650 miles with 3 adults/drivers and 2 kids - would you drive it in one long stretch?

[peg2001]

We are planning on driving (for the first time) to WDW and I am undecided on whether to break it up with an overnight somewhere or if 650 miles is doable in one day. The children will be 8 and almost 5. We will have 3 adults that can rotate driving.

Thank you,
Peggy

 

[wdwstar]

yes, we drive 1200 miles in one stretch, leave about 3pm drive thru the night arrive 7 or 8 am in wdw, do it all the time ! 17 hours !

or leave 3 am and arive 7 or 8 pm.

 

[peg2001]

Yikes! You are averaging over 70 mph without even taking gas/breaks/meals into consideration.

It takes us about 6 hours to drive the 300 miles to Grandma's house. I'm anticipating the 650 miles to take about 12-13 hours.

Anyone else?

Peggy

 

[clkelley]

Yep 650 miles is an easy 11-12 hours!!

We're in North Alabama (677 miles from my driveway to the WDW arch on World Drive) and have done the drive many times in one stretch.

I've done it by myself in as little as 10.5 hours.

The longest it took us was with two vehicles, 10 people, (4 adults, 6 kids ranging from 10-15) 12 1/2 hours.

However, we have started splitting up the drive, not because of the length of the drive, but for other reasons stated below:

We drive as far as Ocala going down there and stay at a Super 8. We usually leave on Friday afternoon at 1:30 central and arrive in Ocala about 10:30 eastern (that is the earliest we can cut the boys loose from school) We get up bright and early the next morning (5am) and get to our Disney resort by 7am and get checked in and off to the parks. This usually ensures we get our room requests as we are one of the first to check in for the day.

We check out of WDW the day before we plan to drive home and stay at the parks as late as we wish, (we usually close down Epcot, then go over to Pleasure Island for about an hour) then make the short drive back up to Ocala and stay at the same Super 8. We then sleep as late as we wish (usually 10am) then head on home. We then get home at a reasonable 7 or 8 pm.

The two times we have stayed at WDW the first and last night were not as enjoyable because:

1) We didn't get our room choices
2) On our last day we stalled leaving WDW (we had a big character breakfast and then did some shopping at the Contemporary) and didn't get out of the Orlando area until at least noon, which got us home well after midnite. It is much easier to get up and hit the road at a Super 8 motel in Ocala than it is to leave WDW and everything it offers.

One thing that we have done that makes it easier, is that we make sure we pack one bag exclusively for the Super 8, so that we are not dragging out all of our luggage. When we get to the Super 8, we pull out that one bag for all of us, and that's it. When we repack to head back home from our WDW resort, we make sure that one bag is packed and ready for Super 8 again.

I hope this helps.

Carol

 

[crzy4dsny]

I just checked my notes and we drove 592 miles in 10 hours. Thats from Long Island to the North Carolina, South Carolina border.


650 miles would be no problem at all to do in one day.... I drive 112 miles to work and back But it all depends on what you want to do and feel comfortable doing.

Just so you know 70 mph is pretty slow for I-95.

 

[Boo Mc]

We just drove about 1150 miles in 17 hours. Left WDW at 6:30 am and got home at 11:30. Of course we had dry weather and no traffic. Stopped for a quick lunch and dinner and a couple of bathroom breaks. Kids are 5 and 7. It was a long day (we usually stop about 14-15 hours in to the trip) but nice not to have to pay for another night at a hotel.

 

[jl3614]

Our trip is 1050 miles and takes 17 - 19 hrs. We have driven straight through or have stopped for the evening after 12 hours.

You didn't say, but I will assume most or all of your trip is is Interstate highway travel.

If you have no weather, road construction, or accident delays, you should be able to drive 70 -75 mph then take 10 -15 minute breaks every 2 - 3 hours. The 650 miles shouldn't take much more than 12 hours even with a short meal break or two.

We kept the kids well fed, and lucky for us they are young enough that they napped a little. Maybe walkman, gameboy, or portable DVD prayers would be good distractions for kids your's ages.

 

[mudnuri]

Just so you know 70 mph is pretty slow for I-95.

LOL you aint kiddin there! Sometimes even with the cruise set at 75 people are flyin by.

We are splitting out trip down, and the 1st day is just about 600 miles give or take..thats about 11 hours for us, but we dont' stop for fuel as much as most folks, usually every 450-475 miles.

