Driving from Wisconsin help!

[hollylu1016]

We are driving from the middle of Wisconsin, mapquest say point A to point B is 20 hours 30 minutes. POP reservation starts on Sunday.


Our plan is to leave Friday night 9ish and drive through the night in the hopes that DS2 will sleep in the car (he is usually very good with sleeping if we are driving after bedtime). Giving us all day Saturday to make our way to Orlando with time to stop at a park and play for an hour or whatever he needs to be kept happy, on top of all the games, puzzles, toys, Mickey presents and disney movies we will have in the car.


Barring any major reasons that could slow us down (accidents/traffic jams) roughly when can we expect to make it into town??


I'm wondering if I should make a reservation now at a non disney hotel in Disney springs for Saturday night so we won't have to deal with finding something when we get there, but I'm worried we won't actually make it to town and then have a reservation for a hotel we are still hours away from.


Am I over worrying? Should I just book the good deal I have found for a Saturday night? Or play it by ear and hope that if we get there we can find something close for cheap?

 

[maxiesmom]

I would just book Pop for Saturday night. Odds are you will want to crash for a bit, and it would be nice to just be in your room and not having to worry about checking out and switching resorts.

I have to add I am not at all a fan of driving straight thru. Comes from being thisclose to getting into a wreck in the middle of the night during a road trip. Driver dozed off at the wheel. If your reservation doesn't start until Sunday, why not stop on the way and get some rest? That way you will all be ready to go once you hit Orlando.

 

[Minnesota!]

I would book Pop for Saturday night. And, I agree with a pp - I would not advise driving straight through. Leave after dinner on Friday and stop somewhere for the night around midnight/1 am. You can start the long leg of your trip with a full belly and a refreshing shower the next morning

 

[hetzeltj]

I am from Wisconsin myself and have made that drive many times. I have no problem driving straight through as long as someone in the car can stay up and talk to me. Much easier to drive that way than driving while everyone is sleeping in the car. I usually get to Orlando at the same time I leave. So if I leave at 9pm, i get to orlando the next day at 9pm. I would look at some of the value resorts over the springs hotel area. I am going in September and it was cheaper for me to fly in a day earlier and get a value hotel for the night. It was only $90.

 

[gmboy95]

i would trust your time estimates....we have driving from Massachusetts numerous times and we drive straight thru....we have consistently made it there between 21-22 hours without exception....so i think whatever plan you make you can be assured the timing will be pretty much on target

 

[jpeterson]

Due to the high flight prices we are considering driving as well, we would be coming from Central Texas which is about 16-17 hours. We have 2-3 drivers so plan on getting as far as we can on a Friday night, stopping if people get too drowsy/sleepy and continuing Saturday. Our reservation begins Saturday night. The kids will sleep in the car so driving in the evening/night is actually easier, but I'm too old to drive all night anymore. So I expect we will stop and get some rest around 1-2 am.

 

[BarbMike821]

Were doing the same thing from KC and it's around 18 hours. Our current plan is to leave after school and getting as far as we can. If we get tired, we'll stop. But it's our hope that between DH and I we can power through the night and drive straight there. We figure with a couple of stops we'll get to the resort around 1 or 2 the following afternoon for a low key resort Day and maybe Disney Springs or Chef Mickey. The return home we'll split it into two days for our own sanity.

 

[rigs32]

What I have done is get on my phone when I'm an hour or two from where i want to stop and make a reservation through hotwire or something. You shouldn't have too much of an issue finding a room in a smaller city even on a weekend night.

 

[justussix]

Simple math. # of miles/# of hours. That'll tell you how fast MapQuest (or AAA or Google or Apple) is estimating that your average speed will be. Is it realistic to average 67.5 mph for that distance with stops for restrooms, food, and gas?

If not, assume that speed for average while driving and add your stops to it. Taking a couple hours out of the car to stretch, eat, and move likely puts you at the 23 - 24 hour estimate of a prior poster.

I just put a route into MapQuest and it assumes 67.46 mph. You might drive around 75 on average with no traffic (assuming tickets are something you strive to avoid), but construction, accidents, brief stretches of non-freeway driving can easily bring this average down.

Driving at night is nice for traffic, but you do make a nice target for speed traps being one of the few vehicles out there. Cruise control is your friend. The time you save is lost if you have to spend it on the side of the road telling Officer Friendly about your vacation plans. Valdosta County, GA does a nice bit a revenue from vacationers.

 

[friend2Figment]

We drive from WI and normally leave at night we figure 22 hours but we like to stop for stretch breaks. Our last trip we left in the morning driving straight through. We made better time than we thought so we stopped at the FL welcome center to take a nap until it opened. I would say that you would make it down Sat late so if you did not plan to stop anywhere for a nap it might be a good idea to get a cheap room. Just plan accordingly and do not unpack everything that night just what is needed.