driving from Ontario, need advice

[cottontail]

Hi Charles and Briberry:

I can see your point about night driving being easier and alot less traffic. I agree with Briarberry that it is too risky for two woman to be alone on those deserted highways in the middle of the night. Really these days you cannot put yourself in a dangerous situation. Leaving at 4 will give her a couple of hours without alot of traffic. That is what we usually do.

But I did mention it to hubby, and he said that he could do it, but he thought that he would be exhausted the next couple of days, and he is used to night shifts. Are you guys all whooped the next couple of days?

Deb.

 

[momof2blondes]

I discovered the website www.freetrip.com when I was researching for the same information. This website will tell you everything in km and hours so you can see where you would be at certain hours from when you left. I thought it was pretty cool. Plus you can add in what kind of hotels you would be interested in and it will tell you what is nearby. Found this site through passporter.com, it has a lot of cool links. Hope this helps.

 

[cottontail]

hi, momoftwoblondes:

Do you have to register on this website to check it out?

Deb.

 

[CharlesTD]

Actually it works out great and no one is over tired etc after the drive. I usually drive the night shift but not always then I will sleep for 3 or 4 hours in the morning while my wife drives. We then stop near the bottom of Georgia for the night so everyone can have a good nights sleep in a bed then continue on to WDW the next morning it breaks the drive up and lets the kids enjoy the travel time a little more. My wife has driven at night to Florida with one of her friends a few years back and they left at night she said she would never travel at any other time for the first leg of the trip it was far more relaxing and as she said all the stops they made at rest areas had a state trooper or some sort of security there at night. So she said they felt completely at ease and not the least bit worried.

 

[talicskai]

Actually it works out great and no one is over tired etc after the drive. I usually drive the night shift but not always then I will sleep for 3 or 4 hours in the morning while my wife drives. We then stop near the bottom of Georgia for the night so everyone can have a good nights sleep in a bed then continue on to WDW the next morning it breaks the drive up and lets the kids enjoy the travel time a little more. My wife has driven at night to Florida with one of her friends a few years back and they left at night she said she would never travel at any other time for the first leg of the trip it was far more relaxing and as she said all the stops they made at rest areas had a state trooper or some sort of security there at night. So she said they felt completely at ease and not the least bit worried.

I couldn't agree more! We have driven 3 out of the last 4 years and always left between 8-10pm . We fill up our thermos in Windsor with Timmy's coffee and stop for breakfast around Knoxville, TN. We always stop at the Holiday Inn Express in Cordele, Georgia because the pool is very warm and have a great evening and sleep there. The next day it is about 5 hours to Lake Buena Vista and we are all well-rested. My hubby usually drives to Cincinnati (about 7-8 hours for us) and then I drive until breakfast. It works out great. Our kids miss half of the drive and don't even know it! I have never felt nervous stopping during the night but we always pick really well lit gas stations with a variety store ~ usually BP or Shell and they are quite safe.
We would never do the drive any other way!

Teresa

 

[CharlesTD]

I totally agree Teresa mind you in our case whoever starts out the night drive drives it till breakfast then sleeps a few hours which 9 times out of 10 would end up being me.

 

[cottontail]

Hi Folks: We have only one driver. I am wondering when you drive all night and the next day how many hours til you get to the south end of georgia? Also are there alot of transports on the highways during the midnight til 7 a.m. time frame.

Deb.

 

[talicskai]

It takes us 19 hours of driving time from Paris, Ontario to Cordele, Georgia. The last hour from Macon to Cordele seems to take forever but it is so worth it when we only have 5 hours left the next day.
There are several transports on the road during the night but most of them are at the rest stops. I have never found it to be a problem. There is usually 3 lanes of traffic and you can avoid them. I don't know that I would do it with only one driver ~ because the worst time to stay awake is right before the sun comes up and it is good if you can trade at that point. There are so many exits though with hotels that if you had to pull off for a few hours you could certainly find somewhere.

