Would you drive

[Manatee]

Would you drive straight from Miami to Orlando bearing in mind getting up at five in the morning to drive to Heathrow, flight into Miami landing at 6:30 in the evening, my DW thinks it inadvisable, has anyone ever done it?, i'm not phased about driving in the US.

 

[orangetiggs]

i drove from MCO to st petes after a flight that was delayed a few hours and it was a really bad storm! having never driven to st petes was a bit scary but didnt phase me, got there after midnight

I have looked at this route and I would drive after the flight

 

[Pegasus928]

You would have been awake for a long time by the time you land, and thats before you take into account any flights delays, waiting at immigration, luggage and car hire. You could well have been up for 20+ hours by the time you get into the car but I guess only you will have an idea as to how well you would cope with that.
Personally I wolud be reluctant - especially if I had the family in the car with me - and would be more inclined to get a hotel and have a few hours rest before the trip.

 

[T16GEM]

I'm inclined to be with Kenny on this one, I don't think I would want to drive that kind of distance after being up all that time, especially if I had the kids in the car it's bad enough when you are alert and know where you are going, having done the trip before it's a pretty simple drive but even still not after being up for that amount of time.

 

[buzz for boys]

Personally I would aire on the side of caution and book into a hotel room and drive up to orlando the next morning!!

You will be awake at silly o clock but refreshed from a few hours sleep and the safety of me ad my family would mean I would stay put in Miami

Just think on your first evenig instead of driving you can watch the sunset in Miami x

 

[jjk]

we have flown to Miami twice, the 1st time we drove straight to Orlando straight from the plane and it really wasnt a great idea we were incredibly tired and struggled a lot although we made it safely. Second time we stayed overnight had a lovely morning on the beach and had a much better drive

 

[penlanspice]

I'm going with everyone else on this one, usually we wouldn't be bothered about driving that distance but landing at 6.30pm it's going to be pretty late be time you get on the road, I would say around 8pm.
The car rental places are all off site and you have to get a bus so time will quickly go, if you were landing around 3pm I would say to go for it.

I know most people on the board have got out of the airport quickly, we landed there about 18 months ago and it took ages to get through immigration and to the bags I think it was like 2 and half hours until we got in the car.

If you stayed over near the airport then you will probably be awake early and can get on the road.

 

[Zeebs]

Nope

In fact we are going out to Miami in May I have booked this hotel for about $79.00, http://www.lq.com/lq/properties/pro...8&propId=1048&WT.mc_id=EMCFNAME&IATA=99020582 going to visit the Sawgrass Mills Mall - across the street the next day before heading through to Orlando.

Kirsten

 

[dixonsontour]

When we were a lot younger we drove from MCO to Ft lauderdale straight off the flight. I wouldn't advise it.

Our car wasn't ready at MCO and they offered to deliver it to the hotel next morning thinking we were in Orlando. When we said ft lauderdale we had to wait for a car which delayed us setting off

Remember you may be delayed (our Virgin flight was 2 hrs late in oct) or any hiccups with baggage etc.

I can remember getting lost looking for the hotel - we were knackered.

Another year we flew into MCO and stayed one night at a cheap motel then drove down to Miami the next morning. We woke really early and set off - I can remember driving into Miami about 9.30am on the sunday morning. Much better idea than straight off the flight.

 

[WDW-UK]

We are flying into Miami this Easter and are driving straight up to Orlando after the flight from London

We have done this before back in 2005 and yes it was exhausting, but that was because I had to do the whole drive which at times was scary as it was hard to keep focused the longer I drove.

As others had already mention you have to plan for delays which will have a huge knock on effect on to your jourmy, which for us was over 230 miles and 4 hours long

This time however, there is two of us that will share the driving, I have brought a sat nav and will have a 15 seater van even though there is only 7 of us so there will be plenty of room for everyone.

We planned it this way and the fly drive worked out over £1,200 cheaper than flying direct from London to Orlando. The saving helped to offset the cost of the park tickets.

Like anything in life, with a little extra planning ANYTHING is possible.

 

[dixonsontour]

Nope

In fact we are going out to Miami in May I have booked this hotel for about $79.00, http://www.lq.com/lq/properties/pro...8&propId=1048&WT.mc_id=EMCFNAME&IATA=99020582 going to visit the Sawgrass Mills Mall - across the street the next day before heading through to Orlando.

Kirsten

Love sawgrass mills - i'd be there all day

Cheesecake factory and ghiradelli

 

[orlandothebeagle]

Yes, have went to clearwater, Im always wired when I arrived and dont mind at all.

 

[mcarthur205]

No, I wouldn't do it. We're flying into Miami at the end of June and we're staying one night at a hotel near the airport and driving to Orlando next morning. Better safe than sorry.

 

[wildwood]

I to am flying to miami in august something we have never done but the saving we made going this route allowed us to go this year , we have booked into a hotel near the airport and then going to drive up the next day and take it easy to see another part of florida

 

[OldKeyWelsh]

I would agree with everyone else. We flew to MIA last August and booked a room at the Hampton Inn when we got there ( I think it was the one at Blue Lake or something like that - very nice, fairly new hotel with a hot b/fast included). The shuttle bus dropped us back at the airport the next morning and we picked up the hire car then.
One other bit of advice - take the toll road to Orlando - Florida's Turnpike. I think it cost us about $20 in total but it was much quieter than the other road.

 

[brer_rabbit]

I would also vote for getting a hotel. When I went in May we landed in Orlando really late so didn't get to the car hire pickup desk till 1am We'd booked a cheapy HoJo round the corner from the hotel before we left rather than face a 2 hour drive to Bradenton. Was very glad to get a good nights sleep and breakfast at Dennys before hitting the road the next morning! And the hotel room only cost £30

 

[Samaya]

We've done that drive, Miami to Disney but we did touch down mid afternoon and did have some shut eye on the plane.

But it's not something we would plan again; getting out of the airport and out of Miami wasn't as fast as we had planned so we reached Disney quite late and really wasted the cost of that first nights stay.

Since that trip we have flown into Miami once more for a Disney stay, but only drove up to Fort Lauderdale where we stayed for one night. After a good breakfast and morning stroll we set off at a leisurely pace for Disney and arrived prior to our check-in time. It was a much more relaxing and stressless time.

 

[Manatee]

Thanks guys, looks like we will be staying in Miami for the first night then, if i was alone i would have driven, but as a few have pointed out my whole family will be in back, not worth the risk methinks.