New england drivers? Anyone drive in february?

[HeatherC]

Thinking of trying to convince dh to drive for Feb. school vacation. We fly every year, but this year we are doing a 9 night Thanksgiving cruise so flying IS NOT an option for Feb..

We drove 18 hours to Hilton Head this summer, but took the inland route. Would definitely go 95 this time and wonder if anyone else has done it in Feb?

We can be a bit flexible, so would obviously keep weather in mind.

Any experiences? How long did it take? We are near Sturbridge, Ma.


Thanks so much!

 

[Fantasmic23]

Thinking of trying to convince dh to drive for Feb. school vacation. We fly every year, but this year we are doing a 9 night Thanksgiving cruise so flying IS NOT an option for Feb..

We drove 18 hours to Hilton Head this summer, but took the inland route. Would definitely go 95 this time and wonder if anyone else has done it in Feb?

We can be a bit flexible, so would obviously keep weather in mind.

Any experiences? How long did it take? We are near Sturbridge, Ma.


Thanks so much!

Hello, fellow New Englander! We are in the New Haven, CT area and we've been driving to WDW every February school vacation since 2008 (Well, in 2008 and 2010).

So far, we haven't had a problem with the weather. The traffic is another story!

On our first trip in 2008, we left CT on a Friday night (around 10:00). We drove as far as Toms River, NJ (where my in-laws live). The next morning around 10:30 or so (DH lingered over coffee with his parents), we headed to Charlotte, North Carolina (where BIL lives). We arrived around 9:00 p.m. We spent all of Sunday in Charlotte and continued our driving on Monday morning (We left around 6:30/7:00 a.m.). We arrived in Kissimmee (we stayed off-site) around 4:30/5:00 p.m.

On the way home, we left Kissimmee around 6:00/6:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning. DH drove straight through and we were back in New Haven around 1:30/2:00 a.m. on Sunday morning.

On our last trip to WDW, we didn't leave CT until Saturday morning (Around 6:30/7:00). We drove to Charlotte, NC (Arrived around 7:30/8:00 p.m.). We left the following morning for Kissimmee (I want to say around 10:30 a.m.). I want to say that we arrived anywhere from 6:00 - 7:00 p.m., but I can't be too sure. We cut the trip short by a day and left for home on a Friday morning. We were in Charlotte, NC by 6:00 p.m. Friday night. Left Charlotte around 8:30 a.m. on Saturday morning and were in Toms River, NY by 8:30 p.m. Left the next morning for CT (9:30) and were home by noon.

We always experience traffic in Delaware (going) and in Washington, D.C. (going and coming back home). Virginia is beautiful but it seems to go on forever!

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

Hey there ....we are just down the road in Torrington Ct.

When the kids were little we drove, camping at FW with the pop up, but did it a bit differently.

We left at midnight and I drove down 95 to 301 around Baltimore and DC. We stopped at the Annpolis bridge at a Dennys and had a good breakfast and then my wife drove for a few hours and I got a nap. We got back to 95 below Richmond.

Taking over the driving I would go until about 1800 and stop at one of the box motels on 95 in South Carolina, threw the kids in the pool and got a fast food dinner, leaving the next morning at 0600, arriving at WDW about 1100 to 1200.

It worked for us...Have a great rip!

AKK

 

[mousebymarriage]

We are in northern NJ (Bergen County, about 6 miles from the GWB). We drove down this past February 5th and returned home Feb. 16th. Our original plan was to leave after the kids got out of school on Feb.5th but, then we decided to leave at noon on the 5th but, that plan changed at the last minute because of an impending snow storm. After returning home from DD's basketball game on the evening of Feb. 4th (approx. 7:30pm) we turned on the weather channel and heard that Washington, Virginia and maryland were due to get slammed with a blizzard the next day. DH and I decided to leave that night shortly after midnight to beat the storm. We made it through without any weather issues except for some very heavy rain in South Carolina/ Georgia. As predicted, Washington, Virginia and Maryland were buried in snow by mid day on the 5th and if we had not left early we would have been stuck.

