Driving in January ~ what do you think?

[SandraC]

What is WDW and the Florida beaches like in January? What's the driving from Toronto to Florida like in January? hhhmmmmmm S

 

[TimNDansMom]

Hi Sandra, when we drove down last boxing day, we encountered very icy conditions between Dayton and Cincinnati. It took us almost 11 hours to get to Cin. from home and I'm so glad that we only planned to drive that far because we knew we would have a late start after all the Christmas festivities, the day before. Over the radio station people were phoning in complaining "where were the salters?" They got caught with their "pants down" and with traffic at a crawl, it was impossible for them to get through. We managed to get off onto an alternate route, using Dave Hunter's Along the I~75 Guide but it was very slow going to our hotel for the night in Cin.

On the way home, January 5th, we stopped overnight in Knoxville. We woke up to a big snow storm. Actually, we knew it was coming a couple of days earlier, but "forgot" about it and by the time we knew for sure it was on the way, we were checking into our reserved hotel and it was too late to cancel. I was very nervous as we set out the next morning and drove through Tennessee. The snow plows and salters had not been out yet like they would have been here and there were cars strewn all over the road, stuck, in the icy conditions. I honestly don't know how we never got stuck but somehow we finally drove out of it. I was never so relieved.

You have to be flexible if you drive down in the winter because you never know what weather you will encounter. We probably should have paid better attention to the weather report before we left Orlando and maybe stayed another day (heavens, I'd never leave EARLIER!) to avoid the storm.

When I went down in '86 and '87 it was in Jan and Feb and the weather was a lot warmer than what it got to be last year. It was quite chilly from NY's Eve and on.

 

[SandraC]

Thanks Julie, air fare is better good, so IF IF IF IF IF IF we go, we might fly. S

 

[Scratch42]

Check Sears Travel if I remember they are having some kind of sale that end December 14, 2002.

Scratch


Ps when in January?

 

[CindyAnn]

Sandra - I've never attempted the drive, but I'll let you know after we head down on December 27th. We also have the I 75 book, but we aren't booking accommodations anywhere so that we'll be able to stop wherever we need to. We hope to do it in 2 days, but if it takes 3, so be it. I just hope that things won't be so busy along the interstate that we have trouble getting a room wherever we happen to be.

 

[tmli]

We make the drive every January using I75. We've only once hit a short snow storm in Atlanta of all places. All other times we've had perfect weather. The book along I75 is invaluable. We'll be doing it again in a few short weeks, we drive straight thru taking almost exactly 24hrs. I hate driving but with 6 people its a lot cheaper than flying.

 

[Rob&Jan]

Were heading out Jan 3rd on I-75, lets all hope for clear sailing. See you there!!

 

[DSNY FN]

We have never had a problem with weather in Dec when we drive and we always take I75 and Dave Hunters book is full of great tips etc for the drive. We stop in Valdosta for the night.

 

[SandraC]

Hi ~ THANKS ALL! I was considering driving the I79/I77/I95 but I've read that might not be the wisest choice in the winter.

We probably aren't even going in January. But dh mentioned the slightly possibility so I jumped all over it LOL!

We drove I75 to Cincinnati this past summer and thought it was very good. I had Dave Hunter's book on my lap the entire trip. We took an alternate route on the way home and I missed having the I75 book.

Thanks! S

 

[TimNDansMom]

Everytime we drive down, I always have my Along I 75 on my lap, it seems to make the trip go faster as I turn each page!

 

[Baboo]

We've driven down twice at the end of January. The first time we stopped in Georgia for the night, but now we drive straight through. We leave late in the afternoon so that the kids sleep for a lot of the trip and we arrive about 24 hours later. We've been very lucky with our weather. We hit the leading edge of an ice storm near Cinci on the way home the first time, but just kept going and got ahead of it. We've also hit heavy fog in the early mornings in Kentucky but it quickly cleared up. I certainly wouldn't ever take the other route through the mountains that time of year. We had friends get storm stayed on that route one time for several days on their way down.

 

[Sandyrella]

We drove down from Montreal last December 29th. The weather was amazing for the drive down. My sister had left on December 26th and also had good weather for the drive down, however, for her return, she ran into that big storm that came from Texas and hit the southern states....Georgia, South and North Carolina, and Virginia. They had to drive through it all and she said it was awful. Coming from Quebec where this kind of snow is pretty standard from December to March, they were used to driving in it but the southerners had no idea what to do. Drivers were stopping in the middle of the highway (not even on the side), to scrape their windows with a credit card! Usually with no notice, just STOP! Thank goodness they had snow tires on so they were able to stop quickly. By the time we left to go home about a week later, there was none of that, not that it would have matter much because we took the Auto Train from Sanfor to Lorton. We were still surprised to see more snow in Viriginia than there was in upstate New York and Quebec.

Weatherwise, if you're going for the beaches, you are really taking your chances. You could have great weather BUT we were there the first week in January and had some really cold weather. One morning it was 39 F. My two older children called their Dad in TO who said it was 36 F there! I would go back to WDW again in January due to the lower attendance in the parks after the 1st or 2nd, but I wouldn't plan a trip to Florida hoping to spend time at the beaches, unless I was going further south, maybe as far as Miami. We actually stopped at a beach the day we got to Florida (my kids had never been to the ocean) and it was pretty chilly. The experience was nice, they picked up shells, skimmed some rocks, dipped their toes...but that was enough. Brrrr!

Overall, we had a fantastic trip in January and the only thing that could have made in better would have been warmer weather but like I said, as far as going to the parks is concerned, it's a GREAT time to go. Walking down New York St. on January 6th, with the Christmas carols playing and "snow" falling, continuing on to the Osbourne Family Lights did so much to rejuvenate my sagging, stressed out, exhausted Christmas spirit from the week before.

I guess that no matter what, you are taking your chances with the drive at any time in the winter months, but if you have any degree of flexibility (leaving a day early, etc.) I would take that chance.

Good luck!

 

[Dreamer61]

Originally posted by SandraC
Hi ~ THANKS ALL! I was considering driving the I79/I77/I95 but I've read that might not be the wisest choice in the winter.

Hi Sandra. That is my favoured route. Yes it can be a little more unpredictable (I've taken just under 2 days and as much as 5 days by this route ... but the 5 days was an extreme stretch of absolutely terrible weather) but, depending on where you are starting from (I'm in Toronto), it's a few hours shorter if all goes well and you don't have the endless drive through Georgia on I75.

If you have CAA, I'd recommend getting 'Trip Tiks' for both routes and decide closer to leaving based on the weather.

We're heading down in February (yippee!) and I expect to take that route. Who can afford to fly down now anyway? LOL