For 2,000+ Mile Round-Trip Drivers Only! (III)

[sharadoc]

Originally Posted by dvczerfs

ive driven it a few times ....

[dvczerfs]

Originally Posted by sharadoc

SHHHHAAAAAAAROOONNNNNN!!!!

[Ds4angels]

Originally Posted by feet1

we just booked a Disney trip for Sept 2013...we cannot wait, but with a family of 6 and my mother going with us too, airfare for 7 puts the vacation out of our budget, so we are driving...live in Hershey PA...googled it and it says 993miles. We have never driven this far with our kids (they will be 13, 11, 10 and 5 when we go) plan on leaving around 2am and hope and pray the kids sleep the whole time it's dark...

I haven't read through most of this or the other two threads, but my question, I've noticed some of you say you hate driving on I-95...why is that? we are hoping that by leaving at 2am we will miss DC traffic and Richmond traffic. is there any reason some of you don't like going on 95 and prefer other routes?


Thanks bunches!!

I95 near DC gets very confusing b/c there's off ramps on both sides of the road. We call it "the mixing bowl" Once you get past that it's smooth sailing.
We're 2 hours east of you. We break it down into 2 days to drive. Stop at South of the Border to stretch legs and wiggle. Sleep over at Savannah (there's a mall to walk to do some more leg stretching)

[loveysbydesign]

Originally Posted by feet1

we just booked a Disney trip for Sept 2013...we cannot wait, but with a family of 6 and my mother going with us too, airfare for 7 puts the vacation out of our budget, so we are driving...live in Hershey PA...googled it and it says 993miles. We have never driven this far with our kids (they will be 13, 11, 10 and 5 when we go) plan on leaving around 2am and hope and pray the kids sleep the whole time it's dark...

I haven't read through most of this or the other two threads, but my question, I've noticed some of you say you hate driving on I-95...why is that? we are hoping that by leaving at 2am we will miss DC traffic and Richmond traffic. is there any reason some of you don't like going on 95 and prefer other routes?

Thanks bunches!!

We live East of you near Kutztown and we've driven down a few times. We always prefer to go 78 to 81 to 77 to 26 and then pick up 95 in NC. That is our fav. way to drive, we avoid as much of 95 as possible

[NJRRK]

Originally Posted by feet1

we just booked a Disney trip for Sept 2013...we cannot wait, but with a family of 6 and my mother going with us too, airfare for 7 puts the vacation out of our budget, so we are driving...live in Hershey PA...googled it and it says 993miles. We have never driven this far with our kids (they will be 13, 11, 10 and 5 when we go) plan on leaving around 2am and hope and pray the kids sleep the whole time it's dark...

I haven't read through most of this or the other two threads, but my question, I've noticed some of you say you hate driving on I-95...why is that? we are hoping that by leaving at 2am we will miss DC traffic and Richmond traffic. is there any reason some of you don't like going on 95 and prefer other routes?

Thanks bunches!!

It depends on what you are used to. I-95 really isn't that bad south of Richmond. If you are used to traffic at all with the time you are going you should be fine. Use I-295 around Richmond, less traffic, higher speed limit even though it's a couple of more miles it saves time.

[nono]

Originally Posted by feet1

we just booked a Disney trip for Sept 2013...we cannot wait, but with a family of 6 and my mother going with us too, airfare for 7 puts the vacation out of our budget, so we are driving...live in Hershey PA...googled it and it says 993miles. We have never driven this far with our kids (they will be 13, 11, 10 and 5 when we go) plan on leaving around 2am and hope and pray the kids sleep the whole time it's dark...

I haven't read through most of this or the other two threads, but my question, I've noticed some of you say you hate driving on I-95...why is that? we are hoping that by leaving at 2am we will miss DC traffic and Richmond traffic. is there any reason some of you don't like going on 95 and prefer other routes?

Thanks bunches!!

If you can really leave at 2 a.m., you'll hit DC around 4 a.m. and Richmond before 6 a.m. (even with a rest stop) using I-95, and be in Orlando without any major traffic snafus around 7 - 8 p.m. that night if you want to go straight through.

If you leave at 2 a.m. and take the inland route, assuming no traffic issues, you'll hit Charlotte at the tail end of rush hour.

So, I'd say this. If you are ready at 2 a.m., take the coastal route. If you are ready at 3 a.m. or later, take the inland route.

YMMV! Have fun planning!

