Anyone have a sample driving schedule (15-20 hrs)?

[Minnie824]

I'm working on putting together a schedule for driving, basically what time we leave, how long we drive, how often breaks, etc. We will be driving around 19 hrs with a 4 and 1.5 yr old so I know that my schedule, by no means will be kept. BUT I would like to have a basis to figure out milage for the 1st day, and figure out where to stay overnight, based on about how far we plan to get. Anyway, does anyone have a schedule they could provide me to get an idea? We'd like to try to get as far as possible on the first day. Thanks!

 

[fran99999]

I drove from MA to WDW about 10 years ago. LOL doesnt seem that long really. I took a nap for about 3 hours before we left after the car was packed. We left at 7pm. I took a break to stretch every 3 hours. all night and day long. Various rest stops for breakfast/lunch. We arrived in Kissamee at 3:30 pm the next day. I found driving all night was better as this gave me almost 10 hours of driving with then kids asleep. the fell asleep about NYC and woke up about 8 the next am. We washed up at the MacDonalds. You know teeth (i always bring toothbrushes when we go out to eat, unless we are going right home), brush hair, wash face. changed clothes. I did not think a rest area on the road was a better idea.

I got us a room at a local hotel with a pool. While I took another nap my DBF at the time took the kids swimming in the pool. I drove all the way so about an 1 1/2 hour nap and I was swimming too. When we woke the next am we swam until about 10 am and changed. Then off to fort wilderness we went.

Our cabins was ready. we checked in and then it was to the parks for a late lunch.

PS I called for reservations at 8 am the day we left MA. It was a huge surprise as we took my DBF 3 kids and my DD. They didnt know where we were going until they woke up. I washed and packed the prior night. It was great. They still talk about that trip even after several others. that was there favorite. Only thing they didnt like was the drive back. We left at 1 pm and drove while they were awake. Arrived back in MA at 8 am the next am.

sorry if this doesnt help but to the point I would drive at night with the kids sleeping. Much easier than the 4 year old whining about the long drive.

Have a fun safe trip.

 

[Minnie824]

Thanks for the input! I don't know if we could do the drive all night - not because of the kids, but even rested, not sure how DH & I would do!

Heres my current plan:
DAY 1:
leave 2:30am -> drive 3.5 hrs
breakfast 6am - 6:30am -> drive 2 hrs
break 8:30am -8:45am -> drive 2.25 hrs
lunch 11am - 12pm -> drive 2.5 hrs
break 2:30pm - 2:45pm -> drive 2.25 hrs
dinner 5:00pm - 6:00pm -> drive 2.5 hrs
stop for night at 8:30pm

DAY 2 (eat breakfast before we leave)
leave 7:30am -> drive 2 hrs
break 9:30am - 9:45am -> drive 1.75 hrs
lunch 11:30 - 12:30 -> drive 1.25 hrs
arrive at 1:45pm!

What does everyone think?

 

[LovePug]

Back in my younger days , I was able to drive through the night without much problem. Can't do it anymore. I leave the house between 7 and 8AM and drive for 12 or 13 hours to our overnight stop. We stop every couple of hours to walk Cassie (and walk around some ourselves). I tried leaving at 4AM when we went in November and I'll never do that again . The drive took me hours longer because I could not stay awake. I had to stop so frequently that it was ridiculous. I had gone to bed early the night before, but it just didn't work for me driving at that time of day.

If you leave during the wee hours of the morning, be very careful of the fatigue factor. Most people just aren't able to stay awake those hours. Most of us aren't nocturnal.

 

[dsnymomof4]

We just drove NJ to Disney 2 weeks ago. We decided to leave at 8:00pm and drive through the night. My thinking was that the kids would sleep for most of the ride so they wouldn't be so bored (I-95 is a very boring drive). Besides the 2-hour delay we hit in Virginia at 3:00am, everything worked out great. They watched a movie, fell asleep by 10:00, woke up at 6:00 and had their activities to keep them busy for the morning drive. We arrived about 3:00pm next day. I can understand why you would be worried about driving through the night, but if you get tired, you can always stop at the many rest stops along the way for a nap and take turns driving. If you do decide to do most of your driving during the day, just make sure the kids will be occupied. Good luck and have a great time at the world!

 

[Desnik]

I think your plan is good. I doubt you will need to stop that many times. If you do, switch drivers every time you stop. That should help you both with getting tired/bored with driving. We drive down every year(this year twice)from NY with our 2 kids(7yo & 2yo). We have done the drive every way possible!!LOL This past June we left at 5:30pm and drove straight through the night. DD had to stop almost every hour or 2 to go to the bathroom! I guess she was really excited!!LOL Once the kids fell asleep it was smooth sailing! We did get into traffic. I drove first and DH took a nap until 11pm and drove through the night. He loves driving at night. I stood up with him to keep him company till about 3am, then slept till 6:30am and took over driving. We arrived at WDW around 2pm.

The best way to do the drive for our family is what we did last Nov. We were on the road by 4am. The kids slept till 8:30. We had breakfast with us so they ate in the car. We stopped for gas/bathroom. We tried to keep all our bathroom stops to coincide with our gas stops. That worked well. We had snacks and drinks in the car too. We drove straight to WDW and arrived at 10pm. We stood at a value resort and then checked into our DVC resort in the morning. DH and I took turns driving/napping. This was great for us because we didn't have to go into those restrooms in the middle of the night with our small children. I never really feel safe in them in the middle of the night.
We don't like to stay overnight on the way down b/c we just want to get there!!
Good Luck!

 

[MARdisney]

We live about 19.5 hours from WDW. We decided to really stretch it out. Our kids are 4 & 2.
Fri-leave Gardner,KS @12:30pm-eat lunch in car
Stay overnight in Paducah,KY (we have a hotel w/pool to burn off the kids pent up energy)
Sat-leave Paducah@9:00 am- 9.5 hours to Valdosta, GA
Stay overnight in Valdostsa
Sun- leave @9:00 am Hit Pop by 1 or 2pm
Hopefully the room will be ready and we can relax before hitting MK

We have a DVD with dual screens and plan on stopping when we need to. On the Mcdonalds website you can put in a destination and see all the Mcd's with a playland on your route. We plan on hitting a few of those for the kids to stretch their legs.

We weren't going to stop two nights in our original plan, but we weren't going to go to MK until late to see the fireworks. By bumping it up, we will have more time in the parks. We haven't made any ressies for the trip home. That way if it goes really smooth on the way down, we know we can drive a lot further on one day.

Good luck!

 

[bigbabyblues]

Our rough plan....

Leave Ohio around 6-7 am Friday
drive 1.5-2 hour, stop for breakfast
lunch somewhere on the road, maybe rest area from cooler/sandwiches
arrive in southern GA near relatives home late afternoon/early evening hopefully around 6-7 pm (it takes her 10 hours to drive here, my thinking is it should take us close to the same time to get to her area)

Day 2
leave souther GA, drive into Daytona, stop at the beach for a little while, then over to the race track. Spend the night in a hotel here (reservation already made).

Day 3
get up in the a.m., free continental breakfast, then on to WDW. Hoping to arrive between 10:30 and 11 a.m.


When we drive home, we'll leave WDW late afternoon and drive back to southern GA, the come the rest of the way home the next day.

DH doesn't like to drive at night, it messes him up too much. He's used to working 12-hour work days with a 1.5 hour commute each way, so this should be nothing for him. We'll stop at rest areas or restaurants along the way as needed, I don't do rest areas after dark though, they creep me out.