Driving advice please!!! About This Page:

[disneydeva]

Ok so here is my dilemma if we drive from Vermont to Disney it will take approx 24 hours! We will save almost 800 that being said it would allow us to do US for two says and my din would be so happy because he is a huge HP fan. I am really not a great rider. I do ok if I am driving but riding is not great. I am almost convinced thatvthus is really the best option since my children have a 12 day April vacation this year but I need honest feedback from those if you who have done this. I would want to drive straight through at least on our way there.

[WillCAD]

I have made the drive many times from Baltimore, which takes 14 hours. It's exhausting for one or two drivers, but much more tolerable if you have 3 or 4. Aside from the driver, there should always be a second person awake and alert at all times to make sure the driver is awake and alert. Those long straightaways in Georgia and the Carolinas are boring and monotonous, especially at night, and can lull a tired driver into a trance or even into nodding off at the wheel.

Driving 24 hours straight is highly dangerous for a single driver, and can be quite dangerous for two drivers. I recommend against driving straight through unless you have at least two drivers, and at least two additional responsible people, so you can have a driver and one other person awake at all times, while the others can sleep and rest.

Even if you have enough people to make a 24-hour drive straight through safely, it's not a great way to start your trip. You will arrive stiff, cramped, sore, and very tired, even if you are able to sleep some in the car, and you'll be off your game for a couple of days once you arrive.

I really hate the idea of adding extra days to a trip just for the drive, but it must be done, for both safety and sanity. In your case, two 12-hour days in a row would be best, then you get a good night's sleep and start fresh on the 3rd morning. Trust me, you will sleep like a stone the night you arrive at WDW and wake up early feeling like a million bucks, knowing you're about to start your vacation. Drive it straight through, you'll sleep for 10-12 hours, wake up late, and still be tired, sore, cramped, and miserable all day for the first day or two.

You might also split it a little more unevenly and do longer drive time the first day and shorter drive time the second, or vice versa. Coming down the east coast, the most stressful parts of your trip, with the most traffic, road changes, and potential for delays, construction, and backups, from VT to DC. Past DC, it's pretty open all the way to Orlando, and the only city you'll pass through is Jacksonville, FL. Stopping somewhere around Richmond, VA would be a nice halfway point for you; it's about 10-12 hours from Orlando, and from Richmond south it'll be almost entirely open road.

[southerngirl1014]

We drive as well. I must agree with the previous poster that doing it straight through is dangerous. Our trip took about 12 hours. We made the mistake of thinking we could drive straight through. By Georgia I was in tears telling my DH we had to stop somewhere I could not be in the car. And I was not even the one driving! We stopped in Georgia right before FL. The next day it took us no time to get the rest of the way to WDW. Plus we were rested so we felt up to hitting the parks right away. Good luck!

[di109]

We drive from NJ and it takes us about 18 hours driving time. I also agree with the two previous posters. I would never drive it straight through! We take our time on the drive and enjoy each others company and the anticipation of being at Disney. If you drive straight through, you will be tired and cranky whether you were the driver or not. Not a great way to start your vacation!

[tigersprinkles]

we drive straight threw fron eastern li its 19.5hrs me and my wife take turns i,ll drive the 1st 4 hrs then she drives for acouples then i drive allnite then she,ll drive the last 3 to 4hrs i,ll sleep not that bad but i drive for a living so i,m used to driving 12hr days. coming home we stop at family in nc and va

[2Peanuts]

We live just south of DC and it takes us about 12 hours. We like to stop in Jacksonville on the way there, so we have a short 3 hour drive on our arrival day. It allows us to arrive fresh & not quite so exhausted.

Another option --- not sure if it's do-able for your family --- is the AutoTrain. It loads in Lorton, VA which is about 20 miles (maybe less?) south of DC, right off I-95. I think you board in the afternoon & ride overnight on the train. You get dinner & breakfast onboard. At 9 a.m., the train pulls into Sanford, FL, which is maybe 4 hours from Orlando. I have a friend who has 4 young kids who recently did this & she loved it. Airfare is out of the question for her large family, so the auto-train worked out great. Plus her kids got a huge kick out of being on the train.

You would still have a long drive from VT to VA, but it might be worthwhile to investigate & see if the $, time & energy savings could benefit your family.

Whatever your decision, good luck! And if you do drive the whole way, take lots of breaks!

Carol

[JerseyDad]

....a 24 hr drive (that's what the travels sites tell you it'll be...normally plan on a bit more time in reality)....will be a stress-maker regardless of the number of drivers.

....this August will be our 10th drive to WDW....and we're going to do it pretty much the same way that that we have for the last 8 of the 9 trips under our belt....making it a 2 day trip. I drive 12.5 to 13 hrs the first day to get as far south as possible (we stop in Georgia at about 6:30 or 7:00pm.) And then do a 3 hr trip the next morning to WDW.

....if you can make it to NC the first day...to say...Rocky Mount (14 hrs).....then you'll be looking at an 10.5 or 11 hr second leg drive to WDW.