[feet1]

Originally Posted by nono

If you can really leave at 2 a.m., you'll hit DC around 4 a.m. and Richmond before 6 a.m. (even with a rest stop) using I-95, and be in Orlando without any major traffic snafus around 7 - 8 p.m. that night if you want to go straight through.

If you leave at 2 a.m. and take the inland route, assuming no traffic issues, you'll hit Charlotte at the tail end of rush hour.

So, I'd say this. If you are ready at 2 a.m., take the coastal route. If you are ready at 3 a.m. or later, take the inland route.

YMMV! Have fun planning!

That is what we were thinking, but after reading people saying that they don't like to go on 95 I got worried...
by the way, what does YMMV stand for?
planning is so much fun..it's been 6 years since we planned a trip, planning is so much a part of the fun for me!

[nono]

Sorry, YMMV = Your mileage may vary!

The other thing you can do is go coastal the way down and inland the way back! Esp. if you break up the way back into two days...

[cheezNE1]

Originally Posted by Ds4angels

I95 near DC gets very confusing b/c there's off ramps on both sides of the road. We call it "the mixing bowl" Once you get past that it's smooth sailing. ....

That is so true. Gets me everytime I drive thru there. On top of looking at the signs and listening to my GPS..

[feet1]

So upon looking closer to our route...seems since we are in south central pa we don't get in I95 until after DC. We take I believe route 15 through Gettysburg and pick up I270 in Fredrick Md then I495 around DC I95 rest of way...I like how google maps gives you estimated time with the current traffic...leaving at 2am will be our best bet. We don't want to stop and stay over night either way. We want to get to Mickey as soon as possible and coming home we have something already scheduled for the day after. So that's not an option.

Gonna start researching fun things for the car ride for the kids besides movies to keep them from fighting

[pwdebbie]

Originally Posted by feet1

So upon looking closer to our route...seems since we are in south central pa we don't get in I95 until after DC. We take I believe route 15 through Gettysburg and pick up I270 in Fredrick Md then I495 around DC I95 rest of way...I like how google maps gives you estimated time with the current traffic...leaving at 2am will be our best bet. We don't want to stop and stay over night either way. We want to get to Mickey as soon as possible and coming home we have something already scheduled for the day after. So that's not an option.

Gonna start researching fun things for the car ride for the kids besides movies to keep them from fighting

That was our route the last time. Our two previous trips were the inland route. We will never go around DC again, so if we do I95 again, we will pick it up further south, maybe off of 17, just north of Richmond. (We always take 15 to 17 to get to Williamsburg and for a bit 17 and 95 are the same road.) However, we left after church on Sunday, so we hit 95 in the early afternoon on a Sunday and it was crazy. I can't imagine a weekday! If we don't do AutoTrain (I'm really pushing for it, but it is so expensive, and dh doesn't want to try it), we will be doing the inland route in April most likely.

[SDmouse]

I don't know how I have not found this thread before. Here is the question. We drive to WDW multiple times a year as DVC members, and moved just north of Pittsburgh a couple of years ago. We always take I79 south to route 19 bypassing Charleston, WV to I77 south. Is this the best way. We have never taken I79 to Charleston to I77 south. Does taking route 19 really save time. I only ask because route 19 has several stop lights, and a speed limit of 55.

[pepe of ohio]

Originally Posted by SDmouse

I don't know how I have not found this thread before. Here is the question. We drive to WDW multiple times a year as DVC members, and moved just north of Pittsburgh a couple of years ago. We always take I79 south to route 19 bypassing Charleston, WV to I77 south. Is this the best way. We have never taken I79 to Charleston to I77 south. Does taking route 19 really save time. I only ask because route 19 has several stop lights, and a speed limit of 55.

We used to do about the same many years ago, 60 to 79 to 19 to 77. Most do this to save the tolls , only 6.00 total one way....

I'm just not partial to the huge bridge on that route, phobia.... And from Youngstown area 19 Pittsburgh route dies save some time, but we prefer the 76 to 77 run, no lights or traffic clear sailing..

[naf917]

It looks like we will be driving down to Disney for the first time in September from SE PA.

I will be reading over this thread over the next few months to get all the tips and tricks I can find.

[sharadoc]

Originally Posted by naf917

It looks like we will be driving down to Disney for the first time in September from SE PA.

I will be reading over this thread over the next few months to get all the tips and tricks I can find.

Hi neighbor! Do I know you?? Looks like we could both have 6th graders in SFSD?? Let me know how I can help. We've driven lots of times and I think we figured it out, at least what works for us.