When driving, do you stop along the way?

[MizMissy]

like Denise, we are about 12 hours away. The first driving trip, we left later afternoon/early evening and drove into Florida until we were tired; woke up early and made it to WDW early afternoon.
The second trip, the kids and I drove to Panama City Beach, Florida to meet my DH who was working in the area (staying with his sister). We spent the night there and left early the next morning for another early afternoon arrival. This added a couple hours to our trip, but we did enjoy a few days at the beach at the end of the trip.
The next two trips, we left early/mid-morning and drove through to Orlando and spent the night off-site, allowing us to arrive at park opening, rested and ready for a full day. Luckily, my kids have always been really great travellers. To me, I think driving straight through and spending the night in Orlando before arriving on site is the best option for us.

[MstngDrvnDsnyLvr]

2001 and 2004 we drove the 11 hrs and stayed on the south side of Jacksonville - 6 of us in a mini van.

2009, we drove the 11 hrs and stayed in Sandford - DH and I in my Mustang.

2012, I drove the 11 hrs and stayed in Deltona (about an hour from the greater WDW area) - DD and I in my Acadia.

We like to stop and not be over tired when getting in to WDW proper the next day.

Driving back - in 01 and 04 we stopped half way into SC. in 09 and last week, we drove all the way back in.

[Tink#64]

We flew our first 4 trips but we've driven our last 3 & we'll be driving again next year. WDW is about a 15 hour drive for us & we have had enough road trips to know that none of us can really stand being in the car/van longer than 8 or 9 hours! DS's are probably more content than I, they pack movies to watch on the DVD players in the van & we always pack snacks & drinks. I like to make limited stops, mostly rest stops for quick stops & easy off & back onto the interstate, we don't like to add on more travel time! We always split into two days, and depending on our departure time, we just drive as far as we are comfortable with the first day & stop for the night. We're always able to arrive in WDW early afternoon, and our arrival day tradition is to check into Pop Century, and head off to DTD for shopping & dinner, back to Pop for some pool time, unpack, settle in & get a good night's rest & be ready to hit the parks bright & early the next day!

I second the overnight bag for that overnight stay! I pack all necessities & a change of clothes so we don't have to unpack & dig into all of the luggage! So much easier! We do the same in reverse going home!

[jonahbear2006]

no. we leave around 2pm and the kids get just enough of a car ride in during the day to be tired of it about the time that we wouldve put them to bed. They then fall asleep and wake up to purple signs!!!! We drive 17 hrs and I put the pedal to the metal. We only stop for gas and potty breaks and I keep a potty in the car for the kids for emergencies. We show up early enough to get some pool time, get me a nap by the pool for my long drive I made single handedly, and then we run off to a park first thing in the am.
when the kids were tiny we left at bedtime and that worked well too but they are veteran long car riders. they dont need that anymore. most of them read the trip away and listen to music. we never have any issues and rarely have to stop to potty bc our three youngest are boys and we tend to keep gatorade bottles after they are emptied. Makes for an easy potty for them without getting out of their seats.
the way home is a diff. story. we usually end up catching a hotel room and resting, during the day, to get the most out of our hotel room and swimming. Drury inns are great because they feed you breakfast and dinner and they all have pools.

[SuprDav]

We are 11 hours away if you drive non stop. We have split the drive and we have driven all the way in one day. When we did go all the way to Orlando in one day, we'd go a day early and stay off site to get some rest before our check in to WDW. My thinking is that I don't want to wear myself out at the start of the trip. My family and I are all in resonable physical shape but we still believe in pacing ourselves.

[ChipNDale79]

We are 7.5 hours away, its pretty easy for us to drive that straight through. It's just short enough for us to leave right after work and arrive in Orlando by around 130 or 2, we'll usually get a cheap offsite hotel for that night and arrive at our disney hotel early in the morning after a few hours of sleep to check in and hit the parks early.

Our next trip will be with 2 kids under the age of 3, so I'm not sure how we'll do it.

[gratuspater]

Anyone driven from Kansas City Missourti area? Approx. cost of toll to orlando and total driving time, with refuel and eating?

[Scott C]

Anyone driven from Kansas City Missourti area? Approx. cost of toll to orlando and total driving time, with refuel and eating?

Really can't say -- but you are 6 hours from me and it is a 14 hour drive for me -- so 20 hours worse case. Tolls are minimal -- really none until you are about 75mi out from wdw - taking the turnpike and then 429 - probably $6 or $7 each way. You could totally avoid the tolls there but it would take quite a bit longer.

