For those folks driving!

[tina.tina]

FLORESKA: FYI- You will be hitting Charlotte, NC (on the border of SC) at rush hour which can cause slow/stopped traffic on I77.

 

[tina.tina]

Does anyone know anything about the Florida Welcome Center at Jacksonville in Florida? Phone number? Hours of operation, oj distribution? Is it just beside I95?

 

[cuppiecakebows]

CUPCAKEBOWS: If you are going 77 through West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, you will be in the mountains in all 3 states. South of Charleston, WV through mid??? North Carolina, is ALL mountainous and you'll go through 2 tunnels under mountains. Fancy Gap Mtn at the border of VA/NC has gorgeous views if you're there when it's not foggy! Beware of fog. There was a huge pileup (due to ice) and truckers tend to go faster because they're used to the area.

Thanks tina.tina. I'm thinking it might be better if we just add an hour or so to our trip and go 1-75. We are familiar with it and from what you just told me it will be easier on my nerves, lol.

 

[NixiePixie]

We are driving from Northeastern Indiana. We are taking I-75 most of the way. We are thinking about stopping somewhere in Georgia for the night. We were thinking at the Holiday Inn in Valdosta. Has anyone stayed here before? Is this a good place to stop on the way? Where do the I75ers normally stop?

 

[Taylor'sMom]

I posted thsi in the 2,000+ miles thread too, but figured I'd post ehre as well, in case different people can provide suggestions:

We (DH, 7-yr-old DD and myself) are driving from the Albany, NY area to Orlando in mid-April. We plan on leaving the Albany area around 5pm on a Friday and driving straight through, only stopping for gas and bathroom breaks. We’re hoping this will get us into Orlando by 1pm. We are annual Orlando visitors but this will be our family’s first time driving (EEK!). I have 2 questions, but would welcome any other comments as well.
1. I’ve read many different suggestions for travelling south, but I was hoping someone from the Upstate NY area could give their 2 cents. Should we stick to I-95 as early and as long as possible, or do we need to avoid certain metropolitan areas? Given that we’re leaving at 5pm, I was hoping we’d avoid traffic for much of the trip.
2. The only big meal we need to stop for is breakfast. Given our timeframe, where is it likely we’ll be around 8-9am? Any suggestions for a place to eat? Nothing fancy, but decent food and a place to sit for a bit.
Thanks in advance!

 

[garryhman]

Airfare is too outrageous for our family of 5 to fly so we are driving. We are going on 3/10. We've never driven this route 77 to 95. We drove 13 yrs ago from Lima, Ohio taking 75. Has anyone ever driven from the Cleveland area? What time should we leave to make it the best for the kids ages 4, 8, & 15? My husband wants to drive the whole way through. I'm not sure I want to keep the kids in the car that long and I hate to drive on highways. I will do it but I hate it. I just don't want us to drive the whole way through and then be exhausted the next day. If we would stop to rest, sleep and let the kids out of the van where should we stop? Are we going to end up in some mountains? My mom said something about mountains in one of the carolinas, I can't remember which or even if that's right, lol. I'm nervous if you can't tell. This will be our two youngest children's first trip to disney and I really want to make it fun and not miserable and stressful for us as well. HELP!!!

I live in the Athens area and we went via 77 to 95 a couple years ago. We left on a Friday. I took off work early that day, went home and got some sleep (about 3-4 hours). We had packed the car on Thursday except for a few things. My wife made dinner, we ate (around 6:30pm), packed that last few things and hit the road. My 17 year old niece joined us on the trip. She and my daughter watched movies until about 9:30 or so and then my daughter (4 1/2 at the time) dosed off. By 11:30 I was the only one awake. I drove all night. I think we had 3 stops along the way to stretch legs an potty. We stopped at Daytona Beach (Saturday 10:30 or so) so the girls could play for a bit, and then went the rest of the way to Orlando. We checked in around 2pm at an off site hotel. I went to sleep, wife ordered pizza, kids went to the pool. Checked out the next day and checked into Boardwalk Villas.

