Driving Overnight...When to Start?

[amber_cntrygrl]

In 2010, we left after the Alabama football game (against Arkansas) was over, at about 10:00. We drove all night and got there at about 8:30ish. Our room wasn't ready, of course, so DH was a zombie all day until our room was ready. Lots of Red Bull was drank that day.
Ever since then, we've left on a Friday and checked DS out of school at 11:15, and arrive by around 10:00 after all of the boys' potty breaks. Even leaving in the middle of the day, the boys ended up sleeping a lot of the way down there. They did really well the times they were awake, though. Plenty of books, toys, and DVD's kept them occupied.

 

[dbramer]

Driving from Baltimore in August. We plan to leave around 7 pm and drive though the night. Kids should sleep through while DW and I drive. I will stay up the night before and sleep during the day. The trip should take around 13 hours...we get to Orlando around 8 - 9 am. We are leaving on July 30th. Our reservation doesn't start until the 1st, so we have an offsite hotel booked for the 31st. This way we can be up and rested early for our first day at MK. I did get an ADR for 9:35 at Kona on our arrival day in Orlando to get a taste of Disney magic before we do some touristy things in Orlando. For the trip back, we have another hotel room and will drive back during the day on the 9th of August. Sounds like a good plan....we'll see.

 

[MmmSuite]

We had a 7, 6, and 1 year old. We live north of Baltimore so like 14 hours. We left a 6:30pm from the gas station and were there at 9:00 with well rested kids who last until 10:00 that night. The drive down was great!

 

[cadawson]

Another TN driver here - we tradionally drive and either drive to Macon after work and break it up or we leave about 5 am and drive straight through. This keeps us out of ATL rush hour.

We also drive from TN. If we can leave right after school on Friday, we drive to Valdosta, GA or Lake City, FL and stay overnight. If we need to wait for DH to get off work, we drive to Atlanta and overnight there. I used to be able to drive overnight, but we just like to stop now for the kids to be well-rested. It makes our arrival at WDW more pleasant. We prefer to arrive by noon or 1 pm and hit a park after checking in at our Disney resort. We usually get an inexpensive room (3 or 4 star hotel) through Priceline for the one night. We (almost) always drive straight through on the way home.

 

[elizabethcasper]

We live in Gainesville, GA. It's about an 8 hour drive and for the past two years we've left in the middle of the night and arrived around 8am-10am. The first time, it was just my dad, my sister (then 13), and me (then 17). Of course, the drive was really calm. My sister slept the whole time and my dad and I took shifts for driving. He drove most of the way though, because I get really tired during long trips. Then, to head back home, we left around 11 pm and arrived home around 7 am.

The next year, we rented a 15 passenger van and took my niece (2), my nephew (2), his older brother (5), my stepmom, my dad and my sister and I. We loaded them into the car around 10:30 pm and by the time we hit the highway the kids were asleep. They slept the whole way there! We did the same as the year before and left a little before park closing and they slept the entire way back. It was a really good idea because not only did the kids sleep so it allowed for a peaceful car ride, we arrived and left in time to enjoy the full first and last day of our trips. We have decided that this is ultimately the best, and cheapest, way for us to travel to WDW and will continue doing this every year!

 

[skuttle]

Our drive is about 10 hours. We always leave around 4am. The kids usually fall asleep right away (they always sleep well in the car), and when they wake up we stop for breakfast. Usually make to WDW in time for dinner.

 

[lillyshula]

We live about 16 hours away and will be driving overnight. The plan is to have my husband stay up on Thursday night and sleep Friday morning while two of the girls are in school and the youngest and I finish up last minute errands and packing. We will leave around 3:30 (after school) and I will drive until I start getting tired/starts getting dark (5-6 hours). My husband will drive through the night and we should arrive between 8:30 and 9:30am (including time for breaks). It seems like everyone has a more pleasant drive when the kids are able to sleep through most of it.

 

[momimouse27]

We used to do it all the time. Grew up in MS but also lived in Arkansas and did it from there too.

Our kids fought sleep, but they always ended up asleep. Hubby and I would take turns driving but we also had my mom to take a turn. We would usually let them stay up past their bedtime-to get them sleepy-then get started about midnight. They slept better and it worked well. That was so much fun for me. It was just part of the trip I looked forward to.

Of course, now we live in Atlanta and it's still an 8 hour trip for us. But as I get older the trip seems more tiring, and we're only going halfway down the first day. Now my kids are older it's about taking our time