For those folks driving!

[Flamingomo]

Well what we THOUGHT would be a 16 hour drive including no other than pee breaks, ended up taking us 18 hours from Delaware... I thought we would never get there. We took 95, did not hit any traffic at all and only stopped to go to the bathroom(maybe 5 times tops). We had food/drinks/snacks packed in the car so we didn't have to make any unnecessary stops. I mapped this out on 3 different sites and it said 14.5 hours. We tacked on the extra time ourselves to make up for stops. Oh, we did stop SOTB for less than 5 minutes to take some goofy pictures and that was it. We left at 5am on a friday morning and drove straight through and checked in at 11pm. Never thought we would make it. My kids (6 and 3) were amazing the entire trip and never complained once the entire trip there or back. Of course they had lots of activity books and of course DVD players, but still. They were great. The trip home for my DH and I was really tough. We were going on 3 hours of sleep and it was awful. I guess the excitement of getting there eased the length of the ride, but that way home was killer. Same amount of time too.

 

[MinMouse]

Flamingomo - Glad you're back! Would you drive it again?

 

[Flamingomo]

Actually yes! Crazy as that sounds. Like I said the way down wasn't horrible because we were so excited I guess. But I would definately do it again. I think I would just leave alot earlier maybe 3am and drive straight through. The way back though, we would stop somewhere so we wouldn't have to leave Disney so early in the morning after only getting 3 hours of sleep and a full week of being in the parks everyday.

I would do it tomorrow if my hubby (and my bank account) said we could. Next time though we are heading to Disneyland, so I definately won't be driving there! But that won't be until at least November 2010. Plus we will stay in Cali for at least two weeks! We are already saving for that one.

 

[carissanboys]

Well what we THOUGHT would be a 16 hour drive including no other than pee breaks, ended up taking us 18 hours from Delaware... I thought we would never get there. We took 95, did not hit any traffic at all and only stopped to go to the bathroom(maybe 5 times tops). We had food/drinks/snacks packed in the car so we didn't have to make any unnecessary stops. I mapped this out on 3 different sites and it said 14.5 hours. We tacked on the extra time ourselves to make up for stops. Oh, we did stop SOTB for less than 5 minutes to take some goofy pictures and that was it. We left at 5am on a friday morning and drove straight through and checked in at 11pm. Never thought we would make it. My kids (6 and 3) were amazing the entire trip and never complained once the entire trip there or back. Of course they had lots of activity books and of course DVD players, but still. They were great. The trip home for my DH and I was really tough. We were going on 3 hours of sleep and it was awful. I guess the excitement of getting there eased the length of the ride, but that way home was killer. Same amount of time too.

We live in MD (outside of Baltimore) and between mapquest and everyone's experiences, I thought it would take 15 hours to get there. We really didn't time it out exactly, but this is what I remember of the trip:

We left home at 4 a.m. and arrived in Santee, SC around 1 p.m. We had no traffic issues and minimal stops (I think we did stop for 30 minutes at one point to let the boys play at a McDonalds). So, that's 9 hours (maybe only 8 hours driving time).

The next day we left around 6 a.m. (this *might* have been 7 a.m., not completely sure) and arrived at our hotel at almost 3 p.m. We did run into traffic on 95 in Florida (construction) and I4. This part of the trip took MUCH longer than planned. 8-9 hours (maybe only 7-8 driving time).

That comes out to about 15-16 hours possible driving time. I guess that still comes out about right, especially once you figure in the traffic issues. We're really hoping to avoid that this time. We're also driving to Savannah instead of Santee so that's about an extra 100 miles on the first day. We'd like to arrive in Orlando early enough on Sunday to go to a park for a couple of hours before checking into our townhome at 4 p.m.

 

[duffy]

We live in MD (outside of Baltimore) and between mapquest and everyone's experiences, I thought it would take 15 hours to get there. We really didn't time it out exactly, but this is what I remember of the trip:

We left home at 4 a.m. and arrived in Santee, SC around 1 p.m. We had no traffic issues and minimal stops (I think we did stop for 30 minutes at one point to let the boys play at a McDonalds). So, that's 9 hours (maybe only 8 hours driving time).

The next day we left around 6 a.m. (this *might* have been 7 a.m., not completely sure) and arrived at our hotel at almost 3 p.m. We did run into traffic on 95 in Florida (construction) and I4. This part of the trip took MUCH longer than planned. 8-9 hours (maybe only 7-8 driving time).

That comes out to about 15-16 hours possible driving time. I guess that still comes out about right, especially once you figure in the traffic issues. We're really hoping to avoid that this time. We're also driving to Savannah instead of Santee so that's about an extra 100 miles on the first day. We'd like to arrive in Orlando early enough on Sunday to go to a park for a couple of hours before checking into our townhome at 4 p.m.

Thanks for this infomation. We are leaving our western Pa. home and driving to our daughter's home in Maryland, just outside the DC beltway. It will only take us 1/2 hr. or so to drive south on the beltway into northern Virginia and pick up 95, and we estimated about 15 hours total driving from there. Since you are in Baltimore, your estimate of 15-16 hours driving time from Baltimore sounds accurate.

We're leaving around 4 am and hope to get into our room in the evening.