We are going again here in a couple months. Here is a list of the things I will change:
1. Taking the whole day off Friday, not just 1/2 of a day
2. My wife will drive for the start, when she is tired of driving, I will take over.
3. Rather than my 17 year old niece, we are taking a friends child with us who is about the same age as our daughter. Because of this, we are planning for more kids stuff for the car for entertainment.

The night driving is a must for me. I am incapable of handling "Are we there yet?" or "How much longer?" for too long. If I drive all night, the kids will sleep for the largest part of the trip and I can just drive. I also need that next day to recover from the driving so a hotel stop is a must for the night before we go to a park.

I hope this helped! Have fun.

 

[DisneyConvert]

With only 3 of us, there weren't many cost savings . . . mileage/gas/tolls + days on road (hotel and meals) vs. airfare / airport expenses + rental car in FL . .. worked out about the same. I drove it all, but my wife provides great support (using Google Maps on our cell phone to check traffic and alternate routes) and our only long stretch was Savannah back to NJ in one 13 hour day.
.
Biggest "savings" was that we substituted 3 days at WDW for 3 days on the road. But I wanted my family to see Savannah (one of my favorite cities) and we thought we wanted to see Richmond (we didn't). It was kind of neat to see my old reliable '97 Subaru parked outside POFQ each morning!
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From Central NJ to Washington, or say Northern VA, can be a 4 hr "jaunt" at 70mph or it can be painfully, excruciatingly tedious (northbound DE toll has been hell for the past year). Traffic isn't always easy to predict, but I'd avoid Fri and Sunday evenings! Over the past 15 years, it is my opinion that the "traffic zone" now extends down to the 295-95 "split" just north of Richmond . . . south of there, driving is much easier and the Waffle Houses beckon!
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Only exception was the stretch between Daytona Beach and Sanford FL, which can be dicey depending on the time of week/day.
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I have lots of opinions about 95-295-NJTpke through NJ-Philly and ways through/around DC, but I doubt I know more than a $69 GPS. PM me if you need "advice" or more thoughts.

 

[pilferk]

Looks like we're driving in October, 2011. There will be 4 adults and 3 kids. This is the first time we've driven with that many people before...currently looking at renting a larger vehicle (probably a Yukon XL or large Chevy Suburban) to make the drive.

Plan is to be on the road by 4 AM. Bringing "supplies" (food, drinks, etc) with us so the only stops will be bathroom and gas breaks. Hoping to make it to Florida (from NW CT) before the date changes.

 

[jacdolfin]

We are also driving. We will leave from Laredo, Texas in December for a DisneyWorld Christmas suprise for the kids. I was hoping to find cheap airfare but with gas prices going up dont think that will happen, but anything is possible . Jetblue/SW/Allegiant might stil come thru but if not its ok. We have flown and driven before. Leaving when kids get out of school for Christmas and driving 21 hours nonstop except for potty breaks and food. Looking fwd to the World.

 

[crazyredhead]

We are driving for the first time also. We are in Southern NH and we are traveling Easter weekend (ugh, just realized today that this means holiday traffic). The plan at the moment is to leave NH at 6pm and drive to my sisters house in Hartford CT. It will likely take 3 hours on the Mass Pike due to holiday traffic. We will spend the night there and leave there at 3 or 4AM. We will do the bulk of our driving on Saturday. I would like to get to at least Savannah before stopping for the night. We will finish the drive on Easter Sunday and hopefully to our rental home around lunch time.

Do this sound like a good plan?

