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

[bartleby1]

I didn't have any problems on 81/77/26 in may or the end of june. we are going again in 39 more days. the only place I seen any traffic was i81 north in west Virginia. there is construction but there was a truck wreck.
unless they started a new project on i77,which from home to wdw there are a few but nothing to slow you down. I had smooth sailing.

Thanks. I'm thinking that is the route we will end up taking. It's so tempting to try to chop off that extra 50 miles by taking 95, but we've experienced problems so many times years ago that I am leery. I don't think we've tried 95 since 2006 or 2007 due to the nightmares getting through Virginia! I've actually been checking live traffic through Virginia every Saturday morning for the past few weeks at the times we should be traveling through and 95 has consistently had problems, so 81/77/26 is looking like the way to go.

Can't wait! We leave in 5 days!

 

[OKW Lover]

But, always a but.... The 8 hour layover on DC has taken its toll on us... Just too long to sit and do nothing, going nowhere for those 8+ hours in station...don't get me wrong, we enjoy the train...again but...

Where is the layover in DC? Is it at Union Station?

 

[pepe of ohio]

Where is the layover in DC? Is it at Union Station?

Yup.... Big station, a lot to do but with our main 2 pieces of luggage in storage going down, we're still stuck with our carry ins to watch.... So I sit and wife roams around...

We also are not people to deposit all our stuff somewhere (?) and tour DC....

There is an earlier train out of DC, and arrives earlier in Kissimmee, but they won't let you book it from our home state... Seeing our first train might not get in on time to make that connection... That would be great... We once opted to take that earlier train and to switch tickets cost us I believe 75.00+ for the 2 of us...

Anywho... The train ride is nice and comfy, even in coach the whole way... We don't need a car in WDW. 49 trips and never used a car yet...so Auto Train doesn't interest us...

 

[mmwelch]

Leaving Wednesday going I79/19/77/26/95/4, has anyone done this recently? Any construction on the way to look out for?

 

[ParrotBill]

Leaving Wednesday going I79/19/77/26/95/4, has anyone done this recently? Any construction on the way to look out for?

I leave a week later from Rochester NY going the same route. I got the AAA report of construction and there's a bunch! Here are the important ones. I have no idea how up to date this list is, or how active these will be, but we will also watch our traffic monitors! My GPS has RDS traffic and we will watch Google Maps traffic.

PA
I-79 mp 99
WV
I-79 mp 96-99, and 104-107
I-77 mp 48-44, and 28
NC
I-77 mp 73, 54-49 and note rush hour slow through Charlotte
SC
I-77 mp 77-65
I-26 mo 136-149
GA
I-95 mp 42
FL
I-95 mp 348-335 (we will probably use the I-295 eastern bypass)
I-4 mp 132-118

 

[bartleby1]

I leave a week later from Rochester NY going the same route. I got the AAA report of construction and there's a bunch! Here are the important ones. I have no idea how up to date this list is, or how active these will be, but we will also watch our traffic monitors! My GPS has RDS traffic and we will watch Google Maps traffic.

PA
I-79 mp 99
WV
I-79 mp 96-99, and 104-107
I-77 mp 48-44, and 28
NC
I-77 mp 73, 54-49 and note rush hour slow through Charlotte
SC
I-77 mp 77-65
I-26 mo 136-149
GA
I-95 mp 42
FL
I-95 mp 348-335 (we will probably use the I-295 eastern bypass)
I-4 mp 132-118

Thanks for sharing! I got a triptik thru AAA but there isn't any construction info. Is that something you asked for separately?

 

[dvczerfs]

Thanks for sharing! I got a triptik thru AAA but there isn't any construction info. Is that something you asked for separately?

one thing you have to remember, here in the northeast they say construction which means lane closures. down south it means lane shifts. when I seen the i4 construction in may I thought, here we go. they just built two more lanes on the east bound side that they shift you on to so there are still the same amount of lanes heading in each direction.

 

[pepe of ohio]

We did the exact same route in May of this year and are headed back down in October...

Routes had construction here and there but never completely stopped... Lane changes, decrease speed limit, few lane closures but nothing to hinder our travel...

We left at 5am from northeast Ohio, I76 to I 77 then I26 to I 95.... I 4 to WDW.... no bypasses, hit major towns perfectly...

 

[deadheadmamma4]

When we get into Florida coming from nj is there a Florida sign for a photo op. that's we're we are telling the kids a bought Disney and how far from it till we actually hit Disney ?

 

[Yellowstonetim]

When we get into Florida coming from nj is there a Florida sign for a photo op. that's we're we are telling the kids a bought Disney and how far from it till we actually hit Disney ?

Yes, there is a "Welcome to Florida, the Sunshine State" sign on 95 at the welcome center.

Google Florida welcome center, look at images, and you will see pictures of the sign at the welcome center.

Enjoy the suprise!

 

[bartleby1]

When we get into Florida coming from nj is there a Florida sign for a photo op. that's we're we are telling the kids a bought Disney and how far from it till we actually hit Disney ?

It is probably at least another 3-1/2 hours without traffic once you enter Florida. We always say this is the longest stretch of our drive! With traffic it could be even longer.

 

[ParrotBill]

Thanks for sharing! I got a triptik thru AAA but there isn't any construction info. Is that something you asked for separately?

