Driving Straight Through from Indianapolis?

[icepickjazz]

Any thoughts about splitting the trip -vs- gutting it out and driving straight through? Figure it would be approx 20 hours stopping for breaks. I am not excited about spending 4 'travel days' but I don't want to drive 20 hours either. DW said she would drive the HTT too.

I would be interested to hear from people who have done both.

Thanks for the tips.

Scott

 

[5inapopup]

Hi! We live in Southeastern Pennsylvania (about 18 hours and 1000 miles from Disney). We typically drive straight through on the trip down to Florida, and usually stop 1/2 way home (2 days to get home). I like leaving at 2 or 3 in the morning on our way down, and get to the Orlando at night. We sleep our first night in a hotel close to Disney, and then check in at the Fort early the next morning. If we can set up our site, we do. Otherwise, we park in the lot and head for the parks. We're usually so excited to be heading back to the Fort that driving straight through isn't a problem, especially if we get some sleep before we leave. On the way home, it's a different story. After several days and many miles of walking, taking the extra day to get home is the best option for us. Hope this helps.

 

[Mickey Canada]

I have the same thoughts Scott. We are driving down from Windsor. Past trips have been broken down into 2 days. The first day is about 16-17 hrs and we make it to Valdosta at the Florida border. The next day is about 3-4 hrs.

I was thinking about a straight run but DW thinks it's just too much to try and not worth it if something were to happen.

We'll break for the night.

 

[TomM]

We live in New Castle leave after school and drive to Cartersville, GA, sleep in the camper for a couple hours at a Pilot Travel Center and arrive at FW about 2:00 pm. Getting a couple hours sleep sure helps. On the way home we stop overnight somewhere near Nashville.

 

[TheGreatGonzo]

I live in Columbus which is about the same distance.
I normally split the trip down so I arrive at a decent hour and I still have energy to do things when I get there. On the trip back I just push through and get home, but it is a very long and tiring trip.

 

[mdoc]

We're north of Chicago, and we've done it both ways. My DH does all the driving, and 20 hours in a day is quite a lot, so I think it's easier for him if we stop. It doesn't really matter to the rest of us. The straight-through trips have all been on the way home, although sometimes on the way down he'll just stop for 4-5 hours. Our preferred way of doing it is to leave at the crack of dawn, get to Elko, GA late that night, start again at 6 am the next day and be at WDW just before check-in time. On the way back, we like to leave around noon, drive about halfway (Chattanooga), then leave at 6 am the next day and get home in the late afternoon/early evening. I think it's brutal on the driver and I couldn't do it, but DH doesn't mind and we usually only have a week so don't have a lot of travel time to spare.

 

[PolynesianPixie]

Better to be safe than sorry. It's about 14 hours for us, and we've done it both ways. When we drive straight through, we leave early...like 3am. It is a haul and you don't want to start out exhausted on your trip! I prefer to drive to as close to Florida as we can get, then not have far to go the next day!

 

[chief19spixi]

kudos to all of you that can do a straight drive.. I could not sit in our truck that long!!

 

[gon2wdw55]

Hey Scott we are from Zionsville where are you? We haave done trip both ways (straight thro and 1 stop) but just depends on how I feel and roads, winds can really wear you down pulling a trailer. Take your time and have asafe aand happy trip.

 

[clkelley]

I'm only about 12 hours away and I split it up. I leave after work (about 5pm), and get myself between Atlanta and Macon (Forsyth KOA). Pull in, plug in and go to bed. I head out the next morning about 7ish and that gets me to the Fort about checkin time.

Going home, I get checked out and pull the camper into overflow, then spend the day at the parks till about 7 - 9pm, then drive to somewhere around Ocala and stop for the night there, then finish the drive home the next day. (I tried Starke/Gainesville KOA last time, didn't like it, will have to find something else next time).

 

[AlyLynn]

We live in Pa, and are 19-22 hours from Disney, depending on construction. DH used to prefer to drive to Disney straight through while the kids were sleeping (we have 4!). That was before we bought a tt. Since we are brand new to pulling, we both prefer him to be rested. It makes for a longer trip, but we all arrive safe and sound!

 

[~Kristina~]

We've done it from Detroit and it's killer. We have a PUP so when we stop, we have to pop up. I'd really like a TT for this reason. But I can't handle dh being in a gumpy mood because he drove staight through and the kids are rearing to go.

 

[drafthorsecrazy]

We drive from northern Ohio. It's about a 21 hr trip for us. We feel that the road trip is part of the vacation. Over the years we have had many memorable unplanned stops along the way. Pulling over in a church parking lot to grab a bite to eat and play ball with our restless kids (today its our dogs) Or checking out the various "look-out" points coming through the mountains. We only drive 8-10 hrs each day and spend 2 nights on the road getting to Disney. This puts us at FW bright and early the next morning with only a couple hrs drive time. Driving can be exhausting.....don't under estimate how tired you will be after a long day(s) drive. If you plan to drive straight through and experience any roadside problems( THEY DO HAPPEN! We had 2 flat tires last trip ) You could find yourself setting up camp after dark Nothing worse than after months of planning a Disney vacation and be too exhausted to enjoy it.

 

[icepickjazz]

Hey Scott we are from Zionsville where are you? We haave done trip both ways (straight thro and 1 stop) but just depends on how I feel and roads, winds can really wear you down pulling a trailer. Take your time and have asafe aand happy trip.

We are in Westfield area. We camp a lot a Mississinewa because the BIL has a boat up there. Where do you usually camp?

 

[gon2wdw55]

We are in Westfield area. We camp a lot a Mississinewa because the BIL has a boat up there. Where do you usually camp?

State parks around here but McCormicks Creek is our favorite maybe we will run into each other sometime.