So instead of flying we are driving from Ohio to Disney World. Original thoughts were to leave after kids get out of school on the Friday of vacation starting. Drive until tired and stop for a hotel, then finish driving Saturday and arrive at the park. Same when we go to leave. Plan on spending part of the day at Disney springs, leave and drive some, hotel stay and then finish the next day and arrive home.
Now I am wondering though if I should actually plan out my route now and how long to drive before staying in a hotel, where to stay and go ahead and book our stay. Any thoughts?
Reason I was re-thinking it is because last year we were traveling 4th of July weekend and I had to stop in 4 different towns before I found a room due to some convention that was going on.
I’d make driving plans, if I were you. My SIL drove 24 hrs straight last year and was completely wiped out for 2 days. The first was spent sleeping and the second from a form of jet lag from being off her sleep schedule. Not worth it.
Definitely plan. I’ve done trip from NY many times. Usually I drive straight through, but one time I wanted to stop at a place I know and it was booked. Wound up pushing through, but was wiped out for a couple of days.
I would plan - if for no other reason you would know where there is a decent hotel. Where are you driving from? We drove in 1970 from DE in a BLACK PLEATHER NOVA - no air conditioning - ugg.
If you have two adults, whoever isn’t driving can get on Google an hour or so before you want to stop and look up motel 6 or super 8 further down the highway. When I road trip I plan a little in advance - like I’ll check out my route. And I like to grab gas station breakfast and be on the road for ropedrop. But getting the hotel room too far in advance can backfire if you travel more or less that day. That’s what works for me, other ways work for other people!
No other adult. Technically. It’s me and DS 14 and DD 10. I can make plans ahead but not sure of where it’s best to stay. We are driving from Ohio. We can stay at any hotel but if we are going to stop it wouldn’t hurt for us to stop somewhere " cool or scenic" if you know what I mean.
I remember coming back from FL one time in college. 3 college kids - 16 hours - straight through. We decided we wouldn’t stop until there was a TACO BELL (I was much less discerning then). We drove all the way to Virginia!! Trips can be fun - but if you are the only driver - don’t go nuts - you will be tired etc - so make sure it isn’t drudgery for you
We drove from Oklahoma We mapped out our trip, but we also left where we stayed open. That way if we could make it further than we did. We left at 5 am and then arrived at a hotel somewhere in Alabama, I believe. I know we drove across 5 states that day Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama Once it was dark it was hard seeing the scenery but we loved it. It was just very tiring! We also ended up having a sick child with the stomach bug! So plan for the unexpected!
I think it’s wise to plan your drive and the accompanying hotels. Having a plan will prevent you from pushing yourself to hard as others have mentioned. I’m driving from Tulsa to Disney this September and plan on driving to Little Rock after work our first day and then be in Tallahassee by Friday evening so we have a short drive Saturday.
That’s awesome We drove from Kingfisher to somewhere in Alabama the first night and then drove the rest of the way to our hotel at POR It was quite a drive!
We mapped out our trip, but we also left where we stayed open. That way if we could make it further than we did. We left at 5 am and then arrived at a hotel somewhere in Alabama, I believe. I know we drove across 5 states that day 
So plan for the unexpected!