We've done the trip from VT to Ocala straight..19.5 hours 3 drivers, and NO TRAFFIC anywhere....and done it with 1 stop, and again with 2 stops...we're 2 stoppin this time, both ways

Brandy

 

[crisi]

We used to do 16 hours there and back twice a year with kids. Two drivers, three children (one an infant/toddler for the years in question). It is certainly doable - however, I would never do it with my own kids!!!! I don't like driving to the other end of town with my two!

 

[mudnuri]

Crisi I think you make a good point! My kids on a 45 minute trip are at each others throats, but give them a trip to the beach or somewhere farther, not only are they happier, but Im more prepared with an arsenal of bribes!

We have a ton of stuff to keep the kids occupied along the way, along with all the electronic stuff, DVD player, Game boy etc... they also have books, coloring and reading, and I just printed out a ton of pages for them to color, write etc... It's a totally different ball game with kids than it is without!

would I ever do the drive all the way to WDW with them? NO WAY HOSAY! I can also say that our trip down is a lot better than our trip home!

I have just finished printing them off maps with landmarks we will see, and the exits we will stop for fuel/meals and hotels etc.. I am hoping this will keep them from "are we there yet"..though knock on wood, they've never done that before!

Brandy

 

[Jon99]

We drive straight thru, 1150 miles in 17 hours.. 650 should be a breeze!!!

 

[Microcell]

We drove from Kansas City to Denver with our daughter when she was three it is a ten hour drive without stopping and going 75 to 80 miles an hour (the ONLY way to get through Kansas is as fast as you can). It will take you all day with stops, but she was great as long as we stopped every two or three hours. We also got a TV to put in the car and it was very helpful on a five hour trip we made to Oklahoma City- not a peep from my son when he was 18 months while he watched Toy Story!!!

 

[Microcell]

But there is no way we will drive on our trip to Disney- it is a SOLID two day trip from here. You must be starting from pretty far east!

 

[Microcell]

It only takes me 13 hours to drive 750 miles. I come up with nine, maybe 9 and a half hours for 650 miles. Agian alot of my driving is through Kansas when I drive that many miles. But i have gone to Detroit from KC and even through Chicago it has only been 13 maybe 14 hours.

 

[peg2001]

Thanks to everyone for all the replies, advice, and experiences!!

Originally posted by Microcell
You must be starting from pretty far east!

We are in East Tennessee so the majority of our drive will be getting through Georgia and northern Florida. I would not attempt the drive from the Northeast or Midwest. Call me a coward if you must!

We stop frequently with our children and meals take an hour since we give them time to eat and play. It DEFINITELY slows us down but it is worth it if they travel in a better mood.

Peggy

 

[tinaluis]

If we were 650 miles away we'd be there every weekend, LOL! I'd definitely drive straight through, especially with 3 drivers. Good luck to you and have a safe trip!

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

We drove 640 miles to WDW in early Dec. We left home at 2 am and stopped for breakfast at a Cracker Barrell, got gas and had a restroom stop. We arrived 11 hours later. You could do it faster but we didn't feel we had to rush. My DS is 9 and my DD is 7.

My husband drove the entire way. I had planned on helping him with the driving but he wanted to do it. After we checked in he took a 2-3 hour nap and then was ready to go out for the evening.

On the drive home we left the Poly at 4:00am and got home at 3 pm. We stopped for a sit down lunch. Our children did very well. No complaining at all.

Lori

 

[ripleysmom]

Drive it in a day

 

[Aimeedyan]

We're driving 18 hours in May with three drivers... I dont believe in stopping on the way, I want to get there! We're driving to cut costs, and it wouldn't save us any money if we wasted time off work and a hotel each way just for the drive. If we wanted to spend that much, we'd fly.

We always drove to Disney from Texas as a child, and this is what my dad did: Put us to bed, packed the car, and as soon as we were all very asleep, he stuck us in the mini-van and took off. Mom and the kids slept most of the way, and he got some peaceful driving in =) He ALWAYS travels that way. He's a night-owl.

We are doing a similar thing. Leaving around 10 that night and driving straight through overnight. Sister and I are staying up all night to keep each other away, my husband is sleeping. He'll take over in the morning after breakfast on the road. We should be there by dinner - planning to have it on the Boardwalk!!!

650 is easy =) I'd do it! =)

 

[FINFAN]

No problem with 3 WELL- RESTED drivers. Just leave as early as you can..(or late if you don't mind night driving, less traffic) I agree w/Tinaluis...we'd be there WAY more often if we chopped 400-500 miles off our drive!