For those folks driving!

[Byrd]

Teachers have to go when they can. Driving from either Pickens or Greenwood, SC on December 26th. Spending the night in Sanford to get an early start at Disney on the 27th.

Should we take the loop in Jacksonville or go straight thru?

How bad will I95 be on the day after Christmas? Do you think making it to Sanford before dark is do able?

Thanks for any info or suggestions.

 

[cranbiz]

Bryd,

It depends on the time of day to determind if you should take 295 around Jax or go straight thru. I suspect that Dec 26th is not going to be that busy on the highways (but I could be wrong). I would plan on taking 295 if you arrive in Jax between 3 and 6pm. It should take you anywhere from 6 to 8 hours to Jax and 8 to 10 hours to get to Sanford. You will be about 40 minutes from Disney, why not just keep going and get there on the 26th? If you stay in Sanford and head out in the morning, I advise taking SR417 instead of I4. The normal workday backups on I4 start around 7am. It will cost you about an hour of time and $6.00 in cash, but is normally a traffic free ride with little or no delays while I4 is a disaster during a normal workday during the commuting hours.


To All:

I have done the drive from Mass to FL three times in the last 4 weeks. My average time has been 20 hours. The only trouble that I had have consistantly has been the construction in Delaware near the tolls. The construction around Jacksonville has not been trouble and aside from a couple of major accidents, travel have been fine.

My timeline:

Carver MA to NYC (GW Bridge) 3.5 Hours

NYC To Alexandria VA 4 Hours

Alexandria VA to Roanoke Rapids NC (My halfway point) 2.75 Hours

Roanoke Rapids NC to Dillon SC (South of the Boarder) 2.75 Hours

Dillon SC to Savannah GA 2.75 Hours

Savannah GA to Jacksonville FL 2.75 Hours

Jacksonville FL to Deltona FL 1.5 Hours

My total miles are 1351 door to door. Add another 45 minutes to Disney.

 

[Byrd]

Thank you Cranbiz for the helpful information. I hope that I95 is not busy as it usually is during our drive.

 

[forr2grls]

Hi all! Our ressies for wdw are dec 7-14. We are thinking of leaving Monday the 4th,not sure on what time.We will be leaving from say,Portland,Me. We have gone thru all the maps,boards,planning sites and now we're very confused. What time do you think we should leave?There will be 4 adults and 2 girls(8 yrs old). Will have to potty break every 3 or 4 hrs(i think!LOL). We are all set NC on south.It's just the northeast stuff that is getting to us. Sorry for the rambling! Any and all help appreciated!!!!!

Paula

 

[baileybelle]

Hi fellow Mainer!! Do you plan on taking 95 or an alternate route? We are from Biddeford and it takes us 23 hours to get to WDW.

We go: 95-495-290-90-84-81-66-17-95-4, the " Snowbird Route." We also use 295 around both Richmond, VA and Jacksonville, Fl. We usually leave aroung midnight, drive 16 hours the first day and 7 the next for a total of 23 hours. On the way back we divide the drive more evenly.

 

[forr2grls]

Hi fellow Mainer!! Do you plan on taking 95 or an alternate route? We are from Biddeford and it takes us 23 hours to get to WDW.

We go: 95-495-290-90-84-81-66-17-95-4, the " Snowbird Route." We also use 295 around both Richmond, VA and Jacksonville, Fl. We usually leave aroung midnight, drive 16 hours the first day and 7 the next for a total of 23 hours. On the way back we divide the drive more evenly.

Hiya!! We want to stay on 95 as much as possible.Excluding bypasses around the major cities...Have you drivin in Dec? We a hoping for good weather. Thats a big concern to for the route we take.Need to find my maps to see where the routes that you take are. Thanks for responding!

Paula

 

[baileybelle]

Haven't driven during the winter months. If you check thru this entire thread you'll find lots of info on 95. Did you check out the 95 site? Here's the link http://www.usastar.com/i95/homepage.htm

 

[DriveI95Man]

Hi there, I'm new here, but I'm the expert on I-95 (I thought). Reading your posts shows that there are alot of people out there who know their roads.

I write the Drive I-95 guide book that carissanboys mentioned earlier, so if anyone has any questions about what's on any exits, I have the answers.

Stan

 

[Mickey's Sister]

Hi there, I'm new here, but I'm the expert on I-95 (I thought). Reading your posts shows that there are alot of people out there who know their roads.

I write the Drive I-95 guide book that carissanboys mentioned earlier, so if anyone has any questions about what's on any exits, I have the answers.

Stan

You write the I95 guide - WOW, you're my hero!!! We've driven to Disney from PA 4 times & I don't know what I would have done without your guide. I'm planning trip#5 & I'm already consulting it. It's nice to be able to say "THANK YOU!!!"

Plus - WELCOME TO THE DIS!

Jessica

 

[DriveI95Man]

That's very nice of you - we work hard at it. I hope it's our book you're talking about - Drive I-95: Exit by Exit. Our 3rd edition is out now, and we're in the process of researching the 4th which will go all the way to Miami.

By the way, how does one get a photo to appear here?

 

[8 Ears]

OK, this may be a bit of a silly question but what do you DO on the drive? It will be just DH and myself this trip. Boys are staying home. We are in our mid 30's and both of us get "bored" while the other is driving.

We thought of trivia games and books on CD.

What do you do on long drives?

 

[DriveI95Man]

We solved that problem years ago. We've done over 100,000 miles of driving just with the 2 of us, and we listen to books on tape. They make the time pass quickly, and you don't even care if you're in a traffic jam.

We get them from our local public library, from Cracker Barrel stores (where you can rent them for $3.50 a week) and from Audible ( I can tell you more about audible privately, if you want)

Stan

 

[8 Ears]

OK, thanks!

What keeps the one driving going? When the other is sleeping what does one do?

We are planning on only 2 days, thus very long driving days.

 

[nbc11]

WE ARE DRIVING TO WDW TOMORROW AND I WAS PLANNING ON INTERSTATE 75. MAPQUEST AND SOME DISNEY SITES SUGGEST INTERSTATE 95. ANY COMMENTS ON WHICH YOU PREFER?

 

[DriveI95Man]

nbc11: where are you starting out from?

 

[DriveI95Man]

We usually have 2 books going, sometimes more, for when I'm asleep, when my wife's asleep and when we're both listening. Sometimes we'll just catch the other person up to the current point, or the one who's driving will listen to the part he/she slept thru.

It seems to work.

Stan

 

[nbc11]

nbc11: where are you starting out from?

Seneca, SC

 

[Byrd]

I'm very close to you! We have gone both ways. Time wise we do much better on 385 to 26 to 95, than 75. The miles are about the same, but we made much better time the first way.

I'll be going down next month. Please report how your trip goes.

Have fun!

 

[DriveI95Man]

I think I agree. I haven't tried both ways, but it seems you're going too far west getting to 75, whereas 95 is almost a straight line down to WDW from you.

 

[carissanboys]

Hi there, I'm new here, but I'm the expert on I-95 (I thought). Reading your posts shows that there are alot of people out there who know their roads.

I write the Drive I-95 guide book that carissanboys mentioned earlier, so if anyone has any questions about what's on any exits, I have the answers.

Stan

A celebrity! Welcome to the boards I can't wait to use your book on our drive down in March.