What is mid-point from NJ to WDW? (Driving down on I-95)( And a few other questions!)

[kandb]

I am in a dilema. First I had autotrain booked (was almost $900, round trip), then I started to try to convince myself that maybe I will get on a plane, now I'm thinking about dh, our 3 year old twins and myself to drive. My dh and I don't mind driving, we drove out to Las Vegas right before the twins were born. Anyway, should we drive straight thru (with mostly night driving) or leave at let's say 6PM and drive to 2AM each day (stay at a hotel and swim and relax before getting on the road the 2nd day)? AHH, such a dilema, Any advice? Thanks, Linda

 

[ducklite]

Bad move, those roads get very boring late at night as you get tired.

Leave on a Saturday at 4:00am, you'll be in Richmond Hill, GA in time for dinner. Spend the night at the hampton Inn (we've stayed there a few times, it's clean, cofortable, and easy on/off, plus there are lots of gas stations and restuarants around it.

Get a good nights sleep and get up and start driving the next morning by 8:00 AM, you'll have plenty of time to check into your hotel and have a character dinner that night.

My DH makes the trip from NJ to Orlando every month, he's got it down to about 16.5 hours--he only stops about four times!

Traveling southbound on a Saturday and Sunday traffic will be very light.

Anne

 

[postalcop]

2 years ago we drove straight through, we left about 11:30 pm on a sat. we got to POP about 8:30 pm on sun. we felt horrible so we said no more straight through. so now we leave about 3:30 am and get to savannah, ga about 4- 4:30. (exit 74, i think). we eat dinner, shower and go to bed. when we get up we just eat breakfast, get on 95 and disney is 4 hours away! when i used to go with my family ('73-'89) we usd to drive down straigh through also. i think it is just way to much now. and since you have 2 small children they may get restless. we have 2 young ones also ds3, and dd2. dd was just 2 months when drove straight through.

~sue

 

[Tiggerific04]

Bad move, those roads get very boring late at night as you get tired.

I agree. DBF and I drove straight through a couple years ago and it was horrible -- we were completely wiped out by the time we got to Orlando that all we did was shower and go to sleep at 6pm! Last year we stopped over in Florence, SC, which was a little more than halfway for us -- worked out much better!

 

[molly2004]

I have 2 1/2 yo twins. We recently drove to Ohio from Boston, which is roughly the same amount of time as NJ to WDW. It was our first road trip since the guys were 5 months old. We left really early (3AM) and drove until about 6 PM. For our drive to WDW when the twins will be almost 3, we'll do the same thing but stop at around 2 or 3 PM.

I suggest going earlier because even though you're driving while it's still dark, there's something very motivating about seeing the sun come up just when the drive is getting boring and monotonous. By 10 AM, we were already more than halfway into our trip and nobody felt tired. My twins hate sleeping in the car, just like their dad. During that drive to Ohio, they each slept about an hour and were awake the whole time (they were terrific though).

I can see why you want to leave late so they'll sleep. But you have to consider 2 things: 1) how well do your kids sleep in the car? If they're like mine, they'll just be angry at that time because they prefer to sleep in their beds 2) how well will YOU and DH do? If you're that bored and tired, it can be a dangerous drive.

I know that on both counts, a late drive would not work well for us. It might work out for you. Whichever you decide, buckle up and have fun!

 

[mumeof3]

we always drove until this upcomming trip,we always stopped in either South Carolina or Georgia for the night{about dinner time}then woke up and drove the rest of the way,only my dh will drive so we defintally need to stop
but no way amd I driving this year with gas prices,the convience is worth the flight,we have 5 in our family and are flying out of Philly at 680.00 round trip
we looked into the auto train and it never seemed worth it to us.

 

[KikiNJ]

If you're going to break it up into 2 days, and you're leaving earlier in the day, I would suggest putting as many hours in as you can the first day... the first day with the kids won't be too bad, but that second day they're going to be pretty p*ssed about having to sit in the car again LOL. That's been our experience anyway, we drive from NJ to MN every year.

Driving straight through wouldn't be that bad either, if you both share driving and the other one sleeps, and your kids sleep. That just doesn't work for us b/c I'm such a backseat driver, I can't sleep when dh is driving LOL. Plus, we've found that those early morning hours, like 4 or 5AM, after you've been driving a while, are really tough on us.

