For those folks driving!

[cranbiz]

Time for my next drive south, I am leaving tomorrow night. Anyone who has gone within the last week or so have any updates or trouble spots along the way. My normal route is I95 from MA all the way to I4.

I will miss the rush hour traffic thru DC, is the Wilson bridge project closing any lanes at night?

TIA

 

[txSleepingBeauty]

anybody know of a website to check road conditions on I-10, or anybody been that way lately? we're leaving from houston next week, planningon stopping in Mobile for the night before continuing to orlando.

 

[kerry34]

Time for my next drive south, I am leaving tomorrow night. Anyone who has gone within the last week or so have any updates or trouble spots along the way. My normal route is I95 from MA all the way to I4.

I will miss the rush hour traffic thru DC, is the Wilson bridge project closing any lanes at night?

TIA

We just got back last night. We left from central ma. We had no trouble on the Woodrow Wilson bridge, got right through both ways. On the way down we ended up going through DC around 1pm and even with the work got right through, same thing on the way back. Cant say for the lane closure though at night. Only place we had problems was on the NJ Tpk. We ended up 3 hrs behind schedule because there was an accident yesterday afternoon. Other than that we had no troubles. Construction seemed to be minimal compared to my last trip down. Any other question feel free to ask. Have a safe drive!

 

[cranbiz]

Thanks for the update Kerry34,

Leaving in about 20 minutes

 

[njchris]

Hi all. Just a quick question... I will be driving down to Disney starting after work on 2/2. I probably will leave between 6:30pm-7pm and will want to drive until around 1am and stop at a hotel to sleep for a few hours and then be on my way again.

Can anyone tell me how far would that get me from Northern NJ (I'm near Wayne)? I'm thinking of trying to make a reservation somewhere as I've read people saying it's not too good an idea to just try to find someplace on the way.

So, going about 6.5 hrs, will I be in Virginia? I'm not good at figuring the timing out.

Thanks all!

 

[candleonwater]

I used to be able to make it to Wayne from Northern Virginia in about 3 1/2 hours, and the North Carolina line is about 2 1/2 hours from me...

So, without traffic expect to hit the NC line in about 6 hours.

Driving from here - I do it a couple of times a year - I agree with those who say DON'T make reservations. The only time I've ever run into any problems was this past spring break, all the Hampton Inns around Savannah were booked and I had to drive a bit longer to find one that had rooms. That's it.

I make it to Disney in 13 hours. We usually leave early afternoon and drive until midnight, trying to make it to GA... then up and out early in am.

 

[mom2cookies]

NJmike, my DH (truckdriver) figures you would be around Emporia, Va in about 6/5 - 7 hrs. We stayed at the Days Inn off exit 11 (off RT 95) and had a very good complimentary hot breakfast. Hope this trip is wonderfully magical for you.

 

[njchris]

NJmike, my DH (truckdriver) figures you would be around Emporia, Va in about 6/5 - 7 hrs. We stayed at the Days Inn off exit 11 (off RT 95) and had a very good complimentary hot breakfast. Hope this trip is wonderfully magical for you.

Thanks! And thanks for the new name too. hehehe

 

[scottb8888]

We are taking our first car trip (with kids) from Columbus, Ohio to Disney in October. We had planned to take 77 to 95 and then in. Any sugestions?

 

[dandee00]

Hi everyone,
DH and I completed our drive from the east coast of Canada in 3 1/2 days. We took our time. stopping in MA, VA and SC. It was a relaxing drive and it was nice to see the "seasons" changing as we drove.
Not sure if I'll get to a computer again soon, but I'll update when I get back in Feb.

 

[ajwolfe]

hello!

We will be begin our drive down on Sunday from the St Louis area. Just wondering if anyone can inform me of any problem areas (road construction, etc) we may run into. We've made the drive before, so I'm comfortable with out directions, so if I have to detour a little that would be fine....Thanks!!!

 

[MickeyHereWeCome!]

Hi! It looks like I'll be driving down with two of my children next October. We will be leaving from the DC area.

I was just wondering if anyone could give me a decent driving time estimation? The DIS board listed about 17 hours or so, but both Mapquest and RandMcNalley have it down as about 14 hours. I'm just starting my planning, so of course I'll have every detail covered by October....but this would help to get a starting point of how many days to plan on.

Thank you. It looks like I'll be reading this thread a lot between now and October to catch up on all the hints from these expert Disers!!!

 

[kerry34]

MickeyHereWeCome.......I would say somewhere between 12-14 hrs from that area. Our trip averaged out about 21 hours last trip and we are from massachusetts. Of course it all depends on traffic patterns, what time and day you leave.

