Driving Orlando to Philly in January..crazy?

[grumpyswife925]

We are flying to WDW in late January '07 from the West Coast continuing on to Philly before we return home. Would it be insane for us to try to drive (weather)? Can we get nice, inexpensive hotel rooms along the way?
Airfare is $120 more each ticket (x 4) so rental car and hotel costs would make driving cheaper, but it would be a special treat for us to see everything along the way and we have 3-4 days to make interesting stops. What are some of the interesting stops and will they be open in Winter?

 

[Diznotyzed]

Bumping this for my sis since I told her to ask here, and I don't want to look bad!

 

[makinorlando]

Not much help but here are a couple things that popped into my mind!

I'm not too sure what else you might want to see, but if you are going to be that close - Wash DC would be great.... the monuments, the Smithsonian, etc.

Baltimore has the Aquarium & Inner Harbor area.

St Augustine, FL is supposed to be a great place to visit... although we have lived her for three years and have not yet been there.

I have also heard that Savannah, GA is nice to visit - again - didn't get there during our trip to Hilton Head!

I'm not too familiar with North Carolina or Southern VA other than driving through.

I've only ever made the drive from Phila to Orlando once (when I moved here), but did make the Philly to Hilton Head drive once... I wanted to stop at the wonderful tourist trap - SOUTH OF THE BORDER both times! We stayed at a Hampton Inn on the trip when we movedin Florence, SC - it was about mid-way from PA to Orlando (not quite 500 miles). I needed to find something that took pets....

When I was looking for hotels, I played around in Mapquest and figured about how many miles I wanted to drive, and then started looking for hotels along the way.

DD and I were going to take a road trip to PHILA this summer to visit family until the gas prices sky rocketed. We are saving to do it next summer. There is so much country out there to see that you miss if you fly every where!!!! You'll have to share your stops if you make this trip!

 

[LegoMom3]

You are always taking a chance on bad weather in January, from about No. Carolina north. That area up to the mid-Atlantic (D.C./Maryland/DE) can not only get snow, but ice storms as well. NOT FUN!

As far as cheap places to stay, if you're taking I-95, there are fairly inexpensive hotels along the way up to about middle Virginia. Then the closer to D.C. you get, the prices start to go up.

As far as things to see and do along the way, not really sure about the southern states, but I'd 2nd the suggestion on all the things to see in D.C.! Best of all most of them are free!! You could also swing by historic Williamsburg, VA, if you have the time and inclination. Great place for anyone who likes early periods of history. It's like going back in time to walk through there! Also Jamestown, not too far away.

Have fun and good luck with your trip!

 

[SmileMom]

You are always taking a chance on bad weather in January, from about No. Carolina north. That area up to the mid-Atlantic (D.C./Maryland/DE) can not only get snow, but ice storms as well. NOT FUN!

This was my first thought, too. Late January - Early February is notorious for a good ol' Nor'easter. I say skip Philly and extend your WDW stay.

 

[elsabear]

We have driven round-trip from Orlando to NE PA duing January the past 2 years. As previous posters point out, the weather is a crap shoot! This past January was mild and we had no problems at all - rather pleasurable trip (considering we had 3 children -2, not quite 4 and 7 years old - to keep entertained). The year before we ended up driving straight-through to get home because they began calling for a major storm - snow up here and ice further south. I am glad we did because we arrived home at 7 am (temp was a whopping -10 degrees) and it started snowing heavily at 10 am. No offense to our southern members but you really do not want to be caught traveling in a state that is not used to getting snow (that often goes for Philly too!) While a couple of inches of snow is called "nuisance snow" here it causes panic for those not used to it or with cars not equipted with tires to deal with it! That being said, if you have time to build into your schedule in case you need to stay over and allow the weather to clear it could be a great trip - and if you don't need the extra travel time you can always find lots of interesting things in either DC or Philly.

 

[grumpyswife925]

Thanks to all for your kind replies. Especially the Hayden peek, LegoMom3! What I was hoping for was "...it's no problem, we do it all the time", but I appreciate the honesty. I was in DC two January's ago when the city shut down from the ice-y snow storm, so I know it's sketchy. We have flexible travel time, so we can watch the weather and decide when to leave Orlando or points North. How many hours does it take if we drive straight through? We won't, but that will give me a veterans opinion of how to plan.
Sis - what's a bump?

 

[makinorlando]

When we drove from Phila 3 years ago, it took about 16 hours of time on the road, but we did stop more than I would have on a normal trip - it was my Dmother who came with us to help with the move, my DD6 (at the time), myself and TWO cats who were not HAPPY about being in the car. We also lost about 1 hour of time sitting in traffic from an accident. I was driving pretty conservatively as well... I believe when I did the mileage it was 1,083 - most stops we made - were pretty close to I-95, so we didn't spend too much time "off road"

We were on the road about 8 hours each day, but I did take a stretch break every couple of hours. I was exhausted from the previous week, our last at "home in PA" which included a one day RT flying to Orlando to close on my house - and I was the only driver! I swore when I pu lled in my driveway here that I would NEVER AGAIN make the drive....

NEVER say NEVER - I think we will go on the adventure next year!


