MAximum travel time

[Ozgood]

It's amazing the "Energy" driving TO Disney as opposed to driving home FROM Disney.

This is so true! We are splitting it upngoing home, lol

 

[morrik5]

We live just east of Toronto, Ontario and take 2 stopovers on the way down before we hit Fort Wildnerness the next day. I recently mapped out our trip for next year and are travelling a total of 1339 miles : 8 hours (506 miles) the first day and 8 1/2 hours the next (555 miles) and then a little over 4 hours (277 miles) the final day when we reach WDW. With only one driver it gives him a time to rest, get gas and have a bite to eat.

 

[rideswithchrist]

Just South of Austin here too, it took us a full two days to get there this last time because we left so late and stopped (small kids) so often.
We don't drive well at night so even though mapquest says it should be 17 hours, they don't take into account the horrid traffic jams in Beaumont or pee breaks/get out of the car and stretch breaks with kids...it takes us a good 20-22 hours to get there and we don't drive much at night so that's two days.
We stopped twice and it took 2 entire days to get there, left Friday early afternoon, checked in Sunday around 2ish. The way home, we left at 6pm after a full day at AK and drove to Tallahassee, slept and then stopped again the next day in Houston, not because we had to but because we stayed with family.

For us though, stopping to check out neat stuff is part of the trip and if we are towing this next time, I am adding in a few extra hours for slowing down.

 

[Bb3300]

We are from Colorado and we put in a 14 hour day once. It was a TERRIBLE idea. I don't recommend it.

 

[Kidatheart2010]

We are only 409 miles from the gate at the fort. It takes about 8 hours to make that trip. 38 foot MH pulling a Jeep Liberty. I have driven from San Antonio all the way back to Paxton Florida in one 20 hour day. I wouldn't recommend it. The last 100 miles was torture. Give yourself time. 8 hours is about the limit with a few short stops for us. Safety first. fatigue is a killer. I salute the campers that drive from such long distances. The Fort is worth the drive, but man yall come from way out there.


3 Days 18 Hours & 30 minutes till we are back!!

 

[jknezek]

We've done 800 miles in one day three times in our 1976 GMC motorhome. Given I keep it between 60 and 65 it is over 12.5 hours of driving time, plus 2 or 3 stops for food, gas, and stretching. I remember those trips ran to 14 or 15 hours all-in. I'm the sole driver, while my wife takes care of the kids (3) and pets (2). Frankly, even though 2 of the 3 times we left at 2 a.m. so the kids and wife slept for the first 5 hours, it was just too far for me. We did the 640 miles to The Fort in one day this time around. All in took about 11 hours with just one stop for breakfast and gas. That's pretty much my maximum going forward. I start getting punchy if I go too much farther, and it's just not worth it, but I'm also not willing to let my trips to The Fort be put off by another stop on the way down. If we leave at 2 a.m. CST, we can be at the park by 2 or 3 p.m. EST. It's kind of a perfect run.

 

[Djt227]

We're going to be driving from Philly to the Fort which GPS puts us at about 15 hrs. Planning on leaving early Saturday morning to get a lot of hours in before stopping at a hotel that night. We don't want to have more than a couple hours drive time before arriving at FW on Sunday. Is early check-in a possibility? What do you think are our chances of being able to get our site before 1? We're just using tents so the more time the better to set up

 

[serenitygr]

Up here in northern Minnesota puts us at about 1800 miles... thankfully dh is an over the road truck driver, so he's very comfortable with the whole experience- he doesn't even need a map! This fall we're hoping to leave home Thursday and check in Sunday

 

[Betty Rohrer]

We're going to be driving from Philly to the Fort which GPS puts us at about 15 hrs. Planning on leaving early Saturday morning to get a lot of hours in before stopping at a hotel that night. We don't want to have more than a couple hours drive time before arriving at FW on Sunday. Is early check-in a possibility? What do you think are our chances of being able to get our site before 1? We're just using tents so the more time the better to set up

not sure but if someone had the site night before you arrive they have until 11 am to check out. as you say takes you longer to set up but person ahead of you has the right until 11

 

[Teamubr]

10 hours is what I like to stay under. On the trip to the Fort, I like to leave after work on Thursday (I can't wait until the next morning). We drive to a campground in Clarksville, TN. Easy pull throughs, right off the highway for overnighters. It is about 4 hours. On Friday, we drive down somewhere near the Florida border and then a quick couple of hours to the Fort. This year we are staying Thursday night past Nashville and Friday at Lake Louisa SP about 30 minutes from the Fort. That makes the second leg to LLSP leg 10-11 hours, but an early arrival to the Fort on Saturday.

