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

[ddluvsdisney]

It sounds like this occurred on a Saturday. When I did a similar drive over a weekend during the summer last year, I think we hit slower traffic in SC, but not stop and go. Do you think this was due to construction/roadwork someone mentioned upthread?

LAX

No there was no construction. I think just everyone going home the same day. Ugh!! It was the end of spring break for the northeast.

 

[Goofygirl17]

We just booked our next vacation. We were going to skip Disney this year because prices have gone up so much in recent years and we had several house disasters that ate up the summer vacation budget. But, my older daughter said she'd be happy if we even just went to Magic Kingdom one day. So we're actually going to have 2-3 park days thanks to my brother who gave us cast member tickets from his job. We're going to stay off-site as usual and plan on going to daytona, cocoa beach, maybe Blizzard beach and maybe Cape canaveral.

Any suggestions for other places to visit?

We're going to take our usual inland route and leave on July 13th (so far).

 

[BC1836]

We left FL at 9:30 am yesterday and arrived this morning at 5:30 am.
The only major slow down was in SC. We were stop and go for almost an hour. The 2 lanes are really frustrating in SC and NC.
Interstates should really be at least 3 lanes!!!
We will be making another drive in July.

We shared your SC experience this afternoon, between MM 22 and 61, a delay of about 90 minutes! Brutal stop and go...no accidents, no construction, no police stops, no nuthin.' Except stop and go traffic. Ugh!

All the best!

 

[Queen2PrincessG]

SO what do people use to store activities and food for the kids in the car? Any "systems" you really like? I'm thinking of buying this.

https://www.zulily.com/p/large-back...-240941-37766166.html?pos=5&fromEvent=240941&

 

[ddluvsdisney]

We shared your SC experience this afternoon, between MM 22 and 61, a delay of about 90 minutes! Brutal stop and go...no accidents, no construction, no police stops, no nuthin.' Except stop and go traffic. Ugh!

All the best!

So frustrating!!

 

[BC1836]

Drive #45 completed this afternoon at 3:37 p.m. The ride from Petersburg was uneventful except for a brief slowdown in northern, VA. An accident on I-85 south caused a three-mile delay!

Countdown to August...

All the best!

 

[Shaft41]

We will be making our first drive to the World since 2001 in July. We have flown the last 4 trips, but are much more budget-conscious this year and are driving down. In 2001, it was just my wife and I, and now we have 5 kids in tow. I've read most every post of this entire thread, and I thank all of you for the tips and information. We will be driving the 5 1/2 hours to Cincinnati from our home on Saturday, July 1, going to the Cubs-Reds game that afternoon, and then driving south after the game for a ways to get a little farther on our journey. I would love to make it to somewhere around Knoxville, TN that night, but I think that's about 3-3.5 hours from Cincinnati, so it might depend on when we leave Ohio. We should be coming through Atlanta early afternoon of Sunday, so hopefully, there won't be traffic issues there. Google Maps says about 13 hours from Cincinnati to WDW, so I'm hoping to make it more like 10-11 on that second day of driving to get to our townhome by 7 or 8 p.m. I've never gone this way before, but does anyone with experience from, say, maybe the Kentucky/Tennessee border think this sounds doable?

 

[Poohs Pal]

We will be making our first drive to the World since 2001 in July. We have flown the last 4 trips, but are much more budget-conscious this year and are driving down. In 2001, it was just my wife and I, and now we have 5 kids in tow. I've read most every post of this entire thread, and I thank all of you for the tips and information. We will be driving the 5 1/2 hours to Cincinnati from our home on Saturday, July 1, going to the Cubs-Reds game that afternoon, and then driving south after the game for a ways to get a little farther on our journey. I would love to make it to somewhere around Knoxville, TN that night, but I think that's about 3-3.5 hours from Cincinnati, so it might depend on when we leave Ohio. We should be coming through Atlanta early afternoon of Sunday, so hopefully, there won't be traffic issues there. Google Maps says about 13 hours from Cincinnati to WDW, so I'm hoping to make it more like 10-11 on that second day of driving to get to our townhome by 7 or 8 p.m. I've never gone this way before, but does anyone with experience from, say, maybe the Kentucky/Tennessee border think this sounds doable?

What time do you expect to be on the road after the game. I don't see driving through Atlanta on Sunday to be a problem. We always Drive the HOV through Atlanta. We drive the 23 to 75 route from Michigan. If it was me and you are expecting to get on the road at a decent time after the game I would want to drive farther than Knoxville. If u don't think that is possible I would be on the road by 5am the next day or earlier.

 

[LadyBeBop]

If it was me and you are expecting to get on the road at a decent time after the game I would want to drive farther than Knoxville. If u don't think that is possible I would be on the road by 5am the next day or earlier.

I've lived in the Cincinnati area all my life, so I know a little bit about the area.

The game is late afternoon (4:10 start), so I don't see them getting on the road before 7 or 7:30. That would put them in Knoxville sometime around 11:30. And that's actually going through the mountains very late at night (10:30-11)

Knoxville is about 4 hours from Cincinnati. We make the trip south all the time.

