Driving Overnight...When to Start?

[volfan1978]

We're driving overnight from Tennessee to Orlando (driving time = 10 hours) in a few months with four children, ages from 2 to 8. I know that by the end of it I'm probably going to wish I'd just paid the $1,800 and flown, but anyway...

I'm trying to decide the best strategy for maximizing the kids' sleep. We're not really concerned about arriving at a particular time, just want to make the trip as painless for everyone involved and keep the number of times that we're asked "are we there yet?" in the triple digits.

So should we load everyone in the car in their PJ's at their normal bedtime and let them fall asleep on the road, or should we let them fall asleep in their beds and then transfer them to the car after they've had a couple of hours to sleep? My instinct tells me that Option 1 is the way to go, but I'm hoping that some of you have been there/done that and can give me some tips.

Thanks in advance...

 

[Feberin]

We drove from Baltimore, MD so a little bit longer. We left at 4 am and drove down arriving in Orlando around 7 or 8 pm. It worked pretty well for us. We woke the kids up at 4 am since my daughter is a light sleeper and we wanted my four-year-old son to use the bathroom before we left the house. He was SO excited about the trip that he stayed awake for most of the drive. My toddler fell back asleep right away and slept until around her normal waking up time of 7 am. We stopped at a McDonald's for a bathroom break and got breakfast to go around that time. Then kept driving. Stopped again for a bathroom break and letting the kids run around a bit around maybe 11? Then loaded them up. They ate a packed lunch in the car and we stopped for gas and more bathroom breaks shortly afterwards. Around 2ish both kids fell asleep and slept until we were nearly there. We had planned on stopping shy of Orlando but kept going because they were asleep and it just made more sense to us. They were VERY wound up when we arrived at a hotel in Orlando (not Disney) but we took them to a playground to run around and after a lot of fuss they did go to bed around maybe 9 pm and slept all night.
For us leaving at 4 am let us get a little sleep before heading out so my husband and I weren't too exhausted. I think if we'd gotten the kids ready for bed and loaded them into the car only my toddler would have slept the four-year-old would have been too excited to fall asleep. I'd imagine it would be even worse with older kids. If your kids transfer well then I'd try that technique but both of mine have never been great about sleeping through being carried from point a to point b. I also recommend planning on taking them somewhere when you arrive to allow them to run around a lot before going to bed that night. On the way back we stopped at a hotel with an indoor pool and let them swim. It worked great for tuckering them out after having sat in the car all day.

 

[OZMom]

We drive from CT, it's about 24 hours. My husband naps during the day. We eat, brush teeth, bathe and put pajamas on the kids and leave right about 7:30PM. We put them in carseats with pillow / stuffy / blanket and play DVD's until they fall asleep. Then I sleep while hubby drives and switch when the sun comes up. It works beautifully because the kids sleep the first half of the trip. Hubby sleeps while I drive the second half and we arrive in time to relax a little, get to sleep early and start hitting the parks the next morning.

 

[puffkin]

Have you ever driven over night before? I know my DH and I are not good with long car trips at night to begin with, and I have seen so many horrible stories of accidents involving families driving to Disney overnight with people falling asleep that we decided not to do it. We just know our limitations.

It was for our Thanksgiving trip. We ended up driving 3.5 hours to a different airport and flew into Tampa but it was half the price of our normal airport and saved us about $1500. Before that we were planning on breaking up the drive both directions with a hotel room about half way because neither of us wanted to do the overnight driving....luckily I found the more affordable airfare.

 

[Wes1stTrip2016]

We have driven from Alabama to Maryland several times with our now 4yr old son and we leave about bedtime and arrive about 6am. He watches movies, then sleeps most of the way, usually waking about daylight, in time for a break from driving and a bite to eat. I never knew if we were just lucky or he is just a really great traveler. We will be driving to Disney as well, same schedule.

 

[volfan1978]

Thanks for the replies. Puffkin, I'm a veteran overnight driver, so I know all the tricks...but I've never done it with kids before. I think you guys have confirmed what I already suspected, which is that it's best to get on the road at bedtime so that they go to sleep (eventually) and hopefully stay that way until sunrise.

