I Drive 7 Hours to Disney For My Job — This is The BEST and WORST Time to Start That Drive

Some people don’t know this, but I don’t live in Orlando!

Like a lot of the AllEars writing/editing/behind-the-scenes team, I live outside of Orlando. I travel in for work about once a month (give or take), and love it! But that means I do drive about seven hours each way, and that means I’ve learned a LOT about making sure that drive is as smooth and pain-free as possible. One of the biggest lessons I’ve had to learn is what the best TIME is to leave the house, and trust me when I say ten minutes can make a MASSIVE difference.

At this point, I’ve left at pretty much all hours of the day, so let’s start at the very beginning, shall we?

3-5 AM

Yes, I have indeed left for Disney World at 3:30 AM in the morning. Was it hard to wake up that early? Honestly, the waking up part wasn’t hard – what did happen was I hit a wall right around 5:30-6:30 AM, but that’s why I had some caffeine with me! It passed within about half an hour, and then I was good to go.

Just imagine I’m sitting in my car instead of the Millennium Falcon and it’s THIS dark

Still, it’s not the number one choice just because of how early it is. However, I hit ZERO traffic in Atlanta, which was incredible and nearly unheard of. By the time I hit rush hour, I was an hour outside of Disney World and already through Ocala (which almost always has terrible traffic), meaning it was smooth sailing the whole drive. If you’re a morning person, don’t mind waking up early, AND can get to bed super early the night before, then this is a great fit for you — especially if you’ve got kiddos and you want them to sleep for the majority of the drive.

6-10 AM

NOT ideal. I live about an hour outside of Atlanta, and Atlanta rush hour traffic really begins about 7 AM and goes until…well, if I’m being honest, you hit some form of traffic until it hits about midnight, with a slight break between 10-11 AM. So yeah, leaving at this time of morning usually never works out well.

But it does get to the parks in plenty of time!

When I leave between these hours, I arrive in Orlando at a good time and don’t often hit rush hour traffic in Ocala, but I’m also driving with the majority of everyone who drives as part of their commute. That especially means lots of trucks, and on the two-lane highways I sometimes have to travel on, they make me nervous (I have nearly been run off the road at least twice on my way to Orlando – not fun).

11 AM-1 PM

This is probably my second favorite time to leave, landing heavier on the 11 AM-12 PM hour. I usually bypass traffic in Atlanta pretty easily, BUT I pay for it once I hit Orlando.

I promise this was taken as I was a PASSENGER on my way to Disney World!

This has me landing in Ocala and/or Orlando right around their rush hour traffic, and neither of those is fun. Again, it’s not nearly as terrible as Atlanta (…usually, Ocala can actually give it a run for its money), but I still prefer to avoid it if I can.

2-4 PM

Absolutely not. This is just a solid no. I run into post-lunch Atlanta traffic (yes, that’s a thing) OR actual rush hour traffic, and it’s never a good idea. When I used to work at a bakery part-time, before I went full time with AllEars, I used to leave work at 3 PM and drive straight to Disney.

Without a doubt, I’d always hit terrible Atlanta traffic, BUT then I was usually in the clear once I hit Ocala, as long as there wasn’t an accident (which always has about a 50% chance of happening at any time I’m driving down). Still, it was one of my least favorite times to drive and I definitely do NOT recommend.

5-6:30 PM

The absolute latest I’ve started a drive is around 6:30 PM, and it’s usually because I finished writing for the blog at 5, ran around my house like a chicken with its head cut off trying to finish packing, and then left later than anticipated.

Sometimes I hit a bit of traffic in Atlanta, but most of the worst is done by this time (and thankfully, I use SunPass, the Lightning Lane of GA/FL highways, so that does help), and the rest of the trip is usually smooth sailing. Except for the fact that I don’t arrive in Orlando until midnight or 1 AM, and that’s never ideal. Especially if I’ve got to get up early the next morning to film or write – I only do it if I really have to!

Nothing like getting to Orlando at one in the morning

And there you have it! Finding the perfect time to leave is always a fickle art, and things change on a dime, but at least I’ve got some solid times down that are almost always TERRIBLE times to begin the drive.

We’re always here to help you plan out every aspect of your Disney World vacation, so stay tuned to AllEars!