If you want to stop a little bit before Knoxville, Jellico has most of the major hotel chains. That's about 45 minutes north of Knoxville, just before the mountains.

Driving straight through with no stops, it's about 13 hours from here to Orlando. But we make a number of stops. Last trip took us about 15 to 15 1/2 hours.

Knoxville to Orlando is a relatively easy drive. Leave at 7 AM, you'll get through Atlanta well before noon.

Have fun at the game, and may the home team win.

 

[Shaft41]

I've lived in the Cincinnati area all my life, so I know a little bit about the area.

The game is late afternoon (4:10 start), so I don't see them getting on the road before 7 or 7:30. That would put them in Knoxville sometime around 11:30. And that's actually going through the mountains very late at night (10:30-11)

Knoxville is about 4 hours from Cincinnati. We make the trip south all the time.

If you want to stop a little bit before Knoxville, Jellico has most of the major hotel chains. That's about 45 minutes north of Knoxville, just before the mountains.

Driving straight through with no stops, it's about 13 hours from here to Orlando. But we make a number of stops. Last trip took us about 15 to 15 1/2 hours.

Knoxville to Orlando is a relatively easy drive. Leave at 7 AM, you'll get through Atlanta well before noon.

Have fun at the game, and may the home team win.

Thank you for this info. Yes, we should hopefully be on the road from Cincinnati by 7:30 at the latest, hopefully earlier if the game cooperates. (Last year, we were at the Cubs-Reds game that went 15 innings, so that would affect things if it happened again.)

Getting to Knoxville would be ideal, but, you're right, that's getting in pretty late at night. However, we're from central Illinois, so it will "feel" like an hour earlier to us. (Of course, that also applies to getting up and moving the following morning.) We will want a hotel pretty much right along the interstate. Whether we were to stop at Jellico or make it to Knoxville, it looks like no more than 10.5-11 hours of driving the next day, so if we leave early, we'll get in by early evening.

Oh, and as you probably surmised, we'll be rooting for the visiting team.

 

[BC1836]

One wonders if I-95 in SC will ever expand to three lanes?

All the best!

 

[ddluvsdisney]

One wonders if I-95 in SC will ever expand to three lanes?

All the best!

We can only hope!

 

[BC1836]

"Wishes" will soon be ending at the MK, but that doesn't mean we can't stop wishing. How about this wish, 2,000+ mile round trip drivers? Wishing that all slow moving drivers stay in the right hand lane, all the way from home to WDW and back!

All the best!

 

[toolmanjan]

One wonders if I-95 in SC will ever expand to three lanes?

All the best!

Both SC and NC for that matter. I wouldn't hols my breath!

 

[patclairesmom]

Tips needed on driving straight thru from NJ. Our check in date at POR is 6/24. Just found out (yes I know it's late to find out) that my kids HS graduation is 6/23 at 6pm. I was really hoping that graduation was going to be earlier in the week or even earlier in the day, but can't change that. We'll have 2 drivers, myself and my DS. Not sure when what time we should leave..thinking of leaving right after @10pm. Thanks!

 

[princessfionasmom]

Seeking help from fellow MA drivers! We are leaving two weeks from today heading to Nashville TN then down to Enterprise AL (niece's graduation) then over to WDW. What is the best time to get out of MA to avoid as much traffic as possible and what's the best route to get past NY. The furthest I've ever driven is to VA and that was over 20 years ago.

TIA!

 

[ForeverDisney6793]

Tips needed on driving straight thru from NJ. Our check in date at POR is 6/24. Just found out (yes I know it's late to find out) that my kids HS graduation is 6/23 at 6pm. I was really hoping that graduation was going to be earlier in the week or even earlier in the day, but can't change that. We'll have 2 drivers, myself and my DS. Not sure when what time we should leave..thinking of leaving right after @10pm. Thanks!

We will be driving straight thru this Friday evening from South Jersey. We have left all different times. This particular time we will be leaving sometime between 7 and 9 PM. I have also left between 11 PM and midnight and never had any issues. As long as you are not in the DC area at PM rush hour, other than unforeseen traffic issues, you should have no problem.

 

[carwel]

We're leaving from east Toronto area through Buffalo along 79/77 route in 10 days. It's been a few years since making this journey. We plan to leave 4/4:30 am on Friday, May 19 to beat Toronto traffic and do the bulk of our journey Friday, w maybe 6 hours left for Saturday. Do you all book your hotel ahead of time, esp if it's a weekend? I like the idea of flexibility to stop when we feel like it, but don't want to waste time looking for somewhere to stay late Friday night.

 

[patclairesmom]

We will be driving straight thru this Friday evening from South Jersey. We have left all different times. This particular time we will be leaving sometime between 7 and 9 PM. I have also left between 11 PM and midnight and never had any issues. As long as you are not in the DC area at PM rush hour, other than unforeseen traffic issues, you should have no problem.

Do you nap before you leave or change your sleeping pattern right before?

 

[ForeverDisney6793]

Do you nap before you leave or change your sleeping pattern right before?

I try to sleep a few hours before I leave. This trip I will be getting home from work by noon and trying to catch some sleep. My daughter is able to drive as well, but I am a control freak and have never been able to let someone else drive me.