Driving through the night

[tardin1964]

My wife and I plan to drive with my two DD's ages 7 & 5 through the night from central NJ on our way to WDW. We plan on leaving around 9:00 p.m. on a Friday with our arrival at WDW WL on Sunday.

Neither of our little one's are bad travelers but I would not say they are good either We thought driving at night would be best so that they will sleep the majority of the way down.

Both my wife and I like to drive so that part is not a problem. We are thinking of getting down to either Savannah or Brunswick GA or maybe even getting to Jacksonville FL, spend the afternoon there and get a hotel room then leave the next moring to finish the ride to WDW.

First, has anyone done an overnight drive like this?

Second, is it easy getting a hotel room on the road or should I make some reservation?

I would appreciate any feedback. Thanks.

 

[tigger&tigerlover]

Hiya,

I've done long drives a lot, and driving through the night is okay, but watch out for the 3am-dawn shift. There's not many people on the road, and it gets old *fast*. Watching out for various animals that cross the road is also a hazard, since most animals in the wild are nocturnal.

As to making a hotel reservation. Absolutely. We've gone without reservations a few times, and ended up "pushing through exhaustion" for a couple of hours until we found something open. And what is open, could be either a roach hotel, or extremely expensive.

My DH used to just chance it, and he used to laugh at me for making sure I have reservations....until the time that I didn't make them (I was tired of him laughing), and we couldn't find any hotel.

You never know when there might be a convention/fair/something in town booking all of the good rooms up.

 

[tigger&tigerlover]

Another note I thought of.

If you do choose to drive though the night (and I don't recommend it - I certainly don't do that anymore - it's not worth the exhaustion afterward), be sure to fill up the gas tank when you get to about 1/3 tank. I've discovered that not all gas stations, not even all truck stops, are open 24 hours.

 

[Sandi]

I would be concerned about exhausting your DDs. They'll probably do fine from the time you leave until sun-up, but after that, they're going to need to get out of the car to stretch and run around. We did a 10 hour drive to Minneapolis (leaving our home at 3:00 in the morning) in July. That was plenty for our 8 yo DD and we made a point of stopping for sanity breaks.

My DH and I also like driving, but that's not your problem. You don't want to start your vacation off with everyone tired and cranky. Make the trip part of the vacation. (Definitely get reservations or at least have hotel listings so you can start calling when you're about 2 hours from needing to stop.)

 

[tardin1964]

tigger&tiggerlover & Sandi


Thanks for both your advice. Since I was thinking of leaving on Friday night I figure my DD's will most likely sleep for a good 8 hours. If we make down to Georgia or even Jacksonville early afternoon on Saturday we will have that afternoon to rest and that evening to get a goods night sleep and then continue on to WDW. We weren't planning to do much on Sunday at WDW other than explore the WL, maybe go swimming and/or explore the other hotels that are around the MK area. We would then get a good nights sleep on Sunday and start out at on of the parks first thing Monday morning. Hopefully by Monday morning we will feel no ill effects from the trip.

That's what we were thinking anyway. Given your input I will think about what's best a little more.

 

[akrake]

with our 3 & 6 yr olds from new orleans to orlando in one day...we left around 5am and they slept until around 6:30am. we didn't stop until around 8am. it took us until around 4pm to get to the hotel. i have friends that drive from north louisiana & leave around 4am & dont' stop until new orleans (6 hours). you may do better & be less tired if you pick up the sleep children around 4 & head out then.
akrake

 

[MinnieGi]

We live in DE and we drove in Feb. I think you have set up reasonable rest time by stopping early afternoon and not leaving until the next day for the rest of the drive to WDW I'll tell yo why I would not do it. We found once we got down past MD the rest areas are not like up north where gas, food, and restrooms can be found right at one spot. The rest areas in VA - FL only have restrooms and vending machines. You must exit the highway to get gas and food. While that's not a major problem during the day. At night it might be hard to find a gas station when you need one. Also in the NC & SC area the exits seem farther apart with not all of them containing services such as gas and food.