We're driving down to disney from NJ next week. What we're doing is, we're leaving after dinner on Monday, and driving until we're past DC. We'll stay overnight, then put a full day in on Tuesday so we reach Orlando that night. Then Wednesday morning we'll already be there, check in to the Poly and have a full day in the parks, vs. getting there mid or late afternoon. The main reason we're doing it that way though is to avoid DC traffic, we figure we'll be going thru there around 10 or 11PM.

 

[Williamsfamily7]

Probably around 5:00 a.m. from Northern NJ.

We'll spend the night in Georgia (Savannah or Brunswick), then finish the trip Sunday. Hoping to check-in the CBR early afternoon. Glad to hear someone thinks the traffic will be light on the way down. Anyone know of any hints, problem spots, etc., we might want to be aware of.

 

[kimmar067]

My DH makes the trip from NJ to Orlando every month, he's got it down to about 16.5 hours--he only stops about four times! ...

...Hi Anne, is he 'for hire'...??!?!?!

 

[kimmar067]

We plan on leaving between 9AM-10AM on Friday morning [from No. New Jersey] and driving for about 12 hours, hopefully getting to Ga, stopping overnight THERE, and continuing to WDW [by 7AM] to arrive around lunchtime at Pop....we don't plan on 'doing' a park on that day - perhaps just going over to DTD later in the day....

 

[ducklite]

Probably around 5:00 a.m. from Northern NJ.

We'll spend the night in Georgia (Savannah or Brunswick), then finish the trip Sunday. Hoping to check-in the CBR early afternoon. Glad to hear someone thinks the traffic will be light on the way down. Anyone know of any hints, problem spots, etc., we might want to be aware of.

Just an FYI, DC traffic never ends. Even at 10 PM.

Leaving at 5:00 AM from North Jersey on a weekday (if that's whn you are traveling) will put you into the height of rush hour.

DH (and I to a lesser extent) have made this trip probably two dozen times in the past 30 months.

Seriously, the BEST way to make the drive is on a Saturday and Sunday. If you leave around 4:00 AM you'll beat the shore traffic (yes, you'll deal with shore traffic by around 9:00am in central NJ and then along until after your cross the Deleware Memorial Bridge. Your goal is to be over that before 7:00 AM, the earlier the better.

From there you be pretty smooth sailing until you get to just north of Baltimore where you'll hit a little more traffic. At that point I'd strongly suggest you turn your radio to 1090 AM for traffic updates--if the Fort McHenry is backed up take the Harbor tunnel, you'll end up in teh same place. You want to get onto 295--the Baltimore Wshington Expressway, it will cut some time off, and you'll take it until you cross the Wilson Bridge, at which time You'll be back on I-95.

Keep going on I-95 south until you get to I-295, the Richmond By-pass. Take it.. It looks lnger but it's actually shorter. Shortly after you get back onto I-95 you'll get to Stoney Creek. There's a brand new rest area/truck stop that's very nice--clean, Krispie Kremes, Starbucks, icecream, good place to stop for sure!

From there stay on 95 south. We've found good gas at the El Cheapo Depot in GA, there's a Taco Bell off exit 90. (the inmportant things in life! ) Richmond Hill is also a good place to spend the night. We like the Hampton Inn there.

Sunday traffic is generally very manageable. You'll hit a little bit going through Jacksonville, but on SUnday it's not bad at all unless there's a Jags football game. We stay right on 95 through J'Ville unless we're going to hit it rush hour during the week.

The next traffic you'll hit is in Daytona where you'll get on I-4. Take I-4 west and just follow the signs for WDW, and you'll be there!

There's some construction going on in most states, but in all honesty the worst back-up's we've found have been due to accidents or just volume, and there's not much you can do about that. DH has a CB and a GPS, and that has saved him hours and hours, but for the once in a while traveler it's not going to eb worth the investment.

Let me know if you ahve any other questions.

Anne

 

[Williamsfamily7]

We are leaving this Saturday - so hopefully the DC traffic will be manageable. Probably leaving around 5:00 a.m., so we should miss the Jersey Shore traffic as well - although we don't go GSP. Rt. 287 to the Turnpike works best for us.
How far from the Southern border of Georgia is Richmond Hill? We were thinking about Brunswick, GA, to get us as far as we can go on Saturday. I'd like to have about 4 hours left for Sunday morning.

 

[NJBILL]

Just an FYI, DC traffic never ends. Even at 10 PM.

Leaving at 5:00 AM from North Jersey on a weekday (if that's whn you are traveling) will put you into the height of rush hour.

