What would you do? Driving for 15 hours..

[sersee05]

Would you drive all the way through and get it over with?..leave at 4 am..we can take turns driving....we could stop for a lunch to get out of the car or something...

The problem is the next day is a park day for us...so if we can't make the drive all in one day...we want to get as close as possible..I don't mind being two to three hours out of Orlando and getting up the next morning and driving the rest..then going to a park.

Is there a nice place to stay along the way...I don't know the closest areas near Orlando?
Thanks!

 

[kksmom92]

We usually drive straight through (ours is 19-20 hrs) but last year we decided to make one stop and since we made it only an hr away from our rental we decided this year we will just go all the way. Of course we leave when our son gets home from school, so most of our driving is at night when the kids are sleeping... that way we don't have to hear how much longer. lol

What we did regarding a hotel was when we got into Florida we stopped at Burger King and grabbed one of those hotel travel books and ended up getting a great rate at a Marriott hotel and it was really nice. So if you don't know if you can make it all the way or not.. I would stop and pick up one of those books and see what kind of deal you can find in there. Just a thought...

 

[bookwormde]

We just drive straight through (same distance) I leave at 11pm and get to the resort at 2pm. We drive 95 so that puts us past all the major cities before morning. DW takes over at dawn if I am tired. This schedule also puts us half way there before the kids wake up. Our last 2 trips we actually flew since the fares were so low.

bookwormde

 

[BC1836]

Would you drive all the way through and get it over with?..leave at 4 am..we can take turns driving....we could stop for a lunch to get out of the car or something...

The problem is the next day is a park day for us...so if we can't make the drive all in one day...we want to get as close as possible..I don't mind being two to three hours out of Orlando and getting up the next morning and driving the rest..then going to a park.

Is there a nice place to stay along the way...I don't know the closest areas near Orlando?
Thanks!

You need to explore the "For 2,000+ mile round-trip drivers only!"

All the best.

 

[PoohsFan1]

In 2005 we drove since we were staying at a off site condo. We are coming from a Suburb of Chicago therefore our drive is 20+ hours. Since my DH is "Crazy" , he wanted to do all the driving in one night (mind you we had a 2 and 4 yr. old at the time). We started out at 11pm the night before and got in sometime the next day (can't remember)....IT WAS HORRIBLE!!!!!!. The next time we went we decided to fly down and that was SO much better, and since then that is all that we do. The only time I will drive to a vacation destination is if we are in the car for 10 hours or less.

 

[FINFAN]

15 hours, you betcha straight thru. I would however, make sure I had sleep the day before...GOOD sleep the day before. Our family reacts in a delay on all nighters, like sleep-overs...the next day kids are fine, it is the day after that they are wiped out. We are (Chicago burbs) 19-20 hours out as well, just over our limit ( and we are getting older, can't stay awake to drive as long as in years past) so now we do stop. Chicago rarely gets those awesome airfares, especially over holidays like Easter and Christmas to warm locations so we drive if we have 10 days off or more. Just checked airfare, would run 1250 for 4 of us for the dates we need( Christmas), and we need a rental car for 5 days to visit family. Rental cars are outrageous right now, so it would run abut 1900 JUST for travel...no way, not while we are making a car payment as well!
Have a great time, driving 15 hours is fine, we would go far more often if we could make it in 1 day safely!

 

[Chelley00]

It's a 17 hour trip for us, with 4 kids.

Our favorite way has been to leave really early in the morning 3-4am. DH stays up late with the kids and I go to bed early. When we get up, we shove the kids in the van and I drive first. We drive until 7-8 when the kids are all up for breakfast. I drive again until after lunch, then DH takes over and I grab a nap.

Last year we left after school and stopped that night to stay, and it seemed like it took forever to get there. We like going straight through on the way down, but stopping halfway on the way back since we're so tired from walking parks nonstop for days.