How long do YOU drive??? :)

[stasijane]

Its a 17 hour drive for us, We drive the whole way and dont stop until we get there.

 

[eeyorethegreat]

Ok...we are driving down in November and have a 13 hour drive

We won't actually be leaving until 3 or so in the afternoon due to school. How long do most of you drive before stopping for the night?

My 3 DD's think we should drive all the way but I am hesitant to do that because I am afraid we would be wiped out the next day and not be able to possibly check in til later anyway.

1st day will be a relaxing day..no parks..but still wondered how safe it would be with nighttime traffic and thought I'd get some other's advice on how they did it.

We drive from central Maine. It is 24 hours give or take. I drive aboout 10-12 hours including p breaks the frist day and then the rest the next day but I always alow for 3 days travel time. The first time I drove I had a headache for 2 days after and most of the way down. The second time it was much better. I don't enjoy drivng but it is cheaper than the airfare though one could say the time involved isn't worth it. We also like to have our own transportation while at WDW and my mom has her own ecv so we pack that in the back . ETA I have 4 kids and we are a party of 7 total.

 

[theAnalogKid]

Its about 16-17 hours of actual driving time from NEPA. We do it straight through. In February we left home around 330pm and both boys slept from about 10pm-6am straight through. The DW took a shift all the way through NC and I did the rest of the driving. Even with a stop for breakfast prior to check-in we got there by around 10am.

 

[bowbat]

When we lived in Atlanta, it was a 7-hour drive. Heinous. Hated every minute of it. So we moved to Florida. Now we're about an hour & 45 minutes from Disney.

 

[softballmom3]

Lots and lots of variation just like I thought. I do enjoy reading through the posts. I teach and will probably be wiped out so I'm guessing we will probably make it 8 hrs then crash and drive the other 4 in the morning. We can usually find a nice, decent Hampton Inn somewhere. I am always the overplanner and usually book my room ahead of time and we HAVE to drive a certain amount but I'm gonna try and wing it this year and just stop when we feel like it....novel concept for me .

 

[8gr8mouseketeers]

DW is not driveable for us, at least not in my mind. But we have driven to DL twice. It is 24 hours of driving and dh and I took turns. We only stopped to eat, use the restrooms and stretch our legs for a bit.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

We are about 6 hours away and we usually leave home around midnight and DH drives straight through while I sleep, we check in, then make it to a park by rope drop. This is the way he prefers to do it, so we miss most of the traffic on I-75

 

[Demosthenes]

When we drive, we usually break it up. Of course, reading some of these posts makes me realize I need to stop whining about our 7 1/2 hour drive. Typically, we drive to Lake City,then make for Disney after breakfast. I like to arrive around 11:00 AM, even though our room often isn't ready, I never feel like vacation has begun until I have my KTTW.

 

[twokids0204]

1420 Miles / 2293 km

24 Hours (without stopping for gas or food)

about 28 hours total with stops (and a rest over night usually).

 

[dzorn]

Ok...we are driving down in November and have a 13 hour drive

We won't actually be leaving until 3 or so in the afternoon due to school. How long do most of you drive before stopping for the night?

My 3 DD's think we should drive all the way but I am hesitant to do that because I am afraid we would be wiped out the next day and not be able to possibly check in til later anyway.

1st day will be a relaxing day..no parks..but still wondered how safe it would be with nighttime traffic and thought I'd get some other's advice on how they did it.

We've driven straight through from MI.

Denise in MI

 

[Tink888]

It's a 16 hour drive for us. We leave about 4 in the morning and drive straight through to Daytona Beach. We stop there get a good night's sleep and then it's another hour to WDW the next day.

Coming home we usually drive about 13 hours, stop for the night and finish out the 4 the next day.

 

[Diznygrl]

Well considering I live in California, I don't even want to entertain the thought of driving to WDW. It's a whole day's worth of travel just to fly to Orlando.

However, I'm a 7-8 hour drive away from DL, so yes I always drive there.

 

[JeffZ]

Leaving from Michigan tomorrow -noon --1:00 maybe. See how far we get. We have driven straight thru many times. About 19-20 hours switching drivers. Last time down Thanksgiving '09 we stopped in Atlanta at my brother's so 12 hours first day and then 7or 8 the next. But my brother doesn't live there anymore. Not sure this time might get hotel around Macon. Have to see how we feel--might go all the way again.

 

[auprincess]

Our drive is 7 hours...then add 3 kids

The last time we drove, we left after lunch (nap time) and drove 6 hours. I know we were sooo close, but we had a free hotel (points from all DHs business trips) and we were able to get up the next morning and have a full day at the park after a good nights sleep.

 

[bdoyledimou]

i have driven 8 times all them straight through from toronto 24 hours ----- with a 2 hour power nap at 5 am at a rest stop in georgia.

 

[StarLight StarBright]

Before kids we could make it in around 9 hours. Now its about 12.(We are in NC) We try to leave at 3am. We usually fool ourselves into thinking the kids will sleep til 7 or 8....an hour into the trip the kids are wanting to play their DS or saying "when is breakfast?" The anticipation of getting there is all part of the fun! By the time we finally drive under the Disney sign and get out of the car at our resort we are feeling like crazy people for being in the car so long......all worth it though!

 

[Wadecool]

Ok...we are driving down in November and have a 13 hour drive

We won't actually be leaving until 3 or so in the afternoon due to school. How long do most of you drive before stopping for the night?

My 3 DD's think we should drive all the way but I am hesitant to do that because I am afraid we would be wiped out the next day and not be able to possibly check in til later anyway.

1st day will be a relaxing day..no parks..but still wondered how safe it would be with nighttime traffic and thought I'd get some other's advice on how they did it.

13 hours? That can be done straight through no problem. When on person gets tired, switch drivers, no big deal.

 

[kstgelais4]

We are making our 6th trip down driving in Nov. Without stops it takes us 22 hours. We drive straight through and we usually get ther about 24-25 hours after we leave. The drive itself is very exciting for my kids they consider it a huge part of the vacation. Plus we get to see the whole East Coast

 

[goofyernmost]

There is a huge difference between getting a good nights sleep and driving for 13 hours, that's tiring but not a huge deal, and putting in a days activities and then heading out for that long and, in my opinion a very unsafe way to travel.

Even though traffic, overall, is lighter at night it is prime truck travel time so you are always on the road with semi's all around you. This can be very intense. I suggest just going half of it or slightly more on that first day and then proceeding on the next for a leisurely drive to WDW. Check in and rest up and be ready for the next day of park touring.

When I used to drive from Vermont I would plan on two nights in a hotel on the way. 12 hours the first day, maybe 8 the next and the third day into Orlando. I was the only driver so I wanted to make sure I wasn't too tired, not only because of safety but also because I wanted to feel good when I got to Disney, not exhausted. But that's just me.

To me 13 hours is reasonable if it is all you are doing that day, but since, in this case, it is capping the day...I would consider stopping.

 

[DisneyTravelers2008]

It is a 9 hour drive for us. We usually come home from work on Friday and go straight to bed. Then we get up about 2 am or 3 am and drive through the night. We are night owls and ther eis less traffic in teh middl eof the night. We stop about half way for some breakfast and check in around 12 noon. We usually just rest and hang at the pool or maybe have dinner the first day.