"For 2,000+ Mile Round-Trip Drivers Only!" (Part V)

[patkingpin]

Starting to freak out a little bit!!! We leave in 2 weeks. We check in the Saturday after Thanksgiving 11/24. We are driving from NJ (about 16hrs) the plan is to leave at 3am Friday morning, drive straight through, arriving in the Disney area sometime Friday evening. We will be staying offsite that night. Anyway. I’m afraid of hitting holiday traffic!! Are people going to be out on the roads the day after Thanksgiving heading back home? I originally thought traffic would be low since most people are off work the day after Thanksgiving. Ugh! Everyone says we should leave earlier, like after Thanksgiving dinner and drive through the night or at least as far as we can go. I honestly wasn’t keen on this from the start because I know I will NOT be able to sleep in a car and I’m afraid my kids won’t either. Everyone says they are kids they will eventually fall asleep. ‍ I don’t know what to do! Should we leave the night before or stick with our original plan? Any advice? Thank you!

Don't worry about the kids. We leave between 2am and 3am when we drive from Buffalo. The kids stay awake for maybe the first 15 minutes of the trip and then they sleep until about 8am. Even after waking up and eating breakfast, they usually are still pretty tired one the road and usually take a nap at some point during the remainder of the trip. Like someone else said, when they get restless find a rest stop and let them walk or stretch their legs. You will find they handle the trip a lot better than you think they will.

 

[deedeew80]

Don't worry about the kids. We leave between 2am and 3am when we drive from Buffalo. The kids stay awake for maybe the first 15 minutes of the trip and then they sleep until about 8am. Even after waking up and eating breakfast, they usually are still pretty tired one the road and usually take a nap at some point during the remainder of the trip. Like someone else said, when they get restless find a rest stop and let them walk or stretch their legs. You will find they handle the trip a lot better than you think they will.

Thank you so much for the reassurance!! I needed it! 2 weeks out and things are getting real! Lol!

 

[patkingpin]

Thank you so much for the reassurance!! I needed it! 2 weeks out and things are getting real! Lol!

No worries. We leave tomorrow night so I know the struggle, haha. My kids are 9 and 5 right now, but we have made the drive six times already. They have been great every time. Once you get going, make it fun. I find the drive memories just as memorable as the Disney memories.

 

[Spaceace5150]

Starting to freak out a little bit!!! We leave in 2 weeks. We check in the Saturday after Thanksgiving 11/24. We are driving from NJ (about 16hrs) the plan is to leave at 3am Friday morning, drive straight through, arriving in the Disney area sometime Friday evening. We will be staying offsite that night. Anyway. I’m afraid of hitting holiday traffic!! Are people going to be out on the roads the day after Thanksgiving heading back home? I originally thought traffic would be low since most people are off work the day after Thanksgiving. Ugh! Everyone says we should leave earlier, like after Thanksgiving dinner and drive through the night or at least as far as we can go. I honestly wasn’t keen on this from the start because I know I will NOT be able to sleep in a car and I’m afraid my kids won’t either. Everyone says they are kids they will eventually fall asleep. ‍ I don’t know what to do! Should we leave the night before or stick with our original plan? Any advice? Thank you!

I like your plan! We just made a 16-17 hour trip so know what you're going through. We left at 5 a.m. and did it in one day.

This may sound silly my wife found a neck pillow that came with a nighttime eye cover which made getting a rest in the car a lot easier.

Have fun!

 

[Cheerio]

I also love to put on podcasts if they are getting whiny, puts them to sleep in no time, hahaa! Mine are older now, but they loved new toys that they didn't have at home, playing the license plate game, mostly just looking out the window watching everything.

 

[deedeew80]

Thanks so much everyone! I have a ton of surprise activities and games for the kids, plus what they will bring with them. Coloring books, games, tablets, DVD players, books, etc. Hopefully that will keep them busy. Oh and lots of snacks!

 

[BC1836]

We leave in three weeks for drive #6 of 2018. A week at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Can’t wait!

Your drive will be a record breaker (see page 1). Safe travels.

All the best!

 

[isabellea]

Planning another drive from Montreal, QC to Florida! Usually we leave around 1pm and drive to WDW straight-thru to arrive around 4pm the next day but this time we are visiting my parents in Fort Lauderdale first so the extra hours of driving made us re-think our plan. So for now the plan is to leave at 3am and stop around Florence, SC (16h drive) for the night. I hope we won't regret our decision! For the return from WDW, we are probably driving it straight without any overnight stop as we usually do.

 

[reisfamily]

Does anyone know if i75 south in Detroit is fully open now? I have only seen information about sections of it being open but it was to be fully open in november. Trying to determine if we should just cross in Sarnia again.

 

[MikeF;NJ]

Does anyone know if i75 south in Detroit is fully open now? I have only seen information about sections of it being open but it was to be fully open in november. Trying to determine if we should just cross in Sarnia again.

I'm not familiar with Michigan, but I found this map by the Michigan DOT which should give you what you're looking for:

https://mdotjboss.state.mi.us/MiDrive/map#

Once the map comes up, in the menu at the top left of the map, click on the traffic cone icon, then you can zoom in to whatever section of the state you're interested in. If you click on the markers on the map, they will describe whatever closure or construction they are referring to, including closure and reopen dates. I did see a section of SB I-75 just south of Detroit that is closed and not expected to reopen until November 30.

