Should we drive all night?

[LizAgna]

We are planning a trip in June to surprise our girls for their birthdays...DH wants to leave after work on a Friday and drive straight thru and have the girls wake up in the Pop Century parking lot in the wee hours of the morning. We would go ahead and reserve a room for that Friday night so we (DH & I) could go straight to be when we got there...I'm sure the girls would to "too excited to sleep" but they could watch TV while we slept. We are about 10 hours away...should we do it??

 

[tms295]

Go for it!!!! I drive (straight thru) from NE Pennsylvania... about 16 hours... just about every year. I say go for it if you and DH are comfortable driving at night... traffic is wonderful.

Is it an option to take friday off... or leave early to get a nap in before hitting the road? You can always spend the morning by the pool and then go to a park in the late afternoon.

 

[ducklite]

Personally I think it's a foolish idea. After a long day at work and running last minute errands/packing you'll be tired. Those are some mighty long, boring roads to get to WDW. It's very easy to nod off.

And frankly I think it would be a terrible tease to your girls to arrive at WDW and be told "OK, we're here, now you have to watch TV."

What would be a much better idea is to get up and leave around 4:00am, and be to WDW in time to check in, have a swim, and have character meal at one of the resort hotels to begin your trip.

Your girls will fall back asleep in the car for a few hours as you drive, and you and your DH won't arrive so exhausted that you are dangerous on the road and start the vacation totally sleep deprived.

Anne

 

[Praying Colonel]

We just drove straight through for our trip (8/5-8/12), 13.5 hours driving time. We decided to drive in order to save $, and I decided I'd drive us straight through because I wanted to get there and get going ASAP. After arriving at the resort around 10:30 a.m., we ate, rested at the pool, checked into our room and went to Epcot around 3:00, as we'd planned.

It worked out fine--I was dazed and tired that first day, but still had fun (who doesn't have fun on their 1st day at WDW?). Would I drive it straight through if we were going back this coming weekend? Probably not, but I'm still recovering from our vacation. If you asked me the same question in a month, I'd probably be up for it.

 

[CarolA]

Stats show that "drowsy driving" is just as dangerous as drunk driving. (I used to post the links, but got tired of being called NASTY names in PMs. Apparently pointing out that you might be endangering your family is reason to curse me out... makes me wonder if I hit too close to home)

I agree with Anne, I think it's a foolish move and if you fall asleep for just a second the results could be horrific.....

I also used to post a link to a story in my local paper about a family where the driver did fall asleep. They left Alabama after work on thier way to Knoxville. A few hours later two people were dead and others were injured.

 

[scammermom]

Can the driving be done is shifts so each of you gets some sleep while the other drives? My DH can sleep anywhere anytime. Years ago we did this and I took the first shift while he slept. Of course too, he works midnights so that was actually more usual for him to be up during the night.

 

[WeLoveTheMouse]

Tell your crazy husband to just let you plan the trip. Seriously, only you know if you will stay awake.

Any way you get to Disney, its good to be there.

 

[Robert P]

As we drive every trip (@ 9 hours to WDW, or @ 11 hours to Sarasota), and I just drove the overnight twice to and from Mass. in July (@ 13 hours), my thoughts:

I would not work all day and then try to drive. On our overnights, I take 1/2 day off, and come home and get a good nap of at least 4 hours. Sometimes that involves sending the girls to their grandparents for the afternoon, but if that's what it takes to get some decent sleep, we do it.

On WDW trips, I have to agree with Anne, b/c that's exactly what we do. We usually leave about 4 a.m. at the latest. The girls go back to sleep until @ 8 a.m., then we stop for gas and food. We usually are on WDW property by 1:00 p.m. The getting up early option, we feel, is much safer for us, than an all night drive after a full day at work.

