For those folks driving!

I was just getting ready to print off my driving directions from MO to our resort. Funny thing...I have been using Googlemaps which gives estimated driving time 16 hr 5 min. This time I used Mapquest and it gives an estimated driving time of 17 hr 39 min. Any thoughts on why there is such a difference?

1. Are the routes exactly the same?
2. Did you print these on the same days? Maybe there was excess traffic/accident/construction that Google maps didn't account for?

I've never come across this issue as we don't print our directions. Sometimes the phone GPS and actual GPS (my copilot uses both at the same time) are a little off from each other but not by that much
 
1. Are the routes exactly the same? Yes-I doubled checked. There was a slight difference in St. Louis which dropped 10 min from Mapquest when I adjusted it.
2. Did you print these on the same days? Maybe there was excess traffic/accident/construction that Google maps didn't account for? Yes-As a matter of fact it showed some delays on the Googlemaps version in Atlanta.
 
I was just getting ready to print off my driving directions from MO to our resort. Funny thing...I have been using Googlemaps which gives estimated driving time 16 hr 5 min. This time I used Mapquest and it gives an estimated driving time of 17 hr 39 min. Any thoughts on why there is such a difference?

That's a big difference...I can't imagine what would cause that if the routes are exactly the same. It might be that Googlemaps has far more users and therefore has better "real time" data than Mapquest. Mapquest might be using more historical data and therefore not as accurate. We usually just use Waze or Googlemaps on our phones and don't actually print anything out. Both of those apps have always been very accurate for us.
 
2 pages at most. Just "Print text only". And I'm talking about directions of more than 10-hr drive.

Ok so this is probably a stupid question but if I print out directions is it like 20+ pages? I will definitely do that because even if there are numerous pages it’s better than nothing.
Thank you Nancy!



Yeah that would make me very nervous! I would start thinking of all those horror movies where someone gets lost while driving and needs to stop and get help. Definitely want to avoid that while driving at night!
 


Our ist trip we stayed at Country Inn and Suites on Yvette Johnson Hagins Dr.
I would highly suggest staying there, it's nice...I believe they had complimentary breakfast. Right on the property there is a gas station (so convenient!) There was a Walmart and lots of restaurants not far down the road. I would stay there again for sure! If you're looking for something cheaper but safe, we have stayed in Richmond Hill at Super 8 and also Dogwood Inn & Suites, same town. Have you thought about where you'll stay on way back?? Are you stopping twice or driving straight thru to Savannah? I would suggest leaving at a different time or you will arrive far too soon to check in. We have left at 5 am and made it to Savannah about 830 pm. The midnight trip we arrived at 3 pm.

Savannah for us would be farther (I think), so we stop at Atlanta. I'm curious though, do you also use Hotwire for your stopover hotel booking?
 
1. Are the routes exactly the same?
2. Did you print these on the same days? Maybe there was excess traffic/accident/construction that Google maps didn't account for?

I've never come across this issue as we don't print our directions. Sometimes the phone GPS and actual GPS (my copilot uses both at the same time) are a little off from each other but not by that much

That's a big difference...I can't imagine what would cause that if the routes are exactly the same. It might be that Googlemaps has far more users and therefore has better "real time" data than Mapquest. Mapquest might be using more historical data and therefore not as accurate. We usually just use Waze or Googlemaps on our phones and don't actually print anything out. Both of those apps have always been very accurate for us.
Are they both using the same average speed?

Look at the miles they both indicate (should be all but identical). Then divide by the amount of time they say. Just some rough numbers...

16.08 (16 hours, 5 minutes) hours averaging 70 miles/hour = 1125.6 miles.
17.65 hours averaging 65 miles/hour = 1147.25 miles.

16.08 averaging 60mph= 964.8
17.65 hours averaging 55mph= 970.75
 
In two weeks we will be making then drive again from PA to FL. Last year we tried the 81 route and liked it a lot and will be doing it again. Skipping all that traffic below DC and Richmond area is worth it for us.

