Driving from Ontario... Aim to drive 13 or 17hrs the first day?

[new2disx3]

I'm having a dilema here. This is our first trip... also first time driving such long distances. I would like to get to Disney no later than 1pm on arrival day. That would mean we would have to drive at least 17 hrs the first day. But I'm wondering if that will be too much? There will be 2 of us driving and we will have our 3 children with us. Thoughts anyone?

 

[WizardLarz]

A little more info; age of kids? At what time were you thinking of starting?

In my opinion if you do most of the driving is daylight hours and switch off every two hours, I could see doing 16hrs tops. That gives each driver 4 shifts behind the wheel.

Also have hotel options at the 12 and 14 hour driving marks. That way when you get tired you'll have a Area lined up for your stop.

 

[new2disx3]

Kids are 13, 9, and 6. We plan on leaving around 3 in the morning.

 

[OntFamily]

How old are you? When I was 30, I could do the 17 hour drive. Not so much now.


I think 17 hours is an ambitious target. Try for it, but accept stopping earlier if necessary. Better to get there a few hours later, and safe, than not at all.

 

[new2disx3]

How old are you? When I was 30, I could do the 17 hour drive. Not so much now.


I think 17 hours is an ambitious target. Try for it, but accept stopping earlier if necessary. Better to get there a few hours later, and safe, than not at all.

I'm 31. You're probably right... 17 hrs does seem long. I think the 12 hr mark should do it, adding on 1-2 hours for gas, and breaks.

 

[cslittle999]

17 hours in a car is a very long day but people do it. You don't say where you're driving from. From the Toronto area it's about 21 hours to Orlando by the I79/77 route and 24 hours by the 75 route.

We like to drive about 13 hours the first day and then 8 hours the second. We usually leave about 5 AM the first day and then around 7 AM the second day. That gets us there later than the time you want but we tend to want to check in and relax on arrival day. You could simply leave early on the second day to make your target time. We like to stop at a hotel with a continental breakfast to avoid an extra breakfast stop. If you're driving on a weekend it may not be open if you leave before 7 AM.

 

[rjan67]

Have done this and have driven straight through the night many times. I plan on doing this in March. We will be leaving early 5am and will drive til 8-9pm. Just have them prepared. One of our rules is whatever keeps everyone happy. We bring a dvd player, video games, music. I usually make up each kid a "treat" bag, with magazines, maybe a new ds game, puzzle books, etc. My kids have done this since they were very small (First time was when my oldest was 3 and ds was 1, they are now 12,9 & 7). The excitement of getting to Florida keeps us all going (especially when we are getting out of this snow!). We stop every 4 hours or so for food/gas. In the past we always stopped at a place with a play area, but usually spend an hour for meal stops. Dh is flying down to meet us, so the driving down is all up to me this time.

 

[Debbie]

Echoing the advice of being sure to stop when the drivers are tired, whatever the plans. I remember one time we started at 4:00 am, but by 3:00 pm, we were exhausted (think the no sleep the night before that due to excitement-for me, anyway). We stopped, got some dinner, had a swim and went to bed early. We got the kidlets up and were well on our way by 6:30/7:00. The kids fell back to sleep until the next stop, when we had brunch.

Key....be aware of how everyone is feeling-physically and emotionally- and don't get hung up by a schedule. Everyone will have a better time.

 

[Disney_Mama]

I say jump in the car and go.... Starting early is the best thing. I drive from NB to ON a lot and leaving early for me is the key. It takes me about 16 hours and I do it in one day. Have lots of snack and drinks in the car and use the restrooms when you are filling up the car. I have driven to Florida at least a dozen times from ON as well and you just need to keep relaxed and keep the car moving. Safe and happy travels.

 

[twokids0204]

Coffee - Red Bull - Caffeine...

It's a long drive... but can be done.

Pack lunches, and snacks...

and even if you don't quite make the 17 hours first day... you can leave a little earlier the second day...

But note: when you arrive at 1:00... you will be exhausted.

 

[rjan67]

Another tip for keeping awake....shared by my bil who made frequent trips from T.O to Montreal

eating sunflower seeds!

Sounds crazy but does help. I prefer the dill pickle flavour Spitz! Something about eating the seeds, shelling them etc.

I have an hour drive to work and after a 12 hr shift, I have pulled these out more than once. Of course...this is additiona to coffee, red bull.....

