Overnight vs. Daytime Drive

[MayzDisney4]

my daughter always did much better on overnight drives. She was tired enough that she fell asleep and slept a good chunk of our drive. We have a 14 hour drive and we drive straight through. DH and I take turns.

 

[spare+a_pair]

We are driving from TX (about 15 hours) and splitting it into 2 days. Our plan is for me to go to bed early. We will pull out about 3-4 AM with me at the wheel. I will drive until breakfast - about 8:00 - 9:00, the DH will take over. This will be great for us as I can drive through familar territory while DH and the boys sleep.

When our twins were small, I used to drive back home (LA) overnight - about 6 hours. It worked really well; however, there was a set of adoring grandparents on the other end of the trip. I was able to sleep while they cared for the boys; somehow I don't think that will fly in WDW!

 

[chrisw127]

Thanks everyone for you imput. I think we're going to try and leave around 3:00 am. It will probably take around 12-14 hours. I'll do what one of the PPs said and pack some small toys (dollar store stuff) that they can play with and some movies. Hopefully, it won't be too bad.

I think the thing that scared me off of driving overnight was the fear that the kids wouldn't sleep or that my husband and I are just too old for all nighters!

Again, thanks.

 

[liznboys]

When we lived in Maryland and the drive was 14-15 hours we would leave in the morning, drive 10 hours then stop overnight, OR leave in the afternoon drive 5 hours and stop overnight. We hated that overnight stay, but more than 10 hours at once was too much for us.

Now, we live in NC and our drive is 8-9 hours. (We actually did it in under 8 once, woohoo!) Our kids are older now (meaning: no babies) so the drive is really easy. We've left in the morning, or in the afternoon and either way works fine.

We have never, and will never attempt an overnight drive. We both get sleepy even with help, and that would be dangerous!! Plus, we like to all be on the same schedule upon arrival.

 

[singnring]

We make the drive from NW Ohio - about 17-18 hours.

I discovered long ago that if I left at 4 am, I arrived at a reasonable hour.

I go to bed early so that when I wake up and start the drive, I am well rested.
Before I start to feel the night driving sleepies, the sun is rising and gives my body a boost of energy.
I drive through the day and by nighttime, I'm within a2-3 hours of my destination.
I never have any microsleep issues when I make the trip this way.

Driving through the night is so dangerous, that to me it was not worth having the kids asleep, as I was afraid they may end up in a permanent sleep if we had an accident.

Remember, it's not just whether YOU can stay awake, it's whether the OTHER drivers can too.

I'd prefer to hear the kids crying and fighting and such on the way, than to never hear them again.

Our family still jokes about the one trip we made when DD11 was a baby.
SHe was so tiny and fragile that her car seat actually hurt her when she was in it. (It took me a long time to realize this was the issue).
She screamed all the way to Florida!
The only thing we could do to get her to occasionally quiet down a bit was to clap our hands - loudly, and sing the Teletubby song to her - loudly!
Picture it; Mom, DD12, and DD13 (at the time) clapping and singing "Tinkie Winkie, Dipsy, La-La, Po..." as loud as possible all the way to Florida!
WOW! What a trip that was!!

 

[momof1princess]

our drive is about 10 hours, and we've found driving at night works best for us. we leave between 8 and 9 pm and DH will drive until we get south of atlanta, then we switch places and i drive the rest of the way while he and DD sleep. we usually check in around 7-8 am, and since our room isn't ready, we go shopping and hit the orlando outlets, then grab lunch. once our room is ready, we go back to the hotel and i sleep off the night drive for a couple of hours while DH takes DD to the pool and arcade. this has worked great for us the last 2-3 trips.

 

[ireland_nicole]

we drive overnight from TX; it's an 19-20 hour drive depending... we start out at 3pm, grab a bite around 6 turn off the DVD player around 8:30, and the kids are asleep by 9 at the latest. They sleep straight through until about 6am, my DH and I trade off religiously every 3 hours, so whomever is driving is rested. We arrive at WDW around 10-11am. I was an EMT firefighter before we had kids, and then a night shift nurse, so I can sleep whenever wherever and then wake up and be alert. I am always aware of what other drivers are doing, and although I can't completely prevent every crash scenario, I can avoid many. There's also a chance of an accident during the day due to the volume of traffic at high speeds.

 

[bigbabyblues]

Kim, that's the thing I want to avoid. The last time we drove we got in at midnight and one of my twins was up all night! I figure if we get in at around 8:00 am, the only downside is that we can't check in until later in the day, but at least they can run around all day and be worn out by their usual bedtime.

I just wanted to chime in here.....if you're staying at a Disney resort (not sure about other places), you can check in, get your keys/tickets/etc., but your room may not be ready. You can use the pools or whatever.

We've done this three times, and our room was ready two out of the three times. The one that shocked me was when we arrived at 6:10 a.m. at ASMusic last November, and our room was ready for us!

Enjoy your trip, whatever you decide!

Steph