best airport in NJ

[smrose]

We will be moving from the West Coast to the East Coast and am totally unfamiliar with the area. My husband will be working at Lakehurst and I assume we will live somewhere around there.
Anyways I am so used to planning our vacations from Seattle and have read not so good things about some of the airports like Newark? Very crowded, hard to get to etc. What airport would you recommend using in that area? Is it better to drive to NY or Philadelphia? Need to start planning our spring trip to Disney but I don't know where to start! Any help appreciated!

 

[RobinLyn]

Hi smrose,

Will you be moving around the Toms River area, Ocean County? I'm about an hour or so west of Toms River, in between Atlantic City and Philadelphia. Fort Dix and a Naval Air Station are in the Lakehurst area. You could use Newark Airport, and yes it isn't the best area, very congested. Not sure if it is closer than Philadelphia International Airport but the Philly Airport is much nicer than Newark Airport. We are about 35 minutes south of the Philly airport and take all our trips from there. There is a smaller, but nice airport in Atlantic City you may want to look into; http://www.acairport.com/ Hope this helps!

RobinLyn

 

[smrose]

thanks for the info. Yes I assume we will be living in that area. My husband is there now. He works at the Naval air station in Lakehurst. For now he is living on the base but we have friends in Toms River. He is finding though how expensive that area is and some of his co-workers have suggested looking to the south or to the west closer to Philadelphia I assume.....I have never lived outside the state of Washington so this will be quite an experience for me!
I was thinking Phildelphia might be a nicer airport but then I have never been there either! Do you know if one airport has better deals for going to Orlando over another?
Hey.....maybe we will be neighbors soon!

 

[sandygirl]

Welcome to New Jersey!

My husband is retired Air National Guard and my youngest son is a Marine stationed in GA. I have lived in CA, MD, and Germany courtesy of the US Army. I was terribly homesick and missed NJ and my family. I hope you make a smooth adjustment and enjoy new experiences. Do you have children?

I know nothing about the Newark Airport. Philadelphia is okay and you can get some good fares to Orlando on AirTran or US Airways. My favorite is the Atlantic City Airport. It is still small enough, but is growing. Spirit Airlines flies out of there and I can usually get a decent rate from them.

Let me know if I can help with anything else in your move.

Darlene

 

[Gillian]

We are in central NJ, near Princeton. We are close to Newark and Philly, but we usually get better deals for FL out of philly. Newark is better for international flights.

This website is for the base & gives directions from both major airports. It looks like you're probably closer to Philadelphia. The thing with the Newark directions is that you can't tell how far the drive on the Garden State Parkway is. I think the NJ turnpike puts you on the Parkway at exit 29. Then you have to drive south to exit 88. That sounds far to me!!

http://www.lakehurst.navy.mil/nlweb/directions.html

 

[RobinLyn]

The closer to the ocean, the higher the price in NJ. But you should be able to find something nice in that area.
USAirways flies out of Atlantic City, most flights connect in Philadelphia Airport, than on to Orlando. You may want to look into that. It may not cost much more doing it that way. We will be flying USAir in May to Orlando out of Philly Airport. I would compare the two for cost differences.

RobinLyn

 

[smrose]

thank you all for the replys. I think I will go with the Atlantic City airport or Philly. I like the idea of a small airport. So much easier.
My husband has only been there a few weeks so doesn't have much info about the area yet. In fact I think I can learn more from all of you here! For those of you in that area can you recommend a city he can look at besides Toms River? So far he really likes what he has seen but I am willing to live farther away from the ocean to save a few bucks! We are coming from Whidbey Island so living next to the beach isn't that important...
We have one daughter who will be starting college in the fall. Trying to see if she can get in state tuition for possible Rutgers...otherwise she will have to stay in WA and go to school here for a year. Too expensive otherwise. Also have a 12 year old son so schools must be good and there must be a youth football league!!! Any other info anyone has will be most appreciated..

 

[RobinLyn]

I sent you a private message smrose.

RobinLyn

 

[lsyorke]

smrose,

A big Welcome to the Garden State!

I must defend Newark Airport though. We live in Central Jersey and always fly out of Newark. OK, so the area isn't the greatest but with the Monorail and new construction near completion its really easy to get around and parking is much better than before. I have parked in long term parking on numerous occasions and never had a problem. Don't rule out Newark if you can get a deal on a flight.

 

[shoes99]

I live 20 miles from Newark Liberty Airport and I used it frequently. We park at Avistar Parking on Highway Route 1 and the shuttle bus drops us off at curbside checkin. Flights are frequent to Orlando and the price is usually pretty good.

 

[cheshirekitty]

I always get great fares out of Newark. On our last trip to Disney, we flew on Delta for $130 RT pp!!!!

 

[smrose]

Thank you everyone for your comments. I guess I will go with whatever airport I can get the best deal from cause afterall that is why I read these boards....to get the best deal!!
Thank you Robinlyn....I called my husband and told him to go look at those places. It is quite a shock at the price of housing since even tho I think it is expensive here, it is about half of what it is there. To me living in a 300,000 dollar house would be living in a mansion!
The idea of not being able to make a left turn is really weird to me....My husband who has an excellent sense of direction says it is taking him some time to get used to your roads! I know if he finds it strange I will be totally lost!

 

[mom23guys2]

If you're planning to fly to MCO, definitely check out Atlantic City and Spirit airlines. You park close to the terminal for $3.50 a day, there are only a few gates and almost no long lines for security. I've flown Spirit many times, no frill but great prices. Don't be frightened by Newark's congestion. It's easily accessible from the Turnpike(which you can access from the Garden State Parkway and will take less than an hour from the Lakewood area. Philly isn't bad either(I use it when Spirit's flights are high or to go West.
Welcome to NJ. You could try looking in to the Forked River, Lacey Township area. The schools are supposed to be very good. There is also the Howell and Freehold areas. The central part of Jersey has gotten very expensive. One benefit is that you are not too far from Fort Monmouth and Fort Dix-Maguire so you can use their commissary and PX.
I think if your child graduates from a NJ high school they are considered a NJ resident for college but I'm not sure.

 

[Sheree]

We always look at phl and newark. if you do newark, the off site avistar parking makes life a lot easier!

We're in Mercer County, and we have people in our town who work at lakehurst but it's about 45-60 minutes away.

Jackson isn't far and their schools have improved greatly. Freehold, depends wher ein Freehold you are.

Upper Freehold is also excellent schools but more expensive.

Ocean County (toms river) should work fine for you. have your realtor get you the school reports from each of the towns.

Also your husband's coworkers should be a big help. s ometimes a map doesn't tell you true commuting times.

Hope this helps