Tell Me About Driving 15 Hours Straight Through at Night with 3 Kids!

[jana616]

I am trying to convince DH to take a June trip to WDW. We live in Indianapolis, and for our first trip in 2009, we flew. The only way I will even get him to think of this trip is if we drive down

We have 3 kids who will be ages 7, almost 5, and 20 months at the time, and I am toying with the idea of going straight through at night to make it as easy on them (and consequently us!) as possible. It's about 15 hours, so I was thinking we could leave around 4 or 5 and get there by 9 am. I'm worried that the kids will be crazy hyped up, we'll be exhausted, and we'll start our trip off poorly. I'm also concerned because my boys are in booster seats and they seem horribly uncomfortable to sleep in.

But I am would love to hear thoughts from those who have done it (if you liked it or you didn't) about how it was, how tired you are when you get there, tips, etc. What time did you leave? Were you able to get a nap the next day, even with kids?

Anyone?

 

[tanyaandallie]

I personally just won't do it. We have driven it 2 or 3 times now and we always stop and sleep.

 

[Attagirl3]

We're 10 hours away. We tried this in 2010. We picked the kids up from school and headed off to Disney. On Friday afternoon. At rush hour. In the rain. With an accident that closed down the interstate for an hour. We made it most of the way there but we needed to stop at about 1am. We were only about 2 hours away at that point. That was probably for the best because we were all rested by the next day.

I say try it, but keep in mind that there are plenty of hotels along the interstate. You can always check-in to one if you feel like you need to stop.

 

[mickeypedia]

I have done it...with 3 children...16 hour drive...I love it. We take turns and don't stop to sleep. I usually start while hubby tries to get some sleep and then we switch. We usually leave after school, get dinner on the road....and usually arrive early. I have a dual dvd player and bring coloring books and some toys for the children....we also pack a little cooler for drinks and some snacks. When we stopped at rest stops for bathroom breaks, we let the children get a few minutes up out of the van to stretch their legs....my older children do not like to drive now because they know that flying is faster. But I also drive to Georgia every three to four months to see my cousin that lives there. Before I leave, I check all the interstates for construction and such. But we love driving, its alot cheaper than flying right now...but when June comes around it might not be cheaper with gas prices rising. We actually just did a trip to Oklahoma from New Jersey because my son was graduating basic training, and had no problems with the 1 and 9 year old driving all the way there and back.
My only other suggestion is that on your first day, take it easy....do a dinner, swim at the pool, stuff like that. The next time I drive to Disney will be January.....I'm looking forward to it.

 

[Rylee]

We always fly but my SiL, BiL and their 4 boys always drive from CNY, at least a 20 hour drive. They...

Load the car the night before.
BiL tries to take a nap the day they are leaving.
As the boys get home from school, they take a shower and put on their "traveling clothes." SiL puts them in jogging suits, comfortable enough to sleep in, but still dressed when getting out of the car for potty breaks and meals.
They hit the road at 4pm.
Stop for dinner around 6:30.
Bathroom break around 9, at which time they recline the seats, "tuck the kids in" and then drive through the night. SiL naps.
They switch drivers around 2am. SiL drives until about 6 or 7am, while BiL naps.
They stop for breakfast and then Bil takes the wheel again until they get there around lunch time.

No activities are planned for arrival day. They take turns entertaining the kids while they rest, have a nice dinner and go to bed early.

 

[shells4]

This is what we are doing the end of March. We live in Fort Wayne, so we have an extra 2+ hours longer drive than you. It is the first time we have driven also, although we will have 3 drivers. We are planning on leaving by 4pm and driving straight thru to my parent's house who live about 40 min. southwest of Disney. We are really hoping to be there by noon the next day. At least we have my parents to spend time with the kids when we arrive, hubbie and I can take a nap and relax for a couple of days before hitting Disney. We drive to the beach every summer, it is about a 15 hour drive. We leave early morning and drive straight thru. The kids actually prefer to drive straight thru, they have a fit if we stop. Once we get started it is easier for us to just get there and not stop at a hotel. I would be nervous driving all night long with no one to help keep the driver awake. Too many years working in the trama area of a hospital, I always see the worse case sceneros. We are hoping to keep one person awake with the driver thru the night. Hope it goes well for you.

