How bad is the drive to Orlando?

[Anonymous]

We aren’t big road trippers, but we might have to be in Orlando right before Xmas, and flights Xmas week for 6 people will be $$$$$.

Give it to me straight: how bad is the drive from DC/MoCo to Orlando? Google says 12.5 hours from my house, but I’m guessing it’s much longer in reality.

[Anonymous]

Does your family need to stop for the bathroom, Starbucks, lunch every two minutes.

We do the drive frequently and 13 hours isn’t unreasonable.

The key is to stop at places at exits without a lot of lights and that have everything under one roof, restrooms, snacks, multiple food options/food court etc.

ie Oasis in Halifax NC, Kenly 95 Petro (the lighthouse) in Kenly NC, the newer Loves truck stops (cleanest bathrooms and their app is awesome), Buccees in Florence, SC.

Also copy a list of state rest stops on SB and NB 95 and put in notes on your phone. Quick reference for when someone needs to go and you don’t need to waste time getting on and off highway when there be rest stop just a few miles down the road.

Leave early 4 am ish getting south of Richmond before the sun comes up is key.

[Anonymous]

We just did that for spring break. We were in Orlando by 8pm with generous breaks. Totally doable. Left at 5am.

[Anonymous]

We did it multiple times when the kids were young. Left early 7 AM and got there around 9pm. It’s a very easy, pretty drive from Richmond to GA. It’s about 14 hours when you factor in breaks. Adrenalin gets you there! However, on way back, definitely plan on stopping. Seems longer coming home. We usually stopped in Florence, SC - right off the highway - wide variety of name brand hotels and places to eat besides fast food ( IHOP, Olive Garden etc).

[Anonymous]

We drove to Orlando pre-covid. We stopped in Savannah (just off 95, by Pooler) both ways, It was about 8-8.5 hours to Savannah then 4-5 to Orlando. It was nice because we got to Orlando and had time to spend on activities for the rest of the day. And on the return trip, we did activities until early afternoon before starting the drive back.

We drove around President's Day weekend in February, so the traffic may be different around Christmas. There was traffic in spots due to crashes/construction which you can't really predict. And in places it's just a long, boring drive. Recommend stopping at Enmarkets, they were nice clean places to get snacks and use the bathroom with gas. I think they were in SC and Georgia.

Since Covid we've driven from DC to SW Florida a couple of times and avoided Orlando (went West around it). But the long boring drive aspects still apply for north of Jacksonville.

P.S. Also want to say we left the DC area on a Saturday by 8-830am outbound on the Orlando specific trip. On the one Covid trip to SWFL where we didn't stop overnight we left at 5am.

[Anonymous]

I’ll never find out. SC was bad enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ll never find out. SC was bad enough.

Lol.

Op here, and our last car trip was to SC and I was so drained when we drove home. VA traffic is the worst.

[Anonymous]

We thought we could make it in one day, but got pretty tired. After we stopped to eat dinner in Rocky Mount, NC we just couldn't keep going so we booked into a motel.

[Anonymous]

^ That was on the return trip. On the way down we stopped and spent a day in Savannah, GA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
We thought we could make it in one day, but got pretty tired. After we stopped to eat dinner in Rocky Mount, NC we just couldn't keep going so we booked into a motel.

You left way to late.

[Anonymous]

We did it with our four kids in August 2020. We left around 4pm and drove overnight. It took us about 17 hours, but we also stopped for a longer dinner, had a bit of trouble finding places open for the bathroom (b/c 2020), and got caught in some traffic.

Even with all that, it was totally doable--so much so that the next summer, we drove all the way across the country to San Diego and back for our summer vacation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did it with our four kids in August 2020. We left around 4pm and drove overnight. It took us about 17 hours, but we also stopped for a longer dinner, had a bit of trouble finding places open for the bathroom (b/c 2020), and got caught in some traffic.

Even with all that, it was totally doable--so much so that the next summer, we drove all the way across the country to San Diego and back for our summer vacation.

I am convinced there are two kinds of people in this world. The people who can do the above, and the people who can’t (and my family is in the latter group.) 8 hours is about our limit. Beyond that we either fly or don’t go. Yes that is a privileged position to be in.

[Anonymous]

We did 11 hours a couple times (NY state to NC). Never again.

[Anonymous]

We’ve driven from the DC region to Orlando a couple of times. We stop at Savannah for the night, giving us a break from the monotony of driving. (Plus, it’s a neat city to tour.) We pack bags for the kids to keep them occupied (car games, books, etc) and try to stop only at rest stops to speed up the trip. I’d do it again.

[Anonymous]

Getting through SC is the worst!!! But a trip to Orlando in one shot is very doable.