PS = "Bump" is a way of getting your post back on the first page of threads. If no one replies to a post, it slowly gets pushed "back" in line - so bumping brings it up to the front again until someone sees it and replies

 

[MeggerasMa]

Replying from a location 2 hours north of Philly, here. We have driven to Orlando twice with little ones. Once it took us 19 hours total. The other was 21 hours. Only one of our trips was the I95 corridor all the way, however, and I don't recall which one! I agree with my fellow PAer, that you do need to keep an eye on the weather forecast and be able to adjust your driving schedule accordingly. Our Dec/Jan trek was done in a year that we only ran into an ice storm in the VA area and were able to get off the road for the night. Also, and no offense intended, you may find it more of a challenge navigating in a dusting of snow in some states as compared to several inches in others just because of the lack of necessary equipment to deal with such freak occurrences. Anyway, I'd just be certain to stay alert to the weather forecast. There are many things close to I 95 and depending upon what interests your family I'm certain there will be attractions open. Philadelphia itself is very rich in history alone. And certainly D.C., too. We are going to be travelling to see the mouse this January. We'll both cross our fingers and hope for special "pixie dust" travel weather!

 

[goofyforlife]

Just wanted to add that my DM and Daunt go to FL around MLK day each yr from Philly. Two out of the last 3 yrs Daunt (who has 4 whell drive BTW) was stranded when they closed 95 down for ice. One yr she was only to GA when it happened and the roads were closed for 2 days. She had to make a ressie on the fly and managed to get one not far off the road with a restaurant. The next day roads still weren't open.

Now that time my DM flew home and got to Phila no problems, home same day, no delays.

You never know....

 

[grumpyswife925]

As you can see, I'm tracking your responses, but ya'll are making it pretty hard to decide. I think it's because I'm inclined to drive and mostly it looks very similar to our 21 hour trek to Los Angeles, which I just wouldn't do anymore in the winter (it isn't even clear by Spring).

Anyone else want to chime in?

 

[cynic957]

You can probably drive to PHL from MCO faster than PHL can deliver your luggage at the airport!

 

[Hannathy]

Can I chime in and say that 120 sounds high from MCO- PHL. There are a lot of the low cost airlines that fly this route and I really think you can do better. Air Tran is 108 with taxes for example. If you want to drive and see things that's great but I don't think it will be cheaper with the cost of gas and food and rental and motel. Also keep an eye on the time of day you will hit the cities like DC and Baltimore or it can add hours to your trip.

 

[TheWog]

I too will chime in with the weather thing. You can watch and determine if you wait out a storm or go ahead and time it when you arrive. End of January can also be the thaw. Which means you could hit some decent weather and drive with the windows open. So it is hard to say. PLan on doing it and then have plan B if the weather gets sketchy. I would make the stretch to get to DC and spend a bulk of the time there. You can get there in less than a day straight through with good weather. That's just my thoughts.

 

[DisDee]

I just booked Air Tran-MCO to PHL for $69.00 plus fees and tax. Not sure if this will work for 1 way fare. I booked it as my return flight. We are arriving in Tampa-leaving from Orlando.

 

[clombardi]

Just checked Airtran out of Orlando to Philly on January 24th (just chose a random date). With tax and fees, it comes to 77.80. There are several non-stop flights available. I would not make the drive. It isn't an easy trip even under the best weather conditions.

 

[zurgswife]

4*120 is 480. I don't think a car, gas, tolls, hotel rooms and aggrevation would be any cheaper.

I live in Philly and SW has had great fares if you watch for them.

 

[cranbiz]

I have done several January trips from MA to FL and back and have had no problems. Now, that being said, you do have to watch the weather closely. Storms are unpredictable at best and unless the state you are in at the time is very used to snow and ice, road conditions will deteriorate rapidly.

Just be flexable in your travel plans and you should be fine.

 

[sherreis]

We're driving from Baltimore (2 hrs south of Philly) in November.

Your drive will be along I-95, a very boring highway. Tress will be bare so there won't be any color. I would think you would be able to get good fares on SW from MCO to Phil.

As for along the way, Savannah is very nice I've heard. You'll have nicer weather up there. Williamsburg VA wouldn't be too far off of 95 (I could be wrong) if you've never been there. Of course, Washington DC and Baltimore. Definitely want to time those to not be driving during AM and PM rush hours. DC's rush hour starts at 3PM in the afternoon.

As everyone stated, that time of year, the weather is so unpredictable.

There is a link on the Disney info site that provided I-95 info:
Driving Directions

 

[grumpyswife925]

I've never heard of Air Trans. Is that an East Coast airline like Alaska/Horizon airlines is for West Coast?

Because of all your good input, I think I've decided to drive it. My sister was the one that said: "You can always watch the weather channel in your room at Coronado Springs at night and plan accordingly". She makes a good point.

But if airfare one way is less than $80 from MCO to PHL, Air Trans might be worth it. We'll have a car in Philly to venture daily from there.

Starting our WDW countdown today at 18 weeks, 5 days!

Thanks again everyone! Please keep your ideas coming. I haven't booked our airfare or car yet!