Has anyone ever driven from CT to WDW in FEB?

[TinkHappy]

We are considering driving now. With airline rates so high (and I HATE to fly), we were thinking we just might drive. We are going during Pres. week. Has anyone driven down in Feb? I know the weather is tough, just not sure. Any insight would be very helpful. Thanks!!

 

[Kimberle]

Yes, I have. We drove from Greenwich about 15 yrs ago. The weather was fine. It was a very lloonnnngggg trip & I'd never do it again.

 

[dgaston]

We have driven several times, once leaving early pulling a pop-up to avoid the worst ofa storm. We used to have a conversion van and drove straight thru 84 to Palisades/Garden State to NJ turnpike and on down 95. It usually takes us somewhere between 22 and 26 hours depending on DC. (once we got stuck at 3 am!).

We are driving again at Christmas, but will take 84 to 81 and then south to ? 77 and 95 to avoid the DC traffic.

I don't find it too long. We trade off driving (non-driver sleeps), and the kids listen to music, watch videos, or play gameboy. We like to leave very early am, and then arrive early in WDW after our trip.

 

[JustHolly]

dgaston,

Do you find the 84 to NJ turnpike route quicker than to go through the city? We are thinking of taking that route in a few weeks.... We will be going through that area around midnight- 1am. Is it safer if we run into car problems or have to stop for gas going this route?

 

[EllenJ]

We have family in Florida and we usually make 2 trips a year. When we go in the fall we usually fly and to save money, we normally drive in Feb.

We have tried every possible combination of start times. The one that is really working for us now is to leave at 3am and we are usually in Daytona by 9pm. We usually change drivers every 3 hours or so. We stop for 2 meals (late breakfast and early dinner).
We have a minivan, so it is very comfortable. My DD (now 10) has made this trip 10 times and doesn't mind it at all.

Due to the time of day that we leave, we drive straight down 95 to the George Washington Bridge. We havent really had any problems with that. Also, by the time we hit DC the rush hour traffic isn't too bad.


The weather has caused us some problems over the years. But that will also effect air travel as well. I remember one year that I really wanted to fly that week but we couldnt find a good fare so we drove. There was a bad storm on the day we were to leave.
We decided to delay (only a few hours for the roads to clear). We were supposed to meet friends in Fl who were flying. They were not able to get a flight out for 3 days! Even though we were delayed, we still were there 2 days earlier then them.

Good Luck.
Ellen