A possible compromise would be to leave after work, and drive 4 hours, maybe 5, or until your usual bed-time. Then stop at a hotel. As I get on in my years, that will probably be a future derivation of our driving adventure.
But, do your planning, and get a reservation in advance, that way, you won't be tempted to just keep pushing farther down the road!! You can then wake up as early the next morning as you like, still on a fairly normal sleep pattern, and a good chunk of your trip is already behind you.

All things considered, it comes down to your personal comfort level with night driving.
IMHO, I wouldn't try it after a full day at work.
Whatever you decide, have a safe trip.

 

[Minnie824]

I know a lot of people like to drive thru the night, but DH & I couldn't do it. We need a little sleep. What we did was, go to sleep early, like 9pm. Wake up and leave at 1:30am. That way, our DDs got some sleep in the car still, and we got some sleep ahead of time. Our drive is a little longer (20 hours w/stops), but we made it straight thru, arriving at 9:30pm. We also had a room that night, and got some sleep before the next day at the parks.

 

[sschro3]

Both trips we drove straight through, we live in Central Ohio. We however had 3 adults. DH, myself and Dmil. 1 would sleep a few hours while the other 2 were up then we would rotate. Worked great for us. It was tough leaving right after work on Friday, but with 3 it was easier.
Whatever you decide have a safe drive and a great trip.
Sharon

 

[uhtimex]

This is a tough call, but only you and your DH can make it. I have read both sides (we switch off and drive straight through) and both are valid. We plan on driving staight through, but we both know that if we need to stop WE WILL. Even the smallest trouble can ruin your trip. Don't forget to pack a couple of flash lights and fresh batteries, just in case you have a flat or break down in the dark.

PS anyone who sends a nasty pm to someone who is trying to help them is just

 

[speedyf]

We recently drove for our June trip from Louisiana (12 Hour Drive).

We left after work on Friday and drove to Tallahassee....about 7 or 8 hours. We arrived at around Midnight. We woke up and left Tallahassee at 8:30am the next morning and arrived in Orlando around lunch time.

I thought about driving straight through....but decided against it for this reason. If we drive straight through and arrive at 4 or 5am in Orlando....then, we sleep for 6 or 7 hours....we won't be able to get out to the parks until around noon anyway....so, we are basically arriving at the same time.

In your scenario....you will be renting a room that you won't check into until the wee hours of the morning. Why not rent that room about 3 hours earlier (Tallahasse / Lake City) and get to bed around Midnight. Leave early the next morning and get to Orlando around lunch.

If you drive straight through and get there at 4 or 5am....then sleep for 6 hours....you will still be getting to the parks at about the same time.

I also agree that no way would I be able to get my 7 year old....after sleeping in the car all night....to stay in the room and be quiet while watching TV for a few hours for mom and dad to sleep. He would be bouncing off the walls and intentionally making noise to wake us up so we could go to the parks...lol

Speed

 

[kydisneyfans]

We always drive through the night after work, no big deal here. No traffic at night is much better than sitting in Atlanta for hours in rush hour. That being said, if we do get tired, we just pull into a rest area for an hour or 2 and sleep in the car. I worked inventory once from 5 AM until 6 PM, then drove over 1,000 miles to Disney and was on site by 10 the next morning.

 

[juligrl]

Personally I think it's a foolish idea. After a long day at work and running last minute errands/packing you'll be tired. Those are some mighty long, boring roads to get to WDW. It's very easy to nod off.

And frankly I think it would be a terrible tease to your girls to arrive at WDW and be told "OK, we're here, now you have to watch TV."

What would be a much better idea is to get up and leave around 4:00am, and be to WDW in time to check in, have a swim, and have character meal at one of the resort hotels to begin your trip.

Your girls will fall back asleep in the car for a few hours as you drive, and you and your DH won't arrive so exhausted that you are dangerous on the road and start the vacation totally sleep deprived.

Anne

I'm with ducklite on this. Maybe it'd be better to leave in the wee hours of the morning after you've both had a chance to sleep. Just have the car packed and ready to go before you get to bed at night.

