For those who have driven 18+ hours

[mshanson3121]

Some questions

We'll have two drivers. We're driving from Northeast Maine, taking the 95 down to around Hartford, then getting off onto the 84 to 81 to 77. Roughly 27 hours. Two kids (8 & 5).

I'm just curious what your best advice is for doing the drive? We've talked about trying to drive through the night while the kids sleep, but how's that work? Wouldn't the kids just end up being wide awake while you're absolutely exhausted?

For anyone who has driven this route, do you have any good tips on rest stops? Any points of interest that are "must-sees?" We do want to check out the Luray Caverns on our way home.

 

[nugov2]

We drove straight thru. We left at 7pm by 11 the kids were asleep. The kids didn't wake until 5am when we stopped for gas. We ate and they dozed on and off until 8 and then were up. We stopped 4 or 5 times total on the whole trip until we got Florida total at 3pm. We were in Clearwater for a couple of days before we headed to WDW. The kids were great. We were in bed by 8pm that night slept until about 7am and we're fully charged. My kids were 2, 6 and 8 at the time.

 

[bumbershoot]

I stopped driving straight through for that distance by the time I hit 20. It's just not safe. Stay the night somewhere.

 

[marius97]

I stopped driving straight through for that distance by the time I hit 20. It's just not safe. Stay the night somewhere.

Absolutely agree...DW and I still joke about the radioactive deer we saw in Jacksonville one year at 2:30 am...Don't ask me what it was because we don't know either.

 

[CT Disney]

We drove from Connecticut to WDW on Christmas Day 2014. We decided to do the 21 hour drive over the course of two days. Safety-wise, it just wasn't worth the risk to drive tired.

We are careful to listen to the traffic reports, and if it seems clear we usually head over the GW Bridge in New York, then NJ Turnpike to 95. We stayed the first night in North Carolina. We packed one overnight bag for the NC hotel so we weren't lugging multiple suitcases into the hotel.

When we do long drives we try to have the kids eat all of their meals in the car. Time always goes faster when you're eating, right?!? We only had very short stops for bathroom breaks and stretching our legs. We knew that most restaurants would be closed on Christmas day, so we made sure to pack grinders, fruit, and lots of snacks in our cooler. If you are able to bring a big cooler, I suggest keeping it cold by freezing 8 - 10 water bottles. That keeps the food cold for the first day, and then you can drink the thawed water on day 2 of your drive.

We didn't split our 21 hour drive exactly in half. On the way down, we made the first day longer than the second. We knew we'd be excited on day 1, plus there really was no need to arrive at our NC hotel early. That gave us a shorter day 2...and we got to Disney by 5 pm the next day. On the way home, we did it in reverse and put the shorter driving day first. We didn't leave Disney until around 11 am. We made a breakfast reservation at Boma for the morning of our departure so that we left with full bellies. Our drive that day was about 9 hours so that put us at our hotel at around 8 pm. The final driving day was long, but we just left NC early and sucked it up.

When possible, we try to do the New York, New Jersey portion of our trips on Sunday...far less traffice than on any other day of the week. Above all, we try to enjoy the drive, enjoy being together and just take things as they come. Have fun and be safe!!

 

[dfherrera]

I only drive about 16 hours from NJ so I can't comment from that perspective but we do drive straight through. am the only driver and we leave NJ at 4:00 am and get to Disney about 9-10:00 pm same day.

What I can offer and something we have done since my son was 3 years old (15 now) is have small wrapped presents that he can open along the way. Nothing too big but stuff that will keep your kids interested for 30 minutes to an hour. We also get one of those plastic boxes that have all the sections in them like you would use for fishing hooks or something and fill each with a different snack that the kid likes. Between these two things and his sleeping/movies/headphones - he did great. Now, his cell phone and texting his friends keeps him pretty interested.

We also let him make the "Disney Drive Playlist" on iTunes and download it to my Jeep.

Have a great trip

 

[maxiesmom]

I'm just curious what your best advice is for doing the drive? We've talked about trying to drive through the night while the kids sleep, but how's that work? Wouldn't the kids just end up being wide awake while you're absolutely exhausted?

