Driving at Night....HELP

[DisneyB]

We've done the overnight straight drive a few times and it is great. The key for us is we take 3 hour shifts and the passenger sleeps. For some reason I have found it much easier to drive that 1-4am shift when listenening to CD's I am familiar with. When I know the next song that will come and i can sing along the time passes faster and i stay more awake and alert than just the radio. My wife uses books on CD to pass the time. It is about a 20 hour drive for us so I make sure I get some caffeine in me around dinner time. I have founfd that Crystal Light Peach Mango Green Tea packets in water are ideal. Not all the carbonation of soda but have plenty of caffeine (and taste great)

Have a great drive.

 

[3pletprincesses]

We usually do the 27 hours drive none stop between dh and I. We split the drive where he drives from 6pm to about 1-2 am and then I drive until late morning and so on. So far no problems for either of us. I usually can drive 10 hours without stopping myself except for gas once. Dh is another story. He will stop every 4-6 hours of so and stop for gas but more for coffee LOL If we find htat we are too tired, we switch earlier then we expected. I'm usually the one driving at night .I prefer that as the traffic is much much lighter and no sun to bug me.

 

[joshsmom]

My friend ALWAYS drives at night. We're from the St. Louis area and she and her DH are night owls. I CAN NOT drive at night. I get very drowsy and am a danger to myself and others on the road. We try to start out around 6am and drive as long as we can. Then I pull off at a hotel (I know, added expense but it is best). My mom is 66 and although she drives here and SAYS she can drive anywhere, she gets nervous in traffic and doesn't see well at night. So, we don't do the overnight thing.

Hope you can decide which is best for you and that you have a WONDERFUL trip!!

 

[Conan the Librarian]

DonaldTDuck....we do sometimes stop in Savannah, GA. We are thinking to leave earlier again and then stop there for the night. Thank you!

Oh Please do stop in Savannah and spend money! We need your dollars!

We drive down at night a lot. In fact, this May, we're hoping to leave by 6:00pm and get into Orlando by 12:00 Midnight. We'll stay at a Hotel Off property and get up early to check into SSR ASAP!

 

[GrumpyDad1974]

I love to drive at night... but I also work 3rd shift. You make great time and everyone sleeps so there are less pit stops. We do the 10 hour trip in 8 when I leave at midnight. It really helps cutting down on travel time when everyone is sleeping. Just be aware of your surroundings when stopped for gas or restrooms.

 

[ewehrum]

I would have to offer a bit of an objection to that statement about no traffic. There is considerably less car traffic but the trucks take over the roads at night and there is nothing more intimidating then being surrounded by mountains of 18+ wheelers. Just a thought!

I personally love driving with the trucks, they keep a good pace at night. But then again, I also haul horses all over the US and drive a good sized pickup myself. With my CB I chat along with the truckers and that tends to help pass time as well on the way to WDW.

 

[bumbershoot]

We usually drive at night from Ohio, my husband works midnights so he is used to being up all night! It is nice to get the majority of the trip done with the kids sleeping. But when we arrive the kids are wired and my husband and I are dead tired..lol I prefer leaving early morning like 5am and arriving late evening because no one is completely exhausted. Enjoy your trip!!

The bolded is what I would worry about, OP, since you usually do not do it like this. You might physically be there earlier, but not be ready to DO anything. (and if your room isn't ready, then you'll be dozing at the pool, I suppose)

But also, if no one is used to driving at night, if no one in the house works at night, do you REALLY want your big trip to WDW to be the experiment to SEE if anyone gets drowsy while driving?


I used to drive from Tacoma WA to Santa Cruz CA often, all night, just one shot. And as I got older, my ability to do that faded. I wouldn't even consider it now. It seems the height of insanity. (of course the darned Lasik I had done that made seeing at night VERY difficult helped with that, but even before I had that done I wasn't comfy driving long distances as a straight shot at night)

Doing what you normally do is a fine way to have a trip start. Don't get so excited to BE there that you forget you want to ENJOY being there that first day or two.