 

[MrsGoofyMitchell]

We drove to WDW from St. Louis which is about 16 hours. We actually ate dinner and then loaded the kids up in the van around 6pm. We let them watch movies and they were all out by 10pm. (Well, except for one who was up until midnight!) They slept until 7am where we stopped for breakfast in Lake City. Then they were awake for a few more hours until we arrived! This really worked out! I definitely suggest option one for you.

 

[EPCOTgrl1]

I would say before they go to sleep load them up and put on a movie if you can. If they stay awake they stay awake, but I hope for you they will stay asleep.

 

[nugov2]

My husband can go on no sleep, so this may not be for everyone. We drove 19 hours. We left and 7pm, stopped once at 9 and then drove straight through until 5 when we needed gas. Everyone was asleep(2, 6 and 8 at the time) by 10 and slept straight until 5 when they woke because we stopped. We ate and left and they all fell back to sleep and we drove until about noon when they got up and we ran around at a rest stop and then drove the rest of the way. Not all can drive straight through, but for us it worked. There were 4 adults in the car and 1 was up with dh at all times. We did the same on the drive home, but then we left at noon. The kids were wiped they slept the majority of the ride home. It was crazy!!

ETA: that dh did say he'd never drive to WDW again so our next trip we have to fly. I didn't think it was bad, but I hate to fly and will avoid it whenever possible.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

10 hours? I'd just get up at my normal time & get there by supper. One day in a car should be no sweat. BTW, even if you live next door to the airport, and can fly without a connection, you're still looking at 5 hours door to door more than likely. Save your $1,800

 

[AlexisMaxMommy]

You have to do what you are comfortable with, but I agree with most of the comments here that leaving a little before bedtime and driving through the night is easiest with little ones.

 

[leahlefler]

We can't do overnight trips (DH and I just can't stay awake well at night and worry about the safety issue), but we have driven 18+ hours to Florida in the past (not to Disney World, but to Destin). When we go, we get up really early (like at 3 am) and that seems to work well. Our kids are great in the car, though, so we don't need them to sleep through the trip. 10 hours isn't too bad of a drive - if you go overnight, you'll be there early in the morning, and (after resting for the adult who drove overnight) you can probably do a few things that afternoon.

 

[growinupdisney]

Haven't read thru all so sorry if it's repetitive of someone else but this what we do and it has worked for us many times!
They day we are leaving if my husband works he will only work half a day and be home by 2:30pm he will lay down and take a nap. During that time I take the kids out of the house we pick up last minute things, take dog to kennel, pick up dinner, anything to keep house quiet as long as I can so he can rest!

When we get back usually around 6 or 7pm they help me go over lists to make sure everything is in the car and we haven't forgotten anything. At this point kids go ahead and get dressed in their comfy travel clothes and go to the room farthest from our bedroom where dad is sleeping and watch a Disney movie and stay quiet!

Around 9 I wake dad up he gets a shower, eats dinner I picked up for him and we are off to Disney by 10:00pm!

I usually will take a nap in the car the first few hours (I also will take a nap mid day before hubby gets home and has his) this way I can drive from about 3:00 -4:30am This is when hubby starts getting tired, although it's only an hour and half of a twelve hour drive that's all he usually needs to refresh(keep in mind he slept about 6-7 hrs when he napped first)

While we are driving hubby and I talk, listen to music and enjoy the time together we don't usually get. When we stop for gas we usually get coffee, and we like to snack too helps keeps us refreshed.

Kids are usually asleep within first hour into drive! We don't hear from them again until around 7:30am (very rarely has anyone woke up to go to bathroom but if they did they went right back to sleep after we got going again) ate this point we are only about 2 hrs from Disney so we stop and have breakfast etc. and get back on road kids don't mind this last bit of trip because you are in Orlando and there is lots to see so they usually start to get excited and it goes by quick!

We do keep the option open of staying at hotel on the way down if we need to

 

[cariann77]

I wish we could drive through the night. We tried it last time and ended up at a hotel after about 6 hours.

