Would you rather: 9h drive in 1 day or split across 2 days?

[liamthompson]

We are planning to drive to disney next February and I can't decide if we're better off doing the 9 hour drive in one day or trying to split it up over 2 days. My husband will most likely do all the driving and our 3yo is newly potty trained and hasn't quite learned the difference between "If there is a toilet, I will go pee" and "CODE RED EMERGENCY TOILET BREAK!!!"

Advantages to doing the drive in 1 day: add an extra park day, we won't have to stay overnight somewhere (it is a hassle to unpack and re-pack), it is nice to mentally be "done" travelling in one day

Advantage to doing the drive in 2 days: slower pace, we will probably use the free water park tickets that are included with disney resort stays for next year

 

[Kooks and Bay Bay]

For a 9hr drive I would NEVER break it up into 2 days.
I rather just get there.
And I would not be above bringing a few diapers/pull ups in case of an emergency. Either put them on from the get go or pull over and put it on real quick for the emergency.
And to me the drive would not seem too bad if you stop after you get half way and eat so that you're all out of the car for a period of time not just to go to the bathroom.

Also keep in my February isn't always the greatest weather for a water park.

 

[scrappinginontario]

One day for sure.

 

[tx911]

Yeah, 9 hours is one day for me too.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Is this 9 hours drive time (and will be longer with stops), or are you building that in your estimate?

My drive is more like 6.5 but when little the amount of stops we had to make plus inevitable traffic would add an hour or more.

But yeah, if this were me I’d pack the night before, get on the road 4-5am and hammer down.

 

[fla4fun]

Is the nine hours all driving time, or does it account for food and fuel stops? Figure on about 2.5-3 hours overall for a couple of food breaks and a couple of additional restroom/fuel breaks. If the nine hours doesn’t include that, now you are looking at up to twelve hours, barring any traffic situations.

As a solo, I would still do that in one day (and did when I evacuated for Milton). As a family with a small child who is borderline potty trained, I might be inclined to break it up more. I would probably leave the evening before I had planned to and go a quarter to a third of the way, stop overnight, and do the rest the following day. So with a potential 12 hour trip, I would drive 4-5 hours and then stop for the night. Doing it this way means you don’t lose a day by splitting the drive over two full days, but also gives you an extra cushion of time on the longer driving day, should you need it. If you decide to make an overnight stop, pack one small bag with just what you need for that stop so you don’t have to get into the rest of your luggage.

If the nine hours does include time for the necessary stops, then I might try to push through in one day, but I would leave early in the morning (no later than six), again, to give a cushion of time at the end of the day and the opportunity for an early night so you can hit the parks fresh on the first day. I would not want to be arriving at Disney after a long driving day, late at night, and planning a full park day the next morning. Being in a car all day can be more tiring that you think.

Whichever you choose, I hope you have a great trip!

 

[Lewisc]

Is your husband a professional driver (truck, Amazon, miscellaneous delivery, ride share etc)?

Do you have a license? Are you able to drive for a few hours?

9 hours is too long for many people.
Your husband may be too tired. You don't want to pay for 2 hotel rooms, one Disney and one on the road

2 days, unless you're able to drive 2 hours

 

[liamthompson]

Is the nine hours all driving time, or does it account for food and fuel stops? Figure on about 2.5-3 hours overall for a couple of food breaks and a couple of additional restroom/fuel breaks. If the nine hours doesn’t include that, now you are looking at up to twelve hours, barring any traffic situations.

As a solo, I would still do that in one day (and did when I evacuated for Milton). As a family with a small child who is borderline potty trained, I might be inclined to break it up more. I would probably leave the evening before I had planned to and go a quarter to a third of the way, stop overnight, and do the rest the following day. So with a potential 12 hour trip, I would drive 4-5 hours and then stop for the night. Doing it this way means you don’t lose a day by splitting the drive over two full days, but also gives you an extra cushion of time on the longer driving day, should you need it. If you decide to make an overnight stop, pack one small bag with just what you need for that stop so you don’t have to get into the rest of your luggage.

