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

[Spaceace5150]

EZ Pass works along I-75 except in GA. That is supposed to be integrated at some point but was not as of December 2021.

And it sounds like it works on the Florida Turnpike as well? So I shouldn't need Sun Pass anymore? Thanks!

 

[dvczerfs]

I'm so happy that she could find her career in Orlando, close to the magic but not in the parks.

I remember, about eight years ago, her pondering a decision to work at WDW full time. I advised her against it. After working at a theme park for three summers in college, I felt the magic went away. I didn't want the Disney magic to go away for her.

Funny thing is, my niece now works full time at the same theme park. She seems to enjoy it.

Yes, she enjoyed the year she did and made a lot of friends but not for her. Her name tags are framed and hang in our family room.
She actually works from home for a company out of Boston, Massachusetts.
She has worked her way up quite a bit in the last year. She has eight people who report to her. She enjoys what’s she’s doing, basically the same thing as what she did when we lived in Pennsylvania, just makes Massachusetts wages living in Florid. Yes, she still lives at home. Lol
She does have a boyfriend….. finally. Lol
He owns a condo directly behind the Grand Floridian. She sits on the back patio watching the Magic Kingdom fireworks.
We are a little proud of her. Lol Her and I went to Kennedy Space Center a few times and on her days off, she walks the loop with me. I park in the Magic Kingdom parking lot, walk to the Polynesian, over to the Grand, over to the Magic Kingdom and over to the Contemporary. Sometimes we turn around and walk back or we hop the monorail back to TTC and walk back to the car.

 

[dvczerfs]

Yes, she enjoyed the year she did and made a lot of friends but not for her. Her name tags are framed and hang in our family room.
She actually works from home for a company out of Boston, Massachusetts.
She has worked her way up quite a bit in the last year. She has eight people who report to her. She enjoys what’s she’s doing, basically the same thing as what she did when we lived in Pennsylvania, just makes Massachusetts wages living in Florid. Yes, she still lives at home. Lol
She does have a boyfriend….. finally. Lol
He owns a condo directly behind the Grand Floridian. She sits on the back patio watching the Magic Kingdom fireworks.
We are a little proud of her. Lol Her and I went to Kennedy Space Center a few times and on her days off, she walks the loop with me. I park in the Magic Kingdom parking lot, walk to the Polynesian, over to the Grand, over to the Magic Kingdom and over to the Contemporary. Sometimes we turn around and walk back or we hop the monorail back to TTC and walk back to the car.

Here are some pictures from her birthday celebration this past week and a half.
You can tell it didn’t take long for her to become a Floridian. Lol

 

[4Cgirls]

Planning a late June trip from the Jersey shore to Orlando. Love, love, love the planning stage!

Has anyone driven from NJ and taken the Cape May ferry to Lewes DE? I am considering this route through and avoiding DC altogether.

 

[justreading]

Planning a late June trip from the Jersey shore to Orlando. Love, love, love the planning stage!

Has anyone driven from NJ and taken the Cape May ferry to Lewes DE? I am considering this route through and avoiding DC altogether.

Sorry I can't help you. I always avoid rt 95 as much as possible. I prefer the 'inland' route. 78-81-77-26-95. About an hour longer on paper but with the rt 95 traffic find it's usually a shorter drive-time.

 

[The Prophet]

I need to follow the school calendar once again. Leaving late tonight for WDW, taking I 95 to I 4
If the traffic gods are with me, I will be having dinner in Disney Springs tomorrow evening

 

[MulanMom]

Planning a late June trip from the Jersey shore to Orlando. Love, love, love the planning stage!

Has anyone driven from NJ and taken the Cape May ferry to Lewes DE? I am considering this route through and avoiding DC altogether.

I've never taken the ferry but I have taken the route through Delaware to avoid I95 congestion when we return from beach trips to NC. Going northbound we take 17 up to Virginia Beach area, cross on the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel/bridge (pretty expensive toll), then up through VA, MD, and DE (13, 113, rt. 1) until we join up to I95 around Christiana DE. During the summer, it can be congested but nothing near I95's volume. There are a lot of traffic lights in the rural town areas. But it's definitely a more relaxed pace. Oddly enough, we actually make better time going home because it's such a direct route.

