Mass to WDW

[capecoddisneyfamily]

Where do most who make the drive stay? We have always flown and will be driving for the first time. I thought maybe NC? We will leave at 4am on a weekday

 

[cranbiz]

Tough time to leave, NYC at mid morning rush hour.

Your half way point is Roanoke Rapids NC. However, if you can go later in the evening you can make it to about halfway thru SC by 9pm or so. That should put you into Santee and there are many places to stay and you are that much closer.

 

[capecoddisneyfamily]

we are actually going to stay a few nights @ HHI first, we would like to get in as much driving the kids will allow the 1st day. What time would you leave, we do not want to drive through the night and would like to be at a hotel no later than 7pm on the first day. Thank you ( I do not eat seafood but we are under a few miles from the best chowder on the cape....so I am told)

 

[goofy4tink]

Oh, I don't know. My ds left central Mass, about 4:15am on a Thursday in early Sept a few years ago. He missed NYC traffic. In fact, he called me and asked where all that traffic I had told him about was. He barely slowed down. Pretty much the same thing happened when he got to DC. He may have just lucked out, but he didn't run into much traffic at all.
He did take 3 days to drive though. 8 hrs driving each day.
I think a lot of drivers from NE stop at Rocky Mt.

 

[cranbiz]

My experiences YMMV

4am puts you in NYC around 9am, now if you opt for the Tappan Zee route, you could be OK. From the Cape, (which is my experience) the Mass Pike to 86/84 is the long way around (I think Hartford could be a problem at that hour) so I feel its pretty much I95. You may miss (but I doubt it) the New Haven rush but I'm pretty sure you will hit the Stamford traffic. Your other issue could be DC as that will be early afternoon.

Those driving from Central MA, have some better options.

I understand the not driving at night but IMHO, its the best time to drive.

I normally would leave from Carver between 4-6pm (but that's me, the night owl), go thru NYC around 9pm, thru DC around 12-2am and around Richmond using 295 around 4-5am. Then its pretty mush clear sailing.

I would figure you to make Rocky Mt without driving real late if you leave at 4am

Its about 1400 miles from the Cape to WDW (1350 from Carver to Deltona) 675 miles to Roanoke Rapids, NC Which is the VA/NC border. 4 hours to go thru NC, 4 hours to go thru SC about 2 hours for GA and about 3 hours to WDW. My joke is welcome to Florida, you now have only 3 hours to go.

These times are rough estimates. I can and have done it in less. Now also be aware of the new super speeder law in GA. Now I'm not saying that you will run I95 at 85mph, just adding a word of caution. I normally will drive about 5-8 mph over which in many places won't keep up with traffic.

Bring me some real Cape Cod clam chowder, please. The crap they serve at Cape May Cafe sucks.

 

[goofy4tink]

5 hours to NYC??? It only takes us 3 1/2, maybe a tad more. And that's from Westborough right into Manhattan.
If I could figuire out a way to get you good chowder, I would. But, I would have to stuff it into many 3 oz bottles...how funny would that look??

 

[capecoddisneyfamily]

thank you for the time and driving tips, if you think it will stay good for 5 days in a cooler we can bring some from Capt. Parkers. Friends have drove before and all have gone the tappen Zee and found this route better

 

[francie57]

Definitely take the Tappan Zee route. Coming from the Cape you could go the Mass Pike to the Sturbridge Exite (Route 84). Take 84 all the way through CT into NY then take 684 to 287 over the Tappan Zee and then take the Garden State Parkway to the Jersey Turnpike. If you need to come down 95 I would consider exiting to the Merritt Parkway then to 287. The traffic on 95 is a mess most of the time.

 

[freewill]

Assuming you'd take 195 over to Providence and take 95 south from there, I'd recommend cutting over to the Merritt Pkwy in Milford, CT (just south of New Haven) and taking that down to Rte 287 in NY. That gets you off 95 quicker, which is a plus in my book. Once you get to 287 (kind of an odd interchange with a quick lane change to get onto 287; watch those signs!) it's about 15 minutes to the Tappan Zee Bridge.

We always take the TZ Bridge and avoid Manhattan.

