Wed. before Thanksgiving driving traffic?

[Kmygrl73]

We are driving from Boston to Disney and are flexible about when to leave. I would like to leave the Wednesday before Thanksgiving around 6-8pm. Does anyone have any experience that day with traffic? I know it's a very busy travel day but the kids get out early that day from school so I didn't want them to miss a whole day by leaving on Tuesday!! We could leave on Thanksgiving too but I would love to arrive in Florida on Thursday.. Any advice would be great,thanks!!!!

 

[GranddadTom]

Wow! I definitely would not try to leave at 6:00 pm on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Are you planning on driving through the night? The good news is that at some point (midnight?) things will clear up and you can get rolling again. The bad news is that by that time you'll probably just be passing through Hartford. Thursday is actually not a bad day to travel on. Believe it or not, the Tuesday before Thanksgiving is even getting to be a heavy travel day also.

 

[HeatherC]

It will be horrible at that time! We live in Ma and my parents are three hours from us in NJ. That day can take up to 8 hours to get that far. If you have to leave that night, I would leave around ten but it will still be
very heavy.

It the heaviest day of travel of the entire year. Not a fun way to start your vacation. I would try to leave Tuesday night.

Have a wonderful trip!

 

[Missytara]

We traveled many times from DE to CT (exit 89 on the CT turnpike) for several years, on the Wednesday of Thanksgiving. It has got to be the worst traveling day on the east coast. You have people just trying to get home from work; people leaving work half day early; people trying to get on the road just like you.

A normal 7-1/2 hour trip would turn into a 12 or 13 hour trip for us.

A trip to Disney from DE on a regular day is about 16-1/2 hours. You are another 7 hours north of us. So if you expect to leave Wednesday night from MA, and drive all night and all day, don't expect to get to Disney in 24 hours. It is going to be more like 36. You would be better off leaving Tuesday night and getting past the 95 corridor, past NY/NJ/DE/Baltimore/DC corridor and down into VA. Stop and take a break and get out mid-morning on Wednesday when everyone has gotten to work/school and then start heading south.

 

[Kmygrl73]

Thanks for all of the advice!! We were hoping to drive straight without any overnight stops but definitely don't want to hit that crazy traffic!!! We may have to rethink our plans... We were dreading the long drive anyways because we usually fly but due to budget,etc. we were thinking of driving with the kids.

 

[dblr]

I would agree with all the people who say leave Tues. I drive tractor trailer from De to DC every night and Wed. before Thanksgiving is terrible all day and most of the night. Plan on a long backup at the end of the NJ turnpike, the tolls at the De. Memorial bridge and the tolls in De. plus there is major construction at the Deo. tolls to add to the works.