Driving To WDW Straight Through?

[DVC2004]

So we live apprx. 1200 miles away and have driven a few times but over the course of a few days, stopping at night to sleep. We are going next month and it is looking like we might have to drive this trip for several reasons. Mostly, it's to cut down on costs and not have to rent a car (which we always do).

Several Map sites say it will take us 18 hours. I guess if we left very early- say 4 am, we should be able to make it the same day. We will have to stop for gas but we can eat fast food in the car or pack some food in a cooler. My husband and I can switch off driving in shifts too.

Anyone have experience with a long distance drive with no stops? Terrible, or not so bad? Our kids our older so they have plenty of diversions and shouldn't be an issue.

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

When we drive to Disney, we drive from the Toronto-area to the Atlanta-area (about 17 hours) on the first day.

It really isn't that bad at all. We start early, about 4 - 5am, and pack snacks and sandwiches to cut down on the number of times we have to stop.

DH drives the first 5 hours or so, then me, and then we switch whenever we stop. We keep DD occupied with books, homework and her DVD player (although we have a car "rule", she can't watch her DVD player until after noon, so it is something to look forward to!).

One word of caution, the 18 hours will be longer. The map sites don't take stops into account, and you will have to stop at least a couple of times, so it will probably be closer to 20 hours.

So, from experience, we know what it is like to get to Disney tired from a long drive. I would really recommend a single-night stop, somewhere cheap (like Holiday Inn Express that includes breakfast), you will enjoy your first day at Disney so much more than having arrived at midnight after a crazy-long drive.

[Jeff]

We have driven from Mid-Michigan twice and will be again this Christmas. We used to fly all the time. Airports havebecome such a nightmare and rental car prices so high that we drove last year - and loved it.

We don't try and go in one day though. We will leave about 4 pm and drive till 1 or 2 am. Get south of Nashville then finish up the next day.

Car DVD/Nintendo system essential to sanity!:thumbsup:

[mrbghd]

We drive from Northwest Indiana fairly regularly. We typically drive straight through on the way back. It is long but not so terrible. We Usually leave WDW at around 6am and make it home around midnight. We stop and eat luch and dinner and don't kill ourselves with the pace. Idon't know if I wouldtry it going there because I am ussually pretty wore out for the next day or so. We ususally stop in Valodsta (about 3 hours from WDW). It is well worth the stop. We end up refreshed and at WDW early the second day and are ready to roll.

[bcornette]

We always drive straight through from Ohio (a little over 1000 miles) with 3 kids (1.5, 5, and 8). We usually leave between 9pm and 11pm and drive all night. I like having the kids sleep for 2/3 of the drive and not having to stop for potty or food breaks as often.
We stop in northern florida for breakfast at the first Cracker Barrel on 75 and then have lunch in the world.
On our way back we sometimes stop but it depends on how we feel.

[faline]

We've essentially driven straight through from Massachusetts which is about 1500 miles though I don't recommend it!

However, we have driven straight through from Massachusetts to Cincinnati - about 17 hours - andthat's not too bad. If you leave early in the morning as you suggest, it might not be too bad.

[JakeontheCob]

We drove from the NW subarbs this past March. We stopped in Georgia on the way down, but our hotel was a wreck, so we just drove the last 6 hours and got to the world at like 4am. Driving straight there was not too bad.

On the way back we drove straight through to my parents who live in Decatur, which was an awful ride. I would not recommend doing a straight through drive without more than 2 adults driving. The last 5 hours of our trip were horrible and we should have pulled off, but didn't.

[rubato]

It CAN be done, but you won't be good the first day at the World. I agree that you should stop somewhere close, spend the night, and finish up the next morning. Why pay for a night of pricey WDW resort staying, when you won't be getting in until after midnight?

[Renfairwedding]

We drive from the NYC area non stop but plan an being in the Disney area the late afternoon before our first day in the parks. We find a low cost place get some sleep then early check-in the resort hotel the next day.

We won't have a room yet but get our park hoppers and jump right into our disney vacation.

[I LoveJack]

We've driven straight thru from Oklahoma one time but we didn't leave until around 4 in the afternoon. My DH is a truck driver who normally drives at night, so I drove the first part while we slept then traded off after dinner. It was a lot easier on our daughters that way, they slept half of the trip, but I don't think that I would do it again. Was much too tired by the time we got there.
I'm heading out to the west coast this spring (Disneyland) and leaving out Friday after the girls get out of school . So taking 2 1/2 days to get out there and 2 to get back.