Ah yes, I could not figure out why I could not see it at first, as that was the whole reason I went to the AAA site. After you create a route, when you click "print" it creates a PDF with everything in it including the traffic alerts. Confusing!

And I agree with DVCzerfs, I figure that most of these will not cause much delay... possibly a couple will be an issue. Even the lane closures up north are not usually a problem unless the traffic is heavy. I drove to Virginia recently and had one real delay of about 15 minutes.

 

[sharadoc]

For anyone who has done 95 recently, how was the traffic thru Virginia? We've avoided it for the past few trips by taking 81/77/26 after too many times getting stuck in horrible traffic there but I have heard 77 has some construction right now, so I'm not sure which route to take. We leave next Saturday coming from north jersey. Plan to leave by 4:00am and stopping near walterboro, sc for the night. Anyone have current recommendations?

Saturdays are horrible in the summer from DC through Richmond. You have to clear DC by 8 am or you'll get stuck. I don't think you'll be able to do that if you leave at 4 am from CT. Friday night will be just as bad so unless you could leave on Thursday, you need to be prepared for traffic.

Folks have reported good results going down 301. I've never done it but I think that's a better choice over Route 1, which runs parallel to 95. Route 1 is full of traffic lights and shopping centers so a ton of stop and go traffic.

Good luck! The best choice for travel in the summer down 95 is a weekday in both directions. DC is empty and many folks are on vacation so regular commuter traffic on 95 is better.

 

[sharadoc]

When we get into Florida coming from nj is there a Florida sign for a photo op. that's we're we are telling the kids a bought Disney and how far from it till we actually hit Disney ?

YES, the Florida welcome center is a perfect place to stop too. There is free orange and grapefruit juice for everyone, great rest rooms, and a room full of brochures. Go to the central Florida section and pick up a TON of brochures for Disney and the surrounding area. They can read all of them, look at pictures, etc. for the last leg of the drive. It's fun!

 

[marius97]

It is probably at least another 3-1/2 hours without traffic once you enter Florida. We always say this is the longest stretch of our drive! With traffic it could be even longer.

I knew you were an east coaster just by reading your statement. You should try driving from the midwest some time. It takes about five hours to drive through Indiana and Georgia. Talk about never ending.

 

[bartleby1]

I knew you were an east coaster just by reading your statement. You should try driving from the midwest some time. It takes about five hours to drive through Indiana and Georgia. Talk about never ending.

LOL! Believe me, I know exactly what you mean! We drove to California last summer and the farther west you get, the larger the states become! It felt like we were in some of them for days!

Driving to Disney though, once you hit the state of Florida, it just seems like you should almost be there but, NOPE! 3-1/2 to 4 more hours! It's such a tease!

 

[dvczerfs]

When we get into Florida coming from nj is there a Florida sign for a photo op. that's we're we are telling the kids a bought Disney and how far from it till we actually hit Disney ?

there is a sign at the welcome center you can stand next to for a photo op. there is also a sign on the Ga/Fl stateline but that's on a bridge.


Florida state line to i4 is 1 hour / 42 min.

i4 to exit 68 is 54min.

(give or take)

I take i95 to i4. I stay on i95 thru Jacksonville and i4 thru Orlando. going thru jacks and Orlando I stay in the left lane, on the guys bumper in front of me. if they are doing 90mph, so am I. SIT DOWN, SHUT UP AND HOLD ON!!!! lol

 

[dvczerfs]

welcome center sign:

 

[Mommee]

We are at the tail end of our drive from the Detroit area! We left about 1 pm yesterday, unfortunately hitting Cincinnati during rush hour. We used the bypass but still sat in traffic and lost about an hour. We stopped for the night in Knoxville around 10:30 at a comfort suites on the south side. They were the smallest queen beds I'd ever seen but very comfortable and they had a great breakfast.
We got on the road around 7:30 this morning. We hit some traffic and storms north of Atlanta, but nothing too bad. This is our third trip driving, and all I can say is wireless hotspots are the best invention ever!

 

[LadyBeBop]

We are at the tail end of our drive from the Detroit area! We left about 1 pm yesterday, unfortunately hitting Cincinnati during rush hour.

I know. My husband complained about traffic coming home yesterday. He deals with Cincinnati rush hour traffic on a daily basis. (While my commute is less than 10 minutes...not even coming close to the highway.)

We used the bypass but still sat in traffic and lost about an hour.

Did you go the east bypass or the west bypass?

I will assume probably east, because it's shorter by a few miles. However, I-275, along the east suburbs, is all built up. Yes, you will hit traffic during rush hour. Next time, take the west bypass. The first five or so miles is built up, but after that, there's practically nothing until you hit the airport. And when you hit the airport, you're less than 5 miles from I-75.

If you did take the west bypass...well egg on me.

This is our third trip driving, and all I can say is wireless hotspots are the best invention ever!

Do you have one in the car? Or are you talking about your free WiFi at McDonald's, etc?

I'll probably rely on my cell phone's data plan, although we have a generous 10 gig for four people. We usually use less than half of that in a given month (however, I'm holding my breath this month. My eldest DD forgot to switch the switch to WiFi on her cell phone, and she, herself, used 5 gig in less than two weeks. We're three days away from the beginning of our usage month, and we have about a gig to go).