"For 2,000+ Mile Round-Trip Drivers Only!" (Part V)

[NH-to-FL]

But nothing in all that driving ever prepared me to live and drive in central Florida in 2021. Lol
I thought I was an offensive driver, not even close. Lol
I was on I4 one afternoon in the right lane around exit 60, I was going a good 70 mph, there was traffic but not too bad, I was passed on the shoulder of I4 by a pick up truck, had to be well over 90 mph.

LOL... Yes, I4 is crazy. More like NASCAR than a highway. Unfortunately with the occasional demolition derby mixed in.

I was driving north on I93 in MA the other day in heavy traffic and watched a BMW sedan weaving back and forth through the lanes trying to get ahead. Unfortunately he must not have been looking further than the car in front and alongside of him as he mostly swerved into lanes that weren't moving any faster than the one he was in. Twice he almost caused an accident as he squeezed into a barely one car wide gap going 65 miles an hour.

Am I just getting old or are people just nuts? Lol

People are getting crazier much faster than we are getting older. Drive safe out there!

 

[ddluvsdisney]

LOL... Yes, I4 is crazy. More like NASCAR than a highway. Unfortunately with the occasional demolition derby mixed in.

I was driving north on I93 in MA the other day in heavy traffic and watched a BMW sedan weaving back and forth through the lanes trying to get ahead. Unfortunately he must not have been looking further than the car in front and alongside of him as he mostly swerved into lanes that weren't moving any faster than the one he was in. Twice he almost caused an accident as he squeezed into a barely one car wide gap going 65 miles an hour.



People are getting crazier much faster than we are getting older. Drive safe out there!

I thought MA drivers were crazy until I started driving in FL. It’s scary !!!

 

[OKW Lover]

I thought MA drivers were crazy until I started driving in FL. It’s scary !!!

Agree. I blame it on the tourists that don't know were they are going, but they are in a hurry to get there.

 

[dvczerfs]

Agree. I blame it on the tourists that don't know were they are going, but they are in a hurry to get there.

I’m a little outside of the tourist area, and they’re still nuts. Lol
Its an adventure for sure every time we wonder out. Lol
Took awhile getting use to how long the red/green lights are. They dont change as fast/often as they do up north.
I can’t figure out how the west bound, I4 Champions Gate exit backs up onto I4 for the longest time. But when you drive by the exit and look down by the big Champions Gate sign, nothing.frm exit 58 to exit55, it’s smooth sailing again.

 

[dvczerfs]

Merry Christmas my friends!

 

[efoote01]

Hello, thinking of driving down from Long Island for our trip for Jan 9. Any recommendations on places to stay on the way down? Was hoping to do the majority of our driving the 1st day and making it to at least SC/GA. Thanks

 

[OKW Lover]

Was hoping to do the majority of our driving the 1st day and making it to at least SC/GA. Thanks

In that case, you'll find some good choices off I-95 in Savannah. All the major chains have properties along that stretch. We are partial to the Marriott brands and find Residence Inn's to offer a good value. They have a full kitchen and free breakfast.

 

[dvczerfs]

In that case, you'll find some good choices off I-95 in Savannah. All the major chains have properties along that stretch. We are partial to the Marriott brands and find Residence Inn's to offer a good value. They have a full kitchen and free breakfast.
[/QUOTE
Residence inns, I never gave that a thought. We just always stayed at Hampton Inns. When we were driving, we just always stayed at the same places.
I will have to give them a try next month on my drive up to Pa. and back.

 

[thegame310]

Hey all!
I’m a board newbie, but we just did our first drive to WDW from PA. Our trip was a short one, we left on the 27th and returned on the 30th.

We are excited to get back down to WDW but I’m unsure if we’ll drive again. We brought our French bulldog with us which wouldn’t have been too bad if our 14 hour trip wouldn’t have taken 20 due to 95S traffic in SC.

Is the traffic always that bad on 95?

On our return trip we stayed in Dunn, NC at a pet friendly hotel, which wasn’t awful but we would have preferred a pet friendly Airbnb but we couldn’t find any as we really weren’t planning on stopping on the way home, but we’re glad we did. Would any of you folks have any town recommendations that we could scope out Airbnb’s before hand?


