How bad is the drive to Orlando?
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Anonymous
The fact that a grown adult can’t handle this is someways scary. No one is suggesting that you do this as a daily commute. Also, for those suggesting a stop overnight, don’t do it. |
Anonymous
| We do this drive occasionally. One Easter week/spring break was 20 hours of driving! Otherwise it’s manageable. We always stop overnight on the way there but drive straight through on the way back. |
Anonymous
+1 Yup. It’s the worst. |
Anonymous
| It’s a lot of driving. Especially if you are the one doing it. |
Anonymous
It’s a financial preference. I could “handle” living in a tiny apartment with my family, but instead I can afford a house so that’s what I do. Same with plane tickets to Florida. Nothing to do with “handling” it. |
Anonymous
Wow - you were driving at high speed... |
Anonymous
??? Driving through SC is by far the most relaxing part of this trip, which I have made many, many times. Has it been a long time since you drove this? Virginia - traffic nightmare almost any time of day; NC - one long construction site with a lower speed limit; SC - pretty empty and relaxing; GA - more lanes, so pretty good, but more traffic; FL - people driving like idiots at extremely high speeds. |
Anonymous
NP - that's 15 hour on the road for a 12.5 hour drive. Not fast at all. And leaving super early like PP is key to doing it in one day. OP, we did this drive once and that was enough. I thought it was good for the kids to actually see how big the country is (what does 1000 miles even mean?) and they were taking flying for granted. When I was a kid we drove everywhere, Florida included. Bickering in the back seat. Mom yelling from the front seat. Hotels, snacks, being incredibly bored. I don't need to do that EVERY trip with my own kids, but I wanted them to experience it once. They definitely appreciate flying now 
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Anonymous
No but I live in VA and we were strategic with our stops. |
Anonymous
| Getting there felt long but manageable. Coming home was miserable. We drove thru the night with minimal stops but it still felt much longer and struggling to stay awake. |
Anonymous
PP here and was was responding to the OP and the person who said “Who care about the 11+ hours after that. OP said they don’t have the financial ability to fly. And my point is 11+ hours past Richmond isn’t that big of a deal. If it is what needs to be done. It isn’t torturous and something a grown adult should be able to deal. And a lot of times there are other logistics involved that have nothing to with finances but time. Flying isn’t always the best solution. |
Anonymous
Please just stay in the right lane and stop clogging up traffic for the rest of us. VA drivers on 95 are notorious for clogging up the left-lane. |
Anonymous
| It sounds like most people who do the drive don't do overnight? I can't see making the drive with no overnight stop. |
Anonymous
Personally, I prefer to do FL (or ME) in a single day. Stopping wastes two days. |
Anonymous
| We took the auto train for the first time this past spring break. If you book early enough, you might find a decent deal. We took the train down but drove back. For 1k, we got 2 bedrooms on the train (for 5 people), dinner and breakfast are included, and we have our car with us. It was a good experience. We started the drive back on Friday and traffic was bad getting out of FL. We spent the night just north of Savannah and Saturday's drive was easy. |