Driving from MD

[MmmSuite]

Has anyone made the trip to Orlando from Northern MD? We're in Harford County! We're excited about the trip but the farthest we've ever driven was 8 hours and I only had one baby like 6 years ago. I did one 7 hour trip from VA because of traffic once with two kids.

Now we have three!

We're thinking of leaving here at 8 pm in hopes that that kiddies can watch a movie for the first bit and then sleep through the night.

Can anyone tell me their experiences? Tips? Places you stop? Anything you think I need to know and consider?

 

[mom2wyattnaaron]

We used to own a trucking company so I will base my response on that. Thats a 885 mile trip. it will take about 14 hours. I would get some sleep and leave at 3 am. This way the kids still want to sleep in the car. The driver go to bed early and the passenger keep the kids up as late as possible. Get them real good and tired. Carry them out to the car in the morning. Now you have a rested driver and sleepy kids. If you leave at 3AM you will bet through DC and Richmond before traffic. Once you get south of Richmond, you loose traffic and have wide open roads the rest of the way. Also once you are south of Richmond, there are more rest areas and places to stop that are easy to get on and off the highway. Use the internet and plan stops ahead of time. Driving with kids is tough no matter what the age. When all is said and done you should get to WDW by about 5 or 6 PM. check in and have dinner. Your kids will be tired and you can put them to bed early. The driver will be tired. Everybody then gets a good nights sleep and will be up early and ready to hit the parks the next day.

 

[monorailsilver]

We left at 6am but from CT. I think we hit MD around 10/11am.

For us, leaving at night while the kids sleep is not do able. DH and I would be very tired. There is no way I could sleep while he drove and if I drove all I would hear is his snoring if he slept which he probably wouldn't so basically the kids would be rested and we'd be tired at our destination.

Anyways, the kids each had a bucket of stuff for the car-different kinds of activity books plus some homework packets, really not much. They had a scavenger hunt, map of the states to color as they found a new license plate, etc...

We stopped in santee, sc for the night and by that time dose were tired. We left the following am at about 6:30 and we were in the Orlando city limits at about noon.

We used the iexit app to see what gas stations/food were off each exit. We also used google maps to check traffic flow and this year we will use the waze app to check for construction as well as police...my dh won't go over the speed limit to much so I am thankful!

Have fun...

 

[jpw442]

We have done it with a 4 and 7 year old and will be doing it again in December with a 6 and 9 year old. We live in Montgomery County now, but I grew up in Bel Air, and my parents did it with us as kids pretty often. We left when the kids got up in the morning and usually stop around Florence, SC and spend the night. That's a pretty inexpensive place to stop. I got the kids lots of new, fun stuff for the car along with some new movies and it went really well, much better than I thought it would. Last time on our way home from Florida, we drove all the way to Williamsburg to visit family and I thought that drive was too long for the kids to do all in one day. Breaking it up in the middle would have worked better. Good luck with your trip and I hope that helps!

 

[MmmSuite]

Thanks for the tips!

I forgot to say we're night owls 3 a.m. is about when I go to sleep and I never get to be before 12 a.m. no matter what I try. I'll do better sleeping during the day and leaving at night.

I was so sad to realize that the parks all close early during our stay. I was looking forward to 1:00 a.m. in the parks. LOL

 

[MmmSuite]

We'll be coming back at 1:00 in the afternoon and I'm dreading the drive back.

 

[TinkerMama88]

Thanks for the tips! I forgot to say we're night owls 3 a.m. is about when I go to sleep and I never get to be before 12 a.m. no matter what I try. I'll do better sleeping during the day and leaving at night. I was so sad to realize that the parks all close early during our stay. I was looking forward to 1:00 a.m. in the parks. LOL

We are fellow night owls driving from Md! (Well my DH is a night owl, I'm an insomniac lol) We leave in late August from Baltimore County. We will head out around 6pm and plan to hit the border of the Carolina's around 12-1am. We will probably stretch there before heading of again. Hopefully getting into WDW around 8am ish. We will have a day at the resort before heading off for a week on the Fantasy so this trip is a bit slower paced for us.

We drive long distances frequently however. Love leaving at night! Our 6 year old is a seasoned traveler and usually has her iPad and some snacks and games. Our 1 year old is not as experienced but stills has long train and car trips
Under his belt .

I hate the drive back as well. If we have enough amtrak points We might catch the auto train back. That's our favorite mode of transportation to Florida but it didn't work out for our schedule this year

 

[MmmSuite]

We are fellow night owls driving from Md! (Well my DH is a night owl, I'm an insomniac lol) We leave in late August from Baltimore County. We will head out around 6pm and plan to hit the border of the Carolina's around 12-1am. We will probably stretch there before heading of again. Hopefully getting into WDW around 8am ish. We will have a day at the resort before heading off for a week on the Fantasy so this trip is a bit slower paced for us.

We drive long distances frequently however. Love leaving at night! Our 6 year old is a seasoned traveler and usually has her iPad and some snacks and games. Our 1 year old is not as experienced but stills has long train and car trips
Under his belt .

I hate the drive back as well. If we have enough amtrak points We might catch the auto train back. That's our favorite mode of transportation to Florida but it didn't work out for our schedule this year

Hi there! I wanted to do auto train on the way back but it wasn't in the cards because of another vacation coming up in December. It's nice to hear that this can work.

So we should be able to stretch around 2-3! Just what I was thinking. We may be stopping for breakfast a couple hours out. I just hope baby doesn't make us all miserable.

 

[BUTTERHEAD1]

I have become a veteran of driving to WDW from NYC. I have driven to Florida about 15 times. We used to leave at 6am and stop in Savannah before finishing the trip the following day. Now when we go we leave NYC around 1am and stop for breakfast in south Virginia around 7-8 am.After breakfast I get 2-3 hours of sleep while my wife drives. After my nap I take the wheel and go straight thru to Orlando only stopping for gas and bathroom breaks. We normally arrive around 7-8pm. We book an off site hotel for that first night and head to WDW bright and early the bext morning to start the magic. We have always owned a minivan and we have 2 kids so each kid has had their own row. We have a DVD/TV in the car so they watch movies and play with their video games. My kids are now 17&13 and even when they were younger they were great in the car. Don't be afraid of the journey, enjoy it is an adventure.

 

[MmmSuite]

Thanks!