What time would you leave?

[R W B]

So my fiancé and I are checking in to the cabins at FW on Saturday Feb 6th. We want to get there in the afternoon because we have a few things to do as in bring our dog to Best Friends Pet Center, go to a car wash to get the bugs/road grime off the car and go to the grocery since we plan to cook a lot. It's about 10-11 hours of drive time from our house but we usually make stops for food/fuel or just to stretch but this is our first time bringing our dog so we'll probably stop every few hours for him.

So with that said,

Option 1 - We were thinking about leaving home Friday evening after work (about 7/8pm) and driving around 4 hours then get a hotel and leave early in the morning about 7am and continue on to WDW. The extra hotel cost is not a problem.

Option 2 - Try to get to bed early, around 8pm Friday night and then get up for 3am Saturday morning and hit the road.

We've made this trip both ways before but never really had a set time frame to get there like this time. Just wondering what most would choose.

 

[ann0d]

Personally I would arrive as early as possible, so much fun at FW! But if money is a problem then just get up early, I envy you, I wish i was going there!

 

[Figgy1]

How long is your total drive? Do you have any areas to avoid during rush hour? What are the odds you'll actually go to bed early? What are the odds getting up at 3am will happen without being dangerously tired?

 

[R W B]

Personally I would arrive as early as possible, so much fun at FW! But if money is a problem then just get up early, I envy you, I wish i was going there!

The extra hotel costs wouldn't be an issue. It'll be my 2nd time staying in the cabins, like you said their a lot of fun!

How long is your total drive? Do you have any areas to avoid during rush hour? What are the odds you'll actually go to bed early? What are the odds getting up at 3am will happen without being dangerously tired?

It usually takes 11/12 hours to actually get there including stops. Rush hour shouldn't be an issue since it would be Friday evening or satruday morning. Getting to bed early is going to be hard I think. I usually only get 4/5 hours of sleep a night so I'm use to that.

 

[Figgy1]

The extra hotel costs wouldn't be an issue. It'll be my 2nd time staying in the cabins, like you said their a lot of fun!



It usually takes 11/12 hours to actually get there including stops. Rush hour shouldn't be an issue since it would be Friday evening or satruday morning. Getting to bed early is going to be hard I think. I usually only get 4/5 hours of sleep a night so I'm use to that.

If you're wide awake Friday night maybe get a couple of hours knocked off the drive and then get a good 8 hours of sleep. LOL We go through DC which seems to have rush hour and just jammed up even late at night and on weekends

 

[Steeler2001]

Make it a two day trip! Why? Because who wants to be super tired before their trip even begins. Save your energy for the parks not the trip to the parks.

 

[DisDadWoz]

If you can get out Friday and get some of the drive out of the way, that's the best in my opinion. Plus you'll be "Too excited to sleep" if you try to get to bed early

 

[sxeensweet]

We are from Lafayette, LA area my fellow Louisianian haha!, and it takes us roughly 12 hours total with all stops included. We always drive straight through and leave around 2-4am. DH does the driving and he sleeps about 8 hours prior right after he gets off of work. We never stop and get a hotel and are just excited to get there. The drive home is rough for many reasons, but the drive there is always easy. Haha!

 

[Schneewittchen]

My family always stays at FW, we have an RV. A couple of times we've made the trip in one go, about 900 miles, but we usually break it into 2 days. When we do the trip in one long go, everyone is exhausted and grouchy for the next day or so. It works much better for us to have one 600 mile day and one 300 mile day. That way, we check-in on the short day and can still enjoy the afternoon/evening at WDW instead of being mean and sleepy.

 

[R W B]

If you're wide awake Friday night maybe get a couple of hours knocked off the drive and then get a good 8 hours of sleep. LOL We go through DC which seems to have rush hour and just jammed up even late at night and on weekends

Parts of the New Orleans metro area always has traffic it seems too but we're a much smaller area in general so it's not too bad. I can't remember the last time I was able to get a full 8hrs of sleep though lol.

If you can get out Friday and get some of the drive out of the way, that's the best in my opinion. Plus you'll be "Too excited to sleep" if you try to get to bed early

Between being excited and just not being able to go to sleep that early Idk if I'll be able to.

We are from Lafayette, LA area my fellow Louisianian haha!, and it takes us roughly 12 hours total with all stops included. We always drive straight through and leave around 2-4am. DH does the driving and he sleeps about 8 hours prior right after he gets off of work. We never stop and get a hotel and are just excited to get there. The drive home is rough for many reasons, but the drive there is always easy. Haha!

Well hello fellow Louisianian lol! Like I said we've driven straight through multiple times but a couple times we were able to leave the evening before so we split it up into two days just to get to WDW earlier on our check in day. Just this is the first time taking our dog and idk how he's going to do being in a car for this long. Short trips to the park or vet he's fine with so hopefully he'll be fine this time too. I'm just expecting to have to make a few more stops because of him.

 

[lostpro9het]

Disney Vacation Creep!!!

 

[SeanWM48]

big FW cabin fan here

would drive straight through. take a nap when you get settled at FW though, seriously. this way your night isn't shot.

basically wake up at an ungodly hour, drive straight, handle dog/car etc, nap at least an hour, and have the whole rest of the afternoon feeling fresh. red bull is your friend, or starbucks in the parks

 

[R W B]

big FW cabin fan here

would drive straight through. take a nap when you get settled at FW though, seriously. this way your night isn't shot.

basically wake up at an ungodly hour, drive straight, handle dog/car etc, nap at least an hour, and have the whole rest of the afternoon feeling fresh. red bull is your friend, or starbucks in the parks

Yea, I usually take a 5 hour energy on road trips and I'm good with that. I drank red bull too much when it came out and kinda immune to it now lol.

 

[sxeensweet]

Parts of the New Orleans metro area always has traffic it seems too but we're a much smaller area in general so it's not too bad. I can't remember the last time I was able to get a full 8hrs of sleep though lol.

Between being excited and just not being able to go to sleep that early Idk if I'll be able to.


Well hello fellow Louisianian lol! Like I said we've driven straight through multiple times but a couple times we were able to leave the evening before so we split it up into two days just to get to WDW earlier on our check in day. Just this is the first time taking our dog and idk how he's going to do being in a car for this long. Short trips to the park or vet he's fine with so hopefully he'll be fine this time too. I'm just expecting to have to make a few more stops because of him.

I think your dog will be okay if you stop every few hours for them to potty, get some water&food, and walk a bit. We once drove to Missouri (13-16 hours) and had a dog with us to bring up to a friend that was in the military. Well anyway to shorten the story we stopped every few hours and he was fine, and we had never drove that long with him either like your situation. He slept a lot and cried a little but not much at all. So it may still be possible to do it all in one straight shot but that decision can best be made by you because you know your dog better than anyone.

 

[yensid67]

I live in PA and have driven the I-95 route many times. I leave around midnight, stopping EVERY 4 hours to gas up, grab a snack/quick meal, stretch and go to the bathroom. These breaks help me stay awake better than just driving straight through. They give you just that little bit of energy to get you through to the next stop. I arrive feeling rested and able to do small things like you listed and then get a good night sleep for the rest of your vacation. I think your dog should be fine with this arrangement as long as it is use to riding in the car. This way they don't have to hold their bladders for more than a few hours. Just remember to take food, water and treats to reward him for a good job going to the bathroom and just being him/her. Remember this is just as much a vacation for them as it is for you, so extra treats is a must!