Wwyd?

[Marsheliz]

We are driving and about 7 hours away.... 5 year old and baby will be two by then.. Checking in on Oct 19th. We are trying to decide whether we should drive halfway on Friday night and get hotel or get up and leave early about 4 AM... Will probably put us there between 11-12... I am leaning towards the latter, as we would save money by not getting a hotel and kids would probably sleep... I was wanting to drive whole way Friday night but DH doesn't think we can drive that late ( getting sleepy) I would love to do that, as it would feel like another vacation day!! )

What does your family do?

 

[RedHeadedFairy]

We tend to be like you.. Love driving thru the night to get our vacation started a half day earlier, lol. That only works for us if one of us has an easy last day before trip so they can do the brunt of the driving/packing/gassing up.

It definitely means we move at a slower pace that first day tho.... Otherwise we all overdo it and meltdown easier. We'd drive the night, check in at the hotel just in case we got lucky &.our room was ready. Then lunch & gift shops (on or off property), check in, nap then pool. Early bed & we're hitting RD with smiles and energy to spare.

 

[aaarcher86]

A 7 hour drive would be a no brainer for us! We drive from Ohio straight through, so roughly 16 hours. We leave around 3p, drive through the night and get to the resort around lunch time.

DH and I just take turns driving and the other sleeps. We don't push it until we are overly tired. We don't end up getting sleepy until around 2a or 3a but by then we are so close we down a few cups of coffee, have a snack, and power through lol. If neither of us could drive we would find a hotel and stop, but it hasn't been a problem yet.

We just hang at the resort and do DTD the first day to relax. The kids always sleep through the night, watch movies, and play games during the drive.

 

[wdwjeffc37]

When we drive (about 13 Hours) we always stop about 3 hours away and spend the night. We leave early (4:30 or 5:00 AM) and drive 10 hours, so with stops we end up at our hotel about 6:00 or 6:30 PM. This allows us to get a good dinner and a good nights sleep. We are up early and get to Disney around 8 or 9 AM, grab our tickets and head to the parks (if the room isn't ready). Sometimes the room is ready and we will do a quick unload of the car and then head out. This work out great for us when our kids were younger. Now we usually fly because I can't get enough time off to spend a couple of days driving. I would rather have time at Disney than on the road. If we were closer 8 or 9 hours away I would drive it all the way through every time.

 

[Tigger1221]

Ever since DD's first trip we have left around 8pm and driven over night. We live about 9 hours away. It's so much easier to have DD sleep all the way. DH drives most of the way and I try to sleep. When we get there if the rooms ready he goes and naps while DD and I walk around the hotel and eat. Last time our room wasn't ready so we went to DTD. On the way home with all the stops and stuff it takes about 11-12 hours.

 

[Skjhjb]

Our kids are older, and our drive is longer, so my story may not help!

When we went last year, we checked into Disney on a Sunday. So we left home at the crack of stupid on Friday morning and made it to South Carolina by 8pm that night and stayed in a hotel there.

We had pre-booked an inexpensive hotel for the Saturday night in Orlando (off site). We rolled into Orlando around 4pm, checked in, went for dinner, had an early night.

Got up at 7 on Sunday, had a quick breakfast (included at the hotel) and drove 10 minutes down the road to Disney. Checked in, room was actually ready! And then made it to MK for rope drop.

Of course, that may not work budget wise for everybody!

For our proposed May 2014 trip we will do the exact same thing. We thought the extra money on the off-site hotel the night before was well worth not missing any time in the parks on check in day!

 

[Marsheliz]

Thanks for all the suggestions and sharing what your family does! I love the " crack of stupid" lol!!!

That Friday should be easy. DH gets off early on Fridays typically anyways and my boss will be gone that whole week.. Planning on sliding out of work by 2, getting baby from daycare & picking up 5 year old from school.

I guess we have some time to figure it out... Personally- I would rather drive while way night before and stay in a cheap hotel on Irlo Bronson Highway.. .No plans that Day for parks so we could easily sleep in... I was wanting to explore and do the pool that day before our 5 PM reservation..

The only thing I hate about Leaving at 4 AM us how exhausted we will be that entire day and what if kids won't go back to sleep? Yikes!!

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

We are 6 hours away and we've done it several different ways.

On our first trip with our oldest (he was 16 months), we drove a little more than halfway the day before, stayed overnight using points, then got up and drove the rest of the way the next morning. He took his morning nap in the car, we arrived at the resort around lunchtime, checked in, had lunch, and went to a park for the rest of the day. We've done that on other trips, too, like the time we were meeting family who were arriving shortly after noon. We drove a little more than halfway, stayed overnight and drove the rest of the way the next morning.

We sometimes leave around lunch-time and arrive just after dinner, check in, get settled, maybe hit DTD, and get a rest for the next day.

Most often, we leave around 8:00, get there right at check-in time, get settled in, and half the time we hit a park, half the time we don't.

There is no way we could get up and leave at 4 AM. We'd all be tired and grumpy and even when my kids were young like yours, once they were awake, they would have stayed awake awhile, then been grumpy because their sleep had been interrupted. I vote for driving part-way Friday night, staying overnight and going in Saturday morning ready to play. The excitement of getting up and knowing you're headed to Disney is awesome. Everyone is happy and chattering about what to do first and what they can't wait to ride. I'm thinking about talking my husband into going halfway for our next trip, just because our reservation starts on 12/31 and I'm afraid traffic will be bad that day so I'd like to get a good jump so we can get there early.

 

[MSSANDRA]

7 hours is easy! I would plan to have car packed and everything ready before you go to work that day. Drop each other off if necessary. Pick up the kids and hit the road by 3:00 PM. Hit drive through for dinner and be at WDW by 10 or so . Kids should be asleep and adult should be n bed before mid-night. Ready to go the next morning!!!!

 

[stayhomemom77]

I would do it all on Friday night! But then, as a hard core road tripper....7 hours is nuthin!

The adrenaline of heading to Disney would keep me from feeling sleepy and if you can get away a bit early and keep the stops to a minimum, you could be pulling up to your hotel around your normal bedtime anyway!

While travelling when our kids were younger, we had the kids ride in their jammies, eat snacky things for "dinner" in their car seats (might be a bit messy with a two year old) and limited their beverages. That way we only had to make a couple of stops for gas and the potty. Upon making it to our destination, one of would us run and check in while the other waited in the car with the sleeping kiddos. We would each carry one into the room and put them down for the night, and they usually didn't even fully wake up. DH would then run out and get the luggage.

If you are lucky, your kids will fall asleep around their normal bedtime (mine always did) and hopefully won't be disturbed by the transfer into the hotel. I would suggest having one of you go in first with the luggage and set up the playpen for the baby though, while the other parents waits in the car with the kids.

I see no advantage to going Saturday at 4 am. If DH REALLY doesn't think you can do the whole shebang on Friday and you want to save on a "half way" hotel, I would aim to leave at 7 am...that way you'd be there with enough time to make your ADR.

 

[Marsheliz]

Thanks for additional replies... I think you are right about 4 Am and being grumpy and there is skyways that chance they might not go back to sleep... We will prob end up driving the night before. At least halfway! Either way- my plan is to be pulling into our resort by noon that Saturday!! I can't wait!!