 

[disneylovin24]

I posted thsi in the 2,000+ miles thread too, but figured I'd post ehre as well, in case different people can provide suggestions:

We (DH, 7-yr-old DD and myself) are driving from the Albany, NY area to Orlando in mid-April. We plan on leaving the Albany area around 5pm on a Friday and driving straight through, only stopping for gas and bathroom breaks. We’re hoping this will get us into Orlando by 1pm. We are annual Orlando visitors but this will be our family’s first time driving (EEK!). I have 2 questions, but would welcome any other comments as well.
1. I’ve read many different suggestions for travelling south, but I was hoping someone from the Upstate NY area could give their 2 cents. Should we stick to I-95 as early and as long as possible, or do we need to avoid certain metropolitan areas? Given that we’re leaving at 5pm, I was hoping we’d avoid traffic for much of the trip.
2. The only big meal we need to stop for is breakfast. Given our timeframe, where is it likely we’ll be around 8-9am? Any suggestions for a place to eat? Nothing fancy, but decent food and a place to sit for a bit.
Thanks in advance!

1) I am not from upstate but can throw a few things out there. On 95 the major cities pretty much stop after Richmond but even Richmond can be avoided easily along with DC, even though we have always found that no matter which way you go around DC you will find traffic. I think you should be fien on 95 considering when you are leaving. I can not offer any suggestions on when to get on it though, but I think I think you should be fine whereever. The best option is probably whereever it is most direct for you.

2) Cracker Barrels are really great! They are all over the place so whereever you are you will probably find one. The food is good and the country stores are so cute!

 

[nesquik]

Thanks for all the information... The drive is not far for us but i have friends who take the long drive down

 

[disneylovin24]

We are driving for the first time also. We are in Southern NH and we are traveling Easter weekend (ugh, just realized today that this means holiday traffic). The plan at the moment is to leave NH at 6pm and drive to my sisters house in Hartford CT. It will likely take 3 hours on the Mass Pike due to holiday traffic. We will spend the night there and leave there at 3 or 4AM. We will do the bulk of our driving on Saturday. I would like to get to at least Savannah before stopping for the night. We will finish the drive on Easter Sunday and hopefully to our rental home around lunch time.

Do this sound like a good plan?

We used to leave from about 1 hour south of Hartford at 4 am and got to Savannah around 8 that night. I think that is the best way to do the trip because you get a lot of driving done the first day but are barely driving at night and the second day you are 6 hours from Disney if that! We would usually leave Savannah around 8 in the morning and usually got to Disney between 1 and 2. So, I think it sounds like a good plan. I don't know too much about day before easter traffic but I know that once you get south of DC you really should not experience traffic. Richmond is the only major city on 95 south of there, but it can be easily avoided and besides that you should expereince no problems in the Carolinas.

 

[floreksa]

We were originally planning on leaving around 3am from W.MA going around the NY-DC corridor. Now DH is talking about maybe leaving at 9pm and driving through the night. Any tips on night driving? I've never been a good night driver (not that I plan on driving anyway), but I'm a little nervous about it.

DH, years ago, did multiple 6 hour round trip to VT to pick up his friend - leaving at 9-10pm and getting back around 3-4am.

 

[pilferk]

We are driving for the first time also. We are in Southern NH and we are traveling Easter weekend (ugh, just realized today that this means holiday traffic). The plan at the moment is to leave NH at 6pm and drive to my sisters house in Hartford CT. It will likely take 3 hours on the Mass Pike due to holiday traffic. We will spend the night there and leave there at 3 or 4AM. We will do the bulk of our driving on Saturday. I would like to get to at least Savannah before stopping for the night. We will finish the drive on Easter Sunday and hopefully to our rental home around lunch time.

Do this sound like a good plan?

We're about an hour north and west of Hartford. It typically takes us about 18-20 hours of "on the road" time to get from home to Disney hotel.

Leaving early Saturday morning, you should be through NYC (assuming you're going to take 95 through NYC...we avoid that route) before most of the heavy holiday traffic starts.

DC, on the other hand, might be dicey. You'll be hitting it probably right around 11 AM (maybe just before). Usually weekends are manageable on the Beltway, but THAT weekend in DC is kinda nuts. There's a LOT of stuff that goes on for the holiday, like the White House egg hunt, etc, in and around DC. I've gone INTO DC the Saturday before Easter...and traffic was not fun.

