Navigating to Disney down 95. Need a little help

[mouseketeer_mom]

So, my husband will be hauling the camper down 95 from Maryland/DC to the Fort. He planned to leave early on February 23rd and spend the night at the GA/FL line, travel the rest of the way on the morning of the 24th. Hopefully, he would arrive to the Fort about 11ish.

I just realized that he will travel on 95 through Daytona on the moring of the 24th... Now, I can imagine that there is probably one day out of the whole year that I would like to avoid 95 around Daytona...

Can anyone guess which day that might be? Why, I might imagine it would be on the day of the Daytona 500... Guess which day that is in 2013?

What to do? How bad will it be? Should he take another route through FL? Open to all suggestions...

TIA

[angelmom27]

The daytona 500 is usually the weekend before. The other way would be to cut across the 75 which connects with the turnpike and come down that way if you want to avoid 95.

[Disney Bunny]

Originally Posted by mouseketeer_mom

So, my husband will be hauling the camper down 95 from Maryland/DC to the Fort. He planned to leave early on February 23rd and spend the night at the GA/FL line, travel the rest of the way on the morning of the 24th. Hopefully, he would arrive to the Fort about 11ish.

I just realized that he will travel on 95 through Daytona on the moring of the 24th... Now, I can imagine that there is probably one day out of the whole year that I would like to avoid 95 around Daytona...

Can anyone guess which day that might be? Why, I might imagine it would be on the day of the Daytona 500... Guess which day that is in 2013?

What to do? How bad will it be? Should he take another route through FL? Open to all suggestions...

TIA

Yep....you got it correct. That is the day for the Daytona 500. Looks like you could take I95 to Jacksonville and pick up I-10 West to I-75 South. Then you would pick up the Florida Turnpike South to I-4 West. Gotta tell you, though, that would probably add just as much driving time (not to mention gas useage) than just sticking it out and staying on I-95. We drove to the Daytona 500 a couple of times. If you get up early enough and get on the road, I think you will be okay. I don't remember the interstate being that badly clogged at 9 in the morning on the day of the race.

[mouseketeer_mom]

Originally Posted by Disney Bunny

Yep....you got it correct. That is the day for the Daytona 500. Looks like you could take I95 to Jacksonville and pick up I-10 West to I-75 South. Then you would pick up the Florida Turnpike South to I-4 West. Gotta tell you, though, that would probably add just as much driving time (not to mention gas useage) than just sticking it out and staying on I-95. We drove to the Daytona 500 a couple of times. If you get up early enough and get on the road, I think you will be okay. I don't remember the interstate being that badly clogged at 9 in the morning on the day of the race.

Thank you! This is exactly what I needed to know.

[jbrostek]

That is a tricky one. You could avoid the area, or just try to get through the area before the masses. Gates at Daytona open at 8am that day, but expect the largest masses after 10am. If you are willing to get an early start and staying closer to the FL border, you could squeek by the area before most of the traffic. Only down side of that is getting to FW too early and having to wait to get in.

[KimIce]

I live in the Daytona area & I really don't believe he will have a problem at all. If anything gets backed up on I95 it is the north bound lane where I4 dumps into it.

Kim

(I sure do need to change this ticker....it is soooo wrong)

[mouseketeer_mom]

Originally Posted by KimIce

I live in the Daytona area & I really don't believe he will have a problem at all. If anything gets backed up on I95 it is the north bound lane where I4 dumps into it.

Kim

(I sure do need to change this ticker....it is soooo wrong)

Thanks Kim! Would you say that if he is through Daytona and getting on to I4 by 10AM, he should be okay? He had me make reservations at a KOA in St. Augustine for that night. Think that will be a safe bet?

[JanL]

St. Augustine can be just as crowded during that event....he should try further south or even to make it to FW if he can.

[jbrostek]

MD to St. Augastine in one day? Thats a bit of a hike, but if he is up for that much driving I say go for it. I leave from the Chantilly area every year and while we could go further, we usually stop at Point South KOA exit 33 in SC. If we are making great time we have made it as far as Savannah KOA, but by then I am completely wiped out and need to shut down.

[Disney Bunny]

Originally Posted by jbrostek

MD to St. Augastine in one day? Thats a bit of a hike, but if he is up for that much driving I say go for it. I leave from the Chantilly area every year and while we could go further, we usually stop at Point South KOA exit 33 in SC. If we are making great time we have made it as far as Savannah KOA, but by then I am completely wiped out and need to shut down.

You don't say where in MD you are leaving from. We live in Virginia Beach, VA and stayed at the Savannah, GA KOA the last time we towed our 5th wheel to Disney. We were on the road about 0745 and pulled into the campground about 4:30 and knew that we had driven far enough.

As a PP stated, St Augustine can be crowded prior to the Daytona 500. We actually stayed there one year that we went.

If I remember correctly, it was only about 4 hours from the Savannah KOA to the entrance to Fort Wilderness. If DH stayed there and was on the road by 7 to 7:30, I believe he should have no trouble making it thru the Daytona area before the traffic gets bad.

[jamescorey]

There is also another route out of Jacksonville that you can take that will avoid the Daytona area. I cannot recall the number of the highway (although 321 or 331 comes to mind...) but it will take you out of Jax southwest to Gainesville. It is a four lane highway, and it has very little if any stop and go. You actually intersect I75 south of Gainesville so you don't have to deal with the congestion around the city or the UofF. Once on 75, straight shot to Turnpike!

[angelmom27]

Originally Posted by angelmom27

The daytona 500 is usually the weekend before. The other way would be to cut across the 75 which connects with the turnpike and come down that way if you want to avoid 95.

I just realized I said cut across the 75 I meant cut across TO 75. Lol guess they changed the date so it wouldn't keep falling on the day of Ernhairdts death. Never will forget that day since it happened on my sons 2nd birthday. Didn't know about til we got home after the party.

[jeepfreak]

We also stop at the South Point KOA on the way south and if you leave between 7 & 8 am we arrive at the fort at between 1:30 and 2 pm.

[KimIce]

Originally Posted by mouseketeer_mom

Thanks Kim! Would you say that if he is through Daytona and getting on to I4 by 10AM, he should be okay? He had me make reservations at a KOA in St. Augustine for that night. Think that will be a safe bet?

Honestly I don't believe he will have a hard time. It might be a little busy but I really don't think it will be bad.
St. Augustine is about 35-45 minutes north of Daytona.
If he sees or thinks it is getting busy on I95 tell him to get off at the exit before which would be Holly Hill / Daytona (the LPGA exit) & make a right (go west) the road will take him to International Speedway Blvd. then he would make another right when he got to that road & that would take him right to where I4 begins.

Kim

[Barney Fife]

I would imagine if you time it so you'll be traveling through Daytona during the actual race, traffic should be fairly normal. Everyone's inside the track.