Driving I-95 from Orlando to NY

[mousaholic]

I need some opinions here. We are planning on leaving WDW at about 3 am on Monday of Labor Day weekend. We are driving to NY in hopes to be home by midnight. What do you all think the traffic will be like on our way home? Any opinions, thoughts, or alternate routes around trouble spots will be welcome!!!

[PAMOUSELOVER]

Are you from Orlando and visiting NY, or vice versa?

[mousaholic]

We are from NY, ending our vacation on September 3rd. We need to get home so we can get back to work on Tuesday. We have driven before but not under such a crunch for time. I am wondering if Labor Day traffic will be bad up north here.

[vamaggie]

Labor Day traffic will be BAD (repeat BAD) around Richmond/Washington DC/Maryland area. Many people travel I-95 up from the VA Beach/NC beaches and also hit the Wash Beltway from the MD beaches. If you plan to leave Orlando at 3am you should hit the DC area right in the afternoon which can be VERY SLOW. Depending on where in NY you live, you may want to look at alternates to I-95. Good Luck!

[mousaholic]

Any good alternates routes?

[DisneyLuvnNooks]

Yuo might want to research RT301, you pick it up right above Richmond.
We have taken it in the past.
It is slower than 95 if 95 is clear, but if 95 is messed up it is probably faster.
It goes over the Bay bridge and into DE, and than you can go over the Del Mem Br in DE.

[vamaggie]

Any good alternates routes?

Where in NY are you going? 301 is a smaller road and if I recall correctly has a lot of traffic lights.

[mousaholic]

About a half hour south of albany NY.

[jraczes]

Im not sure if you would make it in time. We live 45 minutes west of Albany (Amsterdam,NY) & we drove down 10 years ago with my pregnaunt wife in a Ford Focus with no air conditioning! Anyways if you never drove these rodes BEWARE OF RETREADS! I allways hit a few especially when it's 3am and your trying to stay awake. Enjoy your trip and have a safe vacation.


29 days to go for our trip!

[mousaholic]

We drove down 2 years ago, it took about 20 hours. My main concern is Labor Day Traffic around DC, Jersey Turnpike, etc. We have 3 or 4 drivers in our group so I think the driving part should go well as long as we can maneuver around traffic. Thanks for the tips.

[PAMOUSELOVER]

We will be driving home from Orlando on the 4th of Sept. to Pa. Good luck!

[ravsluvdisney]

We live in NJ and drove home from Baltimore up 95 this afternoon. All I can say is what was a 2 1/2 drive on the way down was a 5 hour ordeal on the way back today. The traffic on 95and in particular on the NJ Turnpike was absolutely horrific. I can only imagine how bad it will be around 4 - 5pm on a holiday weekend if it was soooo bad today. I would definitely try to find a way around that area if at all possible. If not, I would seriously think about leaving Sunday instead of Monday. If you leave at 3 or 4pm Sunday you can still get a day at the parks, stop around midnight in NC somewhere to sleep for a few hours, get back on the road by 5 am and be through that whole area by lunch time and you should be OK. Whatever you decide, good luck and have a safe trip.

[wdwfansince75]

I strongly suggest you consider an alternative route.....Slightly longer (about 60 miles), but Interstate all the way, and hits few cities.....

Take I 95 into South Carolina, to I-26 West (towards Colunbia, SC)....Look for I-77 West, towards Charlotte....Stay on I-77 through NC, into VA....Pick up I-81 North......Through VA, WV, MD, and PA....Either stay on 81 to Binghamton, and take I 88, or take I 84 to I 87....few cities and great scenery.....Travel frequently from Greenville, SC area to Eastern PA, using I-81...much better than fighting I-85 and I-95.

For years, I was a weekend commuter, living in Eastern PA, and working all week in DC.....Primary motivation to moving to SC.......95 is/was/always will be a constant nightmare.

If you decide to try it anyway....do not, repeat, do not, I say again, do not take 301.....In MD, it is a commuting nightmare, with traffic lights in LaPlata and Waldorf, MD, all the way to Bowie.....only redeeming quality is Wigwam Bakery in Waldorf....spectacular stuff....

My slightly older brother lives above Albany, and occasionally travels to GA to hunt....uses 88, 81, 77, and 20....doesn't mind the time, and hates traffic.....

[mousaholic]

Thanks WDWfan. I printed out your post and I am getting out the map and checking it out. I have done 301 before and I think it might be better to avoid that on this date.

I knew I could count on INTERCOT for some good advice!

[Sean Riley Taylor's Mom]

Good luck with the drive.

We have driven down a few times from Long Island and hate the New Jersey Turnpike and DC areas. I am ready to strangle someone by the time we hit the turnpike on the drive back. I guess that is why we fly now..lol.

Anyway, we leave very late in the evening and drive straight through so we avoid the traffic in that area on the way down.

I hope you can find another route that works for you guys!!

[vamaggie]

I was also going to suggest 81 as an alternate. Another thing to be careful about is speed (at least through VA/DC/MD). There are always a lot of police out on any holiday weekend around here and they will pull you over for going 10 miles over the limit (which if you ever drive 95 you know is very easy to do!). The "backroads" are alos well policed so just be careful not to go too fast. Have a great trip!

[jwallace378]

We left WDW at 7AM in early September and made it to northern NJ by midnight. It wasn't on a holiday weekend though. If you add on 3 to 4 hours of extra holiday traffic, you should be right on the money by leaving around 3AM.

[princessimagineer]

last friday we drove home from DC to central jersey via I95. what should have been only a 3 1/2 hour drive turned into a 5 1/2 hour drive. its a good thing youve got support on intercot giving you suggestions for alternate routes!

i think ill be leaving disney (by driving) that same weekend too, uh oh, at least my parents have off that next day, and school for me wont start for a couple days...

[mousaholic]

I think we will do fine with all of these great suggestions. We don't have to be home by the stroke of midnight, we just need to get my husband a little bit of sleep before he heads out for work on Tuesday! I just can't wait to get there already!

[Scar]

I stongly suggest that you follow this route. It's only slightly longer but the time you save from traffic is well worth it.

Take I 95 into South Carolina, to I-26 West (towards Colunbia, SC)....Look for I-77 West, towards Charlotte....Stay on I-77 through NC, into VA....Pick up I-81 North......Through VA, WV, MD, and PA....Either stay on 81 to Binghamton, and take I 88, or take I 84 to I 87....few cities and great scenery.....Travel frequently from Greenville, SC area to Eastern PA, using I-81...much better than fighting I-85 and I-95.

On a typical Sunday evening in the summer, The NJ TPK is horrible northbound between exits 5 and 8A (and even sometimes all the way from DE.) I can only imagine it being worse on Labor Day.