Traveling by car from New England

[NewEnglandCamper]

We are heading down to Disney World from Northern Mass during Christmas time. Our 1st time visit for ALL! I've only waited 37 years to go.

Anyways... to save on airfare (we couldn't find anything under $2K for our large family... we are choosing to drive down). Done the trip to VA many times without problems.

Does anyone have any advice when traveling by car from New England? I'm worried about hitting massive traffic in NYC, Baltimore, and DC. Other than that I assume the Southern States you can move fairly quickly.

Of course we will bring DVD players and favorite Disney movies for the kids.

 

[kaytieeldr]

There's a 'sticky' thread here called something like "For those folks driving". http://www.wdwinfo.com/Transportation/Driving_to_Florida.htm

 

[Jacksmom99]

We've driven down several times. We've gone straight through, stopped overnight once, and taken 3 days to drive. All had positive and begative aspects. We live in SE Mass, and I think the best trip was leaving at 4am and driving to Lumberton, NC. DH however, likes to drive straight through. We've managed to avoid any bad traffic except for the Friday of President's day weekend. We were stuck in Virginia for HOURS just south of DC. It wasn't rush hour though. Just a conbination of construction, accidents and holiday weekend traffic.

Kim

 

[CPT Tripss]

This site - http://www.usastar.com/i95/homepage.htm - has good information.
You are correct on the slow spots. On your return, you may also find slow going on I95 north bound heading into the Delaware tolls.
Also, beware snow . . . many of use south of New England are clueless how to drive in it.

 

[cranbiz]

I normally drive straight thru. I have done the MA to FL trip many times. In fact, I'm doing it again Monday morning.

The secrets are to chose the right time to leave.

MA to NYC takes between 3 and 4 hours, NYC to DC is another 3 to 4 hours.

The problem points that I have seen recently are in Deleware, Georgia, Jacksonville, I95 south of Jacksonville and a couple of spots on I4.

Deleware has been the worst and most of the other areas are usually minor delays.

This trip I'm leaving between 4 and 5am, We should be in NYC just after the morning rush and to DC before 2pm.

Like I said before, I don't usually stop but there are several areas that could be a stratigic stop for those who don't drive the trip straight thru. The popular stops are Selma NC, Lumberton NC, Santee SC, Brunswick GA or Kings Point GA.

The best gas prices are in South Jersey (exit 1), Outside of Richmond VA, South VA, Waltersboro SC, Kings Point GA (either exit 1 or 3) Sanford FL and the Hess stations on Disney property.

 

[TiggerStac]

We drove when DS was 1.5. And we are from Northern MA as well. We left at about 4-4:30, so we would beat some traffice. I honestly only remember hitting one bit, I believe in NJ....but it wasn't bad. Much like 93 can get.

We stopped overnight in Rocky Mount NC and left there around 8am. We hit FL by 3-4pm.

If you have AAA, I would recommend getting their triptic. It was very helpful for rest stops (bathroom brakes) and it also marks out where there is construction.

It is definately something I will do again, but I had told DH last time when he wanted to drive...if we drive, we are taking 2 week vacation!!

 

[NewEnglandCamper]

You are correct on the slow spots. On your return, you may also find slow going on I95 north bound heading into the Delaware tolls.
Also, beware snow . . . many of use south of New England are clueless how to drive in it.

CPT-Tripss: Thank you for the link! I will check it out. You are correct about Southerners and winter driving. We have a REAR WHEEL DRIVE Conversion van and did better in an Virigina ice/snow storm than most. We cautiously drove along on I95N near Fredericksburg, VA up to the DC area. There was 100 car pile up on I95-S. Our 3 hour trip from Charlottesville, VA to DC took a grueling 8 hours but we (and the van) made it scratch free. The snow/ice was GONE the next day.

 

[NewEnglandCamper]

We stopped overnight in Rocky Mount NC and left there around 8am. We hit FL by 3-4pm.

If you have AAA, I would recommend getting their triptic. It was very helpful for rest stops (bathroom brakes) and it also marks out where there is construction.

