Need driving advice

[borgthe]

We are driving from Jersey to Disney for the first time. It takes about 2-1/2 hours to get to the hellish Washington beltway. Should we leave at around 4 in the morning on Friday or 9am. Or is there another time that's better

 

[momof2n2]

We come from western NY and although we don't have the direct hit from DC you are dealing with, our route does come close.

What we strongly prefer is starting out 5PM and driving thru the night. We get there around 3PM the next day with liberal stops.

Not sure what your total time is, but would 8PM be an option?

 

[mrsap]

We are driving from Jersey to Disney for the first time. It takes about 2-1/2 hours to get to the hellish Washington beltway. Should we leave at around 4 in the morning on Friday or 9am. Or is there another time that's better

Hey! We have been driving from North Jersey to Disney since '04. Last year our rental car was wasn't ready on time ( it was after Sandy), so we ended up leaving at 11 am instead of 8 am. We sat in 2 hours of Washington traffic! It was horrible - the cherry on top of the cake was my 4 yo. daughter crying and screaming in the back that she wants to get out of the car!!! So with that being said, it's smart to try and plan out your timing. I would recommend anytime between 6am - 10am. My hubby said definitely do not leave at 4am! You'll definitely catch the traffic! When are you going? Good luck and enjoy!

 

[sharadoc]

Hi. This will probably be moved to the Transportation board. The best place to discuss this is on the "For 2000+ mile drives only" thread over there. There are LOTS of folks who can give you really specific help and advice. Best thread on the DIS!

 

[Brian152]

We are driving from Jersey to Disney for the first time. It takes about 2-1/2 hours to get to the hellish Washington beltway. Should we leave at around 4 in the morning on Friday or 9am. Or is there another time that's better

Not sure where in NJ you are driving from but we drove from Southern Jersey (about 30 mintues from Philly towards AC) last year and will be doing again this year. We left about 3 last year from Blackwood (picked someone up) and got through DC with no problem by 530-6. In fact we had planned to stop around 7pm and get a hotel but we actually made it to Orlando at like 7 so it worked real well...

This year we want to be on the road by 2 and try and get all the way down again. I did ALOT of research for it last year and thought we might be able to get all the way down in one day but I didn't say that to anyone because they would think I'm being crazy. That's why I said we should stop at a TIME versus a specific place. GPS had us arriving at Universal at 430 pm before we stopped for breakfast so I knew we could do it...

Let me know if you have any questions... You hit a particular area of expertise for me after last year... lol

 

[Brian_WDW74]

I've moved this thread to the Transportation forum.

 

[OKW Lover]

We are driving from Jersey to Disney for the first time. It takes about 2-1/2 hours to get to the hellish Washington beltway. Should we leave at around 4 in the morning on Friday or 9am. Or is there another time that's better

If you leave at 4am you'll be in the middle of DC's rush hour. I'd wait until 9 am. If you left at 3:00 am you could get past DC before the traffic gets too bad.

 

[borgthe]

We are driving from south Jersey near cherry hill. How long is the whole trip? Mapquest has it at about 16 hours. We plan to drive to Georgia, which I think will take about 10 or 11' then do the rest the next day. I think we will leave @ around 8am

 

[RK13]

If you leave at 4am you'll be in the middle of DC's rush hour. I'd wait until 9 am. If you left at 3:00 am you could get past DC before the traffic gets too bad.

Getting to the beltway at 6am is bad? Its about 4 hours for me and I planned on leaving Fri morning at 2am for my trip next month.

Google maps traffic shows it as slow right as you merge from 95 for first few miles, but not as stopped. I figured if I can get to the HOV lanes I will be okay.

 

[ncc1701]

We are driving from south Jersey near cherry hill. How long is the whole trip? Mapquest has it at about 16 hours. We plan to drive to Georgia, which I think will take about 10 or 11' then do the rest the next day. I think we will leave @ around 8am

Hi fellow Camden County resident. I have driven in the past and with traffic, gas stops, rest area stops ( where we switched drivers & used the facilities) and lunch at a fast food restaurant it has taken us at least 10 hours to get to Walterboro,SC. Are you leaving on a weekend? Otherwise if it is during the week figure in the normal commuter traffic in the area.Based on my past trips it was closer to 18.

 

[drgnfly30]

We've driven from N. Delaware a few times. We always leave between 7-9pm to avoid the DC traffic. DH drives through the night and I take over in the early morning & drive the rest of the way. Takes us about 16-18 hrs.

 

[NJFireman22]

We have been driving from the Vineland area, since 1990. We have started our many driving trips ( over 35 ) at many differnt times of the day and night.
Most recently in the past several years, we leave at 7pm and drive thru the night, never had any traffic issues, or finding gas etc on 95. We change drivers every 2-3 hrs, and make to our vacation home 16 hrs or less.
The drive home to NJ we leave at 3 am and have been slowed up in the DC area, but not to bad, just expect a lot more traffic.