Driving from Ottawa overnight???

[nepean]

Has anyone left Ottawa or Toronto area for Disney in the early evening, 8:00 p.m. and driven overnight. We have left early in the morning and driven straight but we have not left in the evening. I realize that the traffic will be lighter but is it really difficult to stay up. Plans have changed and really hoping to still make it there on the Friday.

Any advice from past experiences would be appreciated.

Nepean

 

[tinkerbell*Xo]

2 years ago we left around 8:00p.m from the Cornwall area, and drove straight through over night. How many drivers do you have?

 

[nepean]

We have three drivers this year. DD is now has her G2 licence. My DH and I are also from Cornwall. In fact I was down there last Sunday. Moved to Ottawa in 1971. My one concern is the mountains of PA during the evening. Did you see a lot of deer. One year driving home we seen so many deer along the roads of North Carolina and Virginia.

 

[indigodisney]

We have left at 8:00 p.m.and the only thing I will say is that with two drivers we both found that the darkness just went on so long...it was almost oppressive. We ended up stopping to sleep around 4 a.m. when we were both so tired and then leaving again at 6:00 a.m.

Have a safe drive!!

 

[Mike2023]

Me and the wife drove from 1am to 9pm 2 summers ago. Was nice. We were planing on leaving around 4am but could not get to sleep because of the excitment, so we just decided to go.

Was a long drive. Not sure if we would do it again.

 

[Sheribo]

We drive from Ottawa twice a year with 2 drivers. My DS has his G2 but he's not ready for driving through the mountains in the dark. We always drive straight through. In the spring, we leave around noon on the Friday so we're going through the mountains during daylight. However, for our fall trip, we leave at 10pm and the 2 youngest sleep all night. We have pulled into a rest stop and slept for a couple hours but not usually. With gas and bathroom breaks, our trip takes 24 hours. We pack a cooler so if one person gets the munchies in the middle of the night, we don't have to wake everyone up for a stop.

BTW, don't expect to see Tim Horton's or even a Starbucks on your route. I wish!! Not sure what others do but it McDonald's coffee at 6am.

 

[bdoyledimou]

I have always left Toronto at around 3 pm... i find it provides pretty much clear traffic all the way down (in rural areas during rush hour, and in city areas during "light traffic" times..

We drive straight through, and including 10-15 minute stops every 2 hours, plus 1 hour dinner and 1 hour breakfast) we get there in about 24 hours.

I have taken a quick doze (1 hour) at a rest stop previously, as i am the sole driver) but usually on the way there, the excitement and adrenaline is all i need.

Check in at at 4 at the resort, have a bite to eat, and take a nap before the adventure begins the next day.

It's teh drive HOME that kills me .. nothin to look forward too ..

 

[ottawamom]

Sheribo

What route do you take to get from Ottawa to WDW. We have always flown in the past but I have been thinking about driving the next trip.

 

[nepean]

We have always taken the 81-66-95-4 route that the CAA maps out for you. Last January our new Tomtom wanted us to go by 476? to Washington. We chose to keep on 81 until we hit 66 and cross by the Blue Ridge and merged at Fredericksburg onto 95. We are still considering leaving in the evening. If we do I hope to sleep in the late afternoon early evening. I am a night owl so it should be ok. We usually drive straight down and back and I do the night drive. We have sometimes stopped around 4 or 5 for a short nap at a rest area.

We have driven almost every year since 1991 and the cost is so much lower. The first year we stopped two nights on the way down. What a waste of time. Then we stopped one night each way and the last 8 years we have driven straight through.

Nepean

 

[Sheribo]

Sheribo

What route do you take to get from Ottawa to WDW. We have always flown in the past but I have been thinking about driving the next trip.

We too do the 81-66-95-4 route. We have tried a few different options but we always come back to the same one. Take the ring road around Jacksonville - you can get really bogged down there.

We're leaving Nov. 14, mid afternoon and will arrive in Orlando for dinner on Saturday evening. Love the drive. I always find a movie trilogy or an old tv series to introduce to my 3 kids for our journey. We're doing Get Smart series this time since they just saw the movie. Also, I get an audio book for my ipod (got Pride and Prejudice now) for me. I just put in one ear bud and listen as I drive through the night. It really passes the time and doesn't disturb any sleepers. Big cooler of food/drinks and we're good to go.