Now that being said we did drive overnight coming back from WDW, but by the time we were in the "wee" hours we were up north in more populated area where there were plenty of service stations.

Also I'm not sure a night's sleep in a car seat will be that restful for your children. Our DD (3yo) has taken several long road trips and she never sleeps as long as she would at home such as for naps just because of the position she is in. We usually travel mostly during the day and DD does great with activities that I have for her and movies on the DVD player. (the DVD is probably a life saver!!!)

Good luck with your decision and your drive!

 

[CamColt]

We have driven from MA 3 times now. We go straight through and its about a 24 hour ride. My kids, who arent the easiet kids in the world, do pretty well. They are now 6 1/2 & 3 1/2, but we have done it for the past 3 years.
We bring pillows for their heads and sweatshirts in case they get cold. They sleep great and when we arrive we are all so pumped, nobodys tired.
For the awake hours, a tv/vcr is priceless, and lot of their favorite snacks help too.

 

[Wislodgers]

We have driven at least 8 times with our children, straight through. They are now 12, 10 and 4. The 4 year old has been 5 times. We started taking the kids to Disney before the youngest was even born. We drive straight through, it is about a 28-30 hour drive. We leave early afternoon and get in early evening on the 2nd day. They are not quiet, placid children......but they are great travelers! We love our TV/DVD unit in our Suburban. We previously had a tv/vcr which was great, but the dvd's take up hardly any space. I purchased a cd holder that fit on the visor. I took the dvd's out of the cases and put the holder on the passenger side, it held 10 dvds! 10 videos take up a lot of space.

Our kids do sleep very well while traveling. Also at night we only each drive 2 to 3 hour shifts. We never want to chance the driver getting sleepy.

Have a safe and fun trip!!!

 

[Jynohn]

I agree with the OP's about lack of rest stops as you get further south.

Also be aware that there are MANY trucks on the road during the overnight hours. Sometimes we were the only passenger car on the road, surrounded by those huge trucks. It got pretty nervewracking at times with the way some of them were driving.

I drove straight through the night on my last trip, and I won't do it again, only because it took us a couple of days to get back on schedule and catch up on sleep, so we didn't fully enjoy ourselves at the parks once we got there. I think you're smart to plan a break on the second day before you arrive. Be careful though of changing your mind and driving straight through just so you can get there sooner That's what we did, and we regretted it later.

Have a safe and wonderful trip!

 

[wdwmom2]

I have done this same thing several times in the past. I live in PA and we would leave at 9 pm drive straight through and get to Kissimmee at noon the next day. The children were young and slept most of the way. It is a very tiring drive!!!!! If you do not want to stop and are tired you may want to try some Vivarin, caffeine pills. Not that I think that this is a great answer to want to drive when you are tired. But if you are as obsessed as I was to get to where I was going, they do work. I did get jittery when they were wearing off. Please, nobody flame me for taking a stay awake pill. Whatever you do, drive careful. You have little ones with you. If you get tired just pull into a hotel.

 

[FOTM_Ring_Bearer]

We've been driving straight though for several years now. Our last trip we left on a Friday @ 5pm and arrived at WDW @ 7:45am. Our DD's are great travelers and they'll sleep in the car most of the night.

This trip I had almost everything packed days before we left. That way, on the day we left we weren't rushed to get everything ready. The drive isn't too bad if you're not tired when you leave.

The nice thing about driving at night is the traffic is really light and you can make really good time. We stop at the reststops for bathroom breaks, not the gas stations. Most of the reststops are nice and clean where as the gas stations are usually terrible. My DH plans out gas stops at the larger towns. There's usually stations open all night there.

 

[tardin1964]

Thanks everyone for all the input. I'm still leaning towards driving through the night. You all gave me a lot to think about though.