[CanadianWDWFan]

We are around 21 hours away and what we do is put a big drive in the first day then a nice "short" on in the next day.

We usually leave by 6am the first day then drive until 9pm. This leaves us with about a six hour drive the next day. We are usually on the raod by 7am and will arrive at WDW just around 2:00pm. We either get our room or will leave our stuff with Bell services and then hit the parks.

We have talked about driving down in one shot but always decide that we would rather get to Disney and not be exhausted from the drive. When we arrive in the afternoon we get a taste of Disney and then get to bed in good time and then the next day we are fully rested ready to take on WDW!

[princessgirls]

We did this once.... We have a Suburban and we stopped overnight going down, coming home however, we just wanted to get home and kept our car on the road from 9pm Friday until arriving in our driveway in Wayne, NJ at 5pm Saturday. We did pull over for a full hour so both my husband and I could sleep at 5am. We just kept switching drivers. It was a long trip, but my kids have done long car trips before and are good in the car.
Good luck and safe travel.
Julie:mickey:

[Dream'nDisney]

It usually takes us about 17 hours of driving. Don't forget you will lose an hour going down with the time change to EST. We have always broken our trip up, basically because we just can't wait to leave early in the morning. We ended up being too excited and take off the evening before. We have made it to just south of Chatanooga (sp?) TN one time, but most times we just try to at least make it south of Atlanta, GA. As another person posted, Valdosta is also a good stopping point. The main thing is to be safe. If you feel yourself struggling to stay away, it isn't worth your family's safety pushing yourself.

[Gregandmel]

My sister in law and her family drive straight through every year (kudos to them...I could NOT do it!). They live in Kansas City and their plan of attack is to leave around 2pm. They drive until around 6pm and stop for dinner, then the kids (they have 3 - ages 9, 13 & 15) usually fall asleep by 10-11pm. The parents take turns at the wheel. They stop for breakfast when the kids wake up (around 7-8am) and are at the parks by lunchtime. The parents get little sleep so I'm not sure how they are able to do a full day at the park after driving all night, but they always seem to manage. I guess the adrenaline has kicked back up to high gear by then. Good luck to you!!! (They do, however, spend the night one night on the way back home)

[MaxPower]

Check online for state highway maintenance and construction projects. They always add extra time- especially if you hit one during a rush hour and the highway is narrowed down to one lane.

[RaRaRoundTheWorld]

I'd just like to thank you all for starting this post & posting your replies. We're planning a road trip for our next WDW vacation. My DH wants to head straight down, spend time there, then slowly make our way back home. This post is soooo great for info!!!

[RaRaRoundTheWorld]

We always drive straight through from Ohio (a little over 1000 miles) with 3 kids (1.5, 5, and 8). We usually leave between 9pm and 11pm and drive all night. I like having the kids sleep for 2/3 of the drive and not having to stop for potty or food breaks as often.
We stop in northern florida for breakfast at the first Cracker Barrel on 75 and then have lunch in the world.
On our way back we sometimes stop but it depends on how we feel.

I thought about this. Do you feel safe driving at night (good visibility, other drivers are being safe)? And how in the world do you stay awake? Don't you have a jet lagged feeling?

[Genie1953]

My sister in law and her family drive straight through every year (kudos to them...I could NOT do it!). They live in Kansas City and their plan of attack is to leave around 2pm. They drive until around 6pm and stop for dinner, then the kids (they have 3 - ages 9, 13 & 15) usually fall asleep by 10-11pm. The parents take turns at the wheel. They stop for breakfast when the kids wake up (around 7-8am) and are at the parks by lunchtime. The parents get little sleep so I'm not sure how they are able to do a full day at the park after driving all night, but they always seem to manage. I guess the adrenaline has kicked back up to high gear by then. Good luck to you!!! (They do, however, spend the night one night on the way back home)

You know I was wondering how long it would take to drive to Disneyworld. I am in Leavenworth just a short ways up the road from Kansas City. We did briefly consider it for our upcoming trip in April but then got fairly decent flights so we are flying instead.

