Drive from WDW to Fort Lauderdale day of?

[stal]

What do most people tend to do?
Drive down in the morning or go the night before and stay at a hotel close to the port?

 

[Dug720]

I'd go the night before personally. Gives you a cushion. One bad wreck on the road the day of and you could be very delayed at best and miss the cruise at worst.

Or take Brightline.

 

[auntlynne]

If driving, I’d probably look for a lower price on hotels between Melbourne and Ft L. Get 2-3 hours away from WDW, but not all the way to elevated Ft Lauderdale pre-cruise hotel pricing.

If the price was right, perhaps stay at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort for some Mouse Variety. Google Maps shows an optional route (not using I-95 to get from WDW to Vero Beach), 2 hr drive time.

Once you are on I-95, you have the back-up road of US1.

 

[OKW Lover]

We drive down the night before. We live very close to WDW and are retired so the extra day isn't an issue for us. We view the night before as an extension of our cruise. It's about a 3.5 hour drive for us and we plan on getting to the hotel about 3 pm. After unpacking what few things we need for the night and a bit of relaxing or a nap, we hit the hotel lounge for some bar food and beverages.

 

[Husker Mike]

It's all relative and your priorities. Presuming you are taking advantage of park days in combining these two experiences, I'd hate to cut a park day short. Get up the next morning and hit the road. Plus, you won't have the hassle of checking in and out of another hotel for a one night stay.

 

[JulieBeeRN]

We were at WDW before our cruise; so we returned our car to MCO, took the 7am Brightline train, and then grabbed an Uber to the port. Lather, rinse, repeat for our return journey.

Personally, I wanted to go the night before but my husband didn't want to miss out on staying at WDW. It was a long trip and we now prefer to sail out of PC.

 

[Breezer4]

Check out the Brightline trains. They are clean and safe. They also don’t get stuck in traffic!