 

[MickeyHereWeCome!]

Thanks!! That's what I was thinking, and am relieved that it's not really going to be 17 hours of driving (hopefully).

My plan, for right now, is to leave on a Wednesday night, after rush hour, and put in a couple hours. Maybe that will get me close to the Richmond area, or a little before that. Thursday, after rush hour, we'll leave and drive for 7-8 hours, and finish up Friday. I'm trying to avoid hitting major cities during rush hours, and am also taking into consideration the "fun" of traveling with two little ones. I'll be researching safe places to stay, but don't know that I'll make ressies since I really don't know how far we'll get. I'll have to think on that one.

OK..now I've got Disney on my mind, and won't accomplish much today

Karen

 

[cranbiz]

I got back last Sunday from a glorious week in central Florida. Spent NYE at Epoct and got another couple of days in between MK and MGM before I came back. (this was a work around the house trip).

From Carver, Ma it was 20 hours down to Deltona (add another 45 minutes to Disney) I ended up leaving Friday morning Dec 30th about 4am (had an unavoidable delay) and pulled into the house at just before midnight. I used 895 thru Baltimore and 495 around DC this trip. No problems thru NY had a slight delay in Dillon SC due to an MVA rollover caused by solar glare.

Coming home DS and I convoyed as he has finished school. We left Deltona at 5pm on Saturday and pulled in to Carver at 3pm (we stopped outside of Emporia for a couple hour nap at 3am). We did 95 thru Alexandria and did 895 again thur Baltimore. Used the east exit on the NJ turnpike to the GW bridge due to the Giants game, but it did not affect the travel time at all.

Best gas prices were in SC, decent gas in NJ (exit 1), Roanoke Rapids NC and Exit 1 in GA.

 

[CharityLynn]

We plan on driving from Battle Creek, Michigan in October it will be my first ever car trip of this distance. (my husband went to WA when he was a kid so he has some knowledge of long car trips) We are taking our 2 children too, ages 7 and almost 4 (ages at travel time) Anyone have any tips on making this a successful trip?

 

[kerry34]

We have made several trips over the years with small children. Make sure you bring plenty of things to keep the kids occupied in the car. A popular one with my kids is the color magic books and markers. The nice thing about these is the markers cant get all over your car or the kids. I made activity bags for my kids. Usually a tote bag with crayons, coloring books, a couple of dolls and matchbox cars. A laptop desk also comes in handy for the kids to write on. We have also brought a portable dvd player so the kids could watch a movie here and there. My kids also brought their leapsters and gameboys.

I always enjoyed the ride with my kids in the respect that it gave us time to just talk as well. General conversation about different places we see on the road always helped to pass the time. My little ones like going over the bridges so we would always be on the lookout for bridges. The other that I liked is audio books. I found these helpful when they just start to get tired and lay back for a nap. Listening to stories relaxed them.

The other thing is make sure you keep a first aid kit handy in the car with band-aids, children's painkillers and children's dramamine in case of car sickness, headaches, or cuts.

That is all I can think of for now. Hope it helps some. If I think of anything else I will post it. Good luck on your drive!!

 

[CharityLynn]

Thanks Kerry. Yeah I've been making a list if items to pick up for the car ride like color wonder stuff, books, that sort of thing and definately lap trays.

Keep the tips coming. I may start a thread on the Community Board as well..

 

[hannahsmomma]

we went two years ago with our 4 year old....the DVD player would have been the best thing, if it had not skipped everytime we hit a bump! Also, we drive from VA, which is a 12 hour trip and we break that into 2 days. So I would assume you will be making your trip in at least 2 days. We did 7 hours the first day and 5 the next. The second day always seems like it takes twice as long. Everyone is just over it and ready to be at WDW! Also, if you are on 95, do not stop at South of the Border !!!!! It is dirty, dirty, dirty!!!! I think the best places to stop are the rest stops. There are good open areas to stretch your legs, and vending machines for munchies and drinks. Good luck!!!! And try not to go

 

[kerry34]

Heehee, I forgot about the South of the Border thing. Ya it's pretty dirty. My kids love reading the signs though on the way to it. We always break our trip into 2 days as well. We usually drive until Fayetteville NC on the first day. The last 4 trips we have stayed off of exit 49 on 95 at a Ramada Inn. It is right off the highway. It is clean with interior doors, which is a must for me when traveling. There is a pizza hut down the street plus a few gas stations. It is not a bad area to stay over if you need a place and are looking to drive that far. Takes us about 7 hrs with stops to get to Disney from there (depending on traffic also).