How long does it really take from NJ?

[smkiya]

For those who drove straight through... How long did it take? We'll be leaving from South Jersey, near Philadelphia on Sunday night at about 9pm. I wanted to get an idea of about how long it would take. Also, when you drive overnight how often do you stop? TIA

 

[mom2of2]

I drive to/from Hunterdon County and it takes me 16 hours. I stop to get gas and hit the bathroom. I don't like to prolong the agony..i just wanna get there

 

[areno79]

From that area it took us about 17 hours, and that was with a bathroom/stretch break every couple of hours, and a lunch break of about 45 minutes.

FWIW, our total trip from NH was 24 hours...I would never drive straight through again. The 1am-4am hours were the hardest (especially with everyone else in the car sleeping), and we were exhausted before we even got to WDW. However, splitting the trip into 2 days wasn't too bad.

Have a safe trip!

 

[smkiya]

Thanks for the replies. With a 4 month old and 5 year old, I thought it would be best to do this during sleeping hours. DD5 will go to the bathroom before we leave at 9pm, and shes usually good until 8 or 9am, provided she doesn't drink anything later than that. She'll be sooo excited, she probably won't fall asleep until about 10 or 11p. We'll take the baby out to eat and get changed and massage when we stop for gas. I think they'll be reaaly restless if most of our travel is when they're awake, so thats why we're going straight through the night. Dh has 1st shift, I'll nap and take over at first gas stop ~ 2am, then he'll nap until about 7 or 8am, we'll stop for breakfast and gas and continue til we get there. We'll hang out at the house when we get there, unpack, pick up a couple things from Wal-mart, do takeout for dinner, and bed by 8pm. We want to get there by 1 or 2pm. Do you think we can do it?

 

[budzync]

Its doable closer to the 2pm arrival time. Its also nice that you share the driving. When we drive its just me driving. Talk about a loooong trip.

 

[pjm-guy]

I have an uncle that does it in about 17 hours from the Norristown/Valley Forge PA area.......

 

[NJFireman22]

We having been driving up and down the "Big Road" ( I 95 ) since our kids were babys. Well over 25 times. Our average time driving southbound is 17 hours, Northbound for some reason is a lot quicker 16 hours. These times are from the Vineland area. I usually stay 7-8 mph over the limit and never have any problems.

 

[viluvsdisney]

I drive to/from Hunterdon County and it takes me 16 hours. I stop to get gas and hit the bathroom. I don't like to prolong the agony..i just wanna get there

Hi mom20f2....I'm originally from Sergeantsville...nice to see another Hunterdon County gal on here

 

[sticker231]

we are leaving tonight for our journey down. Last time we drove it took 16.5 with several bathroom breaks for the kids. We also leave at night so they get some sleep and we get some quiet time also.

 

[DVCisME]

We drove in Feb. with a 2 year old and 4 year old. We left at 2 in the morning and were that at 10. We live aroung LBI. We did stop for bathroom breaks, gas, and once to eat. The kids were really great in the car.
We will be doing the trip again in 10 days, with our one son potty training.

 

[RustManFan]

600 Miles straight through is about my limit. I like to drive as far as Virginia and hop on the Auto Train and let Amtrak take me the rest of the way to Florida!

 

[ncc1701]

It took us about 17 hours also.A lot can depend on construction on I95.
When we drove the other times we left around 5:00am and stopped for the night about less than a hour from Georgia and then got up left the next morning by 6:00am.This got us to WDW for lunch. If you do decide to stop I suggest reservations.I know people who planned to stop but had to drive thru because they couldn't find a room.Have a great trip

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

In June we left Delaware (near the border with Maryland on I95) at 3:30am. We pulled into the parking lot of the Downtown Disney Doubletree at 7pm.

We stopped every few hours for 15 or so minutes. We took a long 45min lunch break at a rest stop in S. Carolina. We hit construction traffic in Georgia and a HORRIBLE HORRIBLE thunderstorm outside of Orlando that slowed traffic to 20mph (I was driving then and there was no way to get to a safe shoulder to wait it out).

 

[ty_n_cy]

We live in Morris County, and when we drove in May this past year... we left here at about 6:00 pm and drove straight through.

Got to Dillon, SC (South of the Border) at about 2:00 am and switched out... my wife drove, I rested... and then got to Savannah, GA at about 7:00 am and switched again. Pulled into the CBR lot about noon that day.

All total, with stops for gas and a bunch of rain to deal with from Jacksonville to Delray Beach... it took us just about 18 hours.

Our kids are 9, 3 and 2. Leaving at night allowed them to sleep their normal hours. We didn't do much that first day... hit DTD and then back to the resort to sleep... but the drive wasn't overly bad, really.

Have a fun, safe trip!

 

[bookwormde]

If you are near the bridge and use the 10+ maximum speed rule, it takes about 15hrs with the overnight advantage and kids. For further into SJ you have to add travel time to the bridge.

bookwormde

 

[waltskids]

We live in South Jersey (Gloucester County) and before kids we were able to do the drive in 15 hours depending on traffic. We have actually made it to the Florida border in 13 hours. We always drove straight down and usually left overnight or about 3am and this worked great for us. We are doing our first drive with the kids this Christmas and we know we won't make as great of time, but still plan to drive overnight while they are sleeping. DS has been potty trained for while and has been on drives of about 4 hours without needing to stop, but I know he will need to stop more often than we do. Of course, we average 7-10 miles over the speed limit, but I am sure that won't be the case this time.

 

[GranddadTom]

One extra piece of advise - you will always be able to find a gas station open 24 hours a day but finding a restroom in the middle of the night can be a little more of a problem. Many of the stations in the south keep the pumps on for credit card purchases but no one is there and the restrooms are not open. When we drive through the night we always stop at the welcome centers at the beginning of each state (these are even open in Virginia). When I drive through the night I always plan a very, very easy day for the first day because the drive wipes me out.