Driving from Chicagoland?

[CinderellaPrincess]

Just wondering who has drove to disney from the Chicagoland area? DH and I are considering driving in June. Looking at Mapquest, it appears it would take about 20 or so hours (depending if we stop for the night or just drive straight through). If you drove, did you stop or drive straight through? Thanks!

[tinaluis]

We drove straight through (taking many, many bathroom breaks with a newly potty-trained 3 year old) and we were exhausted. We were scheduled to drive for our November trip, but then decided to fly courtesy of our tax rebate check. We had reservations in Georgia on the way down and Tennessee on the way back because we have three young daughters (5, 3, 4 mos.) and we decided not to drive straight through again because it was just too tiring. If your kids are a little older, it may be an option, or if they're good in the car for long periods. We will always schedule a hotel half-way down from now on just to break the monotony.

[redbirdgrad]

I drove down in August with a stopover just south of Atlanta, minivan with DW, DS-4 and DD-7, took out the middle seat put a TV/VCR combo up front and ran extension Head Phones to the back for the kids. They also had books, coloring materials, and CD Players. Cooler with drinks and snacks. We all enjoyed it. Kids were good on stopping and I want to do it again this summer, I also got them their own Tripkit and they loved learning different things about the states on the way down and back.

[Jon99]

We drive straight thru all the time from Kankakee county and its not too bad.. We leave when we get home from work (4 pm) and usually get down there by about 11 AM EST going about 70 MPH... I drive the first few hours and then Betsy drives from about 6-10 and then I take over until breakfast (6 AM) while she sleeps and then she drives the a few hours while I get some sleep....

[Minnie824]

I was actually just going to ask the same question. For those of you who drove straight thru, do you think its best to leave in the evening, or early morning? We are thinking of driving next year, and our daughter will be 18 months old. Did you follow directions from Mapquest or somewhere like that? I looked at a few different websites, and each gave different directions, one saying it would take about 20 hours, the other about 25. Any suggestions would be helpful.