driving Maine to Florida in late December

[luvflorida]

My family and I will be leaving Maine early on the morning of December 26 and driving to Orlando. We plan on stopping for one night, then finishing our trip the next day. We have done this several times before but never in December. I'd be interested in hearing from people who have traveled this route before, especially on the day after Christmas. What can we expect for traffic? Likewise, on our return trip we will be leaving Orlando on the day after New's Years. Anyone with traffic knowledge for that particular time? Thanks so much for any info!

 

[Jynohn]

We'll be making the same trip from Massachusetts, leaving the morning after Christmas too
I've done this trip on the 26th once before, but it was many years ago. As far as I remember, there was nothing unusual about the traffic due to the holidays. I don't think you should run into any problems as long as the weather holds out. Our biggest concern is that we have to take down the tree on Christmas night so we won't come home to a dead tree and pine needles all over the floor!

Have a safe trip, see you on I-95!

 

[luvflorida]

Jynohn,

What day are you driving back on? I know what you mean about the tree. I'm not sure yet if we'll take it down before we leave or just wait until we get back and clean up the mess!

 

[Jynohn]

We're driving back on the 12th after I run my first ever marathon on the 11th!

We debated leaving the tree up till we got home too, but I thought it would be depressing enough that our trip was over, without coming home to a dead tree and a huge mess to clean up to top it all off So instead the tree's going up right after Thanksgiving so we'll have a chance to enjoy it. I know I'm not going to want to spend Christmas night packing up ornaments, but it's better than coming home and having to do it, plus deal with unpacking and all the laundry, not to mention the sad reality of being home and going back to work!

 

[JustHolly]

First about the tree- we once went to WDW the day after Christmas (but we flew) Leaving the tree up can be a fire hazard, especially when it has been up for a while and is dry. Take it down Christmas night. I thought it would bother me, but it didn't because we were so excited about our trip. I was just annoyed that I had that chore with all the other pre-vacation things I had to do.

I can't say much about the traffic driving down that time of year. You're bound to hit some traffic, but it may be balanced because many people have that day off. So you won't get the commuter traffic, but you'll get others like yourself and who are returning home after the holiday.

I would definitely pick a place to stop and make reservations for a hotel BEFORE you leave. Just because hotel rooms are hard to find around Christmas. I'd also recommend driving as far as you can the first day, and have a shorter drive the second day. It really made a difference for us driving in August. From NH, we drove 15 hours the first day, and 9 the second day. The 15 hours was BRUTAL though!

Have fun planning your trip!