 

[reisfamily]

I'm not familiar with Michigan, but I found this map by the Michigan DOT which should give you what you're looking for:

https://mdotjboss.state.mi.us/MiDrive/map#

Once the map comes up, in the menu at the top left of the map, click on the traffic cone icon, then you can zoom in to whatever section of the state you're interested in. If you click on the markers on the map, they will describe whatever closure or construction they are referring to, including closure and reopen dates. I did see a section of SB I-75 just south of Detroit that is closed and not expected to reopen until November 30.

Thank you! That is what I was looking for. Guess we will miss the reopening going south by a week.

 

[BC1836]

Since moving to FL last December, we have made 25 visits/stays at WDW parks, and we just returned home from an overnighter at the GFR, marking our 100th Disney park stay/visit. Of course, after creating this thread in 2007, and making 46 2,000+ mile round trip drives, our one-hour drives are quite different. Ya think?

Yesterday at the GFR, a monorail door fell off, and the system was shut down for a while. A cruiser was added to the launch crafts to ease the backup at the landing dock.

This morning we saw the gingerbread house opening ceremony, a festive event!

MK was packed today. Longest line ever for the People Mover!

Gas at WDW Speedway: $2.39.

All the best!

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Planning another drive from Montreal, QC to Florida! Usually we leave around 1pm and drive to WDW straight-thru to arrive around 4pm the next day but this time we are visiting my parents in Fort Lauderdale first so the extra hours of driving made us re-think our plan. So for now the plan is to leave at 3am and stop around Florence, SC (16h drive) for the night. I hope we won't regret our decision! For the return from WDW, we are probably driving it straight without any overnight stop as we usually do.

Wow!! I thought driving straight through from MA was a long ride. I can’t imagine doing it from Canada! How many hours does it take you?

 

[isabellea]

Wow!! I thought driving straight through from MA was a long ride. I can’t imagine doing it from Canada! How many hours does it take you?

Montreal-WDW is over 1400 miles or a 22h30 drive according to Google Maps but we usually plan for 27h total as we like to stop for a sit down dinner after we leave and when the kids are awake, we stop every 2-3h at a rest area to run, jump, play soccer and go to the restroom. Now that my youngest is 6yo we are thinking of not stopping as often. The best would be to bring a picnic but we cannot cross the US border with meat or fresh produce so it's not an option.

DH usually starts with the driving at 1 pm until dinner, then I take over until midnight. During the night, we switch as soon as we feel tired so it can be every 3-4h or every hour. In the past we also stopped to take a nap. We like leaving at 1pm because when it's nighttime, we are not too tired as we don't have a full driving day in us. This schedule also allow us to eat dinner at WDW!

 

[deedeew80]

Looking for hotel recommendations for area about an hour away from Disney. We will be driving down from NJ so coming from I-95 to I-4. Nothing too expensive. Thanks!

 

[Cheerio]

Looking for hotel recommendations for area about an hour away from Disney. We will be driving down from NJ so coming from I-95 to I-4. Nothing too expensive. Thanks!

Daytona Beach is nice. It's about an hour away.

 

[nono]

Looking for hotel recommendations for area about an hour away from Disney. We will be driving down from NJ so coming from I-95 to I-4. Nothing too expensive. Thanks!

Try Lake Mary area.

 

[Disneyonmymind]

Howdy! Just back after a one-nighter at the GFR via 429 and the FL TPK. Construction at the World Drive MK entrance continues, and the curvy detour road to the MK resorts remains a challenge for first timers.

All the best!

We are driving from the North and thinking to take 429 instead of I4. Does anyone know - Have they finished this construction?

 

[deedeew80]

Hi everyone! What are the odds of getting a hotel for the night without reserving ahead of time? We are driving from NJ and are hoping to make it all the way, however, if we decide we need to stop for the night we will. Any thoughts? Experience? Thanks!

 

[BC1836]

Hi everyone! What are the odds of getting a hotel for the night without reserving ahead of time? We are driving from NJ and are hoping to make it all the way, however, if we decide we need to stop for the night we will. Any thoughts? Experience? Thanks!

The odds will always be against you; however, they will be a bit less if you travel on a non Holiday and between Sunday night and Thursday night.

During our 46 round trip drives from NJ to WDW, we nearly always made a reservation in advance, based upon the place we expected to get to if we were doing an overnight stay (we also did over a dozen straight-thru drives), like Pooler, GA; or Yulee, Palm Coast, or Deltona, FL. And we made these reservations on the road, usually before 6 p.m. There is no worse feeling than driving to hotels and asking for a reservation that doesn't exist. We experienced that on our first drive in 2002.

Note #1: we have made multiple reservations in the past, cancelling the other(s) based upon whether we could reach a certain Holiday Inn by a certain time. Check with each hotel if your decide to try that since all hotels have different refund policies based upon different times.

Note #2: Staying at Yulee, for example, will give you a three-hour drive to WDW.

Good luck.

All the best!