Leave for Disney 4am Sat. or 1pm Fri?

[angiedora]

I have ressie at WL for Sat.-Wed.
We will either leave home at 4am Saturday, drive straight to Disney just in time to get cleaned up and make it to our 5:40pm Boma ADR and then go to Campfire at 7pm. OR........
Leave home at 1pm Friday(if kids stay till 12:30 it counts as present at school) drive till 7pm or so, stay at a hotel somewhere off of I95. Then get up and drive from 10am to 2pm and arrive at WDW a little less tired.
In case it helps, we're traveling with me, DH, DD9, and DS8. Also, either way we will end up arriving around 2pm. TIA!!

 

[safetymom]

I would leave on Friday. That is a lot to do on Saturday.

 

[undertheseas]

Definitely on Friday! Otherwise you'll spend Friday night at home laying in bed wishing you had already left and watching the clock waiting for 4:00

 

[angiedora]

Definitely on Friday! Otherwise you'll spend Friday night at home laying in bed wishing you had already left and watching the clock waiting for 4:00

LOL! I'm already doing that and I still have 3 weeks to wait!! You're both right, we should leave Friday. Now to find a decent place to stay thats about 3 or 4 hours from WDW. Coming from ATL area. Any suggestions?

 

[mickeyfan2]

I vote for Friday at 1 p.m. You will be less stressed and more rested - so enjoy your vacation more.

 

[MEK]

I vote for Friday, too! I hate to drive, so breaking up the ride would work best for me. Have fun!

____________________________________________________
Max is my favorite cat!

 

[Avalanche]

Friday. You didn't say where you are coming from. We like to stop in Savannah, which is about 5 hours from DW. There are coupon books you can pick up at the rest stops and gas stations that have great hotel deals.

 

[milmore104]

I agree w/ leaving Fri. but why stop at 7pm? If your only 4 hours form WDW why not keep driving? It will only be 11pm. If you can't get a room at your resort stay off property for the night. That way you can all get a good nights sleep and wake up in Disney. You wouldn't have to drive 4 more hours and you'd be able to hit the parks earlier.

 

[angiedora]

Friday. You didn't say where you are coming from. We like to stop in Savannah, which is about 5 hours from DW. There are coupon books you can pick up at the rest stops and gas stations that have great hotel deals.

We're coming from the Atlanta area so Savannah is actually doable. Where do you stay cheaply?

 

[angiedora]

I agree w/ leaving Fri. but why stop at 7pm? If your only 4 hours form WDW why not keep driving? It will only be 11pm. If you can't get a room at your resort stay off property for the night. That way you can all get a good nights sleep and wake up in Disney. You wouldn't have to drive 4 more hours and you'd be able to hit the parks earlier.

That makes sense too. Maybe we should try for 1 night at a value resort.

 

[disnut8]

I don't understand - you're coming from the Atlanta area but you think it's going to take you all day to get to Disney World? And you are going via I95?

I live north of Atlanta. It takes us 7-8 hours. On I75. We usually leave on Friday night after work, stop in Valdosta for the night and then arrive before noon on Saturday.

 

[angiedora]

Really! Only 7-8 hours! I figured 9 plus 1 hour for stops (eating & pottying). I've never been though. Valdosta is what, a 5 hour drive? TIA

 

[ILuvWDWorld]

That's exactly what we're planning to do. We're going to get the kids out of school and drive several hours and sleep at some hotel near the GA/FL line. We had planned to drive straight through, but have changed our minds. We'll all be much more pleasant and rested this way.

 

[aksunshine]

We are 14 hours away. How far is Valdosta form Disney? We may leave Friday afternoon too. Otherwise, we would leavee at 4 AM and arrive around 8PM including stops!

 

[RachelTori]

I do the 4 a.m.!! Lived in Marietta so I-75 was right there. Now over in Gwinett County, a little trickier getting to I-75; but if I leave the house at 4 a.m. - doesn't matter weekday or weekend, I am in WDW before 2!! When my DD is along (just turned 12) she'll sleep in the backseat for at least the 1st 3 hours!! (seat-belted in I want to add!) Makes the ride easier on her too! Our ritual used to be a stop at Starbucks in Tifton; OJ at the Florida Welcome Center; then a stop in Ocala at the Disney Information Center, but that just closed down. Not sure what I'll do without that place

 

[disneysnob]

I would definitely leave on Friday. Driving 9 hours is a piece of cake. We drive from Boston and make it all the way to North Carolina in one day-14 hours. We stay over off I-95, in Fayetteville, and do the remaining hours (about 8-9) the next day. The sooner you get to Disney, the better!!!!! BTW-we have a dvd player in the car to keep the kids (12, 10, 8) busy.

 

[disnut8]

I live about 35 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta. About eight miles north of the Mall of Georgia. From my house to the Valdosta Days Inn on I75 at exit 5 (5 miles from the Florida border), it's four hours. Macon takes us about two hours and then another two to Valdosta. There's plenty of hotel options in Valdosta.

From Valdosta, it's another 3-1/2 to 4 hours to Disney World. We prefer to break up the drive with the overnight stop. We arrive at Disney World raring to go.

The only bad thing is the drive along I75 is utterly boring. There's plenty of rest areas, though. I break it up into chunks - chunk to Macon, chunk to Valdosta, chunk to Gainesville, chunk to Ocala, and then Disney World.

 

[erinz]

IMOP.....

DEFINITELY leave on Friday!!

On Saturday you would be getting up at 3 am, or, if you were my DH, you might not be going to bed at all that night. Unless your body is used to that, even if you sleep in the car, that one night could throw you off for days afterwards.

Three trips ago, we took the red eye from Portland, OR to Orlando. I slept most of the way. But when we checked into our hotel room the next morning, I felt physically horrible. I slept most of the day, and never felt completely "normal" again until two days later.

But that's me. I'm sure many folks on the boards have pulled all nighters, or close to it, and have done just fine.

Good Luck deciding!

 

[scoutsmom99]

I would leave on Friday also and drive (if possible) to WDW area and stay offsite or try and get a value resort for Friday night. That way you won't be so tired on Saturday night from a day of traveling.

 

[adisneymama]

If you decide to drive all the way and stay offiste for the first night, there is a Comfort Inn right outside the gate of DTD. It is very nice has a security guard as well, right next to grocery stores and restraunts. It is very reasonably priced. We used to live in Dothan, AL which is 5 hrs to WDW and we would always leave around 8 pm so that DD who at the time was 14 mos first trip and 2 yo second trip would sleep the majority of the drive. We stayed at the Comfort Inn Lake Buena Vista both times and it was nice to get some sleep wake up and drive right into the gates of Disney and go check into our resort and start our day. Good Luck I think it was around $69/nt with AAA.