RV'ing from Massachusetts to Disney in February

[mwitkus]

Hi! My husband, mother, 2 children and I are hitting the road for our first long trip in our new (to us) RV in February. We are leaving the Worcester, MA area and traveling to Disney World in FL over the February vacation week. We three adults are disagreeing as to which route will be best to take. 1 wants to go through NY over the GW Bridge. 1 wants to go by way of the TappenZee. The 3rd just wants to avoid congestion at any cost.

Any suggestions on a route to take (or not take) that will best?

Thanks!

[ct1964ups]

mwitkus wrote:
Thank you so much to everyone for your answers and advice. We really appreciate it! We are still trying to figure out what we are going to do with so many great routes suggested.

AAA has suggested the following route which I am not seeing an exact match to any of your suggestions and, to be honest, seems rather complex. I am wondering what your opinions may be on this:

Mass Pike (90) to 84 to 684 to 287 to Garden State Parkway to 95 to 295 to 95 to 695 to 95 to 495 to 395 to 95 (through NC, SC, GA and into FL) to 295.

I agree..this is the route to take...avoids all the traffic.....

[Terry_25]

Triple A route is basically taking I95 from the GSP to Florida. I695 is the Baltimore Beltway. You have a choice going around Balto either to the east (Key Bridge) or the slightly longer west side. I95 runs through the center but you can't take propane through the tunnels. I495 is the Wash DC Beltway and I95 follows the same path around the east side. 'Tis a lot of numbers. Personally, I'd take I78 to Harrisburg, I81 to Winchester then I66 and US17 to Fredericksburg and then I95. Hope you enjoy the trip.

[mwitkus]

Thank you so much to everyone for your answers and advice. We really appreciate it! We are still trying to figure out what we are going to do with so many great routes suggested.

AAA has suggested the following route which I am not seeing an exact match to any of your suggestions and, to be honest, seems rather complex. I am wondering what your opinions may be on this:

Mass Pike (90) to 84 to 684 to 287 to Garden State Parkway to 95 to 295 to 95 to 695 to 95 to 495 to 395 to 95 (through NC, SC, GA and into FL) to 295.

[jplante4]

Timberlane in Clarksboro NJ (just off I-295) is open year round, as well as Fredricksburg KOA and Carolina Crossroads just over the VA/NC border.

[ct1964ups]

Campincarters wrote:
Tappan Zee is much easier but If I were driving overnight then I would consider staying on 95. I have driven to Disney 8 times in February. Watch the weather and you should be fine. Be aware that the roads can be worse down south with 1 inch than 8 inches up north. If the weather is good I like tappen zee then 287 to 78 in NJ to Penn. then to 81 thru VA to 77 thru Charlotte. Nice campground in Hardeeville SC called Camp Lake Jasper for the night just off 95. Short drive to Orlando next day. We live in central Ct and sometimes I skip 84 to 684 and take 95 to exit 21 in NY first or second exit I think then go 11 miles to tappen zee.

I also live in Ct...and agree some what with above..as stated,being February..weather is a significant factor ...but I like to go 84 to Newburgh to 87 south to 287 west to 78 and then 81.....I'd watch the weather and in Harrisburg,Pa would go down 83 to 695 to 95 ,,,if weather was ok....the stay on 81 to Winchester,Va go down I-66... 25 miles...to rt 17around Warrenton,Va to I-95 from the Waterbury,Ct area it is about 500 miles to Richmond,Va area..so from Mass add another 1 1/2 to the trip.....but in Winchester,Va you have Candyhill C/G and in West Va off 81 at evit 13 you have Falling Waters C/G...good overniter....Chuck

[Campincarters]

Tappan Zee is much easier but If I were driving overnight then I would consider staying on 95. I have driven to Disney 8 times in February. Watch the weather and you should be fine. Be aware that the roads can be worse down south with 1 inch than 8 inches up north. If the weather is good I like tappen zee then 287 to 78 in NJ to Penn. then to 81 thru VA to 77 thru Charlotte. Nice campground in Hardeeville SC called Camp Lake Jasper for the night just off 95. Short drive to Orlando next day. We live in central Ct and sometimes I skip 84 to 684 and take 95 to exit 21 in NY first or second exit I think then go 11 miles to tappen zee.

[Crowe]

I have learned that there is no good time to take 495/95 around Washington.