My advice to you is to check the weather like crazy for at least a week before your trip and be prepared to leave early if necessary. Good luck and be safe!

P.S. we didn't stop on the way down because we like driving straight through but, we have stopped in the past in Santee,S.C.(Country Inn & Suites-a good clean hotel for about $100) which is about 12 hours from our house.

 

[LovinPooh]

Southern NH here...
We have driven twice and are doing it again. We always go 95. The only issue we have had is the usual traffic in NYC, NJ, DC. Its dealable. We did get caught in a snowstorm once, and the NJTP was insane! Did about 30mph all the way lol. This last time there was just no snow, and no storms, so it all worked out. I guess its a chance you take.
DH is convinced he wants to try a different route this time. He hates the city traffic. We are small town NE folk afterall lol. He says there is an interstate that you take right before you get into NY and you avoid the traffic areas and tolls. The weather is his only concern.
Anyone done this route compared to 95?

 

[MamaJessie]

We are in the New Haven, CT area

Me too!

We drove in February of 2006 and the ride down was great but the ride up was Highways were actually getting closed down because of the snow. We took a break (we had planned to drive overnight , but we just couldn't with the weather) and slept in Virginia. When we woke up we just took it slow and it was fine. The only part that was disastrous was getting off at the New Jersey rest area. Everything was closed except a mini convenience store and the whole parking lot wasn't plowed I guess there is always a chance we will have to drive in some snow, but we're New Englanders, we can do it We're going back in February so we couldn't have been too scared by the experience

 

[lucyem]

My advice is to really watch the weather closely and ask about it on here. We drive from NH. Last Feb we had plans to leave on a Friday night. I was watching weather.com very closely for the DC area to make sure we did not run into anything. There was absolutely no indication of the major storms heading to the mid atlantic states. Just some light snow. There may have been more info on the main page but I always looked just at the 3 or 10 days out for DC page. On Thursday I was on here and on one of these threads I mentioned leaving Friday. Luckily Dis'ers said we better leave NOW and explained why. That evening we were on the road. Managed to miss all the snow and only ran into the downpours in GA. Called our TA en route and got a whole extra day at WDW It worked out in the end but with our original itinerary we would have been in the middle of it all

I would also make sure you have wiggle room around the weather. My husband was able to leave a day early with no notice at work. We had an extra day at the end of our trip, just in case, before work & school.

That trip combined with the stress of leaving the farm animals in the winter with the threat of storms and power outages made us re-think the winter trips. We plan to stick with fall trips for now.

We like leaving around 7pm. (I am about 1 1/2 hours north of you) Feed the kids and hit the road. Kids sleep until VA minus a quick bathroom stop in NJ. 95 all the way. You are south of DC by morning rush hour. Last time we stopped in GA because of the storms. Leaving early messed up our plans and we were not ready for a straight through drive (exhausted) in downpours. Easy 4-5 hours the next morning and lunch at WDW

The funny part of that last trip was was the drive home. There was snow on palm trees in South Carolina. There was more snow in NJ then I had ever seen, piles and piles of it. My backyard in northern New England had no snow left

 

[HeatherC]

Thank you all! Doesnt't sound like it would be any worse than any other time. We are able to be flexible at the last minute so that should definitely help!

To whoever mentioned avoiding NYC, we do it all the time. We take 84 to 684 to 287/87 over the Tappan Zee to the Garden State Pkwy to the Turnpike way south of NYC. Even during rush hour it is much better than going through NY.

Great to hear from people who have already done the tip in Feb.

Thanks again!

 

[HeatherC]

Thank you all! Doesnt't sound like it would be any worse than any other time. We are able to be flexible at the last minute so that should definitely help!

To whoever mentioned avoiding NYC, we do it all the time. We take 84 to 684 to 287/87 over the Tappan Zee to the Garden State Pkwy to the Turnpike way south of NYC. Even during rush hour it is much better than going through NY.

Great to hear from people who have already done the tip in Feb.

Thanks again!