How much extra time to add to drive time?

[chipper10]

We will be driving to Disney World from the St Louis area. The GPS says the drive will take 15 hrs 58 min. How much extra time do I need to add if we drive over night? We are thinking about leaving home around 7-8pm. We have two younger boys, but we are hoping they will sleep shortly after we leave home. Our younger DS has not been doing well with car rides and this has made us think more about driving overnight.

 

[sam_gordon]

We will be driving to Disney World from the St Louis area. The GPS says the drive will take 15 hrs 58 min. How much extra time do I need to add if we drive over night? We are thinking about leaving home around 7-8pm. We have two younger boys, but we are hoping they will sleep shortly after we leave home. Our younger DS has not been doing well with car rides and this has made us think more about driving overnight.

Driving overnight, barring stopping for naps, should cut time. This has worked pretty good for me for years... # of miles/60. Most of the speed limits will be 70+, but by using 60, it allows for basic stops (fuel & bathroom, grab a sandwich). If you stop for sit down meals, that would add to it.

Another "danger" of driving over night is a lot of construction gets done at night, but that's because traffic is usually less.

I won't even go into the "if you're not used to staying up all night, don't" issue.

 

[kristinanderic]

I'm from the St Louis area and make this journey almost yearly with our kids. We leave around 3 or 4 pm and drive straight through. We arrive at Disney around 8 or 9 am Florida time. We usually stop for dinner, gas, rest areas and breakfast when needed.

Driving through Atlanta in the middle of the night is a must for us, if you ever hit it during rush hour traffic you will never do it again!! Lol

That being said, my husband works midnights so he is used to being up all night. It's a great time for us to bond while the kids sleep. We are flying this year since I scored some cheap airfare and we both commented that we are gonna miss our midnight road trip.

 

[chipper10]

Thanks. I am a little worried about when we will go through Atlanta. I don't get off work until 4:30, so I am unsure what time we will be ready to head out the door.
DH works the late shift at work, so I'm not too worried about the overnight driving. In the past we have left at 3am and stopped somewhere around 7pm, so we can get to Disney early the next morning.
We are thinking that if we drive overnight younger DS will do better with the car ride.