RV'ing from Massachusetts to Disney in February

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

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

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.

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.

GeoBoy wrote:
What type of RV are you going with?

Never mind, I found it, class A MH.

Do you already have reservations for Disney World? February break can be a busy time there. Are you planning on staying in Fort Wilderness - the Disney World campground?

I would avoid the GW Bridge, take the Tappanzee.

I saw in another thread you have a Class A? Have you planned where you are going to stop along the way? Some people drive none-stop and switch drivers... that sounds like something college age kids would do! Would not be much fun for family.

A long driving day will get you to around Georgia, then the second day will be a long day of driving to get to Disney World. These would be long hours of driving, so you may want to take an extra day for driving. 3 days down, and 3 days back up. That is 6 days, and you want at least 4 days in Disney (5 or 6 preferably) so hopefully you will have a couple weeks available?

If you can give some more info about how many driving days you want and where you will be staying (both in or near Disney and along the way), you will get more detailed route information.

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.

Best route? Fly. Not enough time and too many weather worries. Personally unless your rig has AWD or 4WD I wouldn't put my kids at that kind of risk. Yes, many people without AWD or 4WD drive in the snow in cars/trucks but it's a totally different animal if you are towing or in a MH.

I agree with moebedick on 84W to 81S and then work your way over to 95 south of DC. Or you can take 684S off of 84 past Danbury to 287W over the Tappan Zee Bridge to 287S (NJ)to 78, then 81. You want to AVOID the GW Bridge and that portion of 95 before and after it. You will have a much better ride avoiding the big cities if you can. Good luck and enjoy your trip.

Hoping the total time is going to be closer to 2 weeks. Commute time each way will be 4 long days. Better check on open CGs for the northern part of the trip. Then there is that little matter in February. WINTER WEATHER.

Give NYC a very wide berth. There is no easy pleasant way around it. Baltimore/Washington is not much better however using 495 around the S of DC there is a through lane which separates you from all of the on & off local traffic for the worst of it. You even get a glimpse of the Washington Monument as you cross the Potomac.