No, I’m not late; I’m early. I’m talking about the one on Apr. 8, 2024. Those of you who went to the last eclipse, how far in advance should I make motel reservations, (I assume driving to Vermont and back that day would be a packed-road nightmare) when should I plan on driving there, and when can I plan on driving back?
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I believe most hotels only reserve one year in advance. I’d expect, after the surprising number of people who went to see the last one, hotels will be ready this time with adjusted rates.
I reserved my room in June 2016, and already it was $400. For the 2024 eclipse, all I’ll have to do is step outside and look up.
The chance that it will be cloudy in Vermont in April is about 102%.
I reserved my room a month and a half in advance, about two hours outside Hopkinsville (though we went to Clarksville). If you’re willing to drive a bit, you should be fine. We paid normal rates in Evansville, IN. $120/night at the Residence Inn. We also made a reservation at the same time in Springfield, IL, in case we wanted to head out in that direction (towards Carbondale.) Driving down from Evansville to Clarksville the day of had no unusual traffic. Driving back to Chicago, though, was another story.
If you want to stay somewhere in the path of totality, I’d reserve as early as I could.
I just drive down a few days before and hiked the AT, it was free and I saw it from the trail - amazing. The morning before the eclipse I was able to get a hotel room nearby for $70, had to sit in traffic 45 minutes to go that 8 miles. That was the only traffic, we left the next day.
This is actually going to be a big problem throughout the northeast – in early April summer is just starting to assert its predominant blue skies and it’s less likely to be clear than later in the season. In my area, the chance of skies being overcast or mostly cloudy throughout April is 52%. In August that drops to 33%, with statistically the clearest day of the entire year being – ironically – the very day before this year’s August eclipse!
So April is a terrible time for an eclipse. My tentative plan is to strap myself to a lawn chair attached to a weather balloon and rise to the appropriate vantage point above the clouds. I’ll be 7 years older then, so if anyone objects I’ll probably be eligible at that time to just wave my walking-stick at them and tell them to get the hell off my lawn! 
Think if enough of us signed a letter, we could get it rescheduled?
The 2024 eclipse goes right over my grandmother’s hometown in Texas and is two days before her 99th birthday. But she lives in an assisted living facility and can not longer host a large family gathering.
So we’re thinking hotel booking should be a year in advance. Hopefully it won’ t be $400 per night.
Rule for seeing an eclipse: planet early
Based on everything I’ve heard, traffic was worse post-eclipse than pre-eclipse for most people. I suspect part of this was because the eclipse was on a Monday, so many people traveled at various points during the weekend, but wanted to be home for work/school on Tuesday.
So, if you’ve got the opportunity, plan to travel home the day after the eclipse, not the day of.
Also, if possible, pick your actual viewing spot pretty late-- there was serious cloud cover in a couple of should have been great places I’ve heard about, and medium cloud cover where I was (so I saw the sun with bites taken out of it both before and after totality, and experienced totality, but didn’t see the corona or the diamond ring moments). On the other hand, I saw what I saw with loved ones, and we had a good day, and only slightly damp.
Weatherspark will tell you the probability of cloudiness that day in various locations. I don’t think anyplace along the 2024 path looks like a very sure bet except maybe Southern Texas.
Someone should start petitions on change.org and whitehouse.gov
There’s some good advice in that post, with a catch.
Don’t worry about traffic before the eclipse. If you have to drive to your predetermined viewing spot, just get an early start on the day so you’ll get there a few hours before totality. We spent the eve outside the south edge of the path (Chattanooga), and had no problem driving the fifty miles to the center line the next morning. After the eclipse, however, traffic moved at an average of ten miles per hour for three hours on I-75.
We used that weekend to explore potential viewing spots. By then, the forecast was clear skies, but chasing the sun to Missouri or South Carolina was not out of the question. We loaded a weather app that shows individual clouds, but never needed it.
The catch is that you can make all the plans you want and book your room well in advance, but if your spot is cloudy, you’re screwed. And if you wait until you know where the skies will be sunny, there won’t be any rooms available.
This past eclipse, almost everybody got clear skies, so all their plans looked brilliant. For now, pick your favorite spot, cross your fingers, and book your room five or six years from now. I think mobility, just in case, is the key to success.
Personally, I’m working on the eclipse across Chile and Argentina. It’s less than two short years away.
Maybe I’ll rent camp sites on my five acres in the woods in Arkansas.
Dopers get a discount!