Anyone driving from Maryland?

[disneygirl910]

We will be driving on our next trip (Sept. 2013). DH, DD4, DD3 and me. DH wants to leave at girls bed time (9pm), hoping the girls will sleep the majority of the time. The trip is approximately 15 hours, this puts us at Disney around noon. Good idea or not? Any suggestions or personal experience work be greatly appreciated.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I've driven from Georgia to Maryland a few times and done it in one day leaving about 4am and arriving late in the evening. That works well for me.

If you think you have a driver who can stay awake all night, I would think it would be fine except that person will need to sleep the rest of that day so you would need to be ok with that.
And don't forget your kids will be up and ready to hit the parks after sleeping all night so that could end up being an issue.

Also some rest areas close overnight so you'll want to have some idea where you could stop for bathroom breaks that would be open.

I know I couldn't do it.

 

[vicki_c]

We've driven from MD often, although not overnight. We have done that when we lived further away and my kids were smaller. I think your plan is okay as long as the drivers are up for that. The only issue I see is that your timing might put you in Jacksonville for rush hour.

 

[disneygirl910]

I didn't think about the rest stops being closed. We do plan on bringing a portable potty along for the girls.

 

[disneygirl910]

We hope to leave on a Friday and arrive on Saturday so maybe the rush hour traffic won't be so bad.

 

[vicki_c]

We hope to leave on a Friday and arrive on Saturday so maybe the rush hour traffic won't be so bad.

Yes, I agree with that. Probably will not be bad and leaving at 9 pm, you will avoid the commuting traffic close to home. You might still hit beach goers, depending on where you leave from, but still 9 pm should be good.

And if you are on 95, you won't have trouble finding bathrooms. There will be gas stations open all along the way. We find the larger truck stop plazas are best and they are all open 24/7.

 

[GranddadTom]

My wife and I have done the trip you describe several times (while she was still teaching). I was the only driver. But I would always come home around noon and sleep until just before we left – which was also around 9:00 pm – and usually on a Friday. We live in Rockville so we had to go down Rt. 95 in Northern Virginia (the stretch between the Beltway and milepost 130 is tough) but getting there around 9:30 pm usually got us around the tail end of the Friday rush hour. I found that the hardest part of the trip was around 5:00 pm. Getting gas is no problem – at southern gas stations, the pumps are open for credit card purchases but often the building is not open so plan on stopping at each state’s welcome center. As a PP pointed out, the kids may be rested but you will be wiped out so plan on the first day being an easy one.