Southern MA to Orlando

[superwy]

My mother is moving to Ft. Lauderdale and we (me, husband and kids 10 and 8) are driving her car down for her over February vacation. Given a choice we would always fly, but this makes sense for our circumstances. I have read through many of the posts in this forum and here is our plan...

We leave Friday night around dinner or shortly after. It appears we can either take 95 the whole way down, which may result in us hitting traffic, or head out the Mass Pike to 84 and Tappan Zee Bridge route. My husband would like to get pretty far that night, so I am thinking we stop in Aberdeen, MD for the night to rest. Then, we get up in the morning and head to Savannah, GA, which looks like it will take about 10 hours (plus a stop or two). We'll spend a couple of nights there so we can have a day to enjoy Savannah, then head to Orlando from there. We are planning a couple of nights at Universal this time, then continuing on to Ft. Lauderdale on Wednesday.

The other thought I had was to get up early on Saturday (3 or 4 am) and try to make the very long drive to Savannah in one day. My husband is less interested in this scenario, but I didn't know if the traffic situation on Friday night was going to be a nightmare. Thankfully, we get to fly home!!

Does anyone have any experience with either of these that they might share? We were in Disney last May and this is quite an exciting surprise for the kids to get back to the area again so soon.

Thanks for any help.

 

[The Mayor]

I've done it both ways and believe me leaving Saturday morning at 4:00AM is a MUCH easier drive. We did a bull run to Savannah and got there at 9:30PM. We got a good night sleep and left for Disney around 8:00 and arrived around Noon well rested and ready to go.

The time we left on Friday night was a miserable drive as we were both wide awake so neither of us slept very well when we had to switch off.

I would also recommend the Tappen Zee route to the Jersey Turnpike over going straight through on 95.

 

[lauti]

I don't know where in southern MA you live, but you can also take 95 to the TZ bridge if taking the mass pike is a big work around.

From MA to Philly where I live I do 95 to 287 over the TZ to GS Parkway to Jersey Turnpike.

 

[deb010305]

We drove from Southeastern MA (Mansfield/Norton area) last April We went 95, cut over to the Tappan Zee Bridge, and then the Garden State parkway, getting back on 95 around Maryland or Delaware-I was napping so I'm not exactly sure where we picked it back up.
We left around 4 am, we hit traffic in CT and lots of construction in NJ. Also my DH stopped ALOT for bathroom breaks. We went as far as NC that day.

 

[goofy4tink]

We drove from Southeastern MA (Mansfield/Norton area) last April We went 95, cut over to the Tappan Zee Bridge, and then the Garden State parkway, getting back on 95 around Maryland or Delaware-I was napping so I'm not exactly sure where we picked it back up.
We left around 4 am, we hit traffic in CT and lots of construction in NJ. Also my DH stopped ALOT for bathroom breaks. We went as far as NC that day.

This makes the most sense. Leave on Sat morning, by 4am. Stop in the Rocky Mt area for the night. Then drive to Orlando the next day. If you really want to stop in Savannah, I would leave later on Friday and drive to southern NJ for the night. Then get up early and head to Georgia for a few hours, then on to Orlando.

 

[NJRRK]

My mother is moving to Ft. Lauderdale and we (me, husband and kids 10 and 8) are driving her car down for her over February vacation. Given a choice we would always fly, but this makes sense for our circumstances. I have read through many of the posts in this forum and here is our plan...

We leave Friday night around dinner or shortly after. It appears we can either take 95 the whole way down, which may result in us hitting traffic, or head out the Mass Pike to 84 and Tappan Zee Bridge route. My husband would like to get pretty far that night, so I am thinking we stop in Aberdeen, MD for the night to rest. Then, we get up in the morning and head to Savannah, GA, which looks like it will take about 10 hours (plus a stop or two). We'll spend a couple of nights there so we can have a day to enjoy Savannah, then head to Orlando from there. We are planning a couple of nights at Universal this time, then continuing on to Ft. Lauderdale on Wednesday.

The other thought I had was to get up early on Saturday (3 or 4 am) and try to make the very long drive to Savannah in one day. My husband is less interested in this scenario, but I didn't know if the traffic situation on Friday night was going to be a nightmare. Thankfully, we get to fly home!!

Does anyone have any experience with either of these that they might share? We were in Disney last May and this is quite an exciting surprise for the kids to get back to the area again so soon.

Thanks for any help.

If you decide on the Tappan Zee, stay on I-287 south to US206 south to I-95 south, you'll avoid a lot of toll $.

Did you ever think about I-84 to I-81 ... Aka "the inland route" from MA it might be a good choice, but I'm not sure about the February weather through the mountains of Virginia.

 

[superwy]

Thank you all for the good advice. We may have two game plans for both weather and traffic issues that could arise. I am hesitant to make room reservations for the trip down as we don't know how far we will get. I'll have a list if places to call when we are on the move, I think. I have booked our Universal hotels and will leave it that. We are in Norfolk, MA, which is near Foxboro. This should be an adventure.

 

[mom2AidanAndEli]

Remember, too, that if you're talking about the Friday before Feb vacation, that's also the Friday before a holiday weekend. We've found that traveling ANYWHERE on the Friday evening before a holiday can be tough traffic wise. I've never done it but I think the early on Saturday might be better.