Your girls will likely fall back to sleep and it should be an easy drive for you early in the morning.

 

[LizAgna]

Thanks for all of your opionions...that's why I asked . I'm not so sure about it but DH really wants to do it this way. He really wants them to be completely surprised until we get there which would be hard to do unless we drove thru the night. Our oldest DD will be turning 11 while we are on the trip so she would definitely be reading the signs and quickly figure out where we were going. If we stopped 1/2 that would be Tallahassee and we have done that the other 2 times we drove...again DD would figure it out. Either way they will be VERY surprised!!

DH and I would definitely swap driving probably every 2 hours so the other one could rest a while. If we arrived around 4am the girls would have no other choices than sleeping or watching TV since the parks wouldn't open for 4-5 more hours.

We still have some time to decide...Thanks again for your opinions!!

 

[sukhakuli]

When we lived in the DC area we would drive it straight through over night (16 hour drive). We'd leave about bedtime. My dh would drive the first shift until about 2 am, then I'd get a cup of coffee and drive until breakfast, then he'd drive us in the rest of the way. We also drove overnight several nights when we were moving from the east Coast to the West Coast, doing pretty much the same thing. It works great for us and the kids. We don't have problems with drowsiness at all. I should mention, though, that my dh is a pediatric resident, so he is used to being up all night working. We also do these types of trips often. You need to do what is most comfortable for you. Just because this works for us, doesn't mean that it will work for you.

 

[Jynohn]

My sister and I drove straight through from Massachusetts a few years ago. It was a very BAD idea. Even though we took turns driving and napping, we didn't get more than an hour or two of real sleep since we woke up so frequently due to gas stops, tolls, etc.

By the time we arrived at our hotel, we were so dazed from lack of sleep that we couldn't find our room and wandered the halls for a good 15 minutes or so before I literally sat down on the floor and started crying. I was THAT tired. I felt really stupid for doing something so risky in order to have a few extra hours at Disney. And we didn't even really enjoy that extra time either, since we slept half of that day, then spend the rest of the day overtired and cranky. It was a good day or two before we started feeling like ourselves again.

Hopefully you can talk your husband out of the idea of driving all night. But have a great trip whatever you decide.

 

[ncseric]

I was just doing some figuring for a future trip from Indianapolis to Dub-Dee-Dub. While I wouldn't want to drive 'overnight', getting up early -- odark:30 or so -- seems like a better approach. Assuming a 60 mph average speed, leaving out stops, it looks like about 16hrs from Indy. If we wanted to save some points/money, we'd stay offsite the first night and then start the "vacation" the next day.

Of course when I went with my parents, somehow they took 3 days to drive from NW Indiana to WDW. It boggles my mind how that happened, but when they didn't get going early, Mom wanted to look in every Cracker Barrel gift shop, etc. I can see how the time went bye bye. Luckily, I didn't inherit the need-to-poke-in-every-store-along-the-way gene from her.

 

[**Tinker*Bell*7**]

i've made the drive down (17 hours) 10 times (6 were straight through after work) & after discovering SWA with their low fares & deciding that i have no fear of flying, i will never drive it again. i find that i'm dragging on the whole trip plus the annoyance of actually having to drive. and on top of that the drive back seems SO MUCH LONGER. we flew (9 of us) down the day after thanksgiving last year on SWA for a grand total of $586. 6 of us came in from jackson, ms & 3 from louisville, ky. we couldn't have driven it for that price.

 

[ncseric]

We'll have to see what sort of fares we can get out of Indy when the time comes. We're going down on 1/1/07 and coming back 1/5/07 and our tickets (4 tix) on AirTran came up at $789. SWA is showing fares (finally!) of $177.10 each for those same dates, although the times are later on the direct flight down.

We're planning to do the magical express this time and save on the car, but driving down (and back -- I remember the return trips) will save us quite a bit of cash. We're also members at DVC and probably wouldn't be at the parks every day.