Driving through the night

[Wendaeh]

Hello! We are planning to drive straight through from NJ to Disney in a few months. I have a question for all of you drivers....

What if we get too tired around 2 or 3am? Is there a safe place to pull over and rest a few hours?

My DH is SURE he can drive the whole way -- I just like to have options....

Thanks!
Wendy

 

[ducklite]

Hello! We are planning to drive straight through from NJ to Disney in a few months. I have a question for all of you drivers....

What if we get too tired around 2 or 3am? Is there a safe place to pull over and rest a few hours?

My DH is SURE he can drive the whole way -- I just like to have options....

Thanks!
Wendy

I've made that drive several times, and DH makes it most every month. PLEASE rethink it.

Let me give you a bit of info. Once you get past NC, there is no safe place to stop at night until you are in FL. That's a lot of long, dark highway devoid of anything. It's mind-numbing, it's boring. And it's an invitation to fall asleep at the wheel.

A MUCH MUCH better way to make that drive is to pack the car the night before and get to bed early, then get up and leave at 4:00 am on a Saturday. You won't hit any traffic. None! Even shore traffic--you'll be long past it in NJ and DE before those folks are even waking up.

If you leave at 4:00 am from central NJ and make minimal stops, you'll be there for 9:00 pm Saturday night. Early enough to get checked in and get a great nights sleep before you hit the parks the next day.

If he drives overnight, he'll be exhausted by the time you get there the next morning. You are much more likely to encounter drunks and other tired (dangerous) drivers.

Anne

 

[2Princes2Princesses]

Anne is right. We have driven from Buffalo 4 times.

If you cannot leave in the middle of the night, think about getting a hotel in SC or Georgia. There are many reasonably priced, right off 95.

My DH goes to bed about 4 pm the day before we leave. I wake him and the kids about 3 am and load everyone in and we go.

We still make the stop, but we are several hours farther than you are. We stop in SC about 7 or 8 pm, eat and go to sleep. then we get up at 5 am and set out again.

But starting the trip in the middle of the night is much better than trying to go overnight.

 

[Jon99]

We have done it several times, not that big of a deal, one time I did get tired when we left Christmas day and I didn't get to sleep that day and we pulled into a well lit rest area for a two hour nap..

 

[kctwinmommy]

We did it in '99 from Chicago! And DH drove most of the way. We were limited on time, so we left right after I got off work at 3 p.m., and made it the FL border by early dawn. Then we pulled into a rest stop to sleep for 2 hours or so. When we drove back we actually pulled into a fast food place, that was open 24 hours, and just crashed in their parking lot for like 3-4 hours. We're pretty flexible about it though.

We had to do the same thing going out to DC 2 years ago. Again, limited on time, left when I got off work, and we were heading to Philly first for a Cubs game. So, we pulled of in western PA around midnight or so, but the exit we got off at had about 6 hotels all completely booked full. So once again we just slept in the car in a hotel parking lot.

But I can see where not doing would be better. It sounds like others have made the actual drive you're going to be doing. Good luck!

 

[WildGrits]

Many times we had this plan. It never panned out for us once we hit rain. That will tire my eyes out almost immediately.

Other than rain, the max I can drive is 12 hours in one shot.

But with two drivers it is possible.

The rest stops in NC are patrolled by the police for your safety. Past NC I'm not sure.

Might I make a suggestion.

If you plan on driving through, we have always found it beneficial to get a room some place cheap the day before so that we can rest up and not waste money on a room on property. That way we are up early our first offical day in WDW and ready to go. I believe you are able to check in and get your tickets at 7am.

 

[mikron]

Driving 16 hrs or more is like driving drunk, I drove from ma. to fl. many times stright for 23 hrs.. I now know that was not smart, I take the mountain route and there is plenty of places to stop for gas or rest.

 

[mochabean]

We are planning to drive from PA to FL next month. We will be leaving at 2:30 AM. I will go to sleep at about 8 pm and do the first leg of the drive and my sister will take over when I'm tired. Leaving at 2:30 AM will put us past DC by the time rush hour gets bad, though we may hit a little Richmond rush hour traffic. We figure we'll be at my Grandmother's house just south of Daytona by 9 pm. We'll get a good night's sleep and head to WDW the next morning.

 

[dsnymomof4]

We've done the overnight drive twice and didn't have any problems. DH drove most of the way, but we did take turns. On the way home we ended up pulling into a rest stop and taking a 2-hour nap. We've stopped at many rest stops along the way and always see cars and trucks parked there with people napping. I wouldn't have a problem with stopping at any of them. Good luck and have a safe trip!

