Late night Driving strategies

[NewEnglandCamper]

Anyone have any driving strategies going from Mass. to Florida?
I'm thinking about leaving at 12 midnight and going until the afternoon the next day....

How do I keep awake? Do I stay up all night the night before and sleep during the day?

Any tips or success stories

 

[jlewisinsyr]

If you are unsure if you can keep awake, don't do it, it's dangerous for you and those on the road with you. There really is nothing sure fire that will allow you to just burn through the night.

Trying to sleep during the day may have limited benefit as you are trying to force your body into a different schedule, almost like jetleg, but without the flying. Soda/Caffeine is not all that effective either, especially if you already drink caffeine on a regular basis.

 

[maxiesmom]

My only tip is to keep some extra $$ on hand for a hotel, just in case you need to stop. Don't push yourself, and keep going if you are to tired, it is just not safe!

Only you know for sure how awake you usually are late at night. As I have to typically get up at 4am for work every day, I am in bed around 8ish. There is no way I would try driving overnight! Early hours of the morning, I'm your girl! 10pm or so, no way! Ask yourself if your body can really handle driving that late at night for that long, or if it will be a huge struggle.

 

[aubriee]

Please don't try it. The only people that should be driving at night are the people who normally work the night shift. I've worked 11pm-7am for the last 14 years. Now I can't sleep at night but always want a nap in the afternoon. I usually stay awake when I get home and don't go to bed until between 2pm-4pm. I then sleep until 10pm and get up and go to work That is my normal pattern and my body is used to it. Even on my nights off, that is still my regular pattern. I'd have no problem driving midnight until afternoon. My body used to it. Yours is not and you can not make your body change it's normal biorhythms just by trying to sleep one day. It doesn't work like that. Your body knows when it's supposed to be asleep.

For example, when I'm at WDW, no matter how exhausted and full I am at night, I guarantee you I am going to wake up at 2:00am and want something to eat. That is my normal dinner time. Once I'm awake, I'm usually awake for the rest of the night, even though I feel tired. Even if I go to bed at midnight I'll still wake up at 2:00am. Around 2pm-4pm every afternoon I can feel myself sinking and know I need a nap. With my job sometimes we have classes we have to go to during the day that are 8a-5p. They are torture. You can always tell the people that normally work night shift. Even if we get off the night before our bodies are just not trained to stay awake during the day (just like yours is not trained to stay awake at night).

As someone who had some good friends killed by a driver who went to sleep at the wheel and ran into them, don't take a chance with your life or someone else's.

 

[double r]

As others have said if you are not used to this it might not be a good idea, I would try to leave early in the morning instead but then you have to plan to deal with work traffic around major cities.
I drive at night for work and have been doing this since 1988 and trust me I see plenty of people who think they can do this and we can tell when you are in trouble, plus the accidents I have seen would make you think otherwise.
If you try this try to have someone to switch driving with as then you can grab a nap just make sure they are rested also.

 

[HHSTigerFan]

Go to bed very early, wake up, leave around 2:00AM... excitement of trip will keep you awake for a few hours, soon after the sun will be coming up..

 

[kydisneyfans]

My only tip is to keep some extra $$ on hand for a hotel, just in case you need to stop. Don't push yourself, and keep going if you are to tired, it is just not safe!

Only you know for sure how awake you usually are late at night. As I have to typically get up at 4am for work every day, I am in bed around 8ish. There is no way I would try driving overnight! Early hours of the morning, I'm your girl! 10pm or so, no way! Ask yourself if your body can really handle driving that late at night for that long, or if it will be a huge struggle.

That's me. I usually leave for work around 3:00 AM. It's not ironic that we leave for Disney at 3:00 AM also. Always sleep as long as possible before departing. For me I keep the air cool, a cold sweet tea close, and some upbeat music. If I need a good laugh, then I put MSNBC on the XM radio.

