Zhangjiajie in February

My parents are visiting in February (Feb. 2-12) and we are trying to decide if it is worth it to travel to ZJJ from Beijing or Shanghai or if it will be too cold/can't see anything. What do you suggest? Do we need a private driver for the day? Or will we get around fine without one? I live in China and speak Chinese, so I am used to using private transport and bargaining for drivers, but I'm still not sure which one would be better. Thank you for any help you can provide!