Coming home, we typically drive straight through. 1004 miles, generally, with stops, about 17 hours.

j

 

[gillenkl]

Day 1, 12 hours - Day 2, 6 hours

 

[team bradfield]

350 miles, 400 at most, I'm on vacation. 3.3 day drive, leave saturday morning, check in on tuesday before noon. 9 days at the fort, then 3.5 days driving back. nice and relaxing. 2400 round trip

 

[Jason Reedy]

Our trip is in June...we will travel 6 hours to a KOA on the way, and then the other 5 hours the next day. I don't want to show up exhausted from driving. 5 or 6 hours is plenty for us...but that is just us.

 

[peg110]

not sure but if someone had the site night before you arrive they have until 11 am to check out. as you say takes you longer to set up but person ahead of you has the right until 11

Or longer. It's not like they have someone checking every site at 11 to make sure they are out. What it is, is that they have some CM's cleaning/prepping the site for the next guest, so if you are not out at 11 and they are not working in that area and won't get there until Noon, then you could conceivably be there past 11.

Ironically, when we were there last, we were there until about 1130. Although we had all intentions of being out before 11, it just didn't happen. There were no issues though. The official "Check-out" time though is 11.

 

[Cosmic]

We've done two trips from Buffalo to the World, so four drives. It's right around 1,200 miles, and we can make it in around 20 hours with the bare minimum gas and bathroom stops. The first time, we drove straight through both ways. We left around 6 PM. Kids slept through the night; DW and I traded driving and sleeping back and forth. The way down honestly wasn't bad... WE WERE GOING TO DISNEY!!!!! The drive back was awful, because all we had to look forward to was being home! I like West Virginia, but driving through it is terrible; I can be on I-90 about a mile from my house and not see a traffic light until getting off I-4 in Florida... except for West Virginia! It's the only break in the string of megahighways on our shortest route. Next trip, I said we would drive through on the way down, and break up the trip on the way back. Somehow, we ended up stopping to visit friends in VA on the way down, and still driving in one shot on the way back up. This trip, we're spending a night in St. Augustine (still over 1,000 miles) on the way down to the Fort. On the way back, I am going to do my darndest to break it up, but I'm not sure the best way to schedule it with the kids. I like having them sleep through a big chunk of the drive.

 

[FtW Mike]

We're going to be driving from Philly to the Fort which GPS puts us at about 15 hrs. Planning on leaving early Saturday morning to get a lot of hours in before stopping at a hotel that night. We don't want to have more than a couple hours drive time before arriving at FW on Sunday. Is early check-in a possibility? What do you think are our chances of being able to get our site before 1? We're just using tents so the more time the better to set up

Djt we are just south of you in De. My GPS says 15 hours as well but somehow it never takes into account pesky things like Potty, fuel, and food needs. Nor is weather and traffic accounted for. ( At work we went from Down state location to Latrobe Pa once and GPS said 8hrs. Rush hour at DC and Bmore plus blinding rainstorm made it closer to 12 ) Our trip with 2 adults 60+ 3 dogs ( 1 13yrs other 2 1yr ) has us stopping every 2 to 3 hours for a walk around and potty call. I try to do fuel about every 300 miles Coach gets 8.5 mpg So add that time as but at that time our 2 dogs were both 10 and better in coach than younger 2. Day 3 we do stop very early in Jacksonville Campground has lots of nice amenities and a WallyWorld less than a mile away. We stay here 2 or 3 nights so everyone can calm down ( Our 2 cats spend the drive times hiding in the space between bed and floor of the slider and need a day or two to fully adjust to ADVENTURING times and conditions.
Last day is like 180 miles and we do one last fuel stop, one potty stop so it takes us about 4 hours to the gate of FT W.

 

[FtW Mike]

I am late reporting back, but better late than never. We left home January 2nd, later than we had wanted to. We aimed to get on the road by 8am, but pulled out at 10:30am. We drove it straight through from WI to the Fort, but we took turns driving. I'll drive in the desolate areas, he hits the bigger cities. It wasn't that bad. We have a toddler and it was just easier to get the miles in while she was sleeping. We stopped in South Georgia and slept in the truck for a few hours while it rained heavily. After that, we were energized and saw it theough. Before we got to the Fort, we grocery shopped in Ocala and filled up on ice and provisions. Checked in a little after 2pm and got set up fairly quickly. I won't say I didn't melt into my bed later that night, but we both felt fine the next day. In fact, we said we'd do it again!

Reading this I had to laugh. we too had planned to leave at 8 am but out one cat learned that the International Hide and go Seek Championship was our departure day and well he won. Four times we searched the house before we found him in the springs under my wife's Lazy Boy. Next year he goes out first