12hr drive advice/on site/off site

[Andy Stocker]

Hi all! Coming from Evansville, Indiana on Saturday May, 20st. The plan is to leave around 6am central and get to Orlando around 8pm eastern time. 5 of us (3 teenagers) in a rental van. Our reservation right now is scheduled for Sunday 21st thru Friday the 26th. Starting at Hollywood Studios EMH Sunday morning, and hitting the park for as long as we want Friday (then staying the night maybe a few hours north of Orlando on way back home).
My original plan was to make Saturday a travel day, and stay somewhere cheap right outside of Disney. But I'm wondering how many people in my situation would just go ahead and make it another night stay on Saturday night, thus getting room reservation squared away before ever hitting the park. I kind of feel like this is a waste of day however, as we probably won't have time to go to any park that night (or even feel like it).
The other option I thought about was to go ahead and stay at All star music suite (where we are staying 21st-25th) on Saturday night, changing reservations from 20th-24th, and then staying at the same hotel (maybe even vrbo) right outside Disney on Thursday AND Friday the 26th...thus eliminating the "get on the road 2-3 hours then stay somewhere" dilema.
As it stands now, we are really looking at 3 hotels...1) somewhere cheap right outside Disney on Saturday 2) ALL star music suite Sunday-THursday 3) Somewhere cheap on way back to Evansville, Friday night...
I'd like to stay under $5500...we have regular dining plan, 5 disney hotel days, 6 ticket/hopper days lined up, and thats right where we are at the moment...$5500...
Would I save time and frustration by just changing my 5 nights to Saturday-check out thursday??? Would you guys do that in a 12hr drive situation??

 

[Andy Stocker]

BTW....right now I don't have any discounts...hoping to nab a summer deal like that ones that came last year, maybe getting 15%-20% off room.......It looks like to go Saturday night-check out friday would be 5900 for 5 with regular dining plan...shaving the last 2 days and checking out Wednesday would be 4500 (but keeping 6 day hopper ticket). I also think that all but the Friday before Memorial days are regular days at Disney (not peak)...
So what I am seeing is that the 4500 for 4 nights is about 1125 a day for 5 people with regular dining...5150 for 5 nights is 1036, and 5900 for 6 nights is 983....Why am I seeing such a big gap (100 dollars more a day) for 4 nights as I am with 5 nights?

 

[bigrigross]

Hi all! Coming from Evansville, Indiana on Saturday May, 20st. The plan is to leave around 6am central and get to Orlando around 8pm eastern time. 5 of us (3 teenagers) in a rental van. Our reservation right now is scheduled for Sunday 21st thru Friday the 26th. Starting at Hollywood Studios EMH Sunday morning, and hitting the park for as long as we want Friday (then staying the night maybe a few hours north of Orlando on way back home).
My original plan was to make Saturday a travel day, and stay somewhere cheap right outside of Disney. But I'm wondering how many people in my situation would just go ahead and make it another night stay on Saturday night, thus getting room reservation squared away before ever hitting the park. I kind of feel like this is a waste of day however, as we probably won't have time to go to any park that night (or even feel like it).
The other option I thought about was to go ahead and stay at All star music suite (where we are staying 21st-25th) on Saturday night, changing reservations from 20th-24th, and then staying at the same hotel (maybe even vrbo) right outside Disney on Thursday AND Friday the 26th...thus eliminating the "get on the road 2-3 hours then stay somewhere" dilema.
As it stands now, we are really looking at 3 hotels...1) somewhere cheap right outside Disney on Saturday 2) ALL star music suite Sunday-THursday 3) Somewhere cheap on way back to Evansville, Friday night...
I'd like to stay under $5500...we have regular dining plan, 5 disney hotel days, 6 ticket/hopper days lined up, and thats right where we are at the moment...$5500...
Would I save time and frustration by just changing my 5 nights to Saturday-check out thursday??? Would you guys do that in a 12hr drive situation??

My wife and I are going to Disney next may as well. We live in Terre Haute and we are actually looking at staying at a hotel once we get through and far away from Atlanta. Not sure how often you drive long distances, but the time google maps tells you and the actual time it takes to get somewhere is usually longer. I drive to Richmond, VA two to three times a year which is a 10 hour drive and it usually takes me about 12 to 13 hours with rest stops, food, and traffic. I have heard on here that especially at the time you will get to Atlanta, traffic is going to be rough and will also delay you. Just wanted to give you a heads up. I would rather get a hotel after driving 9-10 hours. That way you can wake up the next morning and finish your diving and also be refreshed. Driving long hours can screw with your body in odd ways.

