Driving home...

[la79al]

DH is looking at our car ride to and from WDW as fun. I am looking at DH as crazy. Getting down there of course won't be a problem. We are going to WDW and the kids will most likely be sleeping for probably 2/3 of the trip. We will be excited, we will be energized, we will be ready for vacation. The ride home however is going to be another story. We are leaving first thing in the morning, the kids will be awake for probably 2/3 of the trip. We will be tired, we will be grouchy, we will be dreading returning to work. Is there anything I can do to make things a little better? I do have a reserve of new travel activities and movies for the kids but what about DH and I?

 

[stevepete]

We make the ride down and back part of our vacation. Find things to see/stop at on the way back. We try to stop in DC for a couple of hours.

 

[Robert P]

The dreaded ride back does indeed stink, especially when compared to the trip down.
We use the ride back as a debriefing session of sorts, recapping the good parts of the trip, and making a list of things we'd change. Actaully, we make a list of about 4 things:

must do again
take it or leave it
never again
want to be sure to do next time

The discussion helps pass the time, and its great to have that exchange of information while everyone still has fresh memories. After a few weeks back home (and back to the usual routine), the vacation memories aren't as crisp anymore.

 

[clkelley]

One thing we've found very helpful when driving home is not to plan to leave first thing in the morning because we NEVER get out of there first thing in the morning. We only have a 12 hour drive and gain an hour going home, so we figured if we have breakfast and do a little shopping, we could still get out the door at a decent time and get home at a decent time.

Well, invariably, that turned into 1 - 2 in the afternoon. (Happened to us twice)

We now leave our Disney resort a day early and spend the entire day in the parks, then when Epcot closes, we hop in the car and drive 90 minutes up to Ocala and stop in a cheap place there.

When we get up the next morning, it is much easier to run through the McDonald's drive through and get on home. We usually get home by 7 or 8pm that way.

 

[3mickeymom]

We drove down to Orlando from Central NJ and the drive down WAS fun. We drove straight through taking turns napping and driving and the kids slept through most of it. We left at 6pm, we stopped for pizza in Maryland watched a movie and then the kids slept until morning. They woke up, we stopped for pancakes and we were in Orlando swimming in our hotel pool by 12:30pm. Coming home was hard. We were tired, sad and it was pouring rain which made for stressful driving conditions. I wished that we had planned to stop somewhere for the night. Doing a little sight seeing might make the drive better. I would drive again and I could go straight through on the ride down( 18hrs) but coming home I would plan a stop over if possible. Good Luck, just remember MOST of the time you will be having A WONDERFUL time.

 

[ForeverDance]

On our trip last year I was really dreading the ride home. It's 24hrs straight through and I was sure it was going to be aweful, but it really wasn't that bad. The kids slept most of the way and DH and I traded off driving and sleeping. It really wasn't bad at all.

The one thing I do remember is that we hit a HUGE thunderstorm in Georgia. I mean it poured so bad that I couldn't even see the shoulder of the road so all I could do was follow the lights of the truck in front of me. I finally managed to get off at a rest stop where we waited for a bit before continuing. When we started driving again we passed 3 SUV's that had rolled. It was scary but it is one of the kids favourite stories to tell now

 

[Pembo]

The drive home is not fun, we just did it almost 2 weeks ago. (We're in Ohio). We left WDW at noon and drove until 9 ish. The next day we were on the road by 8 and pulled in the driveway at 6 on the dot. I find that driving home is all about getting there. The stops are shorter, no one wants to eat much, the kids didn't even want to play at McD's for very long. The plus side is the kids were tired from our trip so they were more subdued in the car...it's just that last hour when you're almost home, that they seem to get squirrely.....