DH (and I to a lesser extent) have made this trip probably two dozen times in the past 30 months.

Seriously, the BEST way to make the drive is on a Saturday and Sunday. If you leave around 4:00 AM you'll beat the shore traffic (yes, you'll deal with shore traffic by around 9:00am in central NJ and then along until after your cross the Deleware Memorial Bridge. Your goal is to be over that before 7:00 AM, the earlier the better.

From there you be pretty smooth sailing until you get to just north of Baltimore where you'll hit a little more traffic. At that point I'd strongly suggest you turn your radio to 1090 AM for traffic updates--if the Fort McHenry is backed up take the Harbor tunnel, you'll end up in teh same place. You want to get onto 295--the Baltimore Wshington Expressway, it will cut some time off, and you'll take it until you cross the Wilson Bridge, at which time You'll be back on I-95.

Keep going on I-95 south until you get to I-295, the Richmond By-pass. Take it.. It looks lnger but it's actually shorter. Shortly after you get back onto I-95 you'll get to Stoney Creek. There's a brand new rest area/truck stop that's very nice--clean, Krispie Kremes, Starbucks, icecream, good place to stop for sure!

From there stay on 95 south. We've found good gas at the El Cheapo Depot in GA, there's a Taco Bell off exit 90. (the inmportant things in life! ) Richmond Hill is also a good place to spend the night. We like the Hampton Inn there.

Sunday traffic is generally very manageable. You'll hit a little bit going through Jacksonville, but on SUnday it's not bad at all unless there's a Jags football game. We stay right on 95 through J'Ville unless we're going to hit it rush hour during the week.

The next traffic you'll hit is in Daytona where you'll get on I-4. Take I-4 west and just follow the signs for WDW, and you'll be there!

There's some construction going on in most states, but in all honesty the worst back-up's we've found have been due to accidents or just volume, and there's not much you can do about that. DH has a CB and a GPS, and that has saved him hours and hours, but for the once in a while traveler it's not going to eb worth the investment.

Let me know if you ahve any other questions.

Anne

My neighbor is driving to WDW from SJ and is planning on leaving at 3am on a Tuesday. Will he beat the Balt/DC traffic? if so,what would be latest he could leave and miss it?

 

[ducklite]

We are leaving this Saturday - so hopefully the DC traffic will be manageable. Probably leaving around 5:00 a.m., so we should miss the Jersey Shore traffic as well - although we don't go GSP. Rt. 287 to the Turnpike works best for us.
How far from the Southern border of Georgia is Richmond Hill? We were thinking about Brunswick, GA, to get us as far as we can go on Saturday. I'd like to have about 4 hours left for Sunday morning.

Brunswick is about an hour south of Richmond Hill. When we were first making the drive and didn't have it "down" we found that we had enough by the time we hit Richmond Hill. YMMV.

Anne

 

[ducklite]

My neighbor is driving to WDW from SJ and is planning on leaving at 3am on a Tuesday. Will he beat the Balt/DC traffic?

He will still hit some, but he'll be ahead of the brunt of it. There's just no way of totally mising it during the week.

Anne

 

[ducklite]

...Hi Anne, is he 'for hire'...??!?!?!

Sorry, he's got a class "A" but not a "B", so he can drive a tractor trailer, but not a bus.

Anne

 

[winterman]

Many years ago when we were much younger my DH and I drove straight thru from the Philadelphia area to Jacksonville. It was horrible. I told him never again. I can't imagine doing it with toddlers. Get on a plane. It will be a quick trip.

 

[kimmar067]

Sorry, he's got a class "A" but not a "B", so he can drive a tractor trailer, but not a bus.

Anne

...how 'bout a Lincoln Navi.... ???!?!?

 

[AlwaysEeyore]

We just did this trip in January with a 3yo & 6 month old from Long Island. We had my DSis with us so I could sit in the back with the kids. We left at 2PM on a Friday and arrived at WDW 10AM Saturday, the kids were well rested and ready to play but the grownups were wiped out. I got stuck playing with the kids while DH & Dsis took a nap for 4 hours. I wound up falling a sleep in the bath tub the following night because I was so exhausted. If time permits, it is best for everyone to stop for the night, even if it's only a few hours rest and a shower. It will make a big difference. Our trip this month we are leaving at 4am (depending on what time we get to bed) and driving till about 9PM, we are hoping to get to GA, then leave at 6AM the following morning to head to WDW.

Anyone else nervous about gas prices? If I didn't have so much baby stuff we would fly.