Also, I think we will for sure rent a car when we drive as my Mitsubishi Mirage while it got amazing gas mileage…was a bit cramped.

 

[pwdebbie]

Hey all!
I’m a board newbie, but we just did our first drive to WDW from PA. Our trip was a short one, we left on the 27th and returned on the 30th.

We are excited to get back down to WDW but I’m unsure if we’ll drive again. We brought our French bulldog with us which wouldn’t have been too bad if our 14 hour trip wouldn’t have taken 20 due to 95S traffic in SC.

Is the traffic always that bad on 95?

On our return trip we stayed in Dunn, NC at a pet friendly hotel, which wasn’t awful but we would have preferred a pet friendly Airbnb but we couldn’t find any as we really weren’t planning on stopping on the way home, but we’re glad we did. Would any of you folks have any town recommendations that we could scope out Airbnb’s before hand?


Also, I think we will for sure rent a car when we drive as my Mitsubishi Mirage while it got amazing gas mileage…was a bit cramped.

Welcome to the DIS!

Fellow Pennsylvanian here, just west of Gettysburg.

Where did you drive from in PA? Many folks in PA opt for the inland route 81-77-26-95, not getting on 95 until well south of all the traffic. While the inland route is not always a good choice in the winter (mountains), you can be fairly certain of less traffic. When we drive, we spend one night on the road each way and I would never consider less than eleven nights on property -- it is a two-week trip for us. You sure had a fast turnaround, only two nights at WDW?

 

[thegame310]

Welcome to the DIS!

Fellow Pennsylvanian here, just west of Gettysburg.

Where did you drive from in PA? Many folks in PA opt for the inland route 81-77-26-95, not getting on 95 until well south of all the traffic. While the inland route is not always a good choice in the winter (mountains), you can be fairly certain of less traffic. When we drive, we spend one night on the road each way and I would never consider less than eleven nights on property -- it is a two-week trip for us. You sure had a fast turnaround, only two nights at WDW?

We started in Mechanicsburg, and I’ll have to look into the 81-77-26-95 route.

And yes a very fast turnaround trip. My wife just started her new job and we wanted to sneak a trip in while we were both off from work.

Thankfulky we are already planning our return trip in October 2022.

I just booked the rental SUV yesterday using AutoSlash which was a tip I discovered from lurking here.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Welcome to the DIS!

Fellow Pennsylvanian here, just west of Gettysburg.

Where did you drive from in PA? Many folks in PA opt for the inland route 81-77-26-95, not getting on 95 until well south of all the traffic. While the inland route is not always a good choice in the winter (mountains), you can be fairly certain of less traffic. When we drive, we spend one night on the road each way and I would never consider less than eleven nights on property -- it is a two-week trip for us. You sure had a fast turnaround, only two nights at WDW?

Yes I was going to post something similar about turnaround time. OMG we would never be able to drive down and a couple of days later drive back. We need a week to recover. When I say we I mean DH lol. He does most of the driving.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Welcome to the DIS!

Fellow Pennsylvanian here, just west of Gettysburg.

Where did you drive from in PA? Many folks in PA opt for the inland route 81-77-26-95, not getting on 95 until well south of all the traffic. While the inland route is not always a good choice in the winter (mountains), you can be fairly certain of less traffic. When we drive, we spend one night on the road each way and I would never consider less than eleven nights on property -- it is a two-week trip for us. You sure had a fast turnaround, only two nights at WDW?

Oops double post

 

[ddluvsdisney]

We started in Mechanicsburg, and I’ll have to look into the 81-77-26-95 route.

And yes a very fast turnaround trip. My wife just started her new job and we wanted to sneak a trip in while we were both off from work.

Thankfulky we are already planning our return trip in October 2022.

I just booked the rental SUV yesterday using AutoSlash which was a tip I discovered from lurking here.

Glad you are planning your next trip. Hopefully it’s a longer one.

 

[pwdebbie]

We started in Mechanicsburg, and I’ll have to look into the 81-77-26-95 route.