Hope this helps!

 

[4Cgirls]

I've never taken the ferry but I have taken the route through Delaware to avoid I95 congestion when we return from beach trips to NC. Going northbound we take 17 up to Virginia Beach area, cross on the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel/bridge (pretty expensive toll), then up through VA, MD, and DE (13, 113, rt. 1) until we join up to I95 around Christiana DE. During the summer, it can be congested but nothing near I95's volume. There are a lot of traffic lights in the rural town areas. But it's definitely a more relaxed pace. Oddly enough, we actually make better time going home because it's such a direct route.

Hope this helps!

The CBBT scares me!

 

[MulanMom]

The CBBT scares me!

If you really think about it, it is scary. But it's not one long tunnel. It's mainly a bridge with a few tunnels to bring traffic under the shipping lanes. Where the tunnels begin/end are like little islands. On a nice day, you'll see many personal boats moored nearby. It's so different and unique, we're usually through it in what seems a short period of time because our attention is both on the road and on the sights around us.

If you drive through DE, where were you thinking of connecting with 95?

 

[ddluvsdisney]

We just returned from a quick 5 day trip that we flew down for. Disney was a hot mess. I haven’t seen that many people since I went on a Christmas trip. We skipped the parks our last 2 days and went to the beach.
Looking forward to driving down in April. 6 more weeks for another well deserved vacation!

 

[dvczerfs]

We just returned from a quick 5 day trip that we flew down for. Disney was a hot mess. I haven’t seen that many people since I went on a Christmas trip. We skipped the parks our last 2 days and went to the beach.
Looking forward to driving down in April. 6 more weeks for another well deserved vacation!

Well at least you had some nice weather. Lol
Its been hopping the last few weeks. I noticed a big change a few weeks ago,
found out, cheerleading competition. The following week came and it was president day week. This weekend is a race weekend. Lol. (Stay away from world drive early Sunday morning)
The one morning I waited 45 minutes to get into the MK parking lot at around 11am. I started walking to the ttc and the line for security was lined up into the parking lot. After reading all the “ I’m never going back” post, I figured the place would be empty. Lol.
I am glad to see the place is getting back to normal. It was way to creepy around here with hardly anyone here.
We actually went over to Epcot a few weeks ago. While waiting in line to get in because we are no longer resort guests, my wife said it was a downfall being a resident. I said look at all those people, pushing strollers, hauling backpacks, running while slathering sun block on. You see tourist, I see our cash cow paying our tax’s. Lol

 

[My2CrazyGirls]

For those that stop a night on the way or way home from FL, what do you do with your luggage? Do you unpack your vehichle and take everything into the hotel? Do you leave stuff in your vehicle?

 

[KCMA]

For those that stop a night on the way or way home from FL, what do you do with your luggage? Do you unpack your vehichle and take everything into the hotel? Do you leave stuff in your vehicle?

When we we stop we generally have a separate bag with only the things we will need for the night/change of clothes etc and make sure the toiletry bag is handy to bring in and then put back in one of the main luggage … no way we unpack everything

 

[sheilafri]

For those that stop a night on the way or way home from FL, what do you do with your luggage? Do you unpack your vehichle and take everything into the hotel? Do you leave stuff in your vehicle?

We usually stop in Paducah, KY. We only take in what we need for the night. And we have a lot of stuff that stays in the car so try to park under a light. But I’m not even to Bronze Status as we fly sometimes, too.

 

[justreading]

For those that stop a night on the way or way home from FL, what do you do with your luggage? Do you unpack your vehichle and take everything into the hotel? Do you leave stuff in your vehicle?

We only take in a small 'travel hotel' suitcase and a cooler (replace ice and refill car food). Fully packed car stays fully packed until we hit wdw.

 

[My2CrazyGirls]

We only take in a small 'travel hotel' suitcase and a cooler (replace ice and refill car food). Fully packed car stays fully packed until we hit wdw.