 

[maxiesmom]

I would say if you are worried about it, don't do it. Make that stop on the way down. I've been in the car at night before with someone who insisted the were fine, and then almost drove right off the road because they were so tired. Not good. It is never a good idea to let the driver be the only one awake, sometimes they just can't judge how tired they really are.

I think you should plan on stopping somewhere just to be safe.

 

[grafxgirl]

It takes us 14 hours to get to WDW from the WV. My husband and I take turns driving while the other one naps. We prefer driving at night because there is no traffic.

 

[fottafamily05]

Thank you everyone for all the wonderful responses! I think we have decided to stop some where in GA. We plan to leave earlier in the day now and drive until the kids bed time. I just have to listen to my intuition on this one. Thanks again for all the great tips. They are very much appreciated!

 

[Kona65]

OK! We have drove to Florida many, many times. But we have mostly drove in the morning and day time (leaving at the earliest at 3 am) that way we are there by that afternoon. This time we decided to leave at night and drive straight through. Our plan is to leave at 6:30 pm...that way we will be there by 8 or so the next morning. I was fine with this until recently (we leave next week) now I am terrified to drive at night. I am so afraid for some reason that something is going to happen. DS falling asleep is my main concern...even though he says he will be fine or someone else being on the road that late that falls asleep. So my question to you all is....who has done this? Did you prefer to drive at night or during the day? Thanks for any and all input!

I've done this before and you do tend to drift off. You must make considerable more stops to keep yourself awake. Get out and walk around, white line fever will start to creep into your mind if you don't take a break. If this really concerns you, then don't do it. Wait until morning. Good Luck.

 

[I Love Pluto]

My daughter & I leave the men at home and drive to WDW each year (from PA).

Sometimes we stop (SC or GA) - sometimes we go straIght through. We just make sure that neither one of us falls asleep. We talk constantly. We drink milkshakes. It works for us.

 

[tndisneyfan]

OK! We have drove to Florida many, many times. But we have mostly drove in the morning and day time (leaving at the earliest at 3 am) that way we are there by that afternoon. This time we decided to leave at night and drive straight through. Our plan is to leave at 6:30 pm...that way we will be there by 8 or so the next morning. I was fine with this until recently (we leave next week) now I am terrified to drive at night. I am so afraid for some reason that something is going to happen. DS falling asleep is my main concern...even though he says he will be fine or someone else being on the road that late that falls asleep. So my question to you all is....who has done this? Did you prefer to drive at night or during the day? Thanks for any and all input!

Are you going to be helping your DH drive, or is he going to have to drive all the way thru. The way we do it is, the day we leave one of us gets up early and one of us sleeps late. Whoever sleeps late gets the first shift driving, usually whoever got up early is sleepy enough to nap when we first get in the car. Then we switch off whenever the driver starts feeling sleepy, and the driver sleeps a while. It really makes the trip go by because you are either driving or sleeping. The key is to switch off when you first start getting sleepy.

Personally I wouldn't drive thru the night with just one person driving. I would think it would too easy for that one person to try to push thru being sleepy and doze off.

 

[Laura727]

There is a great thread on the transportation board about this topic. I studied it thoroughly before we drove through the night this past August.

It is totally doable. Just switch on and off drivers at designated times. Works like a charm.

 

[MareSINY]

Traveling at night is our favorite way to go. We live in NJ and leave anywhere from 3:30 - 5pm, depending on our excitement. LOL We stop a few hours into the trip to get the kids dinner and then we get them ready for "bed." By 9pm they're all "snug as bugs in rugs" and the silence is golden. It was funny on our last trip, we were going for Jersey Week and kept counting all the NJ drivers on the roads with us, it was pretty funny. By 7am the kids start waking up and we stop for breakfast before the final push, we always get to the hotel by no later than 9am. We freshen up, get our shopping done (groceries, etc.) and take a bit of a rest before hitting a park.