 

[gehrig38sox]

We Stayed at South of the Border in 93 when we drove

 

[edbo77]

Pardon me for saying so, but why would you want to stay @ South of the Border? Like the saying goes, it's a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to stay there. I've got a room booked already in Rocky Mount for $69/night which includes cont. breakfast in the AM. Just my two cents, not that you asked!

 

[capecoddisneyfamily]

Pardon me for saying so, but why would you want to stay @ South of the Border? Like the saying goes, it's a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to stay there. I've got a room booked already in Rocky Mount for $69/night which includes cont. breakfast in the AM. Just my two cents, not that you asked!

Which hotel, and was it reg. rate or AAA?

 

[BigTigger]

My in-laws live in S. Yarmouth and from there to the I-91/I-95 intersection in New Haven is 3 hours at normal speeds. If you leave at 4 am you will hit slow traffic at 7 am when you arrive at the I-91/I-95 intersection. Slow traffic will continue through West Haven on I-95 as they are still doing some median work on I-95 south. Definitely take exit 38 off I-95 to get over to the Merritt Parkway south. The Merritt will be slow from exit 48 to exit 38 and then improve. While getting off the Merritt to take I-287 west over the Tappan Zee is an OK route, you will be on it at 8:30 am or so which is peak times for the Westchester traffic around White Plains. The Garden State Parkway is no picnic either from 7 am to 10 am going southbound. There are lots of alternative routes that you can consider, but rather than clog up the DIS Boards, PM me an email and I'll send you some TripTiks. I work in NYC a few times a month and drive down on occasion, so I know all the options and what to avoid.

I had a daughter that went to school in Deland, FL and one now in NC. In both cases, I find a departure at about 3 am (no later) from where I'm at in central MA (that would mean 2 am for mid-Cape area) gets you through NYC by 6 am and before the rush. You can usually stay right on I-95 over the GW Bridge to the NJ Turnpike at that hour. A quick breakfast break in the Delaware or Maryland area will allow you to go through Baltimore and DC after rush hour.

You should definitely get Fast Lane (MA) or EZ Pass (NY, NH, etc.) to get through tolls faster. It really makes a difference. Also find the AM stations with regular traffic updates (NYC is 1010 WINS AM). These can be a godsend if a big mess happens. I'd also invest in a GPS device. Good models from Garmin and Magellan can be had for less than $130. Best of luck!!

 

[GranddadTom]

My experience in making the drive that you are going to make is that what really matters is when you hit the big cities (Hartford, NYC, Baltimore, Washington and to a lesser extent Richmond and Jacksonville and, of course, I-4 and Orlando). In the northeast you have a little balancing act in that if you leave in the morning, you’ll want to get to NYC as it’s morning rush hour (the folks coming in from Connecticut) is dying down but not too late or you’ll run into trouble later on in Washington. You’d like to be on Rt. 95 south of Washington by 2:30pm if possible but no later than 3:30pm. As you come into the Washington area on Rt. 95, take the Washington Beltway to the east and go clockwise around the beltway. The worst day for traffic is Friday afternoon. The traffic station in Washington is 103.5. I haven’t been through Georgia in several months but that has been a mess for quite some time with all the construction going on there. Google “I-95 construction Georgia” before you leave and see if any lane closures are planned (they usually do this at night).

 

[NikitaZee]

We just did this trip in October - we live right by Gillette Stadium and left at 3am. We pushed it and drove to Santee, SC - around 950 miles. We got to our hotel around 10:30 that night, but we stop as often as we need to when the kids get cranky and start getting uncomfortable in the back seat. With 3 little ones it was definitely doable, but I don't think we'd push that far again. The next day's travel was nice, though - 5 1/2 hours and we were checking into the Polynesian. We stayed at the Hampton Inn in Santee and it was right around $100, including a hot continental breakfast. This time we're taking the AutoTrain and making it easier on all of us - I hope!