 

[crzy4dsny]

Give it a shot, you won't know till you try. BUT DO NOT CONTIUE TO DRIVE IF YOU START TO DOZE OFF! I also have seen people falling asleep swerving back and forth hitting the rumble strip and eventually crashing. I have left at midnight and it worked out perfectly for me. 16.5 hours from central Long Island. I don't drink coffee so some high caffeine drinks really work for me. I also routinely work overtime thru the night. I start work at 5:00 am and work straight thru until 2:00pm the next day. I have been doing this for many years So my body is adapted to staying awake for very long periods of time.

 

[jamelynn24]

We do this every year when we drive from Chicago. We leave at 4pm, stop for dinner, then the kids fall asleep and sleep all night. I start driving between 2-4am. My husband drinks monsters and downloads a ton of podcasts from church and Disney ones, too. He's never had trouble staying awake! For us, the less time the kids are awake, the better! This makes for an enjoyable drive for all of us

 

[NewEnglandCamper]

ok - I went to bed at 3PM and slept until about 6PM... i was exhausted from our busy Saturday... but 6PM-9PM was tossing and turning... We left at 1030pm... I was fine until 7am... I crashed and pulled over for a nap and dozed off for about 1 hour... had some breakfast and I was fine for the rest of the day... went 1000 miles... MA to GA... unreal... When I'm tired I drive much much slower... actually got better gas mileage...

I agree if you are tired don't do it!

 

[ParrotBill]

I love that your original post was at 3:15am.

Are you the only driver? My wife and I pulled off driving through overnight from Rochester NY a few years ago. But we don't plan on doing it again.

We left about 4pm. I drove the first 4 or 5 hours, she took over for a few, then I drove the ghost ship through the twisty mountains of WV while everyone slept... that was not fun but I was awake. At 5am she took over in SC. The hardest part of the trip was the last 4 hours in Florida. We started switching drivers every hour because we were both feeling worn out.

We had plenty of cold drinks and snacks, and music to play.

 

[NewEnglandCamper]

Yes... I had insomnia / excitement the few days that was why the original post was at 315am.

The good news was that the kids were tired and basically quiet the first 16 hours of the trip! The last 5 (after a stayover) were very LOUD. The excitement was too much... Now we are sadly planning our trip home. We are planning 12 / 12 during normal daylight hours.

 

[crazelion]

I would not drive at night if I am not use to it. I do all my driving in the daylight hours. I do whole 10 hours with one driver with 3 kids and my mom. One reasons is I can't really see at night either.

The plan is this year leave after mom gets off of work and kids get out school. I work the early morning shift and we leave around about 7:00 a.m. should be WDW before night fall.

My goal is this do half driving 5 hours on the first day. Dinner will be on the road

 

[ready2vacation]

Thank you for posting this! I'm still debating what we will do on Thursday - we have about a 12 hour drive and thought about going to bed when our baby does (7:30 PM) and then leaving about 1 AM. However, after thinking it through and reading what others have posted, we may leave right after work, drive until midnight and then stop for the night in south GA.

I'm pretty good about driving at night, but I actually worry more about who else is no the road with me at the time of night (others falling asleep, drunks...)

 

[thumbalyna]

I drive straight through from northeast pa. We leave between 2-3 am and arrive around 8-9pm we stop for gas and lunch

 

[Salrx95]

I would try leaving at 3am like we did. Went to bed real early, got my 6 hours of sleep. Drove all day from Ct. Stayed in SC. though we will go to around Savannah this time when we go in February.

Left 8am on ride home and drove straight thru. I won't do that this time. If we drive straight on way home just to get home, I will let wife drive some while I sleep.
This time, we might spend half a day in Orlando on last day or meet up with family in Jacksonville, then drive to somewhere near Virginia and stay over.

 

[TomD]

Driving from NH we usually leave @ 4am and drive to Rock Hill SC and spend the night. From there it is a 8 hour drive(really it is 10 hours with stops) to Disney.