 

[pilferk]

We were originally planning on leaving around 3am from W.MA going around the NY-DC corridor. Now DH is talking about maybe leaving at 9pm and driving through the night. Any tips on night driving? I've never been a good night driver (not that I plan on driving anyway), but I'm a little nervous about it.

DH, years ago, did multiple 6 hour round trip to VT to pick up his friend - leaving at 9-10pm and getting back around 3-4am.

I've left from northwestern CT at about 2 PM, end around NYC (via 84/684/287/Garden State Parkway, then BACK to 95), and hit DC just as the evening rush is finishing up. From Western MA, if you leave around 1 PM, you could probably do the same thing. Not AS much night time driving. If we go straight through, we make it to Florida (depending on the trip and the age of my kids....and their need for bathroom stops) sometime between 9 AM and noon. Alternately, we've stopped in Northern N.C. (exit 158 has good lodging options!) for the night....stopping just after 10 PM.

 

[Captain Hook]

Driving down in April from Fairfield County, hope to leave by 4am on Saturday. This way we make it through the NYC and DC traffic by 9am. Stop in Virginia for breakfast and stay over in Santee, SC. Should hit Santee by 5pm, if we fee up to it maybe push on into GA. Then we could be in Disney by 2pm Sunday

 

[RS123]

We're driving from Toronto to Florida, departing tomorrow, Sunday March 27 and would like to travel the I-77 and I-79 route for the first time. However, I've read some postings that caution avoiding the 77 & 79 route in bad weather, and instead using 1-75. A few weeks ago we used I-75 and the traffic was very bad most of the way. Apparently 77 & 79 is less travelled by trucks which would mean less traffic. We'd like to try the 77-79 route but the forecast is for precipitation in Virginia (snow I presume) for Sunday. Any tips or advice would be appreciated.

 

[mtsarnacki]

Regardless of route we have found it best to break for over night rather than driving straight thru.

 

[kidd_freeper]

I posted thsi in the 2,000+ miles thread too, but figured I'd post ehre as well, in case different people can provide suggestions:

We (DH, 7-yr-old DD and myself) are driving from the Albany, NY area to Orlando in mid-April. We plan on leaving the Albany area around 5pm on a Friday and driving straight through, only stopping for gas and bathroom breaks. We’re hoping this will get us into Orlando by 1pm. We are annual Orlando visitors but this will be our family’s first time driving (EEK!). I have 2 questions, but would welcome any other comments as well.
1. I’ve read many different suggestions for travelling south, but I was hoping someone from the Upstate NY area could give their 2 cents. Should we stick to I-95 as early and as long as possible, or do we need to avoid certain metropolitan areas? Given that we’re leaving at 5pm, I was hoping we’d avoid traffic for much of the trip. Sticking to I-95 is the best plan, but if you leave at 5pm you might hit the end of NYC rush hour.
2. The only big meal we need to stop for is breakfast. Given our timeframe, where is it likely we’ll be around 8-9am? Any suggestions for a place to eat? Nothing fancy, but decent food and a place to sit for a bit.
Thanks in advance!

We drove from Hartford (sort of close to Albany) to Jacksonville (straight through) last July 4 weekend, and we'll be doing it again this year.

1. If you leave at 5pm, your worst traffic will be in New York. You are probably familiar with NYC/Jersey rush hour traffic. Since you'll be in DC around 11:30 pm, you should be fine.

2. I'm not sure where you'll be at 8-9am. However, I strongly recommend that you invest in a GPS. I have a Garmin Nuvi 265T - and it has the locations of where restaurants are along the route (and the stuff along I-95 is pretty complete). It also will (most of the time) re-route you to avoid heavy traffic. If you have this, or a similar device, you can pick a place to eat on the fly.