Also...the time of day you leave can make a difference...for example: If you leave at midnight....you could actually be in NC during daylight....break for 1 or 2 hrs ("power nap")....continue driving to say, southern SC or into Georgia, stop for the night, and then have a 3 or 4 hr drive the next day. It's ALWAYS better to have a much shorter drive the second day. Since you have 2 drivers...this would be a definite option. (I "have" two drivers too....my wife....but I opt to do all the driving...and by now a 13 hr drive seems to be second nature to me)

[Nova]

Did 5 driving trips back in the 90's, down my Father made it great by stopping for the girls to swim in a hotel pool, and made it out as a mini vacation before Disney. Fine if you have that much time to do it in and the extra money for hotels on the way. Home was miserable, sooooooooo long you are soooooooooooo exhausted. Have not done a Disney drive trip since. Fly anymore worth the money to be able to get there and do the parks the same day and coming home it is just the drive from the airport. Much better for us than the driving was. Plus there are so many drivers that make driving dangerous no matter how careful you are there are a lot that are not.

[Angela531]

We will be driving from the Chicago area in a few weeks. The estimated time is about 18 hrs, but with stops I'm thinking more like 20-21hrs. We will leave at 8pm on Friday (CT) and should arrive about 6 pm (ET) on Saturday. I will typically drive the first part until around Sunrise, then DH will do 2-4 hrs and then I finish up the rest (he is not a driver). My advice, and what I'm doing, is to reverse your sleeping as much as possible the days leading up to your departure day, if this is possible for you. For the week before we leave I will put the kids on the bus and then go back to sleep until they come home, I will then stay up as late int the night as I can. Each night I should be able to stay up later and nap during the day. Then for our first night we will spend that at an Oceanside hotel so that I can get a good night rest and then head over to WDW for the second night. On the way home we will plan a hotel stop half way as my sleeping will be back on a "normal" schedule. I understand that if you work full time or have little ones at home this may not work, but it's something to think about.

[benjiboo25]

I got AWESOME feedback when I asked "Am I Crazy to drive from MN? I will try to find the link and post it here...

[benjiboo25]

Here is the link I referenced above:

http://www.passporterboards.com/foru...ive-mn-fl.html

[muphoto]

We have driven each of the 25 trips toWDW. From WV it is about 13 hours, including stops.
We generally leave home around 8-9pm, I prefer driving through the night and my DW takes over as it gets daylight. We stop for fuel, food and other things in VA., SC, GA, and then for breakfast in St. Augustine FL. We check in at the hotel, leave our luggage and then go to DTD or look around the other resorts until our rooms are ready. At times the rooms have been ready as early as noon, but usually not until 2 or 3pm. Then we take a short nap, shower and then dinner. We make it an early night, for us anyway, then head for the parks the next day. On the return trip, we will hit DTD, use any QS or snack credits we have left then on the road by 5 or 6pm.

[JennyM]

We have driven several times from Massachusetts. We do not drive straight through either. Everyone would be seriously grumpy if we tried to do that! My husband likes to do the driving and I am the rider, at times making sure he is alert and okay. We like to drive as far as Kingsland, GA...which takes the better part of one day, depending on traffic, cat naps, food & bathroom breaks, etc. We typically leave MA in the early evening and get there by late afternoon, early evening the next day. We usually stay at the Microtel in Kingsland, which is quite nice and affordable. The next morning we leave around 9 am and reach WDW by about noon. We are rested and showered and happy. I would be very unhappy to get to WDW and only be able to think of sleep and a shower. Also, we have had times when our room was ready right away...but we have also had times when we had to wait until 4:30ish for our room to be ready. I am not one to be able to go places without a shower at least each morning...I just don't like the feeling. And, even though I am a person who likes car rides, you get very tired and cramped after that many hours in the car. I like to arrive fresh and awake and ready to go!

Good luck with whatever you decide!

[DVC_Don]

We make the trip a couple of times a year. In the early fall we drive one of our cars down to our Florida house and leave it there until mid April. The first day we drive about 9 or 10 hours and overnight somewhere around Richmond, Virginia. The second day we drive about 8 or 9 hours and overnight near Savannah, Georgia. The third day we complete the trip with a 5 hour drive to our home about 20 miles south of WDW. We tried doing it with two 12 hour drives (one overnight) but that a chore.

On the trip north we leave in the early afternoon and overnight in the same places, Savannah & Richmond.

There are plenty of rest areas along the way to stop and walk around at and we tend to change drivers about every 1 1/2 - 2 hours.

[sk8mom6]

Have done the trip many times (although recently have flown). Unless you are used to being up allnight, I wouldn't drive straight through the night. Even when DH & I both worked night shift, we didn't think it was the best idea. Depending on the time of year, you can run into a lot of fog, especially in South Carolina and Georgia. We usually got up early, like 3 am and left as soon as we could get dressed and the kids in the car. We would drive 12-13 hours and stop for the night. We would get up again early in the am, and drive the rest of the way in--about 6 hours.
You may also want to plan out your route to try to avoid the big cities at rush hour. Not sure where you are coming from in Vermont, so not real sure about your route and what cities you would encounter, but they can really slow you down if you are there during rush hour.
I did find that after doing it a couple times that I kind of enjoyed spending the time in the car with the family.