Leaving MA in 12 Days!!! Any driving tips from here to there??

[It's A Happy Day]

We will be pulling out of here Worcester, MA area October 1st with me, dh, DD3, & DS4 for WDW!!!! Anyone who has made the trek recently - anything we should watch out for - advice as to which way is best. I have a triptik for both the 84 route and the 95 route - not sure which way will be better. We are doing the overnight trek so that hopefully the kids will sleep at least 1/2 the trip and will be stopping during the day so the kids can let off some much needed steam and energy. But other than really eating, potty breaks, gas stops we will be driving straight through unless too tired to be safe. This will be our 1st long distance trip so any help would be great!!!

12 days left!!!!!!

 

[QT Pooh]

If you go the 95 route and do the beltway around Washington, make sure you check on the highway dept. website (each state should have one). I know there's ongoing construction on the capital beltway though. It'll probably be less stressful to take the 84 route cause you'll cut out the cross-Bronx expressway and Baltimore/Washington (and a lot of tolls!).

Have a great trip and drive carefully!

 

[Alicnwondrln]

we drove straight thru a couple years ago
we left at 1am and by 8pm that night we were in florida
it was great we just hung out the next day at the pool and let DH recharge and then we were all set
we will drive again

 

[bballdiva]

I give you alot of credit for driving i just dont think i could ever do it. Me and bf were thinking bout it for like 10 minutes than changed our minds. I could never sit in the car that long,i would drive him and Myself nuts. I also think we got our plane tickets cheaper than the price to drive with the gas prices this time an all. I wish you the very best of luck. Drive safely and dont forget those seatbelts!!

 

[goofy4tink]

My ds just made the drive to Tampa about 3 weeks ago. He took 95 all the way. He did do the trip in 3 days though. He drove about 8 hrs a day since he was by himself and he had no time constraints. He left here, just east of Worcester, at about 3:45 a.m. He missed the heavy traffic in NYC, and didn't hit much on the Beltway. He called me from the road and wanted to know where all the traffic was!! This was on a Thursday morning. He didn't say if he hit any major construction areas though. He stopped in mid-Virginia the first day, then just below Savannah the next day and then drove through to Tampa the third day...stopping of course to take WDW signage photos for his lunatic mom!!! Safe trip to you!!!

 

[kerry34]

We went this past April and pretty much followed the triptik. From the pike to 84. Avoided NYC and went over the TappanZee Bridge and onto 95 in Jersey. The only thing we didnt do was go around Jacksonville Fl. We got there before rush hour on a weekday and managed to get right through. The triptik advised to go 295 instead. I guess this is a good idea during very heavy traffic times. Every time we have driven down I think there has been construction on the Beltway in DC. At least that is how it seems. Depending on the time of day you get there it can get very congested. We lucked out on the last trip down and got through relatively easily. Of course if you decide to avoid 95 entirely and go the other route all the way into Virginia you will miss all that. We took the alternate route many years ago and at that time there were long stretches of road where there was nothing for miles and I dont like that idea. Most people like avoiding 95 but I prefer it because i know that route well at this point. Having the Fastpass for the tolls also helps so much. Enjoy your trip!!!

 

[Densgirl]

We did the trip 3 times in the past few years. We live just under Boston. I think one great thing is to drive the majority of it through the middle of the night. You definitely save time in areas like Hartford, NY, NJ etc. We usually stop once during the drive though. Somewhere between SC and GA. Last trip my brother brought a DVD player and video games and DS was so quiet back there my DH asked for a pulse check. Wireless headphones + Gamecube=quite the pleasant drive. It is a really pretty drive. We did 95 all the way down and didn't hit very much traffic at all. Have a great trip.