Need advice on driving from Philly

[jel0511]

My pal Maria, I have to dissent with you!!!! Yes, it's true if there is bad weather in the Philly area all modes of transportation will be effected, and anyone in that area will have trouble getting in/out of the area. BUT, if there is a major ice storm in the DC area, or Richmond area, or NC area, etc, that DOES NOT effect air traffic into/out of PHL could still SERVERLY effect anyone trying to drive from the Northeast down to Orlando. The odds of there being severe weather elsewhere down the Eastern seaboard, and not effecting PHL is MORE likely than it effecting the PHL area alone. There have been several instances where there have been either snowstorms or ice storms that have effected our southern neighbors and have produced less than a flurry around PHL. If flying in that circumstance, you'd get out of PHL just fine, and arrive in MCO most likely without incident. But if driving, you'd be driving into something that you wouldn't want to touch. I'll stand by my point that driving down to MCO in the winter months has more POTENTIAL to be problematic than flying ever would.

 

[MiaSRN62]

I agree with you for the most part Lori (hadn't really looked at it from that perspective). But, keep in mind if you have a connecting flight somewhere, then yes, it could affect the whole outlook. I have often gotten connecting flights thru NC for example. If the plane is unable to make the connection in NC, then yep, I believe there could be a problem. It's great to be able to escape the lousey winter weather for the most part, but the tricky part can actually be the "escape route" itself ! lol Im planning a Feb 10-13 trip to WDW with a few of my gf's. I will be flying.....and keeping my fingers crossed and toes crossed as well !

 

[Angel1]

You'd be driving from Philly to Cape May? (almost 2 hours...) to sit and wait for your ferry. It will be freezing, and it will take you to Lewes!

You don't even bypass the DC beltway. What would be the point?

Just don't be on the beltway between 6:30 and 9:30 a.m. and you'll be fine.

Watch Southwest for rates. I saw rates for my family of 5 for $883 (for January).

Don't forget to check Spirit Air out of AC.

 

[bdcp]

Going 301 through Waldorf is long and can be a very frustrating experience. There are traffic lights every 1/4 mile or less for a great deal of that area. I grew up not far from there and avoid 301. Even during the day, Waldorf is a huge mess. I would do the eastern shore route and go through the long tunnel over going on 301. We live in Loudoun County, VA now and go through Manassas and down to I-95 at Triangle to avoid Springfield, but we have that choice. I think I-95 through MD is quicker than 301. It's all in timing. A lot of DC commuters live in Charles County (Waldorf and La Plata) and traffic is horrendous through there.

We drove years ago to WDW (in '89) from Columbia, MD (right off I-95, between DC and Balt) on I-95 and it wasn't that bad if you time it right. It's all about the timing, not the route. We're driving next fall and will be leaving around 5 am on a Sunday to avoid rush hour altogether. Richmond traffic is nothing like DC.

Also, the DC area very rarely gets ice storms. We usually get snow or rain. If it is icy, all you have to do is wait til 9 am or so and it is either melted or too bad to travel anywhere anyway. If it's too bad here at 9 to travel, it's too bad north of here also. I've lived here almost my whole life and it rarely is too bad to travel at all unless we have a blizzard.

 

[cozit]

I hate to break it to you, but traffic from DC to Richmond now is *nothing* like it was even 5 years ago, much less 15... even on weekends.

It is *not* uncommon for I-95 to be stop and go most of that length... and that includes summer and vacation weekends. Off-season weekends can be bad for much of that stretch as well... as late as 10pm (the time I went down in May... last time I did it off-season... and no, there were no accidents, at least no remains, the whole way, but it didn't let up until well after King's Dominion.

That's not to say that you can't *ever* get lucky and have a relatively quick trip... but it *is* unsual for me to see the friends of mine who live in Fredericksburg at get-togethers up around DC anymore....

 

[bdcp]

If you're breaking it to me, don't, I grew up and still live in the DC area and know the roads very well. My parents live in Fredericksburg and I live in Northern VA so we do that trip quite a bit ( I just drove down two weeks ago) and my husband drives to Norfolk every month for his reserve duty. I-95 is really bad at certain times, but there are good times too. You just have to time it right. Early on Sat or Sun am, before 10 or so is not bad at all. There are also routes to bypass the worst of it and we do it.

Driving from Philly, you can time it to not have backed up traffic. If you leave Philly early, you can be through the worst areas before rush hour gets going, not to mention south of DC you'll be going against traffic anyway. Richmond is not nearly as bad since they have the by pass for local traffic. We always drive through on 95. Believe it or not, that's quicker than going around.

My in-laws live in PG county, MD so we drive the north across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge also.

Regardless, 301 is absolutely bad all the time. I've never been on that stretch of road through Waldorf that wasn't. Way too much traffic and too many traffic lights. I told my husband about that suggestion and he laughed and said "what are they thinking? 301 is not a way to save time or driving distance."