For those folks driving!

[fmawyer]

For those coming from the north on I-81 once you enter Virginia .A quicker route instead of taking 81 all the way to I-64 then coming across to I-95.I would suggest taking I-81 to I-66 which you'll run into just south of Winchester,VA.Follow I-66 to route 17 which will take you to I-95 at the 133 exit.Once on 95 your less than an hour from Richmond,Va.If your looking for somewhere to stop for the night exit 61/route 10 chester/hopewell.Or colonial heights I cant remember exit# but the sign says temple ave.Go to the mall complex theres plenty to eat and a Hilton buy circuit city.These are all safe areas to stay

 

[Captain Hook]

Has anyone stayed at the Hampton Inn off I95 in Lumberton NC ? My family and I will be driving to HH and want to stop one night. I have not booked yet. $113.00 a night. thanks for any help

Try the FFLD INN, we just came back and at $85 a night you cant beat it. Great clean room and breakfast in the AM.

 

[cruisinpan55]

Has anyone stayed at the Hampton Inn off I95 in Lumberton NC ? My family and I will be driving to HH and want to stop one night. I have not booked yet. $113.00 a night. thanks for any help

We have stayed at many Hampton Inns on 95. We like those best and have not had a bad stay at any of them. I believe we stayed there once. Should be fine. Good luck on your trip.

 

[aloha96743]

Am not certain if this is somewhere in these 75 pages. Does anyone have a preference taking the toll road or I95? Besides not having to pay the toll, is there another reason, we should take I95? Is there a certain time we should leave by for any reason? Flying into Miami on Tuesday and will be traveling to WDW on a Wednesday then leaving on Saturday back to Miami to jump on a cruise to the Caribbean. Sounds like an amazingly exhausting schedule but since we are on the East Coast, thought we might as well do everything this one time.

 

[Ham Ham]

I-95 can be a mess all the way up to West Palm Beach from Miami.
The Florida Turnpike is more direct from Fort Pierce to WDW.
Never done the drive myself so you check out a map and hopefully folks who've done the drive will post.

 

[aloha96743]

Thanks Ham Ham! Hopefully others will post. Appreciate your information

 

[dogodisney]

Okay we are back and have our fuel totals. It was actually better than we anticipated.

$ 834.53 Fuel
8.66MPG
$ 3.24 Avg PPG
2232 Total Miles
257.651 Total Gallons

We had a very smooth drive both ways and excellent weather. The only traffic we hit (which was AWFUL) was in Atlanta. Holy crap! It took us 2.5 hours to go 50 miles. Yes, I was ready to kill someone. Next trip down we will plan to hit the Atlanta area at night. They are doing construction and it is a nightmare. If you are heading down and need to go thru the Atlanta area, I highly suggest finding an alternate. Even on the way down it took us an hour to get thru and that was mid-day. Happy driving!!

To avoid traffic it is best to drive through Atlanta at night after 8 pm or early morning before 5. But these times also depend on if there are any events taking place.
Constuction is usually done at night or on weekends . There is too much traffic during the weekdays to do it.
It is best to check http://www.georgia-navigator.com/ before you leave on you trip.
This site is good for anyone travelling through Georgia.

 

[mafibisha]

Anyone with any advice about avoiding the VA tunnel on I77 that always has one lane closed? The one going into WV? Sometimes its backed up for miles. Whenever we go that way - for any trip - its ALWAYS awful.

Advice from any locals, or anyone in the know?

TIA soo much.

 

[thomasclan85]

I am leaving next weekend for disney from Chesapeake VA, and it will take us at least 13 hours to get there. There is really no part of VA that will allow you to get to Disney in 10 hours. At least I don't think so. Hope that helps,

You're right. We live just about as close to the Virginia/North Carolina border as you can get (12 miles) and we drove in May 2005 and it took us a little about 12 hours to drive straight through (with bathroom breaks). We took naps before leaving though so we didn't get tired. I'm a night person so driving late nights works great for me. After picking up a van from Budget at RDU, we stayed on I 95-south until we got to Florida.

 

[JonS99]

How has Atlanta area traffic been on the weekends because of the construction? We are heading down in a few weeks, will be hitting Atlanta after lunch on a Saturday..

 

[gw_lit]

Has anyone here driven from Little Rock--or Arkansas in general? I'd love to get some tips before I begin planning.
We'll probably drive most of the way and leave a 4 or 5 hour drive for the second travel day.
What's your favorite route? What's your total drive time? Favorite stops?

Hi Arkansas Mom!

