Help! Driving NJ to WDW via Rt 81

[i_love_stitch]

We usually drive from NJ to WDW taking the usual I-95. This year we are really considering taking Route 81 down instead. Does anyone have suggestions about where to spend the night? I don't know any of the towns along the way. Any help would be appreciated! There are six of us, so finding hotels can be difficult with all the facts!

 

[smbowtie]

I would be curious, where you plan to pick up 81 and get off of it.

TIA

 

[dvczerfs]

We usually drive from NJ to WDW taking the usual I-95. This year we are really considering taking Route 81 down instead. Does anyone have suggestions about where to spend the night? I don't know any of the towns along the way. Any help would be appreciated! There are six of us, so finding hotels can be difficult with all the facts!

I can help you out. where are you picking up 81? are you coming across on i78?

 

[dvczerfs]

I can help you out. where are you picking up 81? are you coming across on i78?

also, how long do you want to drive your first day? and if you can give me an idea where in nj are you coming from. if its easier, you can pm me, its up to you.

 

[dvczerfs]

I would be curious, where you plan to pick up 81 and get off of it.

TIA

the most popular way is i81/i77/i26/i95

 

[i_love_stitch]

the most popular way is i81/i77/i26/i95

This would be the route that we are considering. We would be taking I-78 to I-81 first. We just seem to waste hours in traffic on I-95 all the way thru DC. We would welcome any insight you might have to offer.

 

[dvczerfs]

This would be the route that we are considering. We would be taking I-78 to I-81 first. We just seem to waste hours in traffic on I-95 all the way thru DC. We would welcome any insight you might have to offer.

I live near the pa, nj boarder near i78. pending on time of day, time of year and how much you stop will determine where you will be. assuming you only stop every 3 hours or so for a few minutes and gas stops, driving a bit over the speed limit you will hit the va boarder in about three hours. you will hit char. nc in about seven hours. again, you hit Harrisburg pa at rush hour it will take longer. just becarefull once you get past i66 on i81, the population starts to thin out. its not as populated as i95. there is not a hotel on every street corner.if i stop over night, i use Hampton inns.i can make it from my house to okw in 16 hours including rest and gas stops.
you can check out "for 2000 + mile drivers " thread here in the transportation section and there are a lot of post about this route.i also posted a point to point mile and time breakdown of the entire route on this thread.

 

[dvczerfs]

I live near the pa, nj boarder near i78. pending on time of day, time of year and how much you stop will determine where you will be. assuming you only stop every 3 hours or so for a few minutes and gas stops, driving a bit over the speed limit you will hit the va boarder in about three hours. you will hit char. nc in about seven hours. again, you hit Harrisburg pa at rush hour it will take longer. just becarefull once you get past i66 on i81, the population starts to thin out. its not as populated as i95. there is not a hotel on every street corner.if i stop over night, i use Hampton inns.i can make it from my house to okw in 16 hours including rest and gas stops.
you can check out "for 2000 + mile drivers " thread here in the transportation section and there are a lot of post about this route.

avoid Harrisburg pa and char. nc rush hours. Harrisburg is near Hershey park if you have driven out there to give you an idea of driving time.

 

[i_love_stitch]

I appreciate all the helpful hints. We are up in NWNJ, so probably about an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half further than you are. I am going to jump over to the 2000+ mile thread to see what else I can learn. Thanks again!

 

[dvczerfs]

I appreciate all the helpful hints. We are up in NWNJ, so probably about an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half further than you are. I am going to jump over to the 2000+ mile thread to see what else I can learn. Thanks again!

pending on where you are, if you are closer to i80, take i80 to rt33 to i78. a lot of people take that route also to get to i78. you can also just take i80 to i81 but it is a lot longer of a drive

 

[shafke]

Where you stop depends on the time of day you plan to leave home.
When driving down we like to have a little drive time left the 2nd day as we can.
I would shoot for Savannah, GA as a stopping point.
If it looks like you will hit Charlotte, NC at rush hour that would be a perfect time to stop for dinner.

 

[Robert P]

Would be glad to help with more info, but as others have said, need more data on your starting point and departure time. Not trying to be difficult or start a debate with anyone else's input, but it depends largely on your driving style as well. For example, from the PA/NJ line on 78, taking the 78/81/77 route, it's 543 miles to Statesville, NC (which is roughly 35 miles short of Charlotte). That can be a 6.5 hour drive, or a 9 hour drive, depending on time of day, number of stops, and speed limit 'tolerance'.

 

[MulanMom]

We took the route you are looking at last summer. A few tidits I can add...

1) I live in the western end of the Lehigh Valley. I78 westbound around route 100 routinely jams with traffic on a Friday afternoon.

2) Rush hour going through Harrisburg can seriously slow you down as well

3) Not sure how long you want to drive before you stop, but we used to stay along I81 around the Stanton VA area when we traveled to see family.

4) A big surprise last year was the amount of traffic we encountered on a Saturday on I77 and I26. I26 was a moving parking lot between Columbia SC and I95. I'm assuming it was because people were going to the beach. I took a back road from Orangeburg to I95 to avoid some of it, and traffic on I95 was fine.

Good luck with your trip planning. Safe travels!