[snowflakegirl]

When I was younger my family trips to Disney were always driving. We lived in southern New Hampshire and would drive straight through. It took about 23 hours including stops for gas, stretch/bathroom breaks, and stopping to get food in the car. My parents took turns doing the driving. We left both in the morning and in the evening depending on the trip.

The first time we made this trip my sister was 1 and I was 7, then 3 and 9, 6 and 12, and finally 10 and 16. I wouldn't recommend the trip with a 1 year old (and then she got sick on the way home, which made that trip even harder), but otherwise, we had books and music to keep us occupied. We both slept a good portion of the drive. We had fun looking to see when the trees started changing. I've asked my mother since then how bad it was driving straight through, and she said that while it wasn't her favorite activity, she preferred that to the times we've driven to North Carolina to see relatives and have stopped to spend the night somewhere.

I also drove when I was 21 with a friend from New Hampshire. Same thing, we drove all the way through on the way there. We left at 6pm on the way back after having done Animal Kingdom all day. We had to stop on the way home to get some sleep.

My ex and I drove down for our honeymoon as well. We left the morning after the wedding at about 11. We did stop around 2 to get some sleep, but we'd been up getting married the day before. We were able to drive back in one shot without any problem.

I've never had a problem with the driving straight through, but I like being in the car. I sleep well in cars and I'm able to stay focused for long stretches of driving, so I might be in the minority as far as not minding driving straight through.

[statrai]

My wife and I have twice driven down. We first did this because of air fares. Now we like the convience of having our van. We leave mid afternoon 2pm - 4 pm, so our daughters 10 and 11 only have a few hour until they go to sleep at 8- 9pm. We alternate drivers and have places planned to stop for gas and to stretch. My wife likes not having to think of the entire trip, but when is our next stop. For us it breaks into 4hrs to Virginia, 3 hrs to North Carolina, 3hrs to South Carolina, 3hrs to Georgia,4 hrs to breakfast in Florida. This last time there was road construction so it took a little longer. We stay with my wife's father who has a place in Key Largo and go to Disneyworld the following day. The first time we did this the park had extra magic hours and we were at the MK from 10am till 1am. I am a night owl and like to drive the night hours. This past August we were on the cruise and decided to head home at 9am and arrived home at 2am the next day. Our daughters did well on the trip home.
The trip home seems harder since you don't have the excitement of going to DIsney.
Be sure if you feel tired to pull off and rest.

[Bass T-bone]

... plus the fact that you'll be wasted (tired) when you get there and will need some re-coop time. Not a good value for your money...

If your gonna drive, break it up.

Just my :twocents:

[PETE FROM NYC]

Don't try to kill yourselves.
Dw and I did a 2700 mile 23 day road trip this past September.We left on Sunday morning,9 AM, and went to Virginia where we were to spend a couple of days at the theme parks there.Then back on the road Wed AM til we overnighted in So Carolina.Then on to Orlando.I was the only driver, and considering some of my health issues, this worked out good for us.
We plan on doing the drive again next fall.

[CiaoBella312]

We do this drive each year, and are from central NJ. We have tried leaving at different times of the day, and going all the way without stopping. What we found works best for us is leaving at 5 or 6 in the morning, and planning on stopping in Brunswick, GA in the evening, getting up early and driving the 3 and a half hours that remain of the trip to arrive at the World by 10 a.m. Most hotels have "free breakfast" which is good enough (cereal, danish, some have yogurt and bagels) and you don't lose a day or feel too exhausted to go to the parks.

Think about how long it takes you to get to Washington, DC and the day of the week you are leaving. There is a tremendous amount of rush hour traffic in that area, so you want to drive either ahead or behind that. You will find the traffic continues/lags between Richmond, VA and Washington, DC (Virginia is the worst traffic of the trip we have found) so I suggest leaving very early in the morning or if you don't want to stop anywhere leave in the evening and drive overnight.

When we do the trip the way I described above with the 5 or 6 a.m. departure, we are in Brunswick by 7:30 or 8 p.m. Interestingly, we always go completely home from Disney without stopping; it normally only takes 16 hours, and that is WITH the traffic in Virginia.

Drive safe and good luck!

