We live in Bergen County, NJ (approx 6 miles from the GWB) and have made the drive to Disney a few times. We have experimented with leaving at different times (very early a.m., afternoon, early evening and late evening) and we prefer to leave in the early evening, shortly after dinner. We also prefer to drive straight through but, we have stopped over for the night in Santee, S.C (it's approx. 12 hours from our house to Santee).
The kids also prefer to leave in the early evening because they sleep through alot of the drive (overnight) and then it doesn't feel like such a long drive to them.
Our usual driving routine:
*since we leave shortly after dinner this is what we do.
-day of departure I try to sleep as much as possible during the day because I am the overnight driver.
-try to tire the kids out before you leave by bike riding, playing kick ball, running around etc.
-have the kids take a warm shower or bath before you leave to relax them
-if your child is prone to car sickness make sure they take dramamine 30 minutes or so before you leave
-comfy clothing is a must for long car rides (sweats and t's or shorts and t's)
-each child brings their own pillow and blanket
-DVD's for the car ( a few old favorites and a few new selections) the kids take turns picking the movie to watch
-each child packs a bag (that they keep near them) with things to occupy them: nintendo DS, books, travel board games (we have connect Four, trouble, scrabble and a couple of others), notebook or sketch book and colored pencils (crayons will melt quickly in the car in the southern summer heat), I-pods
*DH usually starts off the drive and then I take over sometime after midnight or so and I drive through the night while everyone sleeps. I use my I-pod so that I can listen to music but not disturb anyone (only use 1 ear bud so you can hear emergency vehicles etc.). I keep a bottle of water and a couple of snacks within easy reach in case I get the munchies (a ziploc with grapes and a ziploc with M&M's are my car munchies of choice).
DH usually takes over driving again either shortly before we stop for breakfast or right after. The rest of the drive we usually switch off every couple of hours or so.
What we pack to eat:
Cooler:
-small water bottles
-juice boxes
-fruit (apples, grapes etc.)
-string cheese
-sandwiches (sometimes)
snack bag:
-mini cereal boxes
-mini muffins
-cookies
-gold fish crackers
-granola bars
-M&M's
-mini bagels are also good
Misc:
-roll of paper towels
-wet wipes (for cleaning hands and faces etc.)
-box of small wastebasket size garbage bags (emergency vomit bags, garbage, misc.)
-small notebook (great for license plate game, notes etc.)
-pens
*we also pack a ball and a frisbee so that the kids can burn off some energy at some of the rest stops, 10 or 15 minutes makes a huge difference when sitting in the car for a long time. (when the kids were little we would stop at a fast food place for lunch that had a "play place" so the kids could run around for 30 minutes after they ate).
*Earplugs are a must for the other driver (allows the other driver to get a bit more rest even when the kids are awake)
*headphones for the car TV are wonderful (they can listen to their movies without bothering anyone else)
*If you have a child in a car seat try putting a small suitcase or cooler on the floor in front of them that they can rest their feet on so their feet aren't dangling for hours and hours, it really does help with their comfort level.
*when you stop for gas everyone uses the restroom!
**Please remember to stop when you feel tired and don't push it. Taking a power nap (1-2 hours ) at a rest area will really help, many many people do this.
DH never wanted to do the long drive but, I managed to convince him about 6 years ago and after the first drive down he says he will never fly to Disney again. We all really look forward to the drive, for us it's part of the adventure and we will be making the drive again in June.
Good Luck!!
), we got to a hotel we had previously booked outside of Atlanta, GA (it was a frickin dump, pics were deceiving) about 4pm. We stayed the night there and left the next morning and got to Disney around lunchtime. It was a nice drive and saved us more then a couple thousand dollars. Even though it was a nice drive.....it was LOOOOOOONG obviously, lol. I don't mind flying but you really miss a lot when flying. There's pros and cons to doing both. We had the portable DVD, books, activity books and games to keep the kids occupied, oh and tons of snacks and drinks. On the way home we stopped in VA beach for the night. Stayed right on the beach in a hotel that is normally seriously expensive in the summer. However it was like 30 degrees, lol....but at least we got to see and walk on the beach.
dh 
ds 11 
ds 9
21 days till our Disney Vacation!