Apart from the fact that I don't think it is safe to drive all night ( I was in a car when someone who was sure they were fine to drive went off of the road) this would be a big concern. What are the 8 and 5 year olds going to do when mom and dad have to crash after not getting much sleep? Just seems smarter to me to stop at least once, and let everyone get some good rest. 14 hours in the car each day is plenty!

 

[mshanson3121]

Apart from the fact that I don't think it is safe to drive all night ( I was in a car when someone who was sure they were fine to drive went off of the road) this would be a big concern. What are the 8 and 5 year olds going to do when mom and dad have to crash after not getting much sleep? Just seems smarter to me to stop at least once, and let everyone get some good rest. 14 hours in the car each day is plenty!

I guess I should have clarified. I wasn't talking about driving all the way straight through to Disney. I meant just doing our driving hours largely during the evening. So, say, hop in the car at 8:00 pm, someone do the first shift while the other sleeps. Then swap out at some point, drive till around 8:00 while the other one sleeps. Stop get breakfast, have a rest. Drive some more till around afternoon (whenever most check in times are, 3ish?), stop and get a hotel room. Then we could easily make it to FL the next day.

 

[maxiesmom]

After my experience I am a bit leery of having only one driver awake in the car. You see, if my sister hadn't woken up when she had, we would have been in a bad wreck. As it was she woke up and screamed, and jolted the driver awake. It was over in a flash, but we could have had a much worse outcome.

 

[Surfinpiratee]

Some questions

We'll have two drivers. We're driving from Northeast Maine, taking the 95 down to around Hartford, then getting off onto the 84 to 81 to 77. Roughly 27 hours. Two kids (8 & 5).

I'm just curious what your best advice is for doing the drive? We've talked about trying to drive through the night while the kids sleep, but how's that work? Wouldn't the kids just end up being wide awake while you're absolutely exhausted?

For anyone who has driven this route, do you have any good tips on rest stops? Any points of interest that are "must-sees?" We do want to check out the Luray Caverns on our way home.

My boyfriend and I drive straight through switching off, we drive from IIllinois. It's tough but doable. That being said, we're flying next trip lol. I would maybe make a stop...especially with kids

 

[Cando86]

We drive about 18 hours down to Orlando. We stopped after about 12 hours on the first day, leaving at 7am and getting to our hotel for the night around 8 or 9pm (with stops to eat along the way, it took a little longer than 12 hours). It was such a good idea to stop. I know I toyed with the idea of driving straight through but in reality a break is very necessary in my opinion. I also entertained the idea of driving through the night and someone made a good point that doing that will leave you completely exhausted at the start of a busy trip. I don't think starting a Disney trip exhausted is ever a good idea considering how exhausting Disney is in itself.

Good luck! I was afraid the drive would drag on and on but I thought it was a pretty good drive and we're doing it again in September!

 

[Lilliputian]

We used to drive about 20 hours, but now we've moved and live more like 16 hours.

In both cases, we've always done the drive over 2 days, starting in the afternoon the first day. My husband will go to work on Friday and take off some time after lunch. When the drive was further, he'd usually leave right at lunch. We start driving then and make that first drive go at least until midnight when we finally stop and get a room for the night. The second day's drive is shorter and gets us to our destination before supper time.

I try to let the children get lots of physical activity before we leave the first day so that we can be guaranteed a good nap in the afternoon. Then they also fall asleep when it gets dark, so they aren't awake too much of the first day. We do take a DVD player, but we've learned that they won't go to sleep with it on (probably because they don't get to watch much TV in their regular lives), so we don't allow it when they should be sleeping. We don't even get it out until after a good nap the first day.

On the way home, we leave early the first day and again drive until very late that night. Then we only have a few hours ahead of us the second day. It's very nice to get home around lunch time and have lots of time to unpack and wash clothes.

