Driving NY/NJ area to WDW

[friendoffigment]

couldn't find exactly what i am looking for in search. sorry if this is redundant thread. for those in the know-how.

planning to drive(car) to wdw in january (if all calms down). this is our first time driving and not in any hurry to get down there. want to make 2-3 stops. what is best route (i.m assuming 95). what are some good places to stop to visit for a day or two. some good hotels along the way. what time to leave, etc. any info will be appreciated

TIA

 

[RanDIZ]

95S the whole way. I’ve done it numerous times in winter. Only stopped twice. Can be done in 14-16hrs. Usually stop first in Kenly, NC truck stop. Really nice service area. We stop again in GA. Not bad at all. Leave Philly at 9p. Arrive Orlando before noon.

 

[ChanaC]

Never did that particular drive, but on a similar drive we stopped in Savannah. It's a beautiful city! Just walking around is entertainment enough.

 

[OKW Lover]

Another vote for Savannah! From there its a ~5 hour drive to WDW.

 

[LadyBeBop]

My initial thought was Williamsburg on Day 1 and Savannah on Day 2.

However, since you're going in January, your first thought is to get ahead or behind any snowstorms. Our one January trip, we were supposed to leave on Friday night. We called in sick Friday and left early Friday morning to get ahead of a snowstorm that was to hit the Tennessee mountains Friday night. The storm actually arrived ahead of schedule, so we spent an hour driving in the storm, before stopping the night just south of Atlanta (we drive I-75).

You're lucky, because you have so much time getting down to Florida. I'd check the weather several days before leaving and avoid any potential snowstorms. If it means driving all the way from NY to Savannah the first day, I'd do it. It's not a bad drive, and you can spend a couple of days there. Or leave the next day and make Orlando a day or two early.

Also....avoid Washington DC during rush hour (6-10 in the morning and 3-7 in the evening).

 

[TamaraQT]

Can I just say.....I WANT TO DRIVE TO FLORIDA SO BAD at least once. But my DH REFUSES to do it and I am afraid to drive without him. I wish I had the confidence to go by myself.

 

[TavieP]

I can't drive so I have no advice, except that from my memories of taking this trip with my family as a kid, we would always stop at South of the Border. I recommend you do not stop at South of the Border. It is terrible.

have a safe trip!

 

[FtW Mike]

We do a very close drive from De. We go to WDW in Dec. and return in Jan/Feb time frame. Besides DC you will need to consider Baltimore Md and Jacksonville Fl as the major cities to consider on your trek down I 95. You will want to carefully plan on when you will reach each of those cities and which bypass is better for you. As I bypass BMore all together no advice there Pretty Much same for DC ( I do US 50 to 495 to 95 )
As we are both over 60 and have the 2 dogs with us we need a stop every 2 to 3 hours . We also are traveling in a 37 ft Motorhome and I am the sole driver so non stop trip is out of the question. We do trip over 3 days and nights. If We ever go back to CAR trips will cut that back to 2 days 2 nights. With an overnight in Walterboro SC and an off property stay so we are less than 1 hour from check in the next morning.
For recommendations I would suggest a stop at say Fayetteville NC or another 70 miles or so down the road at South Of The Border

 

[westie55]

My family did a joint vacation to Kiawah Island and Disney this summer and it was great. We live in NJ, stayed in Rocky Mount NC our first night, then onto Kiawah for 4 nights, from Kiawah to Disney in 6 hours, then one overnight stop on the way home in Fayetteville NC. I wouldn't stay for a couple days in either Rocky Mount or Fayetteville but Kiawah was stunning.

 

[KristinU]

We sometimes drive down from CT. Another vote for stopping in Savannah as a side trip.

Excellent points made by others about the weather. Just be ready to shift plans by a few hours up to a couple of days if necessary and you'll be fine. There's a great app called Highway Weather that allows you to enter your start and end points and it will give you the weather forecast between the two, even with recommendations on when to leave to avoid bad weather.