Yes, driving at night can be dangerous, but we try to stay up together and keep each other alert and awake. We make many pit stops for air and more caffiene and just chug on through the night. Honestly, we've seen some frightening situations, but they've always been on our way home. Going home we leave in the morning and are in the Washington area around 1am. That's where things usually get a bit hairy. One trip there was a car coming down the highway in the wrong direction. Luckily we didn't crash, but we can't be sure nobody behind us didn't end up in an accident with that nut!

Just take it easy and stop when needed to stretch your legs and get some air and you should be fine. Have a great trip!!

 

[Couchy]

DH and I actually prefer driving over flying. Our trip is between 18-19 hours long. We always start around 3pm and drive straight through. We switch every 3- 4 hours and have always been fine.

We love getting there in the morning and still having the day to enjoy. We are so excited that it carries us through the day. We take that first day slow and go to bed early.

 

[Wadecool]

OK! We have drove to Florida many, many times. But we have mostly drove in the morning and day time (leaving at the earliest at 3 am) that way we are there by that afternoon. This time we decided to leave at night and drive straight through. Our plan is to leave at 6:30 pm...that way we will be there by 8 or so the next morning. I was fine with this until recently (we leave next week) now I am terrified to drive at night. I am so afraid for some reason that something is going to happen. DS falling asleep is my main concern...even though he says he will be fine or someone else being on the road that late that falls asleep. So my question to you all is....who has done this? Did you prefer to drive at night or during the day? Thanks for any and all input!

When we go to Florida every year, we always drive at night. Personally, I like driving through the night because there are fewer cars and trucks out and I can make good time. Just make sure that whoever is doing the bulk of the driving takes a good 3 or 4 hour nap the afternoon prior to leaving and then keep them fueled up on coffee or Mountain Dew (my personal favorite).

 

[smampate]

We leave March 24th and this will be our first "drive through the night" trip! So many GREAT tips from PP! Thanks for the question!!!! Have a GREAT trip!

 

[kathleendsm]

When DH first proposed this idea to me before our March 2011 trip, I was pretty against it, but agreed to try it. Our trip is 1400 miles, so pretty much 24 hours door to door. We left at around 5 (after school) on Thursday evening, stopped for dinner an hour or so later, then stopped again to get the kids into their PJs. DH drove all night listening to various podcasts while I snoozed, and then I took over after breakfast in the morning and drove most of the rest of the way.

It actually worked like a charm, and now I prefer it to the hurry hurry hurry WAIT stress of flying. We have a Honda Odyssey so there is plenty of room for us and our 2 kids to bring lots of things to entertain us. The DVD player is great to entertain them, as well as books, coloring, the iPad and my daughter's iPod Touch. We also stop a lot, I doubt we go for longer than about 2 hours during the day without stopping to stretch our legs, get a snack, go to the bathroom, and change DS's diaper.

Overnight DH was able to make great time. Since the rest of us were sleeping, he didn't have to stop so often and was able to keep up a good speed. He is able to go without sleep pretty easily, and didn't have any trouble staying up with the help of Monster energy drinks and the podcasts. I did make him promise (even though it's obvious) that if he was tired or worried we'd pull over and stay somewhere.

The first time we did it last year we just stayed at a cheap hotel on I-drive for the first night, and then continued to Disney the next day. We got there at 6 Orlando time (after the time change) and were all probably asleep by 7. Then we slept in the next day until around 8 and took our time getting over, checking in at BWV, and heading into Epcot leisurely. After that recovery time we didn't have any fatigue issues, so I'd recommend giving yourself some time to recover from the overnight without a lot of rope drop stress on yourselves!

This year we're doing it again, although we are going straight to BLT when we get there. Then we'll sleep in and get to the parks on when we get there!

 

[luvgoing2disney]

It's been interesting reading these posts about driving down. We live approximately 10 hours away but consider that too far to drive so we always fly. 10 hours seems next to nothing when reading some folks drive 27 hours. I just don't think I could drive that long, but every family/group is different and can handle things differently.