Do you ever worry a packed car with invite thieves? I don't want bring everything in the hotel for a night but also don't want stuff getting stolen.

 

[justreading]

Do you ever worry a packed car with invite thieves? I don't want bring everything in the hotel for a night but also don't want stuff getting stolen.

I try to park where I can see my car from my room or park in direct site of the front door of the hotel. But to be honest, the hotel parking lots are usually full by early evening with cars just as packed-full as mine. I never really felt vulnerable. I stay at pretty much the same hotels each year and feel comfortable. Now you may be making me second-guess my habits! (not really)
I also use a Rubbermaid opaque bin and put much of the loose stuff in that. If someone were to look into my car they wouldn't see anything of value. I do being ALL electronics into the hotel at night.

 

[bluezy]

For those that stop a night on the way or way home from FL, what do you do with your luggage? Do you unpack your vehichle and take everything into the hotel? Do you leave stuff in your vehicle?

Do you ever worry a packed car with invite thieves? I don't want bring everything in the hotel for a night but also don't want stuff getting stolen.

We drive from PA and usually stop 2 nights on the way to DW and one on the way home. The first time we drove, it didn't occur to me to pack a "hotel bag". Big mistake. I'm the queen of over packing and we had to lug every bag into the hotel room that first stop. I spent some time that night rearranging things so we only had to take in the toiletry bag, the "hotel bag" with the clothing we needed, and a tote bag with all of the snacks and electronics at the next hotel.

We've never really worried about theft. As someone else mentioned, most of the cars in the hotel parking lot are packed full of luggage...many of them with things strapped to the top or in a rooftop carrier. We don't leave anything of value in the car overnight and try to park either in a spot that we can see from our room or one that is close to the front of the building where there is a lot of activity. We try not to park in the back of the building unless we absolutely have to. If someone wants to break into our car and steal a few suitcases full of dirty laundry, so be it.

 

[nono]

Planning a late June trip from the Jersey shore to Orlando. Love, love, love the planning stage!

Has anyone driven from NJ and taken the Cape May ferry to Lewes DE? I am considering this route through and avoiding DC altogether.

Sorry I missed this. Yes, we do it regularly. We were planning to do it last month but with a storm coming in, we decided to "drive up and around" (Delaware Memorial Bridge) because we needed to leave before the storm that dropped 15-18" on Cape May County. We weren't worried about getting out, we were worried about it hitting North/South Carolina as we were going through and getting stuck (or struck) there. So, having just done the haul both ways, the ferry route is the same to + 30 min. of time v I95 all the way *if all goes well through the cities (Richmond/DC/Baltimore).* But we don't really choose it for whether or not we gain or lose time. We find it pleasant to be off the interstate for a decent portion of trip. Psychologically, it's great to get on I95 almost in North Carolina...but YMMV.

One nice feature of having the ferry reservation is that if you have to change your plans, your ticket is good for another year or so. Oh, and if anyone in your travel group is prone to sea-sickness, don't choose this route. Also, summer crossings are generally better than the winter for just general better weather and flatter seas.


HTH

 

[TheHamm]

For those that stop a night on the way or way home from FL, what do you do with your luggage? Do you unpack your vehichle and take everything into the hotel? Do you leave stuff in your vehicle?

Kids are changed into PJs a couple of hours before we stop, an overnight bag with toiletries, adult PJs and a change of clothes for everyone comes in. Any electronics come in, as well as the cooler in the hope that there is an actual functional minifridge to store things and a freezer to re-freeze ice packs and repack the cooler in the morning.

As a car repair from a smashed window would be the worst part of a parking lot smash and grab, we do not leave anything visible. When we traveled in a smaller car with a car top carrier I brought the stroller inside as it would have been devastating to have to replace that and it would have been pretty easy to open and grab (although awkward and notable when doing so). When we had a hatchback and in the minivan, we toss a blanket over the suitcase and tub of stuff in the back & shove all the electronics cords or headphones out of sight so it does not appear there could be something of high value that could easily be fenced ~ and to keep it real, this included bringing in the giant box of diapers when we rolled with tiny twins as those things are expensive and worth more to the right person than the effort to smash a window.