 

[Jenn1980]

When growing up we always split the trip going up. We drove from about 8 am till 8 or 9 at night. We had a hotel booked for the night, then left early the next day and got to disney after lunch. Being this is the first trip with my husband and kids ( aged 6 and 4) we will most likely do the same.

 

[Alderbrook]

Everytime we've driven (too many times to count) we just stop when we have had enough. We don't plan out hotels or anything because there's so many of them along the way. When we start to get to the point where we know we can't do it anymore, we look for the next nicest hotel & stop for the night. We usually make it to either North or South Carolina & stop. With kids you may not make it as far, but who knows. Have they done a long drive like that before? Bring lots to keep them busy. We always pack a cooler full of food & stop at every welcome stop at each state & stretch our legs.

 

[cey]

When our DSs were teenagers, we would go the Kamikazi route and drive between 14-17 hours the first day. Now that there is just DH and myself, we plan to drive 10 hrs the first day, stop in Fredricksburg. Drive to Florence SC around 6 hours and stop for the night and then on to St. Augustine (around 5 hours) to spend the night before we check into our villa. Hopefully we won't lose the first day in Florida due to sheer exhaustion this way! Just depends on your tolerance on the road and the huge factor will be the WEATHER! Here's hoping it improves both on the road and in Florida this week!

 

[dancin Disney style]

I hate road trips but I prefer to take a holiday more so if that means road trip I will manage.

When we drive to WDW we leave home at about 2:30am. DH can go to bed around 9pm and fall asleep immediately. He gets a good 5 hours of sleep while I finish getting everything ready. He gets up at 2am and we pile into the car...some times we are leaving at about 2:10. I stay awake until we are through the border and then I sleep for a couple of hours. We drive until approx 9pm which usually puts us in the Savannah, GA area. From there it's only another 3.5 hours so we can sleep in a little, have breakfast and still be at our WDW resort in time for lunch. If I had to do 2 days of 12 hours there is no possible way I could manage the drive.

We pack a cooler with breakfast, lunch and lots of snacks. We then only need to stop for dinner which is usually fast food. In the past we had stopped for nice TS dinner but we discovered that we were both sitting there thinking about the time we were wasting. So now it's Chick-fil-A or Sonic.

BTW....we are 39 and 48...so no spring chickens here. I think your tolerence for the long hours is an individual thing.

 

[Sheribo]

I hate road trips but I prefer to take a holiday more so if that means road trip I will manage.

When we drive to WDW we leave home at about 2:30am. DH can go to bed around 9pm and fall asleep immediately. He gets a good 5 hours of sleep while I finish getting everything ready. He gets up at 2am and we pile into the car...some times we are leaving at about 2:10. I stay awake until we are through the border and then I sleep for a couple of hours. We drive until approx 9pm which usually puts us in the Savannah, GA area. From there it's only another 3.5 hours so we can sleep in a little, have breakfast and still be at our WDW resort in time for lunch. If I had to do 2 days of 12 hours there is no possible way I could manage the drive.

We pack a cooler with breakfast, lunch and lots of snacks. We then only need to stop for dinner which is usually fast food. In the past we had stopped for nice TS dinner but we discovered that we were both sitting there thinking about the time we were wasting. So now it's Chick-fil-A or Sonic.

BTW....we are 39 and 48...so no spring chickens here. I think your tolerence for the long hours is an individual thing.

That is exactly what we do too. Every March Break for the past 4 years

 

[NancyK]

I hate road trips but I prefer to take a holiday more so if that means road trip I will manage.

When we drive to WDW we leave home at about 2:30am. DH can go to bed around 9pm and fall asleep immediately. He gets a good 5 hours of sleep while I finish getting everything ready. He gets up at 2am and we pile into the car...some times we are leaving at about 2:10. I stay awake until we are through the border and then I sleep for a couple of hours. We drive until approx 9pm which usually puts us in the Savannah, GA area. From there it's only another 3.5 hours so we can sleep in a little, have breakfast and still be at our WDW resort in time for lunch. If I had to do 2 days of 12 hours there is no possible way I could manage the drive.

We pack a cooler with breakfast, lunch and lots of snacks. We then only need to stop for dinner which is usually fast food. In the past we had stopped for nice TS dinner but we discovered that we were both sitting there thinking about the time we were wasting. So now it's Chick-fil-A or Sonic.

BTW....we are 39 and 48...so no spring chickens here. I think your tolerence for the long hours is an individual thing.

