Driving from Long Island to Disney

[Carriehas3]

We ( DH, three kids and I) are driving down to Disney in Nov. It's a surprise trip for the kids so at first we planned on sending them to school 11/9 and picking them up early from school and hit the road anywhere from 10-12 am. BUT the family that we are meeting down there decided to get there for Friday night...they are flying so we want to get there then as well. DH is suggesting we leave after he has worked all day at 9 pm Thursday night...I suggested after reading some posts on here that we should shoot for 2-3 am thurs into friday. DH thinks this is a bad idea for two reasons...one being he thinks he wont sleep from when he gets home from work till 1 am or so because he will be excited and two to wake the kids in the middle of the night he thinks we will loose the WOW SURPRISE factor that we are going to Disney. Any suggestions/input on this??!!! Thank You!!

carrie

 

[Paging Tom Morrow]

I don't see how packing kids in a car at 9PM on 2AM would make a real difference on the surprise factor.

The drive to WDW is extremely long. I would not recommend starting that drive without proper rest.

Without stopping, you are talking an 18 hour drive. If you leave at 9PM, you'll get in a 3PM. With three kids in tow, I think it's safe to estimate another 3 to 4 hours on the drive for bathroom and meal breaks. That puts you into WDW at 6PM or 7PM.

I don't know when your husband would sleep during that ride. I assume you are splitting driving time, so that would mean that your husband would have to sleep while you are driving, which then leaves you responsible for dealing with your children while driving. Doesn't seem ideal to me.

Assuming you live in Nassau, I would recommend leaving at 5:30 AM on Friday morning. That would allow you to miss the rush hour in both NYC and DC area. Drive down to the Savannah, GA area and get a hotel for the night. Leave Savannah at 5AM on Saturday and drive to WDW. You should get in around 10 AM and you would be much more relaxed. Yes, you'll miss out on seeing your family on Friday night, but think of what your mood will be after being in a car for about a full day.

 

[Paging Tom Morrow]

BTW, leaving between 2 and 3AM on a Friday morning all but ensures you'll hit DC rush hour traffic. Not a good idea.

 

[Missytara]

BTW, leaving between 2 and 3AM on a Friday morning all but ensures you'll hit DC rush hour traffic. Not a good idea.

Hitting DC traffic on a weekday is the worst because it can go from 6 am to 9 am or later.

While it is a bit longer, if they had to, they could take the Jersey Tpke to DE Rt. 1 and then through MD to the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel.

In DE, there is not a great deal of commuter traffic going south, and then most of the beach traffic goes south on Thursday night (flex timers) and the Jersey shore traffic goes north on Saturday morning.

There are more lights, but you get no where near DC.

 

[GranddadTom]

I agree with Paging Tom. I've done the driving through the night routine several times but only after getting some sleep before I left. If you leave at 9 pm we'll see your friends on Friday evening but you won't be in very good shape. Paging Tom's plan makes much more sense (plus you won't risking falling asleep and injuring someone).

 

[pattibehan]

We drive fro Albany three times a year...we leave at 7am..we miss the ny/nj traffic and the dc traffic..We stop in south carolina for the night around 9pm, sleep and have an easy 7 hour drive the next day...we have found that driving through the night is very hard for us, and we arrive tired and cranky..and way too tired to enjoy our day..we travel with 16and 15 year old boys, btw


Posted from DISboards.com App for Android