Do you drive straight through to WDW?

[grinningghost]

As my drive to WDW approaches, I'm wondering how many people just drive straight down without stopping overnight? We live in NY, and I don't think I could stand going all the way without at least a shower and a few hours of comfortable sleep. DH says he's more than willing to keep going all the way to Florida. Is he nuts?

 

[tinaluis]

We usually break up our trip with an overnight stay, but when our kids are older we will drive straight through. Sure, we feel refreshed after a shower and a few hours sleep (sort of, it takes the kids awhile to adjust to a new room and they want to check out all the nooks and crannies before going to bed), but then I figure that we would be just getting there if we hadn't stopped overnight. Before kids we always drove straight through. My SIL may come with us this next trip and, if she does, we will definitely drive straight through with 3 drivers. I'd say that if your husband can handle it, drive, drive, drive. It may take a day to recuperate, but it will be worth it. In fact, even when we fly we don't do anything the first day/night except relax, so the first day isn't lost anyway. Just my $.02.

 

[CamColt]

Grinningghost, we seem to be following each other around these boards lately, LOL!

We have driven straight through from MA twice now, and are doing it again in August. It takes us just under 24 hours. We stop for 1 meal(McDonalds) and the other stops are just quick gas or bathroom breaks. We brings lots of snacks & drinks and a tv/vcr for the kids. We leave around 10:00am, and DH does most of the driving. I usually take over early morning for DH to get a few hours of sleep. By the time the sun comes up we are almost there and we are so pumped that we arent even tired. We do try to take it easy that first day, and just hang out in the pool and go to the BW for dinner. My biggest complaint about it was last time we arrived at 10:00 and our room wasnt ready(understandable since check in isnt until later). All I wanted to do was brush my teeth and shower but I couldnt. Looking back it wasnt too bad but at the time I felt hot and yucky. It only lasted a few hours though.

 

[crzy4dsny]

Were going to do the big drive for the first time Saturday morning. We are going to drive straight through. I've gotten a lot of advice from a friend who has done it around 27 times. We are going to leave at around 1:30 am. I normally get up for work at 3:15, so this is just a little earlier than normal. The drive should take around 18 hours. We are going to pack a lunch and stop for a picnic along the way. We have a 2,4, and 5 year old that im going to bring plenty of snacks for. We have a mini-van with a tv-vcr. My wife has been taping their favorite shows for them to watch. We also went out and bought some new movies that they have never seen. I still can't beleive im going to do it.

 

[dznyntnh]

I haven't driven it in a few years. But, I cannot fathom driving straight through.

I know alot of people do it, but if I'm going to drive I take an adequate amount of time to drive down over a couple days period so I get rest and when I get to wdw I don't have to take a day to recover.

From NH, I usually spend the first night in Fredericksburg, VA (I went to school there so I like to stop by every once in a while) and the second night I like to stop in Kingsland, GA which is the last exit before Florida. Its a long haul from VA to GA, but its worth it since from Kingsland to wdw is only about 4 hours.

That way I get to start my wdw refreshed and ready to go.

 

[papopup]

I just drove straight through in June,I didn't know if I would be able to or not but once on the road I didn't mind it at all.We left around 2:00 AM and arrived Fort Wilderness around 9:00 PM,had terrible rain the biggest part of the trip,if you have never worn yellow lensed glasses I highly recommend them.They brighten your vission,they made a world of difference driving in the rain,and I don't think I could have kept going without them through the rain.I will definitely do it again.

 

[treehugger]

We have driven many times from Poughkeepsie NY and we always drive straight thru. It takes about 19 hours and we leave about midnight and get into Orlando about 7 ish. We always stay at the Hampton Inn Main Gate West that night, get a good night sleep, shower and grab the continental breakfast. We arrive at our WDW resort about 7:30 the next morning. This year my family (2 cars and a minivan) are making the trek in September. We'll see if I'm still saying it's no big deal after that!
We still prefer to fly but my DS's (2 families of 5) who are saving mega bucks by driving wanted us to lead the "convoy" because we have done the drive before.

Have a safe trip!

 

[OKW91]

We drive down twice a year, did drive straight thru one time, it took us 18 1/2 hours!! This was a little to much for the two of us so we now break up the drive by spending the night in GA and finishing up the next morning! I get a little nervious when I think of all the people that are driving for 20 or more hours, I really don't think it's a good idea! It's a much nicer trip when you feel refreshed, nothing like a shower and a few hours sleep.