Teresa

 

[CharlesTD]

We usually leave home around 7PM we try to go after dinner we just get the kids in their PJ's and head out. We stop in the AM for breakfast at the Georgia welcome centre sometimes I will just grab some sleep there and let the kids run around for a couple hours. After a couple hours of cat nap I am good to go till 4 or 5 that night we usually stop around 3 in the after noon depending on where we are. It is really nice to get up the next morning and have a short drive to the Florida border from Georgia and it is only about 4 hours till we hit WDW.

 

[cottontail]

Hi I agree, having a short drive to wdw the next would be perfect. We will have to think about it.

Deb.

 

[TimNDansMom]

From where I live, if we do the trip in 2 days, leaving on a Saturday morning, half way is Knoxville, Tennessee where we always stay at the Sleep Inn at Exit 108. We cross at Detroit, with DH doing all the driving usually and even though we've done the trip many times, I still travel with the Along I 75 book on my lap. It works out to about two 12 hour days

If we decide to leave on a Friday night around 6pm, we'll stop in Findlay or Lima, Ohio the first night, Byron, Georgia the second night and arrive at Disney at check-in time on Sunday afternoon.

Last summer DisneyLisa and I drove down in her van so she did all the driving. I hadn't kept such an accurate log of the journey before and I'm going to do it from now on as it's great to refer back to. She picked me up at 7am, we crossed at Detroit and stayed at a Hampton Inn just below Atlanta at 10pm that night. We left at 9am the next morning and arrived at POFQ at 4pm. On the way home we left Disney at 8:30am, stopped for the night at a Baymont Inn in Corbin Kentucky at 9:15pm, left the next morning at 8am and I arrived home at 5pm.

Also, I prefer to take Hwy 27 from the Florida Turnpike, to 192 and enter Disney from that end, to avoid the I 4 traffic coming in the top end of Orlando, plus there's a Publix we always stop at on Hwy 27, as we get closer to the 192 exit.

 

[momof2blondes]

I didn't have to register, I just hit the link from passporter.com and away I went.

 

[explorer1977]

Great site momof2blondes. It sure will help with our drive down. Thanks so much

 

[briarberry]

Thanks momof2blondes! I just had a chance to check out the site you posted and it is great. I will definitely put it to good use this summer. People laugh when I talk about reading these boards but they have no idea how much smoother a holiday can run with the information I have received from this site! Not to mention the $$$ you can save!

 

[CharlesTD]

Timanddansmom We take the same exit going in just before the toll booth I do believe and then you pass the orange tower lookout thing. The wife says it used to be nothing but orangegroves along there and it is now hotels and trailer parks etc. Every trip she points out the pld rest area that was dome shaped and tells us all about how her and her family used to stop there on the drive down all the time.

 

[cottontail]

Hi Everyone:

I am not kidding but all this talk about driving to florida, is really making me wanting another trip to see Mickey. I day dream about where I want to stay, what I want to do while I am there, and just picturing the palm trees and nice warm weather and flowers. Anyone else feel this way?

Deb.

 

[digskat]

Hi Everyone:

I am not kidding but all this talk about driving to florida, is really making me wanting another trip to see Mickey. I day dream about where I want to stay, what I want to do while I am there, and just picturing the palm trees and nice warm weather and flowers. Anyone else feel this way?

Deb.

Yeah, me too but I think it has alot to do with the cold weather and all the freaking snow that just won't take a hike.

 

[CharlesTD]

I agree with that we are now counting the days till we go back. We were driving to the inlaws yesterday afternoon and commenting on how it wouldn't be that hard to just keep on going down the 401 to Windsor and cross over for the trek down the I75.

 

[pkitty]

we flew this year but for the last 5 years we drove. You would be better off getting to the Macon area south of Atlanta so you can avoid rush hour traffic in the morning. That alone could save you an hour or more. It may be worth the extra drive and then you can relax the next day knowing it is only a 6 hour drive with no hassles.

 

[cottontail]

Hi Pkitty:

We have always driven to florida, but I think my hubby is beginning to tire of the drive, I am not though as I am terrified to fly.

Did you think it made the trip a lot better flying rather than the two day drive each way? Just wondering, as you have driven so many times before.

Deb.