 

[easyas123]

I recommend you do not stop at South of the Border. It is terrible.

This. 110%

For recommendations I would suggest a stop at say Fayetteville NC

My husband just came back from a trip to Ft. Myers area and he hit Fayetteville, NC area down and on the way back - said the hotels were nice, the Hilton had room service, which he took advantage of!

Do you have more than one driver? You can do it all in one slog, or easily by making a long day of it the first day, stopping overnight and finishing up the next if your goal is to just get down there.

 

[gatour]

We do a very close drive from De. We go to WDW in Dec. and return in Jan/Feb time frame. Besides DC you will need to consider Baltimore Md and Jacksonville Fl as the major cities to consider on your trek down I 95. You will want to carefully plan on when you will reach each of those cities and which bypass is better for you. As I bypass BMore all together no advice there Pretty Much same for DC ( I do US 50 to 495 to 95 )
As we are both over 60 and have the 2 dogs with us we need a stop every 2 to 3 hours . We also are traveling in a 37 ft Motorhome and I am the sole driver so non stop trip is out of the question. We do trip over 3 days and nights. If We ever go back to CAR trips will cut that back to 2 days 2 nights. With an overnight in Walterboro SC and an off property stay so we are less than 1 hour from check in the next morning.
For recommendations I would suggest a stop at say Fayetteville NC or another 70 miles or so down the road at South Of The Border

As a resident of Jacksonville, I recommend I-295 Eastern Beltway. They have added extra lane for a fare portion of it. Then look for "9B" It is a spur that will take you back to I-95. For 9B you will want to be in the middle or left lane after you pass Baymeadows. To get from 9B to I-95 you also want to be in the left or middle lane.

Most likely 9B won't appear on you car's nav system as it is very new. It does appear in google maps.


9B will eventually get an interstate designated number, but there is a process the state needs to execute to have this happen and it takes time.

 

[Moliphino]

I can't drive so I have no advice, except that from my memories of taking this trip with my family as a kid, we would always stop at South of the Border. I recommend you do not stop at South of the Border. It is terrible.

have a safe trip!

My sister and I stopped once after seeing the billboards for years (and seeing it in Forces of Nature). Yeah, no need to ever do that again.

 

[StregaNona]

I would also suggest you take I-295 around Richmond.

 

[Campari Spritz]

I had the fortune of living in Key West for 2 winter seasons. We would drive to KW in Sept, back to NYC in Dec, back to KW in Jan & back to NYC in May.

I-95 is incredibly boring for me until I see palm trees in South Carolina. As others suggested, dont stop for South of The Border- the billboards you will see for at least an hour prior to the entrance are far more fun then the actual place. Also, take I295, instead of 95S around Richmond. Same for Philly (I295.)

We travelled with dogs, so we stayed at Courtyard by Marriott along the way & also Red Roof Inn.

I loved hitting up Waffle House, as we dont have them in NYC & they are open 24/7. There are a bunch of quick service chains we dont have in NY that we tried out like Cracker Barrel & Bojangles. There is a cool website called Roadfood that speaks of excellent BBQ restaurants close to 95S whilst driving down (we've hit B's BBQ in Greenville, NC. Smithfields Chicken & BBQ- Lumberton, NC. Sweatmans BBQ in Hollyhill, SC.)

There is also a website that tracks fuel prices along 95S too.

Nicks Fish House in Maryland has all the Old Bay goodness on seafood with a large waterfront dining area & live music (at least they did 2 years ago; check the website.)

Pee Dee State Farmers Market in Florence, SC (right off 95) was very great for fruits, honey, local snacks & crafts.

Carolina Heritage Outfitters offers a canoe trip along the Edisto River to a treehouse that you can stay in overnight!

We also enjoyed a night in Savannah, GA & Charleston, SC. Extremely adored the retro Thunderbird Inn in Savannah.