 

[mshanson3121]

On the way home, we leave early the first day and again drive until very late that night. Then we only have a few hours ahead of us the second day. It's very nice to get home around lunch time and have lots of time to unpack and wash clothes.

That's my thing, I would really like to arrive at our rental house no later than 4:00 (which is check in time), so we're not lugging bags and trying to unpack late at night. I think we're going to take 3 days/2 nights. I think my "ideal" is, to get as far as we can the first two days, so that our 3rd day is easier. Hopefully we can sleep in a bit, stay until check out time and then hopefully only have 4 or 5 hours driving. Which means we need roughly 22 hours driving in two days.

 

[kamik86]

The only way I would do a 20 hour + drive straight through would be with at least 4 people that either could all drive or at least were all older. Even with say a 14 and 16 year old that couldn't drive it could be doable because then you could have each driver have a partner that would be awake with them whenever they were driving. That person could help watch for signs, check items on the GPS, reset it if a rest stop or gas station was needed and help keep the person that was driving awake while the other two slept in back and then switch off.

 

[Hopefully]

On our first trip years ago now, we drove about 25 hours from MA. The kids were 13, 11 and 7. We took basically the route you mentioned. We left home about 12 midnite and drove until the GA/Fla border that first day. The kids slept until around 7, at which time we were south of DC. We stopped for breakfast and drove until about 5 PM. We got a hotel room, went to a nearby restaurant for an early dinner and were in bed at an early hour. DH and I slept well and then the second day was a short drive and we were rested.
As others say all the time, the drive home is harder. We had continued south of WDW for an additional week, so our ride home was longer. We again left about midnight and drove until we were in PA. The second day was longer than the trip down, but we made it safely
That all said, we always flew after that
Now that retirement nears, we have talked about driving again, but taking several days for the trips. Our DS lives in MD so we would stop there for a day or two and we have good friends in GA, so a rest stop again. In this scenario the trip becomes part of the vacation
Good Luck

 

[ParrotBill]

We did the drive straight through (from Upstate NY, about the same as your drive) about 10 years ago when we were in our 40s and said we would not do it again with 2 drivers. Same as others here. Don't feel safe at night with only one adult driver awake. The kids do sleep. But it's hard and we were both feeling unsafe after 5am. Now we stay over on the way.

 

[Pembo]

We've driven from Ohio many times. It's about 17 hours for us. We typically drive about 12-14 hours the first day which leaves a half days drive. We usually leave around 7 am and go til 8 or 9 pm - when we can't go anymore. We take lots of food in the car. Eat a picnic lunch somewhere and stop for dinner at a fast food place. My kids like to swim so we made sure our hotel had a pool.

The drive home is the worst! It feels like it takes twice as long. We typically leave FL before lunch, drive until 9 or 10 at night and up and out by 8 the next day. We started driving when our kids were 2, 6, and 8. They are now 12, 16, 19. Have to say they were easier to deal with in the car when they were younger. For the last few years we have flown. It's just so much easier. Takes a bit more planning and saving but it is so worth it. IMHO.

That said, if the only way you can go is drive. Do it! Plan on a few days for the drive down and back. When we drove, we also had at least 10 days for our vacation. We did it once with only a week and all that driving in a short amount of time was pretty brutal.

 

[darrengs]

I only drive about 16 hours from NJ so I can't comment from that perspective but we do drive straight through. am the only driver and we leave NJ at 4:00 am and get to Disney about 9-10:00 pm same day.

This is exactly what we do (although I would prefer to leave around 2:30AM, but it hasn't happened yet). I pack the car as much as I can then go to bed by 10PM, I get up at 2:00AM, shower pack the rest of the car and as soon as everyone else is ready we go.

For entertainment the kids have their video games and movies. Last year the DVD player wasn't used at all, as the kids seemed to prefer watching some movies I had on my iPad, the problem was that there was only one iPAD and the storage on their Nexus tablets is limited. So for this summers trip I bought a HooToo TripMate Nano Wireless N Pocket Travel Router, and I plan to load up some thumb drives with videos, this way they can watch whatever movies they want on their Nexus tablet when they want.