How long do YOU drive??? :)

[softballmom3]

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.

 

[HadesTX]

The one & only time we drove was a 21 hour drive.

Never. Again.

 

[kerri0616]

We always drive. 12 or 13 hours the first day. 4 or 5 hours the next.

I don't mind it. We like having our car in case the bus lines are insane. Plus we can bring anything we want in the car...crate of water, snacks for quick breakfasts, more than 3 oz of toiletries...

K

 

[sissy_ib]

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.

If you are nervous about it, don't. If you are the only driver I suggest stopping by 10-11PM. My DFH and I have an 18 hour drive but we will be stopping at family members house about 13 hours from home. We will drive that strait but we will starting in the morning so we will be refreshed and should have daylight the entire drive.

 

[jecskc]

We are only 7 hours away, so we always drive. But DH can make it in six

 

[kaybird]

WDW 23 1/2 hours. We drive it through nearly every time, rotate drivers when we stop for gas. It is a 22 hour drive to DL.

 

[softballmom3]

WDW 23 1/2 hours. We drive it through nearly every time, rotate drivers when we stop for gas. It is a 22 hour drive to DL.

Oh Wow!!! I know we wouldn't ever do that one....

 

[SCDisneyMom]

We're about 8 hours away, so we always drive. We leave our house around 6 AM and are usually in the theme parks by late afternoon.

 

[loislane]

A little over an hour - to the airport, where I board a plane and fly there in just under 3 hours.

 

[TiffanyK]

We drive 13 hours straight through. We spend the first night in a cheaper hotel and plan easy things for our first day, usually not in a park. We used to stop in Valdosta, GA but have had very bad luck finding a clean hotel there.

 

[apr9twins]

I think our total trip was around 19 hours and we broke it up into two days - did 13 the first and timed the second day to get to the hotel around 1:00. It was a nice drive - we didn't run into any major traffic issues and the kids were well equipped with DVD players, games, snacks, etc. (hopefully I haven't jinxed it for the upcoming trip!)

 

[kokotg]

About 8 1/2 hours for us. We usually drive straight through, but this year we're actually stopping for the night a couple of hours north and then getting an early start the next morning.

 

[HadesTX]

A little over an hour - to the airport, where I board a plane and fly there in just under 3 hours.

Heck yeah.

 

[Magic3forme]

We used to live 18 hrs away. we would split it up over 2 days. normally 12 the first day, 6 hrs the next. home it was the 18 hrs straight and dh normally drove 15 hrs or more.

now we only live 7 hrs away, so we drive straight through.

 

[dblr]

I would drive right thru, usually if we take just the car it's right thru if I tow the camper we stop at least once and some time twice. I also let the traffic dictate how often we stop, I like to be relaxed some when we get there.

 

[WhateverLolaWants]

95% of the time we drive and it takes a little over 17 hours of actual driving. When I was a kid, we would leave around suppertime or so and my parents would drive through the night while switching drivers. To be honest, the thought of that scares me now because you cannot control how the other drivers are driving at 3am. Not that you can control how they drive at 3pm, but there are a lot more potentially dangerous factor in the middle of the night.

 

[saxman]

12 hours for us. We're both teachers so we usually leave after school lets out on Friday and drive halfway, then we get there around 1 or 2 pm on Saturday.

 

[humboldthny]

We drive about 11 hours and switch off - dh drives first and we leave at about 4am (since that was his idea!)....we're in the parks by late afternoon!

 

[innoculation]

We make a 16.5 hour trek from WV every year. We always leave after the kids get home from school and drive, drive, drive.

I think the furthest I have gotten in the past is Brunswick, GA, which is a 10-11 hour drive. I figure that year we stopped at 2am.
Generally, we stop whenever I just can't take driving anymore. The location I stop varies.
The next day, we get up, get breakfast somewhere and head on down. We stop in Daytona and spend the afternoon on the beach (weather permitting) and then drive on in to our resort that night.

If you would like to stop at the beach, I would reccomend doing this as well. Unless costs have changed, you can drive onto the beack for about $5, and you are right on the ocean. Our kids always love it, and it helps break up the trip so that the kids aren't stuck in the car all day.

 

[4under4]

Ours is a 20 hour drive. We did it straight through last time, but we're going to break it up into 2 days in January. First a 12 hour overnight drive to family in Atlanta, a 24 hour visit, then the last 8 hours to WDW.