Thanks
Scott C

[kakn7294]

We're about 1000 miles away - 17 hrs or so. Our only stops are generally for gas, to pee, and to grab a quick bite to eat.

[gratuspater]

Really can't say -- but you are 6 hours from me and it is a 14 hour drive for me -- so 20 hours worse case. Tolls are minimal -- really none until you are about 75mi out from wdw - taking the turnpike and then 429 - probably $6 or $7 each way. You could totally avoid the tolls there but it would take quite a bit longer.

Thanks
Scott C

Thanks for the info, that's a long drive straight through but it would eat up a lot of vacation time stoping overnight on both ends of trip. And those motels eat into the money I'm looking at saving by driving. Looks like current airline prices will run between $1200 - $1400, while gas would run about $300- $350, roundtrip. This is a tough call, by the time we get up 4 hrs early to make it to the airport 2 hrs before our flight, fly for 3 hrs, and then spend another hr getting luggage and transported to hotel, we could be nearly half way there, and have our own car. Decisions, decisions! May have to try it once just to know! Thanks again!

[disneydeb]

We prefer to get up early ( about 3:00 AM) That gets us there about 4:00 in the afternoon. Last trip we traveled with a 10 month old and one that woke up as we were going under the WELCOME to Disney sign just as he turned four years old!!

The children slept all night but NONE of the adults slept a wink....we started of exhausted and cranky.

This November we will go back to our habit of leaving early in the morning.

[steamboat willy]

Last year, We DW, DGS and myself re-created my Dads vacation habit of waking everyone up around 3:00 a.m. and pile them in the Station Wagon (remember those) with camper in tow and head South to Florida. We left NC in our Explorer (no camper) around 3:30 a.m. and pulled into ASMu Resort a little afternoon. Just in time to grab a bite at our Food Court and a dip in the Calypso Pool before taking our first monorail loop. A great way to get our 10 hour drive done and still have some day left.

[hokies4life]

According to Google our trip is supposed to be about 15hrs but we usually do it in about 13 even with some stops. Usually we leave around 2-3am and get in to WDW around 3-4pm. We usually end up stopping every 3-4 hours for short stops of bathroom breaks, gas filling up, and food. But we usually don't stop for more than 10-15 minutes.

[JerseyDad]

....although the 1100 mile drive to WDW is definitely something we can do all at once (we do that on the trip home)...we usually stop in southern Georgia (Brunswick) after about 12.5 to 13 hr drive. We always do the trip starting on a Friday morn....and then after a stop-over at a Hampton Inn in Brunswick...leave early (by 8am) and get to WDW by 11-11:30 on Sat. morning.

....we never do any sit-down dining during the trip...just fast-food stops and fuel & potty breaks.

...last year we (I) drove the 850 mile to Brunswick in 12 hrs. Of course...no one was on the road because hurricane Irene was wandering up the coast...but I was still pretty proud of myself for averaging about 70 mph on that leg of the trip.

....we too pack smaller overnight bags just for the stop-over. It's SO much easier than dragging full sized suitcases in / out of the car just for one night.

[Mousemates]

for us its between ten and eleven hours and we just drive straight through.

[Mrs Bus Driver]

According to Google our trip is supposed to be about 15hrs but we usually do it in about 13 even with some stops. Usually we leave around 2-3am and get in to WDW around 3-4pm. We usually end up stopping every 3-4 hours for short stops of bathroom breaks, gas filling up, and food. But we usually don't stop for more than 10-15 minutes.

As I read this thought about my google trip 34 hours and was wondering, if you don't mind sharing. How fast do you drive? Speed limit? Speed limit plus? I would love to shave a couple of hours or more off of my drive

[missastrocat]

According to Google Maps, I'm 768miles, 12 and a half hours from front door to POR. We are taking our two dogs to stay at BestFriends(the new boarding place on WDW property) so we're going to drive down and take breaks every 2-3 hours for the dogs, but otherwise, I'm hoping it'll be a smooth trip.

We thought about spending the night half way through in Pooler, GA, but I don't want to spend the money for a room. DH doesn't get off work until 9pm, so we are going to take off here around 10pm and drive during the night. I'm hoping that will help the dogs chill out as well in the back. We are hoping to get there around noon so we can drop the dogs off at BestFriends, and then we can go to the resort. If our room is ready, we are going to crash there until about 5pm and then head out to the MK until 1am.

[Mrs Bus Driver]

In order to save money on our trip we will be catching a few zzz's at truck stops. DD is a truck driver she will plan our route so we know where all the safest stops are. We are also traveling with our dogs so we will have to make stops every 2 to 3 hours. Are boys will also be staying in the kennel at WDW.