Road Trips to Disney - Do you stop on the way? (1 Viewer)

[Mr. Blue Sky]

when we went, me and my girlfriend (now fiancee) went to sleep about 8/830 on friday night. woke up at 1145, loaded my kids up and took off about midnight.

That’s …. I mean…. help me to understand this…. ive never in my life woken up at 11:45pm to START a day…. And i cant speak for everyone, but i know that for me, only getting 3 hrs of sleep would hurt more than help; I’d just wanna sleep longer.. i think a better strategy would be to get on the road at 8:30pm, instead of going to bed at 8:30pm.. then you can drive all night with no traffic, and as i mentioned, you wouldnt be as tired as if you slept 3 hrs, from 8:30-11:45…. Then you can take a nap when you arrive in the morning, or just go all day at the park and then crash hard the next night.

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

If you’re an SEC sports fans (like I am) …..Gainesville is right on I-75 (it’s about 2.5 hours north of WDW).

But, a cool college town, lots of good restaurants, hotels…..and a beautiful UF campus.

The Swamp is impressive to pop in, and it’s always open to the public (students studying on bleachers, people waking steps, etc.

If I’m ever in the town of a great college stadium, I always try to go and see it……and UF is one of the best as it’s obviously huge but also wide open for the public.

Seriously ? They just let anybody in, whenever ? I know that Tiger Stadium in BR is always locked down solid, unless there’s a game or concert going on.. Matter of fact, i had a friend who wanted to spread his grandmother’s ashes on the field at Tiger Stadium, had to get a higher-up with clearance to sneak him in, and event then it was hard for him to access.

 

[Devildog]

I drive from the DFW area to NOLA and stay with my parents (about a 7 hour drive). Then we leave the next day and drive straight through to Orlando. Never had one issue with it and I'm 11 years older than you.

 

[jrdbrn]

when we went, me and my girlfriend (now fiancee) went to sleep about 8/830 on friday night. woke up at 1145, loaded my kids up and took off about midnight. kids slept til about 6/7am so we were already into florida. stopped a couple times but made it to disney springs about 130/2 i think.

of course Adderall and not drinking much water helped, and the excitement of taking my kids to disney world for their first time.

Think the doc will prescribe me a 7 day trial of Adderall? LOL

 

[boutrous]

That’s …. I mean…. help me to understand this…. ive never in my life woken up at 11:45pm to START a day…. And i cant speak for everyone, but i know that for me, only getting 3 hrs of sleep would hurt more than help; I’d just wanna sleep longer.. i think a better strategy would be to get on the road at 8:30pm, instead of going to bed at 8:30pm.. then you can drive all night with no traffic, and as i mentioned, you wouldnt be as tired as if you slept 3 hrs, from 8:30-11:45…. Then you can take a nap when you arrive in the morning, or just go all day at the park and then crash hard the next night.

I can see your point, however, where are you going to nap in the morning? Check in for hotels is rarely ever before 2pm and some are not until 4pm. I can't speak for everyone, but I'm always better off a power nap than no sleep. I have done the just go all day in the park thing without sleep and while doable, it's exhausting. We have a couple of rides we call our nap rides (Carousel of Progress, People Mover, Under the Sea with the Little Mermaid, Finding Nemo the Musical) that help with a quick recharge, but based on your other logic, may not help you.

 

[Grumpy Old Manatee]

If the vehicles in front of me stop, I usually stop as well, just to avoid hitting them.

 

[Outbackjack]

Seriously ? They just let anybody in, whenever ? I know that Tiger Stadium in BR is always locked down solid, unless there’s a game or concert going on.. Matter of fact, i had a friend who wanted to spread his grandmother’s ashes on the field at Tiger Stadium, had to get a higher-up with clearance to sneak him in, and event then it was hard for him to access.