 

[ricktib]

If the idea is to be able to go to the parks the day you arrive, it's probably not worth it.

One night we slept for just a few hours, got up and left at 2:30 am to get to MK at rope drop, and were zombies the whole day.

 

[ducklite]

We are planning to drive from PA to FL next month. We will be leaving at 2:30 AM. I will go to sleep at about 8 pm and do the first leg of the drive and my sister will take over when I'm tired. Leaving at 2:30 AM will put us past DC by the time rush hour gets bad, though we may hit a little Richmond rush hour traffic. We figure we'll be at my Grandmother's house just south of Daytona by 9 pm. We'll get a good night's sleep and head to WDW the next morning.

Take the Richmond bypass and you won't encounter traffic.

Anne

 

[wiskband]

I have made the trip many times as well from Long Island. I have found that leaving at about 7 in the evening was best for us. hubby rests a lil before we go. kids are excited but sleeping by 11 usually in virgina by then. As long as the kids are sleeping, there ain't much stoppin. as a amtter of fact when the car stops, they usually wake up! I love to be in the carolinas (preferably SC) by the time the sun rises. I personally, woldn't stop and rest but, thats just my paranoia. We have howebver, stopped and stayed in a hotel. I ALWAYS stay at country inn and suites! I really do believe it is the cleanest place (besides disney) for a reasonable price. and you get free BKFT. good luck!

rene

 

[AnnetteF]

We did it in October from CT. We left at about 11 at night after my husband woke up from a long nap through the evening. We were thinking this would be easier on DD who is 2 1/2 and also would help us avoid traffic. Well, DD did sleep but and that part went OK but we were amazed at the amount of traffic on the roads all through the night. There really is no safe place to pull over and we were all just exhausted. We had done the drive many, many times before but that was the first time driving over night and we will never do it again. As it turns out, DD did just fine on the way home driving during the day. We won't risk the overnight driving again.

 

[nicknamy1996]

Might I make a suggestion.

If you plan on driving through, we have always found it beneficial to get a room some place cheap the day before so that we can rest up and not waste money on a room on property. That way we are up early our first offical day in WDW and ready to go. I believe you are able to check in and get your tickets at 7am.

We did this the first year and ended up paying more for the room off site. We stopped in 1 1/2 hours short of WDW to "save money" well from that year on we've just got the room ($59/nt this year) on property.

Our drive is about 15hrs. We leave St. Louis around 1 a.m. and arrived in WDW around 6p.m. or so. That includes 1 hr lost to a time change. We've always hit the parks that night. But by going to bed at 6 p.m. or so and leaving at 1 a.m. I never feel like I am driving through the night. I've had some good sleep. The 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. shift gets long, but then you stop for gas, and a snack, the sun comes up, and its a whole new day. (at least for me) the next 5 to 6 hours are the easiest.

 

[Desnik]

I've made that drive several times, and DH makes it most every month. PLEASE rethink it.

Let me give you a bit of info. Once you get past NC, there is no safe place to stop at night until you are in FL. That's a lot of long, dark highway devoid of anything. It's mind-numbing, it's boring. And it's an invitation to fall asleep at the wheel.

A MUCH MUCH better way to make that drive is to pack the car the night before and get to bed early, then get up and leave at 4:00 am on a Saturday. You won't hit any traffic. None! Even shore traffic--you'll be long past it in NJ and DE before those folks are even waking up.

If you leave at 4:00 am from central NJ and make minimal stops, you'll be there for 9:00 pm Saturday night. Early enough to get checked in and get a great nights sleep before you hit the parks the next day.

If he drives overnight, he'll be exhausted by the time you get there the next morning. You are much more likely to encounter drunks and other tired (dangerous) drivers.

Anne

I couldn't agree more!!!
We have done this drive many times. When you drive through the night you are like a zombie the day you arrive. You'll need sleep and that day to recoupe. After doing the drive a bunch of different ways we found leaving at 4am to be the best. DH is use to being up early and commuting so it was easy for him to do the first leg of the drive. We would take turns and spend the first night at a value or mod, then wake up refreshed the next morning and check into our room for the week. Please remember that when you drive through the night you have alot of other folks that are half asleep, not to mention the huge trucks, high speed limit, and dark, boring roads. I cannot tell you how many times we have done the drive and see or hear of horrific accidents on I95. I do not find the rest stops to be all that safe during the night. Some seem safer then others, but still. I especially do not like to have to go to the bathroom at night alone with my DD. It can get spooky. You should see some of the characters we have encountered on our road trips!