I-77 in December?
in [Disney Parks]
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From: Bashful on 27 Jun 2010 16:32 Okay, since the "cat is out of the bag", so to speak... it looks like DH and I will be driving to WDW in December, from Ohio. We have made the drive a couple of times, the last being a few years ago via I-77. Hubby found that he much preferred this route to the more obvious I-75 - just less traffic and less hassle, in his opinion. However, we've never made the drive (either route) in December, and we're a smidge worried about weather. (We'd be driving a Honda Accord, if that makes a difference.) Anyone taken this route during that time of year? Any opinions, advice, or thoughts for us? General driving tips are welcome, too. (No kids, just two "kids at heart".) I rather enjoy traveling this way... but that might have something to do with the fact that DH almost never lets me get behind the wheel. DH isn't quite so excited, but money's still a bit tight, and flying gets to be a bigger hassle every time. Thanks in advance for any help! -- Kitty (TDC Bashful) remove "whiskers" to e-mail
From: Keane on 27 Jun 2010 17:32 On Sun, 27 Jun 2010 16:32:45 -0400, Bashful <wdwkittywhiskers(a)yahoo.com> wrote: >Okay, since the "cat is out of the bag", so to speak... it looks like DH >and I will be driving to WDW in December, from Ohio. We have made the >drive a couple of times, the last being a few years ago via I-77. Hubby >found that he much preferred this route to the more obvious I-75 - just >less traffic and less hassle, in his opinion. However, we've never made >the drive (either route) in December, and we're a smidge worried about >weather. (We'd be driving a Honda Accord, if that makes a difference.) > Anyone taken this route during that time of year? Any opinions, >advice, or thoughts for us? General driving tips are welcome, too. (No >kids, just two "kids at heart".) Stop at every second or third rest area (that's usually an hour or two) whether you have to or not. Get out, stretch your legs, if only for a couple of minutes. I get less fatigued that way. Bring a cooler (one that doesn't spill liquid if it get's turned over, and yes, that's important) with plenty of favorite soft drinks and water. You'll get really dehydrated (especially in the winter), and caffeinated beverages help. If you freeze some water bottles, it'll make the ice in the cooler last that much longer. Snacks. Don't be economical and bring big bags of snacks. Individual serving sizes might be more expensive, but they're more easily handled while on the move... If you bring food (like lunch meat, cheese and tortillas to make some quick (unmessy) wraps, keep them in a separate cooler than the drinks. (Raid the local hot dog stand for some of those little packets of mustard and mayo. PiC makes 'em while I drive, and they're better than fast food...) Anyway, keep the food separate from the drinks. Bring tunage. Hope you have a good sound system in the Honda. :-) (Disney tunage is the best, but a decent average speed will still take you 15 hours. Plan ahead.) If I was coming from where you're coming from, I might take a day and head down the Blue Ridge. And make sure you stop for BBQ in some no-name place in North Carolina... But that's me. Think outside the box. You're driving. Christmas decorations. A case of water and/or pop. The ability to pack clothes for both hot and cold... :-) >I rather enjoy traveling this way... but that might have something to do >with the fact that DH almost never lets me get behind the wheel. DH >isn't quite so excited, but money's still a bit tight, and flying gets >to be a bigger hassle every time. Thanks in advance for any help! I'm that way with PiC. One year, on the other hand, that Disney karma got me sick, and she drove all the way home. Good to have a backup with you... :-) I ran some numbers for you. (I'm backing stuff up, and I'm bored.) Your shortest route is to take US-33 South out of Columbus to I-77, but it's mostly backroad and will probably take a long time. Maybe moreso during the winter. That route is 970 miles. So if you take I-70 to I-77 and go South (to I-26 to I-94 to I-4), it's 1025 miles. The driving straight East then South adds 55 miles to the trip. But as I said, over the entire trip, it's probably faster to take this route. On the other hand, routing through Atlanta (I-71 to I-75 to the Florida Turnpike), is 1020 miles. The same distance. But you can stop in Atlanta and have lunch or dinner with the usual suspects... So it might be best to wait until just before the trip to decide which route to take. If you're right on the edge of a winter storm, the extra day the storm would take to get as far East as I-77 might get to you WDW. Or it might be marginally warmer toward the Atlantic which makes for rain and not snow. On the other hand, I-77 goes through the mountains (I-75 kinda goes around 'em), so you might have more snow on I-77... I've taken I-65 to I-24 to I-75 a few times in December, and haven't had horrible problems, but I know I've lucked out. One of the worst winter storms I drove through was taking I-70 West out of Dayton to Indy. I've always had better weather South of I-70, so it might be better just to get on I-71 and head South immediately than follow I-70 to I-77... Keane -- When stars are born, They possess a gift or two, One of them is this, They have the power to make a wish come true... -- Wishes Visit my site: http://keanespics.com
