How many of you DISers leave in the middle of the night?

[IvyandLace]

Okay...here's my scenario...I am driving from NC to WDW in September and will be meeting up with my mom and sis as they fly in to Orlando at 11:45am. I have about an 8 1/2 hour drive and was planning on dividing it up as I did last trip to drive the majority of the trip the first day, spend the night somewhere and finish up in the morning, meeting them at ASMu. My husband thinks it better for me to just drive it straight through...starting at around 3:00am to arrive at ASMu around noon. This way I could save one night's room fee....which I think is great...but I'm not sure how I'll feel when I arrive! Has anyone done this before?? I've driven distances greater than that before by myself so that's not a problem...and we're not going to the parks that first day anyway. I'm just interested in hearing from people who has done that before...and any advice they have to offer!

Thanks! IVY

 

[Mouser]

WE have gotten so excited we have left at 3AM before....but we never go the full way, as we are too distant from WDW....we were tired that night, but we survived and since you are not going in the parks, you are not wasting your money on admission..I say go for it...

 

[Chuck S]

When we drive we leave around 3am also, to make it through Houston before the work traffic. It is one of my favorite times of day to drive. Stop for some coffee and a snack about 6am, it will refresh you.

 

[jeagib]

We are planning on leaving @3:30AM CDT from west Tenn. Can we make it to the Disney Center @ Ocala before it closes @6M EDT? Our reservations @ Wilderness lodge are not until the following day and we thought we might get a good rate at a different resort for one night. We decided on the spur of the moment to try this. We will take I40 from Jackson Tn., then I24 out of Nashville to Chatanooga and then on thru Atlanta to Ocala.

Thanks

 

[addicted_to_WDW]

We've only driven down once, and we left at 5:00 to avoid the horrific rush hour traffic in our area. We intended to stop in GA, but were making good time and ended up driving straight through (16 hours). Big mistake--we were tired for the rest of the trip.

 

[cindala]

When we use to drive to WDW, we would leave 2:30am to get past D.C. before the commuter traffic began. We would drive until about 5pm, get to to Santee, S.C. and stay the night. We would get up early and finish the last 3-4 hours the next morning. So our first day stretch was 14 1/2 hours on the road.

So, to me, 8 1/2 hours doesn't seem too bad, and I would go for it. You can always head up to bed a little earlier the night you arrive if you have to, since you won't be visiting any parks.

 

[OKW91]

Since we have retired we drive down twice a year from South Jersey, we leave around 5 AM. This gets us past DC before the rush hour traffic gets to bad, we drive to the Florida/Georgia border, this is about 14 hrs for us, then the next day we arrive in WDW about lunchtime. We did drive straight thru once 17 1/2 hours, we just got so excited we didn't want to stop!!! I will not try that again!

 

[imgoingtodisney]

My MIL drives from her FL winter home to her summer home in MA every spring and from MA to FL every fall. This Oct MIL and husband are driving down and taking 2 nights to do so. (My 9yr son and I are flying down 4 days later). They can do it with 1 overnighter. If I was doing the drive by myself I would prefer the daylight hours.