 

[mmiller711]

We have done it many times. We usually have at least 3 drivers and stay up by twos so the driver has someone to talk to. For us it is about 22 hours from MI.

 

[gerryt2697]

I drove to disney world from NYC on 7/12. I left at 4:30 am and stopped overnite in Santee, SC at 6 pm. The next day we left Santee at 5:00 am and arrived at Disney World at 11:00 am. On the way back we left Disney World on 7/19 at 4:30 am and stopped overnite in Fredericksburg, VA at 6:00 pm. We left Fredericksburg at 6:00 am and arrived in NYC at 12:00 noon. We did not hit any traffic or delays or congestion due to the fact we drove during the weekend. It is my second time driving down. I feel it is better to stop have a nice shower and dinner and good sleep and then start fresh the next day. Since 911 my wife won't fly but one day she will and 2 1/2 hours by airplane is definitely better.

 

[Deb & Bill]

WE have done both. Last trip, we left the house about 5AM and got to WDW about 8PM. Friday, I have to go to work on Friday morning, so we won't leave until noon, spend the night in a hotel (about 10 hours later), then cruise into WDW about noon. It just depends if we can leave early in the day or have to go to work/school first that day.

 

[FOTM_Ring_Bearer]

We've driven straight through several times. But our drive is only around 16 hours from MD. We leave around 5pm and drive all night. The advantages are the kids sleep a good portion of the trip and I95 is pretty empty. We have been really lucky, most of the time our room has been ready. The earliest we have gotten into our room is 9am.

But to do this you need to be well rested before you start. Our last trip we had a very busy day and we were tired before we started. When we got to WDW we were really beat. But our room was ready.


That said, we're getting ready to do it again next month.

 

[jeffreyml]

We drove srtraight through for the first time this past April and are doing it again this August. We found that spliiting up the wheeel time between us works out great. We usually leave around 4pm on a Frday, and arrive about 1pm Florida time.

We make the normal stops for gas and what not and also stop and get out for dinner and breakfast in the morning.

The excitement of heading to Disney keeps the kids and us going.

 

[grinningghost]

Originally posted by CamColt
Grinningghost, we seem to be following each other around these boards lately, LOL!

Yep! I guess we're both finally into the hyperspace mode with the trip coming up soon!

After reading all these great replies, you can see there's really no right answer. Some like to go straight through, and for others, there's simply no way. I guess that sums up our situation - DH could drive forever without stopping, and I'm the wimp who needs her showers and sleep.

I didn't book a hotel for on the way down, I guess we'll just see how it goes, and if I get my way (which I often do ) - we'll stop somewhere.

 

[geffric]

We drive and usually stop after Macon GA. This time we are leaving at 4amwill drive until 11pm or 12 midnight and plan to stop for a few hours of sleep, shower and get to WDW by 11 am. I don't book a hotel becuase we never know how far we will realy get. We have a TC VCR, game cube and lots of snacks. Only 2 of us drive and we change drivers every 2 hours. We make the kids run around for about 10 minutes in a rest area everytime we stop. Other wise i bring cold cuts for sandwiches, and we stop once for McD's.

I would be concerned about the safety issue with driving str thru although our 1st day from 4 am to 11 or 12 pm is more than enough for me.

 

[clkelley]

We only have a 12 hour drive, so it is very easy for us to drive straight through, However, we usually don't.

Going down, we usually drive straight through, leaving at 1:30pm on Friday, (which is when the boys are finished with their important classes, we let them skip weightlifting for the day) and stay in the cheapest place we can find on 192 and then head to check in bright and early Saturday morning.

However, for the trip home we split it up. We tried driving straight through once, but our problem is we have a hard time leaving WDW!!! We checked out, went to Chef Mickey's for breakfast, wandered around Wilderness Lodge, and before we knew it, it was 2 in the afternoon!!! Which got us home at about 2am and had to be at work the next morning!!

We have found it is much easier to check out the day before, stay at the parks and PI till 10 or 11 at night, then drive to Ocala about 2 hours north and get a room at the Super 8. We then just sleep in till about 10:00 and then have a reasonable 10 hours and get home at about 8 or 9pm.

Carol

 

[Wislodgers]

We got back from the world 2 weeks ago. We drove straight through. DH and I take turns driving. It was a 29 hour drive. We went through a lot of construction along the way. In the winter we have done it in 26 hours. We love driving and our kids are great travelers!