 

[3PrinceMom]

I have an 18 hour drive....and I'm the only driver with 3 kids. I leave at 1am (not an issue, I work nights and am used to being up) I drive straight thru. Detroit to WDW. Stop quickly for br breaks, leg stretches and fastfood. Usually arrive in Orlando around 9pm. Unpack and sleep in!

They way home is another story, lol. I can't drive straight. Too exhausted from WDW! We usually stop for the night in a predetermined location. (Cheaper to book online prior rather than stop anywhere) Usually North GA for me.

Flying this trip....but only because not chancing any snow to slow us down. Will be driving in August....and my oldest might be able to help by then. Although I still might be too scared to let him behind the wheel!!!

 

[Sugar Jones]

We had a 24 hr drive, but our day one of driving would be your full day of driving.

What we did with our 3 kids (8, 6 & 3) at the time was, we packed the van the night before and we left at 4:00am. We gave the kids gravol (motion sickness med) because two of them had shown signs of MS before and we wanted to be careful. The plus side of that is it makes the drowsy

Anyway they slept for the first few hours, and then after that we had lots of things to keep the occupied. Movies, video games, snacks etc.... We stopped pretty much every two hours for a quick pee and running around.

If we only lived 15hrs away I would for sure drive and save the airfare!

 

[RachaelA]

I'm curios about your question as well. We are driving 15ish hours with an 11 month old in October. No idea what time we are planning on leaving yet.

 

[eranwolf]

We have a 16 hour drive and have done it twice so far and about to do it a third time in 2 weeks!! Last time we left at about 12 noon the day after a blizzard!! I spent the entire morning digging our car out and then packing it up!! We had 3 boys at the time who were 9, 5 and 1.5. We skipped the babies morning nap so he would snooze right away in the car. After that we made sure the kids had plenty to do. We packed videos, games, video games, books, coloring pages, snacks and drinks. My wife and I took turns driving and we had to stop every couple of hours to let the boys stretch, pee and run around for a little while. I actually enjoyed it and my wife and I loaded up a audiobook when the kids fell asleep to pass the time.

On another note however, there is something to be said about stopping to pee at South of the Border at 11:30 at night!!

 

[MSSANDRA]

My biggest concern if the mention of the boys being in booster seats. If they are the type that you use a seat belt to secure, remember in order for them to be safe, they must sit upright and correctly 100% of the time. This just is not going to happen if they are asleep. If they have 5 point harness seats, that gives them more wiggle room.

Just something to think about. Our DS just does not sleep well in the car so we have never tired this. I love that it would save a night in a hotel and get you an early start to your trip!

 

[kt_mom]

I think it depends on if you are able to get some rest in the car while the other person is driving. We did this several years ago when DD was about 5. We left around 5pm and got into Orlando around 4am and checked into an off site hotel.

DD had slept all night and was up and ready to go. DH has stubbornly insisted on driving until about 2am when we switched. He did sleep for about 2 hours but then woke up when we got into Orlando and tried to find a hotel.

I however, did not sleep at all. I have a hard time sleeping in the car and stayed awake the whole time he drove. The next morning was miserable for everybody. I don't know that I would do that again until the kids are older and able to entertain themselves for a few hours after you get there so you can rest.

 

[100AcreWood]

We did it once. For us it's a 10 hour drive. I drove 10pm-2am and then my dh drove the rest of the way. At the time we had a 15 month old and she surprised us by staying awake for the first hour of the drive. Anyway, the kids were great in the car. And I felt okay the next day but dh felt awful. He couldn't catch up and felt like he spent too much of the trip trying to get back to normal.

Then last year it took us 12 hours to drive during the day. The kids needed to stop a lot more to potty and stretch their legs. I still think it was better but it was an exhausting day. Oh, and after being in the car all day they weren't too excited about going to bed that night. They were too excited about seeing Disney the next day!