 

[nepean]

Sherri, are you staying on site or off site? We are staying off but haven't decided where yet. Prices seem to be dropping. We have sometimes just driven down and found a deal when we got there.
We are leaving on November 6th and returning Nov 22nd. I think we have
decided to leave at 4:30 when my DD finishes dance. She can drive to Syracuse and then hubby can drive through PA. From Carlisle I will probably drive until morning. If this works out I should nap between 7-11 and I will be good to go. We also take a portable DVD and old movies. You can three oldies on a DVD at Dollarama. Usually one of the three is an A-list movie. DD has learned to love John Wayne, Elizabeth Taylor, Jimmy Stewart etc. We have a plug in cooler and I snack all night. Eating small amounts each time seems to keep me awake. DH can sleep anywhere anytime.

Linda

 

[beavdisfan]

we left from just north of toronto at 7:00 p.m. and arived at 3:00 p.m.
deer deer and more deer through wv and v. be careful.
i would not do it again. too tired for the next day.
have fun

 

[Sheribo]

Sherri, are you staying on site or off site?
Linda

Hi Linda, we are staying at the Beach Club this time. We have stayed at Comfort Suites Maingate East in Old Town and loved it. It's an all suite hotel and has shuttles to WDW. We will definitely stay there again and the kids loved walking around old town. It was nice to be able to eat in the room or walk to many of the restaurants close by.

 

[nepean]

Sherri

We have also stayed at the CSMGE and the CS maingate, the Quality Suites now called Royale Parc Suites, Travelodge Suites Eastgate Orange, Vistana Resort and the Suites of Old Town(many years ago). We also enjoy Old Town in the evenings. I like off site because of the many choices to eat and we also like to shop when we are down. We have been to WDW 20 times. DD is 17 and this will be her 15th trip. Next year is University so we will have to amend the dates to meet her schedule. Are you in the west end?

Linda

 

[Sheribo]

Linda, I'm in the east end - Orleans! My eldest won't be coming with us this fall since he's in college. The younger 2 will miss 3 days of school. I work for the school board so we head down over march break every year but don't do the parks all the time. We own DVC so we mostly stay on property. This will be our 6th visit in 3 years.

 

[Ham Ham]

OP Rotate drivers frequently over night also someone staying awake with the driver helps. If anyone can have a nap in the afternoon that may help them with their ability to stay awake and alert overnight.
If you planning on driving right through have sandwiches or picnic items to save time as to sitting down for a long meal at a restaurant.
We often stop at the state welcome centres on the Interstates that have picnic areas, washrooms, stretch your legs and information about the state you are about to drive through. In Florida the welcome centres provide a glass of orange jucie for you to enjoy.

Linda, I'm in the east end - Orleans! My eldest won't be coming with us this fall since he's in college. The younger 2 will miss 3 days of school. I work for the school board so we head down over march break every year but don't do the parks all the time. We own DVC so we mostly stay on property. This will be our 6th visit in 3 years.

We too often head down stay at a DVC resort and just relax as to blitzing the parks.
Often the resort pool is quiet during the day as many folks are out at the parks.

 

[Sheribo]

Good advice Ham Ham. If I'm going to get some sleep, I park one of my teens in the passenger seat to chat up DH while he drives. It certainly helps that teens are night owls!

 

[nepean]

I sometimes think I was a truck driver in another life. I seem to wake up around 11pm. On the other hand you don't want to know me before 11am. I usually find a good country music station (lots of them in the South) and DD now stays awake and watches me. Last year I pulled off at the Brunswick Isles Welcome Centre in GA around 4:30 am. and she said thank God I was stopping she couldn't keep her eyes open. She looked at me and said how do you stay awake. We stopped for about 45 minutes and DH started to drive. He had been asleep since 9:30. This year we won't be so far south if we leave late in the afternoon, but I won't have to get up before daylight.

Linda

 

[Sheribo]

Hitting the road in 2 weeks. We love the drive!