Suggestion Needed - Drive in 1 Day or 2 Days?

[powellrj]

we live in Indiana and always say we will do the trip in one day, but usually will make it a 2 day trip both ways. We will leave early in the morning and drive a few hours and stop for breakfast and then drive until mid afternoon and stop for lunch and drive until early evening which is usually south of Atlanta and stop for the night. We will get up early the next day, have breakfast and arrive in Orlando for lunch. On the trip home we will leave in the morning and drive until about Nashville and spend the night and leave the next day and get home in the early afternoon.

It seems we always have bad storms on both legs of the trip, so that really cuts our time and makes the trip longer.

 

[kandeebunny]

We can never do it in one day, its a 24 hour drive from here so it's often 2 or 3 days we are deciding between. We tend to just play it by ear and see how we feel, and how tired we are.

 

[SpoonfulofSugar]

We are also from PA, and it takes about 18 hours. We usually leave at 3 or 4 pm, and drive non-stop through the night and get to WDW around 10 or 11 am. We have a 3yr old and 10 month old, have done this twice, and both times the kids slept most of the drive. But definitely plan on splitting the drive back. It's alot more exciting and easy to keep going on the way down, but boy does it drag all the way home.

 

[cymomtx]

We drive from Houston in one shot. Here are our reasons, we hate to unpack and repack our SUV to stay at hotel and too cheap to pay for hotel room for 5 hours of sleep. I would rather pull over in a rest stop and get a 1-2 hour nap then pay for a hotel.

 

[mel63]

2 days. My DH used to work midnights and would rather drive staight through. He was used to being awake at night so we had no problems, whenever we drove long distances we drive at night. Depending on where we are driving to, we leave about 8 or 9 at night. The kids fall asleep in an hour or two, and sleep most of the way. We stopped for gas, very quick, then stopped for a big breakfast in the morning, usually around 8. We did drive to Disney once. Same lenghth you need to, we are from Pittsburgh area. We actually drove to Panama City to see a friend for a day, stayed the night, then drove over to Disney. We drove straight home, do not pass go, do not collect $200. The trouble with driving that long in one day is that it usually knocks my husband out for a day. So, that is a lost day. He gets car sick, so unless he is extremely tired he drives it all. After that trip, DD's were 3 & 5, we swore the next time we went to Disney, we would fly. We did, but he didn't like flying, problems with his ears, and now he would rather drive. Not me, I will fly. 2 hours in a plane, or 18 in a car not hard to decide. I have since changed how we drive long distance. We still leave at night, but now we go a day early, and stop at a motel an hour or two away. Then DH can sleep and get recharged, kids have a pool to swim in, we all wake up refreshed. In the morning we have breakfast and drive the last part. No "lost day" making up for driving 18 hours.

 

[lucincia]

Thank you all for the suggestions.

My wife and I decided that we will try to make it in one day, driving straight through from Cleveland area to Orlando. We plan to leave around 4 AM in the morning. I will drive for 3-4 hours, then my wife will drive for 2 while I snooze, repeat. The first couple nights at Disney is at ASMovies anyway before we move to WL, so it's no different (price-wise) from staying off-site at locations like Country Inns and Suites. We plan to just relax the day after we arrive, sleeping in late, and hitting a few non-park places, like Downtown Disney and Boardwalk, and maybe a couple resort hoppings. This way, I hope I can recover from the day-long drive We will hit Magic Kingdom the day after and the chaos will start

Thanks again for the suggestions!

 

[impsmom]

Not speaking from experience but we're heading down from Pittsburgh in June and plan on Leaving about 5 PM so that the kids will sleep through the night with DW then she can drive some in the morning till we hit heavier traffic. Then when we get down there we get the room I go to sleep while they go explore DD if they want or just resort hop. Basically just relax and get ready for the start of the vacation the next day on a good nights sleep at the resort. Hopefully this works as good as it sounds but will find out in 2 months. Good luck in whatever you decide.

 

[belle_of_the_ball]

We've gone 3 times and every time we've driven from South Jersey (my dad cant stand air planes ) We split the days up to 2 or 3 b/c when my little brother and I can just use the toys again the next day instead of getting borde in one sit down ,shut up ,and dont annoy each other session.

 

[GoneGoofy]

Why not make the trip part of your vacation ?? We have driven to Disney the last 6 years and always had a great time. I have little surprises for along the way. We have had picnics for lunch so that Nathaniel can run around, play ball, jump rope, blow bubbles then usually after the fresh air he takes a nap.
He usually make little visits along the way, we've visited a cotton field in so. Carolina, the Zoo in Washington, D.C, South of the Border. For us the drive is already part of our vacation, so just make it fun. My son is now 8 and he still looks forward to all the surprises.

 

[swilshire]

My husband and I had this argument for years, even though our drive SHOULD only be about 13 hours. Even though we share the driving, he always wanted to stop along the way. I always thought it was too darn much trouble to find a room, drag everybody in, sleep restlessly all night (we're used to a king size bed and always had smaller ones when sharing the room with the kids), then drag everybody back out again.

We tried doing reservations and never got it right (the hotel would either come up too early when we weren't ready to stop or we'd be "dead" by the time we got there) and just getting the hotel discount books at the rest areas (which usually worked out, though sometimes it took two or three stops to find availability).

The last few times, we've driven straight through and even he agrees it is simpler, though you're road weary when you get there. Unless there is something you want to do along the way for a few hours, I'd vote for pushing on as long as the drivers are alert enough to do it safely.

Sheila

 

[skoba-nelson]

Hi Lucincia-

We are from the camp that prefers going down in one day, coming home in two. I see you already made your decision, but I have a timeline of our one day drive from Westlake, Ohio in Febraury.

Myself, DW and DS (age 2 1/2) left at 2:30PM. With me driving we stopped at Marietta for dinner and gas (even though the tank wasn't empty, WV always seems higher $). DW then took over with me in backseat with DS. We watched Nemo, then after that it was his "normal" bedtime. I put in Fantasia 2000 and he fell asleep around the third number, me the fourth. Woke up at a rest area in NC, DW needed potty but was doing great. She drove all the way to near NC/SC border where we got gas and switched. I was doing good until I spotted deer along the side of the road on I-95. Made my eyes more tired looking for more and got real sleepy. Pulled off at a Mcdonalds in Georgia and as it turned out took only an hour catnap but felt a ton better when I woke up. We had breakfast in Jacksonville at around 6AM at a Mcdonalds and got gas. Were making great time and decided to detour to Daytona to show DS the ocean. If not for the side trip we could've arrived at WDW around 10AM. We killed some time but still arrived at noon, room wasn't ready until 3PM, but all 3 of us took naps on the lounge chairs near the baseball pool. Had PS at 'Ohana for 5PM that night, after that came back to the room and crashed early, woke up the next day and seemed on a normal sleep schedule from there out.

Have a good trip.