Pedal to the metal, or sleep it off?

[smkiya]

Trying to decide what to do. I'll be drving from South Jersey, near Philly to WDW (3 weeks to go, yeah!) and it will be me, dd5, and ds 4 months. I intended on driving the 16-17 hours overnight, leaving at 9pm Sunday and arriving in the afternoon on Columbus Day. I suddenly started getting nervous about whether I could or should do this. I will try to switch work shifts on that weekend, so instead of working 7am-7pm Sat and Sun, I'll work 7pm-7am Fri and Sat. After my nap (4-5 hours if I can contain my excitement) when I get home Sunday morning, I should be ready to go. Should I just leave at 2-3pm and drive until 11 or 12 and stay in a hotel until the next morning? Or should I suck it up and leave at 8p or 9p and drive through the night? If we stay overnight, where should we stop?

Edited to add: Dh will be coming too! Sorry forgot to add him. We'll be sharing the wheel.

 

[2infinityandbeyond]

Consider the safety of yourself and your kids first. Pulling an all nighter means that you'll be fatigued at some point in your drive. That means less concentration and slower reaction time while driving, not to mention a chance of dozing off. Stop and sleep, then finish your drive the next day.

 

[Lewisc]

It's not safe for (most) drivers. It doesn't sound like you have a second driver.

Assume everything works. You arrive at WDW at noon. Your kids are rested. You're ready to crash. Your resort is sold out and you won't be able to get a room until sometime after 5p. Doesn't sound like a fun way to start your trip.

 

[goofy4tink]

Find a half way spot and spend the night. There is in way I would do that much driving by myself, let alone with a couple of kids. Drive for maybe 8 hrs tops, spend the night and get some rest. Then drive the rest of the way the next day. Even 5 hrs of sleep is going to do you a world of good.

 

[smkiya]

Thanks for the advice, I'll edit my original post to include dh. Forgot all about him (lol)... we'll be sharing the drive. It does make sense to stop though, as a pp mentioned, it would suck to get there and not be able to get into the house until 4pm, or be sooo tired I want to crash. But I'll be on a night shift schedule then too, having worked overnight the previous 2 days. Still just don't know....

 

[bookwormde]

When I drive from north De I drive straight through, I generally get a good sleep before I leave and leave about 11pm which put us in WDW at 2pm. If I am tired DW takes over at dawn. A lot of it depends on how comfortable of a night driver you are. It is really nice though to be into NC before the kids wake up.

bookwormde

 

[sersee05]

We are from South Jersey too...and we were going to drive also...I am just curious if you thought about flying? My husband hates long drives but we were going to share..Our thoughts were it might not be so bad going down...but coming back would be terrible. The excitement is gone and you just want to get home..plus your so tired from a week in Disney..

We ended up deciding to fly..and I hate flying..but for us it is the better thing to do..Last time we drove to Florida from MD. We ended up getting stuck on 95 for hours and hours..it ended up taking us just over 20 hours to get to Savannah. My husband almost went home..so we contemplated it this time..but found decent airfare and said it was worth our aggravation...

 

[smkiya]

We are from South Jersey too...and we were going to drive also...I am just curious if you thought about flying? My husband hates long drives but we were going to share..Our thoughts were it might not be so bad going down...but coming back would be terrible. The excitement is gone and you just want to get home..plus your so tired from a week in Disney..

We ended up deciding to fly..and I hate flying..but for us it is the better thing to do..Last time we drove to Florida from MD. We ended up getting stuck on 95 for hours and hours..it ended up taking us just over 20 hours to get to Savannah. My husband almost went home..so we contemplated it this time..but found decent airfare and said it was worth our aggravation...

I get really bad panic attacks just thinking about flying. I use to fly all the time, and now I can't. We're leaving WDW the following Sunday, so Saturday we'll do a park early, and relax at the house and go to bed early to leave at 5am and drive back straight through. We're going to take it kind of easy this trip because ds will only be 4 months old. It's the getting there I don't know about, but we're definately driving.

 

[mckinley]

Me and Dh drive through the night to Disney and any other place as well. Its better for DD she sleeps and is not bored. It also seems like the ride passes faster

 

[Robert P]

Assume everything works. You arrive at WDW at noon. Your kids are rested. You're ready to crash. Your resort is sold out and you won't be able to get a room until sometime after 5p. Doesn't sound like a fun way to start your trip.

Happened to us last year. Got there 8:30 a.m. Kids were wired, I was tired, and room was nowhere close to ready. Even after sucking it up and hitting MK for a few hours, our room was still not ready until 3:30 p.m. This is a worse case scenario, but it does happen.

To the OP:
The choice to drive straight through or stopover is individual to each group. I myself have no problem driving through the night, and enjoy the quiet while the kids sleep. Some people are different, and don't like to drive late at night, so they choose to stay overnight somewhere. It really is an individual decision for your family, and what fits your needs. Nobody here can make that call, though we can point out the pros and cons, from our own past experiences.

 

[Pixieflip]

The choice to drive straight through or stopover is individual to each group. I myself have no problem driving through the night, and enjoy the quiet while the kids sleep. Some people are different, and don't like to drive late at night, so they choose to stay overnight somewhere. It really is an individual decision for your family, and what fits your needs. Nobody here can make that call, though we can point out the pros and cons, from our own past experiences.

Very well put. We know from past experiences that we do NOT drive well through the night. We are currently a 24 hour drive away from WDW, so we don't even try it! But years ago when we were 19 hours away, we tried driving straight through and after 2 am, it was just brutal. And it was Good Friday, so not a hotel room to be found anywhere. We ended up not being able to make it one more mile, we were beyond exhausted (you know that feeling) and so we pulled into a rest area in Tennessee and got the last parking stall. Not the only ones with that need that night and not quite sure of the safety of it - totally don't recommend it. We sort of slept till the sun came up and then we hit the road again, slightly rested, but at least it was daylight. Anyway, our vote for ourselves is...spend the night somewhere and arrive well rested and in one piece!

 

[smkiya]

To the OP:
The choice to drive straight through or stopover is individual to each group. I myself have no problem driving through the night, and enjoy the quiet while the kids sleep. Some people are different, and don't like to drive late at night, so they choose to stay overnight somewhere. It really is an individual decision for your family, and what fits your needs. Nobody here can make that call, though we can point out the pros and cons, from our own past experiences.

That's exactly what I was hoping for! Thanks.