 

[MandiC]

I think this is just one of those things that depend on your family. There is no way dh and I could function and be happy parents the next day on no sleep. If we lived 10 hours from Disney I'd pack the car up, go to bed early and get in the car for 4-5am, you will get there by early afternoon and be well rested. You can't even check into most hotels until after noon so arriving, exhausted with no sleep, before then could be miserable. Pack some snacks and things to keep the kids occupied and hope everyone decides to take a nap or two
I'm really pushing to drive for our next trip, but we live almost an entire day's drive away so we will see. 6 plane tickets, even the cheap ones, are EXPENSIVE.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I think this is just one of those things that depend on your family. There is no way dh and I could function and be happy parents the next day on no sleep. If we lived 10 hours from Disney I'd pack the car up, go to bed early and get in the car for 4-5am, you will get there by early afternoon and be well rested. You can't even check into most hotels until after noon so arriving, exhausted with no sleep, before then could be miserable. Pack some snacks and things to keep the kids occupied and hope everyone decides to take a nap or two
I'm really pushing to drive for our next trip, but we live almost an entire day's drive away so we will see. 6 plane tickets, even the cheap ones, are EXPENSIVE.

I agree with this. Now, when I was young & worked nights, I could stay up all night and function the next day. Were I to try it now, I'd be looking for a nap as soon as I arrived (assuming I didn't give up midway & just get a hotel). I just don't see much appeal in arriving first thing in the morning on zero rest.

 

[poeticdiabetic]

We make our trip from Atlanta, so here's our tried and true proven 100% guaranteed solution:

1. I rest in the evening. If I had 10 hours to drive, I would hit the couch or bedroom around 3 or so.

2. We dress the kids for the next day! And before we hit the road, we are dressed in tomorrow's clothes. So if I had 10 hours, I would hit the road around 9 or 10PM. The reason why is because we like to hit the ground running and WDW resorts and other hotels won't let you go into your room until around 3PM. So we make sure that we have freshen-up stuff in a bag, but we dress for the next day.

3. I drive all night! Why? Because my family is asleep. I'm the only one awake. So no trips to the bathroom. No one's hungry or thirsty. No drama. Just sleep. Now how do I stay awake? Simple: Music. Caffeine. Sunflower seeds (not just something to eat, but something to do!)

Now I know that many people can't do this. Many people simply cannot drive all night. And many folks can't function after driving all night. So let me give you a caveat: You can start driving at 5 AM and only have about 5 hours of waking time. But the kids can be in their PJs, eat drive-thru and go to the hotel. In that instance, I would suggest arriving a day early and stay at a cheap motel/hotel. I don't like arriving at WDW in the afternoon because I paid for the entire day, so I want to be there the entire day. But that's just me.

 

[delilah]

I've never been able to drive through the night. We also get an early start, drive for about 12 hours, then rest overnight. I don't sleep at all well in the car. Ever since I was a child, I would worry so much about driving at night. So, since we live about a 24-hour drive or so from Orlando, we usually stop overnight south of Atlanta. Since our vacation time is valuable, and spending two days each way driving, the cost of air tickets is cheap compared to spending 4 days of a 9 day trip (weekends plus 5 weekdays of a 1 wk vacation) in a car for us.

 

[ForeverAlice]

We drive about 12-13 hours. My children did not sleep at all last time from 10 pm when we left until about 4 am. But they were quiet so thats something..lol. I thought this time we would try during leaving during the day but DH said he does not love how tired he is after we arrive in Wdw but the little to no overnight for almost the entire drive is worth it. I dress them in comfy clothes but not pjs only because I hate changing them before we get to the resturant for breakfast.

 

[chris31997]

Thanks for the replies. Puffkin, I'm a veteran overnight driver, so I know all the tricks...but I've never done it with kids before. I think you guys have confirmed what I already suspected, which is that it's best to get on the road at bedtime so that they go to sleep (eventually) and hopefully stay that way until sunrise.

You maybe a vetern overnight driver but have your kids been in a car for long period or overnight?

I have one kid that gets in the car and immediately fights going to sleep, no long distance driving for her

I have another kid that will be a long distance driver, even at the age of 9mos. Hated being in car seat And now, he won't stop long enough to go to sleep when we travel.

In fact we are looking at some serious travel time in a couple of months, the only reason DS will get sleep is cause he will be on meds to prevent airsickness. Just like his Mommy But his Dad and Sis will be awake and going for almost 30 hours. Before they crash.

My advice to you, look to your kids and see how they are. Are they the ones who bounce off the walls and fight sleep? They might not sleep in the car. Even at night. Leaving real early in the morning, might be a great idea and give them things to look for and help you navigate to Disney. Cameras, travel journals, movies, games, words puzzles are all great ways to help keep them occupied. Along with using the stops to get any wiggles out