It is definately something I will do again, but I had told DH last time when he wanted to drive...if we drive, we are taking 2 week vacation!!

Thank you!!! This is EXACTLY the information that I'm looking for. We live in the Lowell area and I figured that if we left at 4AM then we would hit Hartford at 6AM (should be ok) but we would hit NYC at 8AM and that would be a DISASTER because of traffic. We are now thinking about leaving at 2AM to get us into NYC at 6AM. I'm just glad that our 3 kids won't mind waking up at 2AM for this trip. They have gotten use to being on the go this summer.

We have AAA and going to order the trip-tiks! That is definately good advice.

We were thinking about staying the night in Fayetteville, NC. Do you recommend Rocky Mount? Was there plenty of rooms?

 

[TiggerStac]

We are not far from Lowell...Townsend.

We do not drive thru NYC, so it isn't bad. We go around, as did my grandparents every year when they headed home from their summers visit and my other snowbird grandparents. We would go via the tarpenzee (no clue how to spell) bridge, so that we didn't have to go thru NYC.

When I called my dad and told him where we were stopping, he said that is where he always stops. He now drives the car down and back for my grandparents (and they fly down for the winter) and he did the same for my other ones when they when they were alive.

I believe we stayed at a comfort in and had no problem getting a room. There were a bunch of hotels in the area. We ended up at the comfort inn, I believe and there was an outback across the parking lot. I believe we stopped at about 6pm. I liked looking at the trip tick, it seemed to make things go by quicker for me.

 

[NewEnglandCamper]

Jacksmom, Cranbiz...

How do you drive strait thru for 20+ hours! Good for you.
We won't be doing this?

Mass people -- I heard that NC is the best spot to stop on the way down. Any recommendations for the way home? I'm sure we won't be leaving at 4AM from the hotel after a busy day at Universal (is that a dirty word here

 

[TiggerStac]

I would not recommend where we stayed on the way home (and don't remember where it was...that's how memorable it was). It was just when DH said...ok I've had enough driving for the day. It was one of the chain hotels, but don't think it was a great area.

 

[chris1gill]

TiggerStac, small world, we live in Pepperell!!!

Anyhow, we've done the drive once before & we are doing it again for our March vacation (unless we can get a 49.00 ding fare from Manchester)....

On our way home last time, we drove all the way to Richmond, VA before stopping, I think that was too much driving in one day... On the way down Rocky Mount seems to be the best place to stop, or at least that's where we'll be stopping LOL

 

[Snowysmom]

I live Northwest of Boston and we drove to WDW a few years ago. We used AAA Triptik. We left at 4 am and went over the Tapenzee Bridge instead of through NYC. The traffic was going the other way so we had clear roads. We did hit traffic in northern Virginia because of construction but that should be done by now! We bypassed Richmond. We got to Rocky Mount, NC around 5:30 (we stop every 2 hours or so). We stayed at the Comfort Inn in Rocky Mount and it was clean and reasonable. They had a complimentary cold breakfast buffet in the morning. Across the street was a Hampton Inn. Do not stay at the Holiday Inn in Rocky Mount. We stayed there on the way back and it was awful. We had a good time but the kids don't want to drive again. They are older and want to get to WDW in 3 hours. They have no patience! Have fun.

 

[Jacksmom99]

Jacksmom, Cranbiz...

How do you drive strait thru for 20+ hours! Good for you.
We won't be doing this?

Mass people -- I heard that NC is the best spot to stop on the way down. Any recommendations for the way home? I'm sure we won't be leaving at 4AM from the hotel after a busy day at Universal (is that a dirty word here

My DH does most of the driving, so I can't complain. I don't know how Cranbiz does it though! I fall asleep after 2-3 hours.

We have stopped several times in Petersburg, VA. I don't know why we kept trying it. Three different hotels in the same location, all GROSS!!! It is the halfway point for us, so we kept trying it. The last time we drove it was Feb'05 and we stayed at an Amerisuites in Chesterfield, VA a little further north than Petersburg. The hotel was great, except that it was about 6 miles from the highway. I always make a few hotel reservations for each leg of the trip, then cancel the ones we don't need. We always seem to drive further than we think we're going to.