We're driving down to WDW from Little Rock at the end of May. I'm still trying to figure out the best route too. I know we'll go to Memphis, take US 78 down to Birmingham, but after that I'm unsure. Some have told me to continue on US 280 through Alabama into Georgia (GA520) and then meet up with I75 at Tifton, GA. Or take US 280 through Alabama, get GA96 at Columbus, Georgia and then take that over to I75 north of Perry, GA. Or just take I20 east out of Birmingham to Atlanta, take I285 around Atlanta and then head south on I75.

Of course, I've also had people tell me to wiggle down like you're going to the Redneck Riviera, get on I10 around Mobile and take that east to I75.

Heck, every online mapping program shows different "best" routes and different times for even the same route. So I'm really not sure which way we're going. All I know is we have the Hampton Inn reserved in Perry, GA, leaving us about 5 hours driving to WDW the second day!

 

[backinoz]

We're driving from WDW to Beech Mtn NC to spend Christmas with family, leaving WDW around 7pm on the 23 Dec, and only want to drive for a couple of hours before stopping for the night.

Where should we stop? Any particular hotel/motel you'd reccommend (or wouldn't)?

We don't want to go far off the I95, as will just get up and go the next morning to finish the trip.

Are we going to need to book in advance being so close to Christmas, or can we just 'wing it' and stop whenever?

We only fly into Orlando 24 hours earlier (after 26+ hours on and off planes from Australia) - which is why we think we'll only be up for a couple of hours driving on the 23rd.

Thanks!

 

[Opie Juan Cannoli]

bump

 

[Opie Juan Cannoli]

bump

 

[MinMouse]

We're driving from WDW to Beech Mtn NC to spend Christmas with family, leaving WDW around 7pm on the 23 Dec, and only want to drive for a couple of hours before stopping for the night.

Where should we stop? Any particular hotel/motel you'd reccommend (or wouldn't)?

We don't want to go far off the I95, as will just get up and go the next morning to finish the trip.

Are we going to need to book in advance being so close to Christmas, or can we just 'wing it' and stop whenever?

We only fly into Orlando 24 hours earlier (after 26+ hours on and off planes from Australia) - which is why we think we'll only be up for a couple of hours driving on the 23rd.

Thanks!

We have stayed at Wingate Inn (on Lenoir Avenue) in Jacksonville, Fl several times on our way to WDW. It's a nice hotel with a free continental breakfast in the a.m. It's off exit 344 of I-95 (probably about 3 1/2 hours from WDW). I would definitely make plans early. We traveled home on the 22nd and found it a challenge to find a place to stay. Traffic is also very heavy headed north.

 

[PoohBuddy]

Pilferk, I saw where you posted to avoid Exit 145 for stopping. Is that just for sleeping or all stops. We were thnking about stopping at the Denny's there for breakfast on a Saturday morning for our trip. Thanks.

 

[pilferk]

Pilferk, I saw where you posted to avoid Exit 145 for stopping. Is that just for sleeping or all stops. We were thnking about stopping at the Denny's there for breakfast on a Saturday morning for our trip. Thanks.

145 in North Carolina....

DEFINITELY for sleeping, but I'd say for just about anything, if you have better options.

It's not quite "seedy". But it's close enough that I wouldn't want to stop there. Everything is pretty run down, and both the Denny's and the Waffle House had seen better days.

We elected to go north (we were heading home) about 30 miles, to exit 173, for breakfast. There was a REALLY good selection there, including a Cracker Barrel, a Shoney's, and a Waffle House....all looked in VERY good shape from the outside. The Cracker Barrel was pristine, on the inside, as well.

If you're dead set on Denny's, there's one off of 121 that is much newer, nicer, and in a better area.

 

[PoohBuddy]

Thanks for the help.

 

[backinoz]

We have stayed at Wingate Inn (on Lenoir Avenue) in Jacksonville, Fl several times on our way to WDW. It's a nice hotel with a free continental breakfast in the a.m. It's off exit 344 of I-95 (probably about 3 1/2 hours from WDW). I would definitely make plans early. We traveled home on the 22nd and found it a challenge to find a place to stay. Traffic is also very heavy headed north.

Thanks MinMouse, it's a bit further out that I'd like but at least it's one confirmed option - much appreiated.

Anyone have suggestions for something closer to WDW?

Cheers.

 

[MinMouse]

Thanks MinMouse, it's a bit further out that I'd like but at least it's one confirmed option - much appreiated.

Anyone have suggestions for something closer to WDW?

Cheers.

I wasn't sure how far you wanted to travel. We also have stayed in Lake Mary, Fl (about 45 minutes from WDW) in a LaQuinta. It's off exit 98 of I-4. It also has a nice continental breakfast. That would be a much closer option.