And yes a very fast turnaround trip. My wife just started her new job and we wanted to sneak a trip in while we were both off from work.

Thankfulky we are already planning our return trip in October 2022.

I just booked the rental SUV yesterday using AutoSlash which was a tip I discovered from lurking here.

Oh you most definitely want to do the inland route then. It will be lovely in October. Somewhere in these pages, @dvczerfs posted time from state line to state line via that route. He started from the Poconos, so you have at least an hour less than he had. ("Had" because he moved to Florida in the past year and no longer makes the drives. You will see his name on the first page of this thread as having the most trips.)

 

[thegame310]

Oh you most definitely want to do the inland route then. It will be lovely in October. Somewhere in these pages, @dvczerfs posted time from state line to state line via that route. He started from the Poconos, so you have at least an hour less than he had. ("Had" because he moved to Florida in the past year and no longer makes the drives. You will see his name on the first page of this thread as having the most trips.)

Thank you! I will head back through these pages to see if I can find his post concerning that topic.

 

[TheHamm]

We went a little nuts and drove down and back the week before Christmas, then picked up our passengers and did it again the following week. Stupid? Perhaps. But since it was chilly the first week, we kept telling ourselves the second drive was all for the pool weather, which we took full advantage of. The first December drive ended up being decided two days before departure, so both planning and packing were minimal. We left after school let out, spent the night, and were still surprised how much traffic there was for no apparent reason just south of ATL. The same spot around Jone*something* snared us at Thanskgiving and on the way home, not at all during typical rush hour timing.

So 4 round trip drives in 2021, which seems a bit loony to me. We got an oil change in December and are now in need of another well before the recommended time!

Some good news yesterday, my wife informs me when I drive back north in January, I may have a passenger on the way back……… my mother in law!!!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO !!!!
16 hours in a car with my mother in law, she is gonna have to eat and use the restroom ……….. this is going to take forever. She’s going to have to eat breakfast before we hit the road, she sleeps till noon!!! She putts’s around.
What did I ever do to these people? Lol

It took us an extra 2 hours with new passengers. I suppose some of it may have been holiday traffic as we never got over 40mph on the FL turnpike, but they did add 2-3 extra stops. On the way out on 1/1 we just planned to spend the night which was wise given the storms we encountered in KY and the ice greeting us when we pulled into the driveway. We stopped an hour earlier than we anticipated due to heavy rain, wind, and fog in the mountains and were met with a very full Hampton Inn as a caravan of people who drove down for the bowl game also decided to call it a night.

I'm ready to not be in a vehicle any time soon, so it is hard to consider spring break which was booked at 11 months!

 

[pwdebbie]

View attachment 414682

Here is my progress chart I use when driving down. I out run this chart by almost 45 minutes anymore but it includes rest stops, gas stops and drive thrus. For reference, home would be the I78 NJ, PA boarder.
I also have one for the ride home.
I also go a few different ways, I take this way if there isn't a chance of snow or ice. This way takes you through the Shenandoah Mountains.
All depends on driving style, conditions, where you live etc... but all the map services has this way taking me about an hour from my house longer than going down I95.
This way is actually two hours shorter than I95 for me.
If you live in South Jersey or the Philly area, it won't work for you. Basically you have to be north of I78 or real close to it.

@thegame310 Here's the info I was thinking of.

 

[thegame310]

@thegame310 Here's the info I was thinking of.

Thank you!

 

[rusafee1183]

Hi all! I was referred to this post to get some info from all of you experts!

So, while I’ve been to WDW at least 20+ times, I have never made the drive down from Pittsburgh. I have always flown, but with two small kids, my husband thinks it will be better to have the car, car seats, snacks, etc.

It looks like it’s about a 15 hour drive for us, and I guess I’m just looking for ANY advice on how to make this as enjoyable as possible. We will be going for a week in April. Our boys will be 3 and 7 months, and we have never done a drive this long with them.

Do you suggest leaving late at night and driving straight through? Leaving in the morning and staying over somewhere? Any suggestions on best hotels, any must see tourist attractions along the way? Best road trip snacks? Lol. Literally anything you want to throw my way, I would appreciate! I’m definitely a nervous mama over here