This is similar to what we do - and we are now in our 50s. We live in the Niagara Region, so generally leave about 4 a.m. We try to do 16-18 hours the first day. The second day really drags if you have to drive more than a few hours. But be prepared to stop when you get tired. If that means a longer 2nd day, so be it.
On the way home, we usually split the travel time a little more evenly. Much too tired after doing Disney to drive 16 hours the first day. Last year we travelled with family who insisted on driving straight through on the way home from Florida. Never again!!

 

[Tower]

Kids are 13, 9, and 6. We plan on leaving around 3 in the morning.

This is just me, but I'd leave a little earlier than that, and taking a good nap prior to leaving. We left with a 2 1/2 yr old, 6 month old, a 14 yr old baby-sitter (cousin of same last name) and the two of us. We left just after midnight on a Saturday night and I drove non-stop to Morgantown, PA. Stopped to fill up the tank, our bellies and church and, with a full belly, my wife drove an hour! I took over again and drove till 2:00PM into Charlotte, NC. Gave the kids a chance to run around (ok our 2 1/2 yr old and changed the newborn's diaper) and my wife drove us to Savannah, GA. We stopped for the night there and it was a short drive to Orlando, with a pitstop in Jacksonville for lunch. (I drove the whole time 2nd day). Yes I was tired afterwards, but we could relax easily after that.
We found that by doing it this way, the kids slept through a lot of the driving and we had a lot less crying in the back because they were getting restless. Just remember to allow the kids some running time at fuel stops. They should not be only to fill up and go, but allow for minimum 1/2 hour.

Without kids, we did Mississauga to Miami in 21.5 hours, non-stop but switching drivers every 3 hours or so.

 

[new2disx3]

This is just me, but I'd leave a little earlier than that, and taking a good nap prior to leaving. We left with a 2 1/2 yr old, 6 month old, a 14 yr old baby-sitter (cousin of same last name) and the two of us. We left just after midnight on a Saturday night and I drove non-stop to Morgantown, PA. Stopped to fill up the tank, our bellies and church and, with a full belly, my wife drove an hour! I took over again and drove till 2:00PM into Charlotte, NC. Gave the kids a chance to run around (ok our 2 1/2 yr old and changed the newborn's diaper) and my wife drove us to Savannah, GA. We stopped for the night there and it was a short drive to Orlando, with a pitstop in Jacksonville for lunch. (I drove the whole time 2nd day). Yes I was tired afterwards, but we could relax easily after that.
We found that by doing it this way, the kids slept through a lot of the driving and we had a lot less crying in the back because they were getting restless. Just remember to allow the kids some running time at fuel stops. They should not be only to fill up and go, but allow for minimum 1/2 hour.

Without kids, we did Mississauga to Miami in 21.5 hours, non-stop but switching drivers every 3 hours or so.

What time did you get into Savannah?

 

[Terapin]

Last March we drove down and left around 4am from Toronto. We drove to either Virginia or West Virginia the first day. I think it was about 13 hrs or so, with frequent but quick bathroom breaks. (Our kids were almost 2, 9 and 11.) The second day we made it to either very south Georgia or north Florida (another long day, maybe 9 hours?), and the third day we only had 2.5 hours to go and arrived at our resort fresh and energized.

Had we pushed it we would have been arriving late, and when you are paying for expensive resorts like AKL like we did, I didn't want to roll in late, all cranky and tired and just go to bed. It seemed to us like the waste of a first night. Instead we arrived refreshed, eager, and were able to drop our bags and head to the parks! It was such a magnificent resort we are happy we didn't miss any detail on our arrival, like we would have if we had been road-exhausted.

The kids did fine. We had activity bags, a DVD player, snacks, books on tape, and family singing. It was pretty ok! The little one complained a lot when we stopped for dinner, then tried to get him back in the car. We learned that lesson and the second night only stopped for dinner when we were done for the night.

We also chose hotels with pools and it gave the kids something to look forward to and helped them get rid of the excess energy. It worked well. We didn't spend hours swimming, but it worked well for me to organize our room and get out all the pjs and clothes for the next day while DH took them swimming for 45 minutes or so. A quick shower then into pjs and they were zzzzzzzzzz

I also packed a smaller suitcase just for the drive down so we didn't have to lug every piece of luggage up to the room with us. It was fun packing that one: warm clothes for the first night, and shorts and t-shirts for the second!