 

[carissanboys]

Thanks for this infomation. We are leaving our western Pa. home and driving to our daughter's home in Maryland, just outside the DC beltway. It will only take us 1/2 hr. or so to drive south on the beltway into northern Virginia and pick up 95, and we estimated about 15 hours total driving from there. Since you are in Baltimore, your estimate of 15-16 hours driving time from Baltimore sounds accurate.

We're leaving around 4 am and hope to get into our room in the evening.

What day of the week are you leaving on? As long as it's a weekend day, I think you should be fine. Actually, I need to go back and edit my post. We left at 4 a.m. on a Friday (to avoid rush hour) and finished the drive on a Saturday. If you're leaving on a weekday, and you get on the road by 4 a.m., you will probably be fine until you get to Floriday. Not sure how bad the traffic will be there on a weekday during rush hour (I imagine pretty busy).

 

[ecpool]

The plan is to get to route 81 then 77, 26 then onto 95 . I was just confused about Garden State parkway or Rd 287. We will be leaving Grotton at about 7:00am.

 

[Disneynutbsv]

Does anyone know if there would be a Dunkin' Donuts anywhere in North Carolina, continued down South on I-95? We aren't starbucks fans and just want a really good cup of coffee to wake us up

 

[Flamingomo]

Just look at the rest stop signs. We saw a few along the way. Just don't believe the one in Quantico, VA. We could not find it at all on the exit.

 

[Disneynutbsv]

Just look at the rest stop signs. We saw a few along the way. Just don't believe the one in Quantico, VA. We could not find it at all on the exit.

Thanks! Good to know

 

[MinMouse]

Does anyone know if there would be a Dunkin' Donuts anywhere in North Carolina, continued down South on I-95? We aren't starbucks fans and just want a really good cup of coffee to wake us up

You may want to check out this link: http://www.wdwinfo.com/Transportation/NC-I95.htm. It has all the I-95 stops in NC listed along with the food, gas and lodging available there. We like using it to help plan out our stops as we travel.

 

[Disneynutbsv]

You may want to check out this link: http://www.wdwinfo.com/Transportation/NC-I95.htm. It has all the I-95 stops in NC listed along with the food, gas and lodging available there. We like using it to help plan out our stops as we travel.

Thanks! Doesn't look like there are any Dunkin' Donuts

 

[pilferk]

You may want to check out this link: http://www.wdwinfo.com/Transportation/NC-I95.htm. It has all the I-95 stops in NC listed along with the food, gas and lodging available there. We like using it to help plan out our stops as we travel.

Just a suggestion: Stay AWAY from exit 145 in North Carolina. It looks like it has some good lodging options....but they weren't. Even the Best Western looked a little run down, and the area was slightly..."seedy", IMHO. Best to stick with exit 120 in N.C. We learned the hard way....

 

[duffy]

What day of the week are you leaving on? As long as it's a weekend day, I think you should be fine. Actually, I need to go back and edit my post. We left at 4 a.m. on a Friday (to avoid rush hour) and finished the drive on a Saturday. If you're leaving on a weekday, and you get on the road by 4 a.m., you will probably be fine until you get to Floriday. Not sure how bad the traffic will be there on a weekday during rush hour (I imagine pretty busy).

We are planning on leaving DC on Fri., Feb. 1st around 4 am. I hope to get Wilderness Lodge in time for a late supper there!

 

[dawz1026]

We are planning on leaving DC on Fri., Feb. 1st around 4 am. I hope to get Wilderness Lodge in time for a late supper there!

We are 3.5 hrs from you guys...so you will drive straight through? We use to like to do that but now with our little guy we need to stop..I just cannot wait to go already!

 

[duffy]

We are 3.5 hrs from you guys...so you will drive straight through? We use to like to do that but now with our little guy we need to stop..I just cannot wait to go already!

Yes, we'll drive straight through. Both girls will have a Nintendo Ds. And we'll bring the laptop so we can watch dvds, and are looking forward to watching all of season 2 of The Muppet Show.

 

[dawz1026]

Yes, we'll drive straight through. Both girls will have a Nintendo Ds. And we'll bring the laptop so we can watch dvds, and are looking forward to watching all of season 2 of The Muppet Show.

It will be The Wiggles for me....................

 

[MinMouse]

Just a suggestion: Stay AWAY from exit 145 in North Carolina. It looks like it has some good lodging options....but they weren't. Even the Best Western looked a little run down, and the area was slightly..."seedy", IMHO. Best to stick with exit 120 in N.C. We learned the hard way....

That's a good caution, PILFERK. We do print out a copy of the exit information and mark "yuck" on exits that we don't want to visit again. I've so designated exit 45. Thanks!

 

[carissanboys]

Last time we drove down to Disney, we stayed on I4 and ran into traffic issues. I know you can hop on the toll road at some point and avoid all of that. Can someone tell me at what point we get on the toll road (sorry, I can't remember the route number)?

 

[2xDisneyDad]

We drive to Disney about twice a year from western New Jersey (about 15 miles east of Easton PA). Have usually taken I 95 or 476 for the majority of the way. I have been reading alot about the 81-77-25-95 route. Any suggestions if its worthwhile to try from NJ or the best route. Everytime I get near the beltway in DC I cringe..

Thanks,