Question for those who drive through the night

[snowrella]

What do you do when you get there? I am looking at a 16-17 hour drive and dont know how energetic everyone will be in the am after driving all night? THXs

 

[jasko5990]

We usually arrive around 4:00 pm after driving through the night, and nobody is exhausted, just ready to get out and walk around. We first stop at a grocery store just outside WDW property before checking in at our resort. After checking in we shower & change, then go to Downtown Disney for dinner and to walk around. With the exception of taking Amtrak's Auto Train in 2008, we have driven from the Philadelphia, PA area every trip since 2002. I wake up around 6am the day we are leaving, then go back to bed around 4-5pm and sleep until about 11pm. We leave around midnight and drive straight through on I-95. My wife & kids (now 14 & 15) stay awake that day until we leave, then they sleep in the Avalanche and don't wake up until we are in North Carolina where we stop for gas and a Cracker Barrel breakfast around 7am. We then hit the road again, only stopping for one more gas stop and when bathroom breaks are needed. The trip lasts 16 hours, + or - 1/2 hour. By leaving when we do we miss all of the morning traffic in the northern section of I-95 (especially around the Washington DC area), and when we stop for breakfast we avoid a lot of the traffic during the morning rush. The long drive and hours aren't a problem for me since I work rotating shifts and spend up to 13 hours a day in a vehicle and am used to being awake all night in a car.

 

[bumbershoot]

How old is everyone?



We're not going to drive from WA state, but we were considering a red eye now that DS is old enough that I think he'll sleep and not bug people, but then it's the rest of the day until our room is ready that I worry about.

If it's a group of adults and older teens, I could consider hanging out at the pool, because each individual would be safe even if the others fell asleep on lounge chairs. And the teens can remember sunscreen.

But in our case that doesn't work, because a 6 year old isn't going to be safe if both adults fall asleep at the pool...

 

[snowrella]

We have a 17, 13, 9 and 3 year old that we will be traveling with from PA. I am going to be the one to be driving through the night, since I work night shift I can stay up with out a problem. I thought if we left at 4 pm that would put us there around 10 at the latest. I thought my husband could drive the first four hours and the last four hours while I slept. We are cruising first then doing a week in the park. So our options for the first day would be either DTD, waterpark, or hang out at the hotel. We are going in December so alot of it will be weather pending

 

[bdoyledimou]

We have a 21 hour drive, that will be done through the night.
I have done this many times in the past, and find that no matter how tired i was pulling into the property, once i hit the gates, i am wide awake

Normally, we check in, and the wife/kids take a walking tour of the resort, and then hit the pool for a few hours while i take a quick nap. then we go to walmart to pick up some snacks/water, and then Crackerbarrel for dinner.

back for some night swimming, and then a good nights rest and ready for the world in the AM

 

[mousebymarriage]

When we drive through the night I usually try to sleep as much as possible during the day that we are leaving and then we try to leave after dinner/early evening. DH will drive a little bit at first until he gets tired around midnight or so(because he worked all day) and then we gas up and I take over for the night. The kids are asleep, DH puts ear plugs in and reclines his seat and I put my I-pod in but, only one ear piece so I can hear emergency vehicles etc. The i-pod works great that way because I can listen to music and everyone gets to sleep in peace. In the morning after breakfast DH takes over and then I sleep, the kids are awake but, using earplugs makes a world of difference. When we arrive in Disney neither of us is exhausted maybe just a little tired but, very excited. We usually spend the first day exploring the resort and going to Downtown Disney. We then have a nice dinner at Chef Mickeys (not too late) and then hit the bed early so we can start the day bright and early at the parks.

 

[mla2177]

We usually arrive around 4:00 pm after driving through the night, and nobody is exhausted, just ready to get out and walk around. We first stop at a grocery store just outside WDW property before checking in at our resort. After checking in we shower & change, then go to Downtown Disney for dinner and to walk around. With the exception of taking Amtrak's Auto Train in 2008, we have driven from the Philadelphia, PA area every trip since 2002. I wake up around 6am the day we are leaving, then go back to bed around 4-5pm and sleep until about 11pm. We leave around midnight and drive straight through on I-95. My wife & kids (now 14 & 15) stay awake that day until we leave, then they sleep in the Avalanche and don't wake up until we are in North Carolina where we stop for gas and a Cracker Barrel breakfast around 7am. We then hit the road again, only stopping for one more gas stop and when bathroom breaks are needed. The trip lasts 16 hours, + or - 1/2 hour. By leaving when we do we miss all of the morning traffic in the northern section of I-95 (especially around the Washington DC area), and when we stop for breakfast we avoid a lot of the traffic during the morning rush. The long drive and hours aren't a problem for me since I work rotating shifts and spend up to 13 hours a day in a vehicle and am used to being awake all night in a car.

You must be a police officer! My hubby is driving us to Florida from Arkansas next week and doesn't mind the ride either since he is a police officer too!

 

[DisneyMomx7]

We drove 18 hours (from NJ) straight through the night last year.

We got into Orlando around 3:00 in the afternoon. We booked at DTD Hotel (Buena Vista Palace and Spa) for that night because we were staying BC CL and I didn't want to pay that much for the room since we were losing most of the day. We just let the kids swim for awhile, then we walked over to DTD and had dinner at RFC. We made it an early night so we could check into BC super early - early enough to have breakfast in the CL lounge and still hit MK at rope drop!