 

[manning]

Be aware of one thing. If you fall asleep behind the wheel, you won't know it. It happened to me once. I didn't know I feel asleep until I heard the scrapping sound against the snow bank. After that I stop for the night. It isn't worth it.

Also if you are going in the fall, you may run into fog. Possibly thick. One time I had to wait to about 10 am for it to burn off.

 

[tigger&tigerlover]

And don't hestitate to pull over if you get sleepy. Trying to drive in the middle of the night when you're very tired is a Bad Thing.

Have a contingency plan, and a list of hotels that are on the way just in case you discover that you can't keep awake.

Good luck!

 

[goofy4tink]

We are in the planning stages for our trip this coming summer. I don't think we want to take the all night drive route. I'm just waaay too old for that. We plan on driving 10 hrs. to about Rocky Mount, stopping and sleeping for about 6 hrs. and then hit the road again really early, about 3 am. That way we can be in WDW mid afternoon. I've been on the road late at night with those trucks and they scare the bejeebers out of me. And I love to drive!! I realize that most of the truckers are excellent drivers but still....they scare me.

 

[Tinkerbelle739]

tardin, we are also from Central NJ. We are leaving Oct1 at 3am. Our first stop will be for breakfast after we leave the D.C. area. We are stopping in Santee, SC for the night and continuing on to Disney.

We are from Burlington County, you?

GF - Sago Cay - Lagoon View 11/00
POR - 10/03

Wishing everyone a "magical day"

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

We drove last time- it was about 22hrs. We didn't stay in a hotel- but you really have to judge that by your own family and sounds like your plan to drive at night and have an "off" day not even there yet, stay in a hotel, and then have a "relaxing day" the first day there is a good one.

We started out early in the morning, drove during the day (ofcourse stopping very often with bathroom breaks, ate at fast food restaurants and let the kids play in the indoor playgrounds for awhile each time, changing diapers, etc.) and then continued on through the night. It worked for US because the kids always do well in the car (only have to REALLY make sure we kept the youngest busy- we brought toys, those markers that won't mark anything but the paper they work with... which is great- no worrying about marking clothes, body, etc. LOL, and a tv/vcr with lots of their favorite tapes) and because I'm a night person- I really was back then more so than I am now. (I'm sleeping more normal hours now LOL) So DH drove mostly during the day- I drove mostly at night- and wasn't the least bit tired.
The ONLY bad thing about that drive was driving across that long bridge in pitch dark and sprinkling. I had never driven over such a long bridge in my life! It was kinda scary... and everyone was asleep and it was very windy. The entire time all I could think about is if we go off into the water for some reason- DH would be surprised since he's asleep and how we'd get 3 kids out of carseats to safety/etc. Nerve wracking! But I think it was only the conditions at the time and not expecting such a long long long bridge. On the way back during the day it was no biggie. LOL

Oh and yes, we did notice there are really long stretches (atleast coming from Texas) without gas stations/etc.

Anyway, when we arrived *I* was kinda tired -just as I would be any day at that time of morning if not asleep. LOL Everyone else was fine- lots of energy. The last few hours in the morning DH drove again and I tried to nap. LOL

Good luck with your drive! It really wasn't that bad at all for us- but DH wanted to fly this time.... so we're flying this time. Next time we'll be driving again- with the travel trailer!

 

[CDisney]

I enjoy driving through the night when we drive to Disney from Central New York. We leave about 6 p.m. so the kids sleep through the night and we arrive the next day in time for supper and a good night's sleep.

Consider borrowing books on cassette from your favorite library to keep you awake through the night. I do most of the night time driving and the books keep my mind active so I don't doze.

Even if you're not prone to falling asleep while driving, you can't predict other drivers, so do keep a safe distance between you and other vehicles. Each trip, we've seen at least two major accidents that appeared to be caused by sleepy drivers.

 

[Jon99]

We drive thru the night when we go and my biggest fear is hitting a deer, so I usually find a semi going about 75 MPH and follow him...