I don’t know why, but when my husband suggests to take 81, I cringe! I feel like it’s out of the way and boring. However, it totally serves its purpose of avoiding traffic!! Anytime we take 95, no matter what time of day, we have at least an hour of traffic!! Then my husband gives me the “should have took 81” line. I think I like 95 so much too because the kids favorite part of the trip is looking for Pedro signs in North Carolina! It does give us something to do for a little bit!! LOL

We always count the Pedro signs!!! They've definitely gone down in numbers over the years, but it's still something fun to do to pass the time in NC. :D We debate taking taking 81 (a lot of people in our area take that route) but DH prefers to take 95. His reasoning is that if we take 81, we *know* it will take at least an hour longer than 95. If we take 95, we *might* have delays but it will still usually be faster. I will say that out of our last 7 trips, we've only had significant delays on 95 on 2 of them...and one of those was due to a major accident with multiple fatalities so the road was closed in *both* directions for almost an entire day (we lost about 2-3 hours of time that day due to *every* alternate route being packed). There were also accidents on the 81 route that day as well (no bad weather) so it was going to be a long day no matter which way we went that time! We try to leave home by 5:00 a.m. on a Saturday so we tend to be through the DC area by 9:00 which keeps us ahead of the worst traffic.

Just made the drive and took both routes.

On the way down, we took the 8-77-26-95 route and it added only a 1/2 hour to our time to our overnight stop in Port Wentworth GA on I95. While we were on 77 we saw traffic backed up in the opposite lane and decided that when we were driving back home to skip it and take the 95 route. That wound up being a huge mistake. First, we hit a ton of traffic both below and above Richmond and then even more around Fredericksburg VA which added almost 2 hours to our trip home. There were several accidents along with construction that made the trip home longer and more stressful. I think if we would've done the 81 route we could have been through that slow stretch on 77 much quicker.

Other notes; we flew through traffic in Jacksonville both ways and had no issues and in spite of the construction on I4 in Orlando, we didn't have any major back ups or stops.
 


Just made the drive and took both routes.

On the way down, we took the 8-77-26-95 route and it added only a 1/2 hour to our time to our overnight stop in Port Wentworth GA on I95. While we were on 77 we saw traffic backed up in the opposite lane and decided that when we were driving back home to skip it and take the 95 route. That wound up being a huge mistake. First, we hit a ton of traffic both below and above Richmond and then even more around Fredericksburg VA which added almost 2 hours to our trip home. There were several accidents along with construction that made the trip home longer and more stressful. I think if we would've done the 81 route we could have been through that slow stretch on 77 much quicker.

Other notes; we flew through traffic in Jacksonville both ways and had no issues and in spite of the construction on I4 in Orlando, we didn't have any major back ups or stops.

Ugh! Same spot almost every time! So frustrating!! No matter what time of day, seem to always hit that traffic!! As of right now, we're going 95 in June - but not sure about November, especially since we're leaving the day before Thanksgiving!!!! :scared: We typically leave to go down between that Saturday to Tuesday, but my DH doesn't want the kids to miss too much school anymore now that they're getting older. Hope you had a great trip!!
 
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Anyone drive from Houston ? leaving Friday the 1st and hoping to drive all the way through, just stopping to eat and gas (maybe a little nap)
question is... other than fast food anything good to eat or places to stop to let the little one run around a bit along the route...

think the route is I10,I12,I10 then i think I75 in Florida...
 
Ugh! Same spot almost every time! So frustrating!! No matter what time of day, seem to always hit that traffic!! As of right now, we're going 95 in June - but not sure about November, especially since we're leaving the day before Thanksgiving!!!! :scared: We typically leave to go down between that Saturday to Tuesday, but my DH doesn't want the kids to miss too much school anymore now that they're getting older. Hope you had a great trip!!

We had a great trip, even with all the rain last week.
We usually hit traffic around the King's Dominion exit too, but there was none on Sunday. I don't know if they're open full season yet. It was very disheartening to watch the gps arrival time go slowly from 8:30 pm to 10:30 pm!
Good luck with your trip! I hope you have a smooth ride.
 