If the nine hours does include time for the necessary stops, then I might try to push through in one day, but I would leave early in the morning (no later than six), again, to give a cushion of time at the end of the day and the opportunity for an early night so you can hit the parks fresh on the first day. I would not want to be arriving at Disney after a long driving day, late at night, and planning a full park day the next morning. Being in a car all day can be more tiring that you think.

Whichever you choose, I hope you have a great trip!

9h is purely driving time and doesn't account for stops. Before I posted, I actually wrote an itinerary that has us leaving at 5:30am and arriving at 5pm so it's good to know that 2.5-3h buffer sounds reasonable to you as well.

I like your idea about doing a shorter drive and a longer drive instead of splitting it down the middle, will definitely consider this as an option too, thanks!

 

[SleeplessInTO]

One day. But as you say, leave super early. Less traffic and maybe your little one will nap for more of the drive!

 

[liamthompson]

Is your husband a professional driver (truck, Amazon, miscellaneous delivery, ride share etc)?

Do you have a license? Are you able to drive for a few hours?

9 hours is too long for many people.
Your husband may be too tired. You don't want to pay for 2 hotel rooms, one Disney and one on the road

2 days, unless you're able to drive 2 hours

I do have a license and can drive...my husband just prefers to drive...perhaps this is just something I need to insist on haha. I don't think he realizes he's not as young as he thinks and is now prone to migraines! Compounding to it is that the heavy lifting of the packing/unpacking of a hotel room will most likely fall on him as well.

 

[Annabell]

If leaving early, you can do it easily in 1 day. Enjoy your trip!

 

[SL6827]

We always split up our 9-10 hr drive in Valdosta, if we drive.

 

[starry_solo]

One day. With a stop somewhere to stretch legs, use restroom, fill gas. Make that 2 stops...

I've done an 8 hour drive in one day from Bryce Canyon National Park all the way home. Two stops, one in St. George and one in Las Vegas. We left at 7 am and arrived home around 6 pm.

 

[hrhdhd]

I do have a license and can drive...my husband just prefers to drive...perhaps this is just something I need to insist on haha. I don't think he realizes he's not as young as he thinks and is now prone to migraines! Compounding to it is that the heavy lifting of the packing/unpacking of a hotel room will most likely fall on him as well.

Pack one bag with what you'll need for a one-night hotel stay. That's all you need out of the car.

 

[jormom1030]

If you left at 5:30 and stopped to eat at 8:30 then drove for 3 hours then stopped for lunch, you would only have 3 more hours and you would be there.

 

[EACarlson]

For Disney I would do it in one day. When I've made trips like that for my side hustle, nothing was going to start until 4pm, rather than leaving at 5am to get there and then having to work while tired, I drove 6 hours, stopped for the night and then finished the drive the next morning.

 

[jimmytammy]

We have done both. Its basically 10 hrs from our house, can be made in 9.5 with one stop(I was much younger then). I will always choose to drive the 10 hrs rather than stop overnight, but once there, Im crashing, no parks, etc. Grab a bite then off to bed!

 

[liamthompson]

Pack one bag with what you'll need for a one-night hotel stay. That's all you need out of the car.

This is my theory too - one bag, done. Easy peasy, right? Then my husband points out all the stuff we drag around for our 3yo and he's like "you're not going to let him have singing bear and mattress bumpers and his favorite milk cup???" We've actually drastically cut down on the amount of stuff we haul around for him but it is definitely a work in progress! Plus when you share a hotel room, if he doesn't sleep well, no one else sleeps well haha

 

[MICKIMINI]

One day!

 

[Mikey15]

A 9h driving time is definitely just one day for us, granted we’re not travelling with a toddler. This year will be the first time we’ve broken up our 21h drive into 2n/3d instead of 1n/2d, and mainly because we have a place to stop the first night where we can see friends & maximize only having enough time for the 6h45m drive that day.

That being said there is a plus side to saving a night of Disney hotel prices and taking advantage of the “water park on check-in day thing.” For example, our 21h drive this time will have us waking up in Savannah GA on the last day, so we’ll have only a short drive and a relaxing poolside afternoon. If it makes sense for you to do 5h and stop somewhere (say, only take a half day off work) and then get there in the afternoon the next day for some relax time ~that~ makes sense. The 9h drive is neither here nor there for that part of the equation.