Actually we have driven through there between 6 a.m. & 8 a.m. on Sunday multiple times with no issues. However, I agree there's no guarantee on anything when it comes to DC!

[Veebyes]

The 301 route is a well kept secret. Accessing it at the DE end & traffic around the Annapolis & Waldorf area can be a pain but once S of the C&D canal to the Bay Bridge then once S of Waldorf is a breeze. S of the Potomac it really gets nice. 4 lane & little traffic.

[bucky]

I have learned that there is no good time to take 495/95 around Washington. It's a dice roll shoot, and the dealer usually wins.
If you must take 95 approaching DC check your phone nav, and if you see any red on 95 south of DC jump off 95/495 at MD rt 5 to Waldorf where it joins with 301 and run South that way. You can rejoin 95 several places south of Fredericksburg.

[Bmach]

If you take 84 to 91 to 95 and reach NYC after 8:00 pm and drive through Balt/DC before you stop you will miss the traffic. I always go that way and (so far) not had any problems, hope I did not jinx myself.

[Matt_Colie]

Read moebedick and take it to heart.

I spent (wasted) a lot of my life in the east coast megopolis, and getting around it is a worthy effort.
What he is saying is I-84 to I-81 to I-77. This will take about two hours more and save a fortune in tolls as well. From Columbia south should be no issue. This may not be the most scenic route, but that is just not a good choice in February. If it looks like I-81 might get real bad. (PA used to take pretty good care of it) you can tale I-83 south from Harrisburg, but that will throw you into the Baltimore and DC traffic.

About traveling in February in the northeast. Do not depart without provisions onboard for three (3, tres) days.....
It is easy to get stuck with the roads shut down for a day. After they open back up, you may choose to wait a while more to let the A-holes have their accidents and go home. So, being stopped for 3 days is an easily foreseeable situation. Carry water in bottles because you may not want to de-winterize.

Next important thing...
Traveling like this in less than perfect weather is very stressful for the driver. Even if you are trading off driving (much advised), assign someone in the right seat to be the navigator. Your dashboard GPS still take attention from the driver. Navigator should have the whole set of paper maps (charts) and be tracking the whole time to advise the driver of up-coming situations. If you have a smart phone, you have to have GasBuddy. RVparky is also a good idea. Remember that electronic navigation will only fail if you really need it. (Says the guy that used to wear a name tag that had "Navigator" under his own.)

You did not post ages of kids, but if one can be navigator, that gives less time to disagree with the other. be sure to have planned activities onboard for them both.

Matt

[eb145]

Don't do the GW bridge unless you want some real excitement. It will be a white knuckle high traffic experience with narrow lanes and lots of cars zipping in front of you.

I-684 to the Tappan Zee bridge works well.

From the Tappan Zee bridge, you could just stay on I-287 and do an easy bypass of the very busy Garden State parkway (depending on time of day). I-287 is essentially a beltway around the most congested traffic area in New Jersey. You can take it all the way to the NJ Turnpike. It will be the least stressful way. And possibly the fastest depending on time of week and day.

If you do take the Garden State Parkway, watch out for low bridges on the Garden State Parkway - some older bridges are made with stone arches and have low clearances in the lanes nearest the shoulders. They are marked in advance, but you will need to pay attention and avoid the right most lane to keep things from getting too exciting.

Have fun on your adventure.

Ed

[jplante4]

Not a lot of time to mess around with alternate routes. Do I-95. There are a few alternatives that will avoid the big areas. DO NOT go down the Cross Bronx to the GWB. From Worcester, take the Pike to I-84 to I-684 and the Tappan Zee, then down the Garden State Parkway to I-95/I-295 to the Delaware Mem. Bridge. You can grab US-301 just on the other side of the Delaware and run that down to Fredricksburg VA area to avoid Baltimore/Wash DC and pick up I-95 in Fredricksburg or Richmond.

Pick your time to go down the GSP (Sunday morning was a breeze) and you won't have any issues.

[NY_RVer]

We Cant Wait wrote:
That time of year I'd avoid using I-81 thru the mountains as it can get real nasty there. In fact myself I'd never attempt this trip when you have it planned, and I spent 20+ years driving truck all over the US.

Good point about 81 in the winter. I only travelled it during the warmer months, and looking back, I'm sure those hills can be a disaster in an unexpected snow storms.