We've driven down to Disney, or the Kissimmee, area 3 times now as a family and our next trip this August will be our 4th coming from NJ. We usually drive down the day before and stay someplace along the way down usually near the NC/SC boarder which is about the half way mark. We always make the trip a part of the vacation so it wouldn't seem too much like just a tedious drive to get to our vacation.
 
Our ist trip we stayed at Country Inn and Suites on Yvette Johnson Hagins Dr.
I would highly suggest staying there, it's nice...I believe they had complimentary breakfast. Right on the property there is a gas station (so convenient!) There was a Walmart and lots of restaurants not far down the road. I would stay there again for sure! If you're looking for something cheaper but safe, we have stayed in Richmond Hill at Super 8 and also Dogwood Inn & Suites, same town. Have you thought about where you'll stay on way back?? Are you stopping twice or driving straight thru to Savannah? I would suggest leaving at a different time or you will arrive far too soon to check in. We have left at 5 am and made it to Savannah about 830 pm. The midnight trip we arrived at 3 pm.

Thanks so much! Maybe we will leave later. Driving home we also plan on stopping but I’m not exactly sure where. We plan on spending the day in the parks and leaving Disney around 6pm. Driving for about 4-5 hours and finding somewhere to sleep. Not sure if this is the best plan.
 
Anyone go through Alabama have advice on best directions? My nephew will be moving but we are not sure exactly where. I know that his moms job will be near Anniston and she’ll have to be within a half hour or so if there. Once we know for sure that’ll help better on directions.

Through Atlanta is what comes up on mapquest/google but we’d be leaving AL after school on Friday so would hit Atlanta at rush hour. Would be going down through Montgomery or through Columbus be a good idea? We’d be looking for a hotel a couple hours from where he lives.

We are thinking of going in January. Going to be a pain to drive from Pittsburgh to there (hopefully no snow) then down to Disney, but I think that’s the only way that’ll really work. Flying to al, getting him, then flying to fl seems like too much hassle/expense. He’s not fond of flying so I wouldn’t have him fly on his own.
 
Savannah for us would be farther (I think), so we stop at Atlanta. I'm curious though, do you also use Hotwire for your stopover hotel booking?

I believe we used hotwire last year for one of the stopovers..sometimes I will book directly thru hotel website, just depends on where I can find best deal. I DO use Hotwire to book where we stay for the week and got fantastic deals.

Also, I think if you're going to be in the park until 6 and then get on the road...I would probably stay in Savannah again. After a long day, you're not going to want to drive very long and I think that would put you in a good position.
 
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4 days til we leave for our 6th drive from SW MO in past year (note not all were round trip right away-drove down with the DCP kid and flew back and reversed that when program ended).
DH likes to get south of Atlanta before we stop. He also likes the route through SE MO where we hit 3 states and 2 rivers/bridges in a matter of minutes :rotfl:.
I either book the room as we start estimating where to stop on Orbitz or call directly if we have hotel reward points to use.
 
Whoooo, some of these drives down makes me grateful that ours is only 8-9 hours and even with just that amount of hours, we still have a stay over in Valdosta.
 
Getting ready to drive down in 13 days, it is our first time driving. We plan on leaving between 12-1am from Southeastern Massachusetts and hope to get to at least Savannah but would prefer Jacksonville (hotels are much cheaper) before we stop for the night. We are hoping to get as close to Orlando as possible to make Sunday’s drive as short as possible. :drive:
 
Getting ready to drive down in 13 days, it is our first time driving. We plan on leaving between 12-1am from Southeastern Massachusetts and hope to get to at least Savannah but would prefer Jacksonville (hotels are much cheaper) before we stop for the night. We are hoping to get as close to Orlando as possible to make Sunday’s drive as short as possible. :drive:
Us too. 12 days to go, with a stop in Valdosta, Ga on the way down. But coming down from North Georgia.
 
I am thinking that I might wait until the morning of June 16th, they day we leave, to book our overnight stay in Valdosta. Looking at Orbitz, the rates really dropped for rooms this past Saturday verses what they were a week prior. Anyone have any experience, luck by doing this?
 

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