 

[NewEnglandCamper]

I live Northwest of Boston and we drove to WDW a few years ago. We used AAA Triptik. We left at 4 am and went over the Tapenzee Bridge instead of through NYC. The traffic was going the other way so we had clear roads. We did hit traffic in northern Virginia because of construction but that should be done by now! We bypassed Richmond. We got to Rocky Mount, NC around 5:30 (we stop every 2 hours or so). We stayed at the Comfort Inn in Rocky Mount and it was clean and reasonable. They had a complimentary cold breakfast buffet in the morning. Across the street was a Hampton Inn. Do not stay at the Holiday Inn in Rocky Mount. We stayed there on the way back and it was awful. We had a good time but the kids don't want to drive again. They are older and want to get to WDW in 3 hours. They have no patience! Have fun.

OK -- I'm hearing a lot about avoiding NYC traffic by using the Tappan Zee Bridge (which I'm familiar with). I'll have to check the maps to see how I287 (correct) connects on to I95. Perhaps we can leave at 4AM instead of 2AM from the Lowell Area. I'm used to BELTWAY/MD/VA traffic so not surprised about this.

 

[TiggerStac]

OK -- I'm hearing a lot about avoiding NYC traffic by using the Tappan Zee Bridge (which I'm familiar with). I'll have to check the maps to see how I287 (correct) connects on to I95. Perhaps we can leave at 4AM instead of 2AM from the Lowell Area. I'm used to BELTWAY/MD/VA traffic so not surprised about this.

If you are coming from the Lowell area...this is the way we went.

495 South to MA Pike West
to 84 towards CT
and that takes you to signs for tapenzee bridge/white plains NY (this is from hubbys memory, we have driven thru this way a couple of times)

 

[Boston5602]

We did hit traffic in northern Virginia because of construction but that should be done by now!

Actually I heard someone is always monitoring these boards , and when enough people are gonna drive to WDW they start construction all over again.
I know this is true cause even though we haven't done it in years , There was ALWAYS construction in NJ and VA when we drove from Boston <VBG>

 

[alyssa810]

The one time we drove down from SE Mass, we left around 10am. We missed rush hour traffic in Providence along 95 through CT, and we took the Tappan Zee so we didn't go through NYC. I remember that we stopped in NJ somewhere for lunch, and then stopped for dinner around 8 in Virginia. Our plan was to drive straight through, which we pretty much did, but we were a couple of college kids at the time. We did sleep in a rest area in Georgia for about 3 hours before making the rest of the trek. We ended up in Kissimee around 11 am the next day, so we did it in about 25 hours. I wouldn't recommend this commando style trip with a family though I also don't remember any specific spots where we hit traffic, but we also left mid-week in mid-May....

 

[Snowysmom]

Just an update on part of the route to WDW. My DH and DS just came back from a round trip to North Carolina using the Tapanzee Bridge and route 95. They had clear sailing with just a bit of traffic in Richmond around 5 pm. This was on a Thursday. The missed the rush hour in DC luckily. On Saturday they came back and by taking a wrong turn somewhere (why read the directions!) ended up going over the George Washington Bridge instead of the Tapanzee and still they had clear sailing. So, maybe the construction work is winding down for the winter. Have a good trip.

 

[NewEnglandCamper]

The thought of driving in my Toyota Camry from Boston with 3 kids for 21 hours really scared me!!!

We have done the trips to the mid-Atlantic many times in our 7+ year old conversion van but I wouldn't take the van at this time. Not only that the gas would cost me an arm and a leg for an EXTRA LONG drive.

Since then, I have been searching the internet for "cheap flights". Today Travelocity sent me an email about "cheap flights". I was able to get Manchester, NH to Orlando (ROUND TRIP) for $150! I jumped ON IT!!!

Thank you for providing information on driving. Future trips with a larger vehicle we just may do this and remember this information!!!