 

[gymboqueenkaylee]

we usually get something to eat, shower, and go out to someone like DTD. We are too excited usually to sleep, although we probably should.

 

[LidoDeck]

When we were younger, we used to do this. It started when hubby was in the Navy and couldn't leave home base until midnight the first day of his "leave". We'd sleep (or try to sleep) through the evening then head out just after he called in at 12:01am. With small children, it worked as they slept the first 6 hours or so. We'd stop for a nice breakfast and almost feel like it was morning.

Snacks like grapes are awesome as they don't make you thirsty, don't cause frequent bathroom stops, are yummy and healthy. We'd munch on them, chat, play "20 questions" etc. It was fine and worked for us.

Now that we're in bed by 9pm, a really early morning start works much better.

 

[JenSop]

We drove from PA last year through the night. Left around 9:30pm and got there around 2:00pm.

DH drove from 9:30pm-5am, and I drove from 5am - 2pm. We don't have kids, though, so it's a totally different scenario.

I couldn't sleep while he was driving, so I did basically pull and all-nighter. When we got there, it felt like really bad jet-lag (even thought we're in the same time zone! )

We took it easy - went for a swim, went out to dinner, then relaxed at the resort and called it an early night.

 

[DizDaD7]

Weve done this 3 times so far. My twins are 6 now just to let u know. We live in bergen county which is north jersey. We leave roughly 4 or 430 just after I get home from work. My conversion van already stacked n packed. We get past DC well after pm rush hour . Take a few potty breaks n coffe too. At roughly 9 or so kids usually sleep till 6 am so at that time were in Georgia n we will eat breakfast refuel n that's when the wife takes over n I grab a few zzzz's. By the time we get to Disney everyone is rejuvenated no matter how tired. We always say we will just hang around resort but that never happens. We ll end up going to one of the parks or something lol. Now coming home........That's a whole different ballgame lol. EXHAUSTED to say the least.

 

[leebee]

Every time I am tempted to drive to WDW, I start thinking about the loooong, boring, oh-so-sad drive home . How does anyone do it- actually make themselves leave Disney World ? I keep thinking I'd just never come home, so I'd better buy the airplane tickets as I am too thrifty to waste the airfare!!

 

[JenSop]

Every time I am tempted to drive to WDW, I start thinking about the loooong, boring, oh-so-sad drive home . How does anyone do it- actually make themselves leave Disney World ? I keep thinking I'd just never come home, so I'd better buy the airplane tickets as I am too thrifty to waste the airfare!!

That's the kicker - the drive home is cruel and unusual punishment. It was beyond terrible.

And there's none of that vacation excitement pushing you on. God, it's terrible. (And why we won't drive again ANY time soon!)

 

[thumbalyna]

i havent made the drive since 1998 but i am doing it this year only because i cant justify the cost of airfare or rental car when i know it will be soo much cheaper to drive.

 

[stormer]

We drive through the night from Long Island. We usaully leave NY around 2PM and arrive around 11 AM. After we check in we relax at the hotel and go for a swim. We then head to DTD for dinner and turn in early so we can hit the parks bright and early the next morning.

 

[victory-rc]

I just did the drive 2 days ago and returning home,after 13 hours of driving,we were dead stopped 5 miles from the george washington bridge.
there was a accident sunday night at 2 AM TRAFFIC WAS PARKED FOR 4 HOURS ! we were trapped ! after sitting for 4 hours on the highway with my motor off and lights off because no one was moving we all said we will never drive again. we watched the sun rise with our parking lot friends. when it cleared we had to do about 4 more hours with the sun directly in our eyes and after being so tired and exhausted made it home in about 25 hrs. (connecticut)

This was the 4th time we did the drive and the last.

ALSO,we arrived before our scheduled vacation 2 days early ready to get a room anyplace,but a room was available at our resort and we simply had a longer stay thanks to a great front desk at coronado springs.

 

[DisneyFam09]

I have considered driving and may do so in the future.
But I think I would rent a mini van from home, drive down, then after our vacation drop off mini van at MCO and fly home.

 

[tami82]

if you are leaving at night with no hours of sleep beforehand its kind of difficult. Left at midnight and swore would never do it again. I kept dozing off in the car and couldnt concentrate driving and this was only an 11 hour drive to our destination. We were total dish rags the next day and after fighting from being sleepless for so long just passed out on the bed until we woke up at 10:00 at night then went out for a bit. Wouldnt do it again.
What we do now is i go to sleep at 9:00 (with help of Tylenol PM) get up at 2:00 a.m. and out the door by 3:00 a.m. We drove from NJ to Savannah GA last year and hit there around 4:30/5:00. It was great because then we only had 4 1 /2 hours left to drive the next day and got the bulk of it done the day before.

 

[tami82]

That's the kicker - the drive home is cruel and unusual punishment. It was beyond terrible.

And there's none of that vacation excitement pushing you on. God, it's terrible. (And why we won't drive again ANY time soon!)

Yes the drive home is the worst torture ever. All the excitement is gone and all i have to look forward to is a nice dinner somewhere whereever we stop for the night.