We bought an electric kettle, cafetiere & thermos for great coffee in the hotel in the AM & early driving hours. A few non-perishable snacks from Trader Joes (nuts, trail mix, olives, sparkling water, crackers) but really enjoyed seeking out fun, local food on the road trips.

I obsessively tag locations in google maps to not forget. Enjoy!

 

[rj9555]

I had the fortune of living in Key West for 2 winter seasons. We would drive to KW in Sept, back to NYC in Dec, back to KW in Jan & back to NYC in May.

I-95 is incredibly boring for me until I see palm trees in South Carolina. As others suggested, dont stop for South of The Border- the billboards you will see for at least an hour prior to the entrance are far more fun then the actual place. Also, take I295, instead of 95S around Richmond. Same for Philly (I295.)

We travelled with dogs, so we stayed at Courtyard by Marriott along the way & also Red Roof Inn.

I loved hitting up Waffle House, as we dont have them in NYC & they are open 24/7. There are a bunch of quick service chains we dont have in NY that we tried out like Cracker Barrel & Bojangles. There is a cool website called Roadfood that speaks of excellent BBQ restaurants close to 95S whilst driving down (we've hit B's BBQ in Greenville, NC. Smithfields Chicken & BBQ- Lumberton, NC. Sweatmans BBQ in Hollyhill, SC.)

There is also a website that tracks fuel prices along 95S too.

Nicks Fish House in Maryland has all the Old Bay goodness on seafood with a large waterfront dining area & live music (at least they did 2 years ago; check the website.)

Pee Dee State Farmers Market in Florence, SC (right off 95) was very great for fruits, honey, local snacks & crafts.

Carolina Heritage Outfitters offers a canoe trip along the Edisto River to a treehouse that you can stay in overnight!

We also enjoyed a night in Savannah, GA & Charleston, SC. Extremely adored the retro Thunderbird Inn in Savannah.

We bought an electric kettle, cafetiere & thermos for great coffee in the hotel in the AM & early driving hours. A few non-perishable snacks from Trader Joes (nuts, trail mix, olives, sparkling water, crackers) but really enjoyed seeking out fun, local food on the road trips.

I obsessively tag locations in google maps to not forget. Enjoy!

Those are all good tips. Cracker Barrel is not quick service, though.

Santee, SC (exit 98) is a good stop-off point too.

 

[PortieOwner]

Those are all good tips. Cracker Barrel is not quick service, though.

Santee, SC (exit 98) is a good stop-off point too.

Yes, Cracker Barrel now has great mobile ordering. You can place an order ahead, and have it delivered to your car. I do this then have a Cracker Barrel picnic.

My experience driving: WDW is 14 hours from the DC area. Google Maps says 12.5 hours but with stops, and traffic it takes more time. Avoid DC, Baltimore and I-95 between DC and Richmond during rush hours. Baltimore can also have traffic problems.

Some places to consider stopping around DC: Annapolis, MD is very pretty and you can visit the Naval Academy (free). Annapolis is 20 minutes east of the Washington Beltway.

The Gaylord Hotel--National Harbor in Ft. Washington, MD is very impressive, and right off I-95. A big MGM casino is nearby along with a boardwalk and shopping and restaurants.

You could park at a Metro station such as New Carrolton (in MD) or Huntington (in VA) (both are right off the Beltway) and take the subway into DC and tour the Smithsonian Museums (free) or the various monuments and memorials downtown.

The Marine Corps Museum near Quantico, VA (30 miles south of DC) is free, huge, and kids like it.

The 8th Air Force Museum (World War II) is just off I-95 near Savannah. Not free, but kids will enjoy it.

One last place to consider a stop--St. Augustine, FL. Great town with some good restaurants and a lot to see. I had planned a trip to leave WDW in the late afternoon, stay in St. Augustine that night, take a day off in St, Augustine, then make the long trip home the next day.