Help me w/ anxiety w/ driving from NY! Questions

[Minnesota!]

I think flying is definitely your best option. When you add rental car, gas, maintenance, parking, etc.....you might even be at more $$ than flying. Fly, take DME, and stop worrying about flooding!

 

[CPT Tripss]

Driving on 95 during a torrential downpour can be a really bad experience. October IS hurricane season, so the odds of having this kind of weather are higher.

One plus to driving is that you don't need permission from government officials to take your trip.

 

[crzy4dsny]

I driven Thru NC,SC, and GA in pouring rainstorms. I've never had any problems at all. Traffic slows to about 70 mph and everyone just keeps it moving. It's not like here in NY when it rains and traffic comes to a grinding halt.

 

[fairytinkerbell]

Hello! Just chiming in from New Jersey. We're not drivers - we always fly. I like the 2 hour & change flight out of Newark. What makes everybody drive down to Florida from the north east? I would never have the patience. I have to hand it to you all that can drive all that way to Florida but why the long drive? Just curious.

Hi, well, cuz I am too scared to fly right now. I think the next time i fly will be for a dream trip to paris or something. also, the car rental is $600-800 for the week or we might use our own car and save there

 

[fairytinkerbell]

n

I was just about to post the same thing. Do you not drive much in "New Yawk" (your term so I'm thinking NYC (?)) ? Everyone of your posts has referenced flooding and bad weather.

One thing that I don't think you have posted is your dates.

We're going in Oct.
Thanks to everyone for responses. One person said it's hurricane season So I-95 doesn't flood? Even by the lakes/areas in MD and VA etc?

 

[chartle]

n

We're going in Oct.
Thanks to everyone for responses. One person said it's hurricane season So I-95 doesn't flood? Even by the lakes/areas in MD and VA etc?

Though the end of hurricane season. And I'm sure the road engineers built in good drainage.

 

[ToddyLu]

I just had a funny thought.....you could always rent a kayak for the trip down, strap it to the top of the car, and use it in case of flooding.



(please forgive the above humor...I worked all day, took a two hour nap and plan to leave for Disney in 4 hours) DH is opposite, he only wants to fly and we only live about 9 hours from Orlando. We are driving two hours west to take a two hour flight east. He wanted to take the first flight out at 6:10 a.m. So I completely understand all the concerns about travelling. We are hoping to have a nice lunch at Fulton's or egg rolls at Nine Dragons.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Thanks. DH has a itouch. Would that work? Do u think we should fly?
THe rental car is $800 and flight is $700. Plus rental in Orlando $500 week.
So I guess it evens out?



Would you consider leaving a day early if the forecast called for bad weather???

Really, you would spend more to drive than to fly? I have anxiety in cars too so I would fly to PHL if I could. We've driven to Williamsburg, VA and after traffic crawled on forever, we hit the 2 hr point around DC area and I told dh if we had been flying to FL, we would have been there already. We decided 6 hrs drive is our max.

To the pp who drove just as long to get to the airport for the same length flight, we have driven to BWI just to fly to Buffalo so we wouldn't have to drive all the way to Niagara Falls. It was so worth it. Less than 1 hr flight. vs an 8 hr drive. Even factoring the time to wait at the gate, it's still relaxing & can walk around, eat and go to the bathroom anytime.

I think if I HAD to I could stand a drive to FL but would have to fly home. I've done that drive twice when I was younger and going home is soooooo LOOOOOOOOONG!

 

[Mrs K]

We have driven from MA to WDW 10 times. It's not a bad trip, but I couldn't do it straight through. We leave at 4am, drive till about 7pm, which gets us to the NC/SC border. We have dinner and spend the night. We get up early and are on the road by 7 the next morning. We have driven in pouring rain and it can be scary. A lot of people pull over on 95, but that seems very dangerous. Just go slow or pull off an exit and wait it out. We have done the ride in our minivan with 5 and our Honda Pilot with 4. If you rent a car, just make sure that you are comfortable driving it before you hit the road.

 

[ToddyLu]

Even factoring the time to wait at the gate, it's still relaxing & can walk around, eat and go to the bathroom anytime.

That is what DH likes about flying, too.

 

[Minnesota!]

Yeah, I will not drive anywhere if flying is an option. Flying is MUCH more relaxing to me.

I would scrap the idea of driving all together...between the costs, your nerves, etc...not worth it. What's worse - 20 hours of nerves driving (each way...so 40 hours or so?) or 2 hours flying each way? No brainer.

 

[momfeez]

Hurricane season here in FL is at it's peak in Aug - Sept. I wouldn't worry about flooding. Even during a torrential downpour of 20 minutes or more there is minor, temporary flooding, but that goes away. It's been extremely dry in the state for the past year, so even a Tropical Storm with all it's rain wouldn't flood anyone out.

I agree with other posters, If it's cheaper to drive, drive. If it's not, fly.

 

[fairytinkerbell]

Thanks u guys. I feel better now. Tomorrow we are going to Hertz to check out the full size car vs. the small SUV. Full size will save us $200 for the week.

Then I have to put deposit on either POR or WL. Not sure which, but leaning towards POR bec of DTD boat and $900 less than WL.....

We drove from VA to end of southern CT and it took about 12 hours.
I could have kept driving (I was a passenger ) but we hardly took any breaks at all that whole ride. It didn't bother me. So I am banking on that trip and hoping we will enjoy the ride 17hrs (gps says) and the weather will be good.