 

[capecoddisneyfamily]

We just did this trip in October - we live right by Gillette Stadium and left at 3am. We pushed it and drove to Santee, SC - around 950 miles. We got to our hotel around 10:30 that night, but we stop as often as we need to when the kids get cranky and start getting uncomfortable in the back seat. With 3 little ones it was definitely doable, but I don't think we'd push that far again. The next day's travel was nice, though - 5 1/2 hours and we were checking into the Polynesian. We stayed at the Hampton Inn in Santee and it was right around $100, including a hot continental breakfast. This time we're taking the AutoTrain and making it easier on all of us - I hope!

did you hit traffic, and was it a weekday or weekend? thanks

 

[NikitaZee]

We left at 3am on a Friday. We didn't hit much traffic - a little in Jersey and a little in DC. We had tickets for MNSSHP for Halloween night - we left the day before and pretty much had to make good time on Friday in order to get to the MK for the party. Like you, we wanted to be settled into a hotel by around 8:00 that night, but we decided to push it to Santee and were glad we did. The last couple of hours were rough on the kids, though - by then they had had it with sitting in their car seats and we had to be very amusing in order to prevent a total meltdown in the back seat. Good luck with your planning!

 

[jjmatte]

We're driving from NH in July and we're going 84 to Scranton, PA, then down 81 to 77 to 95. We'll avoid NYC, DC, and NJ . It adds a few hundred miles, but far less traffic.

 

[cranbiz]

5 hours to NYC??? It only takes us 3 1/2, maybe a tad more. And that's from Westborough right into Manhattan.
If I could figuire out a way to get you good chowder, I would. But, I would have to stuff it into many 3 oz bottles...how funny would that look??

OK, so it's more like 4.5 hours from Carver. From Westboro, you have about an hours head start and the MA pike right there. I wasn't sure where on the Cape they were, from Yarmouth, 5 hours is about right using the 195-95 combo. It's a long ride thru CT using 95.

There was a time I was driving from Carver to New Haven regularly 3 days a week. It did take about 3 hours to get there (was working a contract for UI)

3oz of good chowder is better than no oz of good chowder

I just hope we have given the OP some decent insight on their travel (and I believe we have).

 

[cranbiz]

My in-laws live in S. Yarmouth and from there to the I-91/I-95 intersection in New Haven is 3 hours at normal speeds. If you leave at 4 am you will hit slow traffic at 7 am when you arrive at the I-91/I-95 intersection. Slow traffic will continue through West Haven on I-95 as they are still doing some median work on I-95 south. Definitely take exit 38 off I-95 to get over to the Merritt Parkway south. The Merritt will be slow from exit 48 to exit 38 and then improve. While getting off the Merritt to take I-287 west over the Tappan Zee is an OK route, you will be on it at 8:30 am or so which is peak times for the Westchester traffic around White Plains. The Garden State Parkway is no picnic either from 7 am to 10 am going southbound. There are lots of alternative routes that you can consider, but rather than clog up the DIS Boards, PM me an email and I'll send you some TripTiks. I work in NYC a few times a month and drive down on occasion, so I know all the options and what to avoid.

I had a daughter that went to school in Deland, FL and one now in NC. In both cases, I find a departure at about 3 am (no later) from where I'm at in central MA (that would mean 2 am for mid-Cape area) gets you through NYC by 6 am and before the rush. You can usually stay right on I-95 over the GW Bridge to the NJ Turnpike at that hour. A quick breakfast break in the Delaware or Maryland area will allow you to go through Baltimore and DC after rush hour.

You should definitely get Fast Lane (MA) or EZ Pass (NY, NH, etc.) to get through tolls faster. It really makes a difference. Also find the AM stations with regular traffic updates (NYC is 1010 WINS AM). These can be a godsend if a big mess happens. I'd also invest in a GPS device. Good models from Garmin and Magellan can be had for less than $130. Best of luck!!

Stetson maybe?

This is right on and yes, get a Fast Lane transponder. Doesn't work in FL but it is accepted from ME to MD and in some places, you will get a discount on the tolls.

Good point about the GPS, I love mine but beware of the routing. Sometimes it's suggested route is not the best. Know your route and use the GPS as a guide, not a bible and you will be fine. Mine constantly tries to route me on 295 from MD thru DC. That is a route I have tried and DO NOT recommend.