We drove down 95 this past August from MA. It was our first time driving. IIR we got to NC around 1am - you have a very nice Welcome Center! We had trouble finding coffee in NC after that, though - it could've been that we just didn't know the area, but we got off the highway a couple of times and nothing was open, so we waited. (Next time I would have some on hand if I was driving through the night.) We finally hit South of the Border in the wee hours, and thankfully they had just brewed a pot! (But that place wasn't exactly what we were expecting, a little sketchy, lol.) Most of the other places we stopped were decent. The rest of the ride seemed quite long, through GA and then through FL. We were definitely getting slap happy. I think we arrived to WDW in the early afternoon. We got an EZ Pass for tolls, but it does not work in FL. (And honestly I can't recall if there were many down that way; lots up our way, though.)
I would say if you wanted to drive through, consider something like this. See if you can sleep for a while in the evening. Obviously you will have to have everything ready ahead of time, car packed, everyone all set, so you're not disturbed with last minute running around. If you begin your journey after midnight, kids can sleep in the car, and that will get you to your destination in the early afternoon (given a few rest stops) and maybe your room will be ready. If not, they'll usually let you use the pool (where you can rest on a lounge chair, maybe catch a few winks) and/or you can eat. Plan to have a relatively quiet evening so you can sleep and feel halfway decent the next day. The ride back is tougher because you're tired after the vacation. Maybe think about getting a room somewhere on the way home unless it's a daytime trip. We had four drivers and it was still rough on the ride home. Not sure we'd do it again, it was sort of a last minute thing. We had a dog with us too! (And he was great, but we had to walk him as well when we had breaks!)