Good luck with your decision! The one thing I can definitely recommend against is spending a week at Disney and then driving home during the night. That was horrible. Dh and I had to switch seats every 45 minutes during the last 3 hours. We were that tired.

 

[Nanu57v]

We drove about 15 hours with a 5 year old and a 1 year old. We left at 3am, and drove until 6pm. That last hour was torture. We stopped somewhere on the Georgia/FL border and drove the last few hours the next day. Got to Disney bright and early and were perfectly refreshed.

As for the booster seat thing, my now almost 7 year old has a high back booster and sleeps just fine in it since it has the headrest on both sides.

 

[jana616]

Thanks for the feedback everyone! I really appreciate all of the tips, and the realistic picture you all have painted. Still not sure what to do. I'm leaning toward the idea of leaving super early, like 4 am, hoping the kids will nap quite a bit, we won't be too tired when we arrive, and we'll have a night to try to catch up before hitting the parks. And to whomever posted about driving through the night on the way home, you are so right...that sounds like torture!!!

Oh, and my boys are indeed in high-back boosters, and I am aware that they can't be moved or reclined, etc. That's my concern, I just can't see how sleeping like that would be comfortable. Our 20 month old will be rear-facing and pretty comfy, but I worry they would be too uncomfortable to sleep decently (and then we'd all be in trouble!)

Thanks again!

 

[lisagirl88]

We will be driving 17 hours next week to Disney with a 9,7,2 and 2 year old. I will report back and let you know how it goes. We plan on breaking it up into 2 days, but trying to get in 12 hours the first day so we have a shorter distance to drive the second day. Our plan is to leave around 3 a.m. and hopefully stop at a hotel by dinnertime so we can relax in the evening. Get up and leave the hotel by 9 so we can be to WDW by 3. We will be on a cruise the last half of our vacation so when we get off the Dream around 9 a.m. we may just try to make it all the way home.

I just know that neither DH or I are pleasant people when we have missed a big block of sleep and I just don't want to start our vacation out with a tired and grumpy mom and dad!

 

[smile5sunshine]

No matter if you decide to try to pull an all nighter or if you decide that driving during the day works better, I HIGHLY recommend listening to a book on cd while you drive.

My family makes a 20 hr-one way drive, two times a year and listening to a good book on tape REALLY makes things go easier/faster as well as helps the drivers stay awake because you are into the story. We've been able to get through some monster books (Like the Harry Potter series, LOTR trilogy, Chronicles of Narnia, etc) that we probably wouldn't have the time to read otherwise. We are lucky in that our public library is FANTASTIC so I have been able to borrow the audio books from the library, download them onto the iPod and return the discs before we even left on our trip.

 

[Mikey'swife]

yes, we did.

not something I plan to do again. Our drive is aout 17 hours, we tried the night thing. youngest- about the same age as yours hardly slept. Driving at night is dangerous as many routes are very dark and you will be tired. If e can afford we will fly but if not we will get a room. Our trip back during the day was beter.

 

[goofyredraider]

Ours is about 18 hours with a few breaks.
In July, we left about 1PM, I drove some during the day, DH and I switched, and vice versa. I think I drove maybe 7 hours and he drove the rest. We stopped for dinner and for breakfast..I think....and of course, gas and bathroom breaks.

On the way home, I wasn't feeling well, so DH drove the entire way home and went to work the next day.

Anyway, it wasn't that big of a deal. We plan to do it again in May.

 

[stasijane]

I have an 18 hour drive....and I'm the only driver with 3 kids. I leave at 1am (not an issue, I work nights and am used to being up) I drive straight thru. Detroit to WDW. Stop quickly for br breaks, leg stretches and fastfood. Usually arrive in Orlando around 9pm. Unpack and sleep in!

Sounds almost identical to my situation!! only I normally have one child, This comming trip I will be taking my DD's cousin so I doubled the amount of kids I have to be responsible for!