[#1donaldfan]

:party:....we always drive down....it's about a 12 hour haul, including gas n fast food.....it's not too bad, DW can't ride or sleep in car, so I get to navagate and sleep, She'll get tired 1/2 way down and I get my chance to drive a bit.....:party:

[Nascfan]

We drive thru also, and especially the way you plan to do it, is not too bad. You'll be able to sleep in a bed for most the first night, and wake up at WDW! Go to bed early the night before and try to get some sleep.
We've found a good trick is when we start to get tired to break it up in shorter shifts between switching drivers, even if it's literally to stop, switch, and go.

[hubbyofadisneyholic]

We are in the far north suburbs of Chicago and have made the drive straight thru many times (we will be doing it again in January).
What works best for us is to leave about 8am. We usually fast food lunch and have a decent dinner. Because of meds I am on we have to make pit stops every couple hrs switching drivers about every 6 hrs until about 11pm, then I drive the rest of the night.
We usually stop for a couple hour snooze at the rest area on I-475 just outside of Macon, GA.

My goal is for everyone to be waking up when we hit the Florida Welcome Center. Then my wife drives for the last couple hours.
That way we all have gotten a chance to sleep and are ready to go when we hit WDW.

Admittedly this was a lot easier to do back in the 1980s than it is now (downside to getting old, I guess) but it is still fairly easy to do.

[KylesMom]

Well, we've made the drive on three separate occasions from suburban Chicago - leaving our house around 2 am. Each time, we had lofty goals of being able to drive straight through. However, about an hour before Valdosta, GA, both DH and I were so exhausted that we just decided to keep our ressie at Days Inn and get a few hours of sleep. It was a good move for us each time.

On one occasion we decided to drive home straight through - and it was a debacle. First we got stuck in a 4-hour horrific backup from a semi truck accident in TN, then we got lost around Bloomington, IL due to road construction. It ended up taking almost 24 hours to get home! We both decided that if we ever drove again, we'd never try to push it that hard!


On the way back we drove straight through to my parents who live in Decatur, which was an awful ride. I would not recommend doing a straight through drive without more than 2 adults driving. The last 5 hours of our trip were horrible and we should have pulled off, but didn't. Amen, Gary!

FYI - with only necessary rest stop breaks, it usually would take us 15 hours plus the one hour time change to make it to Valdosta. It still took 3 1/2 hours to make it to the CR, going well over the speed limit! So 18-19 hours is a pretty good estimation . . .

One last thing to add - DH and I spend a total of approximately four hours each day combined commuting to work, so it's not like we're not used to being behind the wheel!

[hokies4life]

In August we did a straight through drive of 900-950 miles with 2 drivers. I know we ended up getting in around 4pm, which would mean we left home around 2am, which sounds about right. We would only pull off to make quick potty breaks and food stops. We would eat in the car though to make sure we didn't lose too much time. We always seemed to run into traffic on 95 in GA. First time there was construction and then the next time just traffic, I guess. Now we plan on it.

We are driving again in January, this time with 3 drivers since my Mom will be with us too. I don't know if we'll be able to leave that early though so we'll probably end up getting there around 5 or later. Definitely not a park day since most close between 6-8.

:chipdale:

[kakn7294]

We drive straight through from Pittsburgh. It takes us about 15.5 hrs if we leave around 7pm and drive all night with a stop for a nice breakfast. We usually arrive around 11:30am the next day. In March, we left home around 8:30am and drove all day, stopping for 3 meals, all fast-food. Traffic was much busier during the day and we didn't arrive until 1:30am. I think the actual driving time was about the same but we arrived about 1.5 hrs later than I had hoped.

[DisneyKim22]

Ideally, we'd love to drive straight through, but about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way, we start getting cranky. Sure, it can be done, but you have to know yourself and what you and anyone else in the vehicle can handle. We usually stop in Nashville or around Chattanooga at an inexpensive hotel. We seem to enjoy the vacation better that way. We're more likely to drive straight through on the way home - but I'd only recommend this if you have a free day before you have to go back to work/school. You'll be mighty tired!

[TheMartellFamily]

We head out late at night at 10 pm or early morning 5 am missing all Chicago traffic, do not forget there is always construction. We budget time in the manor of 22 to 24 hours straight through. That is with stops, eating, gassing up and other unexpected things that may come up. Driving down to WDW is so much easier because of the excitement of everything, coming home a stop is always a must for us. 6 hours of shut eye can do wonders.