 

[Larry Mondello]

You should get to Atlanta at Noon on a Saturday so you should get through quickly. I always do.

 

[Worldlover71]

I think your 12 hour drive time is rather optimistic. I would figure in a few more hours and see how that works for your schedule. You don't want to be exhausted when you get there and you definitely don't want to be exhausted as you try to drive home.

 

[JennSmith]

We drive from Lexington KY and the drive time is about 12 hours. We usually stop in Macon GA on the way there. We get a little more than half of the drive over with and the the next morning drive the rest of the way to Orlando, check in anywhere from 1-3 depending on if our room is available, unpack the car and head to Disney Springs for the night. Then the next morning we start at the parks. On the way home we wake up and leave at around 6:30am and usually get home by 7:30/8:00pm. We opt to drive the whole way home because it is gonna suck anyway since vacation is over, plus we don't want to drive the whole way in one day on the way down because we don't want to start our vacation off already feeling tired, which is how we feel after 12 hours in the car. I do have to say that other than the fact that we are sad that our vacation is over, the drive home isn't awful...and we have three kids - 23, 17 and 7 that we have to make sure are all comfortable too.

 

[BigRedDad]

If it were me, I would leave around midnight or 1AM. This way you avoid most traffic you could run into. On your time schedule, that gets you to the resort at noon-ish. If your room is ready, perfect. Take a 3-4 hour nap as necessary. Then, you have time to go to the park that night to enjoy and see some fireworks maybe.

For me, driving during the day down is a wasted day at Disney. We usually leave on a Friday around 3PM. Get down into Jacksonville area around 9-10PM. Then we get up about 5AM and are at a park by 8AM ready for rope drop.

 

[TXDisney]

It's 100% more convenient for you to just add that initial day at the resort to your itemerary. But if it's a finically issue, do what you're comfortable with.

 

[DisAl]

The number of nights you stay on site does not have to be the same as the number of days on your tickets, so several times we stayed on site the "night before". For a some of our trips it was actually less expensive to stay an extra night at WDW than what an offsite motel cost. We have also stayed at nearby offsite motels. If you stay off site the night before, you can go ahead and drive to your motel on your check in day and park in the motel lot, then catch the Disney bus to the parks. That way your car is already there that night. You do have to be on the reservation list for the day to get into the motel parking. If you are on the dining plan, that extra night will also give you an extra "set" of meals. We usually use an extra full service meal to do one of the signature restaurants.

 

[brifraz]

If it were me, I would leave around midnight or 1AM. This way you avoid most traffic you could run into. On your time schedule, that gets you to the resort at noon-ish. If your room is ready, perfect. Take a 3-4 hour nap as necessary. Then, you have time to go to the park that night to enjoy and see some fireworks maybe.

For me, driving during the day down is a wasted day at Disney. We usually leave on a Friday around 3PM. Get down into Jacksonville area around 9-10PM. Then we get up about 5AM and are at a park by 8AM ready for rope drop.

THIS! Our drive is almost exactly 900 miles, so it tends to take about 13-14 hours. We leave our house when rush hour is over in our area (usually about 6pm) and drive through the night. Two drivers, trading off about every 3 hours so we each get a light night's sleep of 6+ hours. Arrive in the World at 8am so we can check in to the hotel and then be at rope drop at a park. Back to the room mid afternoon for a big nap and then back in for fireworks. @BigRedDad is right on.

 

[YozhikRoth]

When I did the drive, since we knew we'd arrive in Orlando late in the afternoon, we stayed in an inexpensive, off-site hotel. Just better, as I was exhausted from the drive, and everyone just wanted to eat and chill out. Next morning it was off to check in early at our on-site hotel, and right to the park.

 

[Dave Z]

We drive from Buffalo NY 18 hours straight time, it takes about 20 hours with rest stops, we will get On May 20th as well. Thought you would like that, we just booked the night with Disney. That way we will not have to change hotels just hit the parks on the 21st! In 10 days we can make our dining reservations, already booked T-Rex for 6:30 pm on the 20th of May.

 

[flynnibus]

Our drive is 16hrs plus. I never find it fiscally favorable to waste a night at Disney's hotel rates on a travel night like that.

We stay offsite on our travel day, enjoy dinner or other activities outside Disney.. then attack disney fresh and energized the next morning.

If price were no object, I'd add a Disney hotel day and just stay that night. Don't add park tickets, etc... you don't want to deal with mobs after being in the car for a long day.