HHI experts and Saturday traffic

[queendarvet]

For all you HHI experts, how is the traffic coming into the island on a Saturday, end of June? I know how bad it can be coming into Outer Banks. I am trying to plan when to leave (we live around 12-13 hours away). I hate to sit in bumper to bumper traffic for hours after driving that far. Are there any good times for arrival?

 

[Anal Annie]

We have only gone once...last August. We live in the DC suburbs & it was mapquested to about a 10 hour drive. We left on Friday evening around 7:30-8:00. Reserved a room at a Hampton Inn between Richmond & the NC line...traffic on 95 South was a BEAR!! Took 'till almost midnight to get there. BUT on Saturday morning we got up, hit the breakfast bar & was on the road again between 7:30-8:00. I did not notice traffic to be anywhere near as bad on Saturday as it was on Friday night. We had no major delays. We stopped only for lunch & gas & got there around 3:00ish. If you do it in one shot get up & leave early, early so you can be south of DC before people get up & get moving & clog up 95!! Once you get past Richmond I think it's OK.

 

[MinnieGi]

We have gone 3 years in the late June timeframe and always come in on a Saturday. We live in northern DE so it is around a 12 hour drive that we do in one shot. We usually leave around 4:00 to 4:30 am to avoid the DC/NOVA traffic that can be a major backup on a summer Sat. Anyway the good news is that once you are off I-95 the ride into HHI is usually around 30 minutes, however it can take longer and this past trip it took us 60 minutes to do that same 30 minute drive. However we had made awesome time and drove down in 10.5 hours so even with the hour onto the island it was still at under 12 hours.

We actually always stay our first night at the Hampton Inn on the island and then wake up the next day and check in to the resort. Our room is usually not ready but the beach and pool are!!

 

[btwiceborn]

I live in South Carolina and have friends that live in a condo that is just across the highway from Disney's HHI resort. We go most every year in late june or early July. The road that goes from I-95 on in to the resort area is usually packed on saturday afternoons. I live about 2 hours away from their place on a weekday, but on saturday afternoons in summer it is closer to 2hr 45min or 3 hours.

 

[Judique]

For all you HHI experts, how is the traffic coming into the island on a Saturday, end of June? I know how bad it can be coming into Outer Banks. I am trying to plan when to leave (we live around 12-13 hours away). I hate to sit in bumper to bumper traffic for hours after driving that far. Are there any good times for arrival?

Hilton Head Island is full of timeshares and switchover is usually Fridays and Saturdays.

Saturday the end of June is the week before July 4th. It's great beach weather there so it will be busy. If you get there between noon and 5-6, you will probably have some backup.

When traffic is clear it is easily 30 minutes in from 95 on 278. Stoplights and slower speed zones,etc, plus the police sit along there waiting to give tickets.

That time of day you could be looking at 45 min to an hour and there is no other way to drive onto the island. So, the earlier you arrive the better off you are, as well as for getting your room. My experience with arriving at a full HHR is ADA room, 2nd floor next to Lodge, every time! (When I arrive laterthen 4ish.) But -usually I'm doing a studio or 1 bedroom and those are mostly in the lodge. You have a 2 bedroom and they are mostly not ADA unless you get it as a lockoff in the lodge.

 

[queendarvet]

Thank you everyone for your replies! The traffic doesn't sound too bad. We probably will be arriving around 2:00, so another hour isn't bad at all. It's much better than what we experienced getting onto the Outer Banks last August. That trip resulted in an additional 3.5 hours of traffic!