed limit 70? That means if you aren't doing 85 in the RIGHT lane, people are all up your rear end grumbling, gesturing, and swearing. Sorry for those I made slow down by only doing 79 mph. It wasn't worth a $100+ ticket to let YOU get somewhere faster, lol. Anyway, I was a lone driver on a 1080 mile trip(each way). I was alert, but not confident I was alert enough to go THAT fast!!

Especially since around here, our fastest speed limit is 65 and I got a ticket once for going 73. I am MUCH more careful to toe the line better, these days, lol.

we stay over night in s.carolina and the next morning we hit the road by 3:30am. this past trip, i got back on 95 around 3:30. i got behind a tractor trailer. he seemed to be doing a comfortable speed so i just paced off of him. we were driving along and dw opened her eyes, looked over at the gps and notice the speed (92). i had no idea i was going that fast!! she looked at the gps to get the fastes speed on the trip,(95) there was not another car in sight and he was moving!! needless to say, she didnt nap again!!