Wide open during normal hours (8:00-6:00 daily).
It’s a cool idea, they keep people off the grass, confessions/bathrooms closed, it’s basically just open corridors and the full bleachers.
People exercise, read, study, nap …..it’s a great idea.

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

I can see your point, however, where are you going to nap in the morning? Check in for hotels is rarely ever before 2pm and some are not until 4pm. I can't speak for everyone, but I'm always better off a power nap than no sleep. I have done the just go all day in the park thing without sleep and while doable, it's exhausting. We have a couple of rides we call our nap rides (Carousel of Progress, People Mover, Under the Sea with the Little Mermaid, Finding Nemo the Musical) that help with a quick recharge, but based on your other logic, may not help you.

True, different strokes…. And in my scenario, I’d actually pay for the hotel the night *before* we arrive, so if we arrive at 8 or 9am, the room would already be ready (I’d have checked in on the app while driving ).. but again, different strokes b/c I’ve been collecting Marriott points for over a dozen years, so when i say I’d “pay” for the hotel the night before, most likely I’d have just spent more points to get the room a night early.…. Ive actually done similar before; when i flew to Australia , the plane arrived at 9 or 10am and I’d already secured the room so it was ready.. what i didn’t anticipate since I’d never taken a flight that long before , is that i was actually able to sleep on the plane , so wound up not needing the room to nap in.

 

[jayd265]

That’s …. I mean…. help me to understand this…. ive never in my life woken up at 11:45pm to START a day…. And i cant speak for everyone, but i know that for me, only getting 3 hrs of sleep would hurt more than help; I’d just wanna sleep longer.. i think a better strategy would be to get on the road at 8:30pm, instead of going to bed at 8:30pm.. then you can drive all night with no traffic, and as i mentioned, you wouldnt be as tired as if you slept 3 hrs, from 8:30-11:45…. Then you can take a nap when you arrive in the morning, or just go all day at the park and then crash hard the next night.

oh it was nuts. about 1145pm, on road by midnight. but we did it so the kids would sleep over half the trip. it wasnt that bad.

the way home was the bad part. knowing what i know now, i herniated my l4/l5 disc the last morning there lifting up my son. walked from about 9am til about 11pm that night. by the time i laid in bed we crashed. woke up at 9am and i couldnt hardly walk. that 10-11 hour drive home was absolutely horrendous with my left leg throbbing and on fire the entire time. by the time i got home i really couldnt walk. was terrible. fast forward almost 2 years later and i'm about to have my second back surgery.

 

[Saint_Ward]

Nope, but I live 3 hours away.

 

[jayd265]

Nope, but I live 3 hours away.

my son would be in heaven if we lived 3 hours away. thats basically all he has talked about since we went for thanksgiving 2019.

 

[GeauxWhoDats]

We are going to Disney the first week in August for one last hurrah before my son starts LSU and my daughter starts 9th grade. I have met my family so we are flying.

 

[livefromDC]

Went to Disney World in June. Inadvertently, I found the one perk to living in Atlanta. The drive to Disney World from Atlanta is a rather painless 6.5 hours. Got there, early check-in and was by poolside by 1pm. 5 days of the parks, then woke up and drove home.

 

[ilvdsnts]

Yeah, there's nothing in between there. Just go straight through and share the driving.

Not true, there’s a new Buc-ee’s in alabama

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

Went to Disney World in June. Inadvertently, I found the one perk to living in Atlanta. The drive to Disney World from Atlanta is a rather painless 6.5 hours.

I dont live in Atlanta, but to me, the #1 advantage, i think, would be the proximity to some great beaches.. you have beaches on the east coast, like Hilton Head Island, which i think is only like 4 hrs from Atlanta .. then you have some of the nicest beaches in America- along the panhandle and SW Fla- anywhere from 4 hrs to 8 hrs away.. places like Destin, “30A”, Seaside, Rosemary Beach .. then if you drive a little further south- Anna Maria Island, Siesta Key, St Pete Beach etc.