Trip to Daytona and Cape Canaveral planned over the 4th

[mightyace]

My brother and I are headed down to Daytona for the Coke Zero 400 on July 3rd and hit Cape Canaveral before heading back north.

Obviously, we're headed east on I-24 and south on I-75.

After looking at the map, it seems that I-75 south then I-10 east to Jacksonville and down I-95 is shorter than I-16 east and I-95 south.

We may return through the maze of Orlando tollways and the main turnpike to I-75 on the way back.

Any thoughts on the routings?

Anything that might be worth seeing down there or along the way.  And, no, we are not planning on doing anything IN Orlando (Disney, Universal Studios, etc.)

[agentsteel53]

oh lord, avoid Orlando... it's going to be a traffic-choked nightmare due to Disneyland.

75 to 10 to 95 seems sensible, and 16 to 95 isn't too bad either.

if you want some non-freeways, a detour to the Florida panhandle may be worthwhile, and you can take any of the northbound US routes back home.

[mightyace]

oh lord, avoid Orlando... it's going to be a traffic-choked nightmare due to Disneyland.

The only reason we're thinking about it is to hit some of Florida's Turnpike and the old Bee Line (now Beachline Expwy) before they go all electronic.  But, it's not worth sitting in a parking lot to do so...

I've never been to Florida before except for a brief foray into Pensacola from Gulf Shores, AL and we didn't even stop in Florida.

[huskeroadgeek]

I can't speak for I-75 south of Macon because I've never been on it, but I found I-16 to be one of the most boring drives I have ever seen. I-75 in S Georgia may not be much different, but I always thought if I was ever going from Atlanta to Jacksonville and points S. on I-95, I would take I-75-I-10-I-95. I-75 at least has a wider range of services available since it goes by larger cities than I-16 does.

[njroadhorse]

95 in Jacksonville can get congested, but it's all about when you hit it.  It's certainly better than going through Orlando though. Jacksonville's a pretty neat looking place, and just passing through it is good enough.  On the way back, if you want a pretty direct non-Interstate route, try FL 100 from I-95 to Lake City.  Cuts across central Florida at a pretty good clip, and its a decent drive IIRC.

[realjd]

My brother and I are headed down to Daytona for the Coke Zero 400 on July 3rd and hit Cape Canaveral before heading back north.

Obviously, we're headed east on I-24 and south on I-75.

After looking at the map, it seems that I-75 south then I-10 east to Jacksonville and down I-95 is shorter than I-16 east and I-95 south.

We may return through the maze of Orlando tollways and the main turnpike to I-75 on the way back.

Any thoughts on the routings?

Anything that might be worth seeing down there or along the way.  And, no, we are not planning on doing anything IN Orlando (Disney, Universal Studios, etc.)

I live near the space center. When I go up that way, I usually go through Orlando. I-95 is a busy, busy road, and if you take the Turnpike it's more scenic IMO (you'll go through Florida's hill country). You'd go south on I-75, south on Florida's Turnpike, then east on (Toll) SR-528. Traffic isn't usually bad on any of those roads, even the 528, although you may encounter a line for toll booths. If you plan on going this way, you may want to invest in a Sunpass sticker. You can get them online for $5 and they'll work on both the Turnpike's "SunPass" lanes and Orlando's "E-Pass" lanes. You can also buy them at CVS and Publix stores when you get down here.

If you go through Jax, don't follow I-10 into town. It's all under construction and you'll encounter delays. Take I-295 around the SW corner of the city to connect to I-95. Like I said before though, I-95 is an extremely busy, boring road. If you're going to Daytona first though, this route makes more sense. Plus you save some money on tolls.

Time-wise, both are identical. I think it's like a 5 mile difference or something between the 2 routes. And don't worry about Disney traffic. Orlando has terrible traffic on I-4 and sometimes on the 408, but as long as you avoid those roads you'll be fine.

[golden eagle]

Seems like a cool trip to me, though I'm not into auto racing. Hope you have fun though.

[florida]

I-75 is one of the hill-ier interstates in Florida. It's nice through northern Marion County to the outskirts of Paynes Prairie. The same goes for the Turnpike (in Lake County) as realjd said. Traffic on the Beeline shouldn't be bad at all; the toll plazas could become choke points and even then, there are only three between I-95 and the Turnpike (plus, you may get lucky and see a plane coming in for a landing just above the roadway near Orlando Int'l).