From: Bashful on 27 Jun 2010 18:11 Keane wrote: Ooo... some really good advice here! I knew you'd know something about driving to WDW. :-) > Stop at every second or third rest area (that's usually an hour or > two) whether you have to or not. Get out, stretch your legs, if only > for a couple of minutes. I get less fatigued that way. Yup, we usually do about the same (though I've noticed that some states have *much* nicer rest stops than others. Probably a "girl thing", but it might influence my stop requests a bit. > Bring a cooler (one that doesn't spill liquid if it get's turned over, > and yes, that's important) with plenty of favorite soft drinks and > water. You'll get really dehydrated (especially in the winter), and > caffeinated beverages help. If you freeze some water bottles, it'll > make the ice in the cooler last that much longer. We usually bring a cooler, but I don't think I would have thought to freeze the water bottles. Excellent idea! We bring a LOT of water. > Snacks. Don't be economical and bring big bags of snacks. Individual > serving sizes might be more expensive, but they're more easily handled > while on the move... > If you bring food (like lunch meat, cheese and tortillas to make some > quick (unmessy) wraps, keep them in a separate cooler than the drinks. > (Raid the local hot dog stand for some of those little packets of > mustard and mayo. PiC makes 'em while I drive, and they're better > than fast food...) Anyway, keep the food separate from the drinks. I wouldn't have thought of two coolers. Now I will. Thanks! > Bring tunage. Hope you have a good sound system in the Honda. :-) > (Disney tunage is the best, but a decent average speed will still take > you 15 hours. Plan ahead.) It's good enough. And yes, we will most definitely have lots of Disney CDs with us. :-) > If I was coming from where you're coming from, I might take a day and > head down the Blue Ridge. And make sure you stop for BBQ in some > no-name place in North Carolina... But that's me. Only if they have BBQ'd tofu. ;-) > Think outside the box. You're driving. Christmas decorations. A > case of water and/or pop. The ability to pack clothes for both hot > and cold... :-) Oooo!!! Christmas decorations!!! Last year, I brought a couple of stockings, and some window clingy things, but that's all that would fit in the suitcase. I am SO going to decorate the room this year! Thank you! I just became WAY more excited about driving! > ...So it might be best to wait until just before the trip to decide > which route to take... Thank you for all your calculations! Yes, no reason we have to be set in stone on what route we're taking. We can have two or three possible routes put together, and then just haunt the weather channel right before we leave. Thanks for all the wonderful advice! Your whole post is going right into my trip-planning notes file. :-) -- Kitty (TDC Bashful) remove "whiskers" to e-mail
From: Jan B. aka Praline (cuz I'm sweet and nuts) :-) on 27 Jun 2010 19:27 On Jun 27, 3:32 pm, Bashful <wdwkittywhisk...(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > Okay, since the "cat is out of the bag", so to speak... it looks like DH > and I will be driving to WDW in December, from Ohio. We have made the > drive a couple of times, the last being a few years ago via I-77. Hubby > found that he much preferred this route to the more obvious I-75 - just > less traffic and less hassle, in his opinion. However, we've never made > the drive (either route) in December, and we're a smidge worried about > weather. (We'd be driving a Honda Accord, if that makes a difference.) > Anyone taken this route during that time of year? Any opinions, > advice, or thoughts for us? General driving tips are welcome, too. (No > kids, just two "kids at heart".) > > I rather enjoy traveling this way... but that might have something to do > with the fact that DH almost never lets me get behind the wheel. DH > isn't quite so excited, but money's still a bit tight, and flying gets > to be a bigger hassle every time. Thanks in advance for any help! > > -- > Kitty (TDC Bashful) > > remove "whiskers" to e-mail Since you're coming in December, this DOES mean you'll be at the RADP Meet, right? :-) Jan
From: Bashful on 27 Jun 2010 21:01
Jan B. aka Praline (cuz I'm sweet and nuts) :-) wrote: > On Jun 27, 3:32 pm, Bashful <wdwkittywhisk...(a)yahoo.com> wrote: >> Okay, since the "cat is out of the bag", so to speak... it looks like DH >> and I will be driving to WDW in December, from Ohio. We have made the >> drive a couple of times, the last being a few years ago via I-77. Hubby >> found that he much preferred this route to the more obvious I-75 - just >> less traffic and less hassle, in his opinion. However, we've never made >> the drive (either route) in December, and we're a smidge worried about >> weather. (We'd be driving a Honda Accord, if that makes a difference.) >> Anyone taken this route during that time of year? Any opinions, >> advice, or thoughts for us? General driving tips are welcome, too. (No >> kids, just two "kids at heart".) >> >> I rather enjoy traveling this way... but that might have something to do >> with the fact that DH almost never lets me get behind the wheel. DH >> isn't quite so excited, but money's still a bit tight, and flying gets >> to be a bigger hassle every time. Thanks in advance for any help! >> >> -- >> Kitty (TDC Bashful) >> >> remove "whiskers" to e-mail > > Since you're coming in December, this DOES mean you'll be at the RADP > Meet, right? :-) > > Jan That's the plan. We're probably going to need to leave shortly after the big meet (staying Dec. 4-11), but yes, there's a good chance that Mr. and Mrs. Bashful will be lurking at the RADP meet. (Look for me behind the large potted plant.) :-) -- Kitty (TDC Bashful) remove "whiskers" to e-mail |