For those who drive from Chicago

[jeancbpugh]

Do you drive straight through or stop overnight? If you stop, how do you divide the miles? And where do you stop?

Mapquest puts it at about 1225 miles for us.

Thanks.

[JC Butterfly]

I have never driven from Chicago to Disney World but I take youth on several cross country trips in a year. I found found that more than 8-10 hours in a car makes everyone cranky and unhappy -- not the way I picture starting out a trip.

Will there be at least two drivers that both know where they are going? The sleep you get in a car is just not of high quality and if there is no one awake to keep the driver company or help navigate, it can become unsafe.

So I would recommend making it two driving days. Driving the bulk of the time in the first day. Driving through Illinois is so boring to me, just so flat. But if you make it through Illinois, then part of Kentucky and Tennesse. Then stay in the northern part of Georgia (or Alabama). I can tell you that the drive from Atlanta to disney is about 6-9 hours., depending on traffic.

[jeancbpugh]

Originally posted by JC Butterfly
Will there be at least two drivers that both know where they are going? The sleep you get in a car is just not of high quality and if there is no one awake to keep the driver company or help navigate, it can become unsafe.

We have GPS in the car so getting lost shouldn't be a problem. Good point about keeping each other awake. Thanks.

[stauncie]

We are a family of 5 leaving from Champaign, Il (3 hours south of Chicago) its an 18 hour trip (driving time) for us with 3 kiddies (13-11-10)
We have it timed to stop about every 2 hours for a 6 minute 'break'. We try to get the 'bulk' of the driving done the first day. (I don't know who it would be harder to convince to get back in for the second day of travel if we stopped at only half way..... the kiddies or dh) The first year, we stopped North of Atlanta, boy was the second day of travel LONG!!
We don't usually make a hotel reservation, but just pick up a travel discount book when we get to GA and start looking for hotels between Macon, Ga and the state line. Tifton, Ga is our usual goal. Most years we make it there, once we stopped short. We are traveling for 12-14 hours that first day.(We leave the house at 6 am, and stop for the night between 7-8 p.m.) No one complains about the second day of driving, if you only have 4-5 hours to go!
Since we are only going for 10 days this year, we are flying.

[Becky2005]

We are in the Far West Suburbs of Chicago, so just getting to Southern Illinios is a 6 hour drive! It all depends on where you live near Chicago. We debated on which way but have decided we are going to take the I-57 to I-24 to I-75 way as opposed to going through Indiana via I-65.

We haven't done Disney yet but several years ago DH did the Richard Petty at Atlanta (which I believe is actually in Griffin - about an hour or so south of the city) and we ended up driving home straight through (not on purpose, couldn't find an open hotel!)...words out of DH's mouth when we pulled into our driveway were "Never let me do that again". It was an absolutely horrible drive, so this time around we are planning on stopping NORTH of Atlanta (Marietta area). That should get the bulk of the drive out of the way and won't make for a super long 2nd day. At least based on all the maps and things we have done. I just know from past experience although physically we CAN make it past Atlanta (at the time we only had 2 kids though), for safety reasons that is NOT a good idea.

Since we are going with our 4 kids (wish us luck, 11, 8, 5 & 1 year olds :earseek: ) , we have to make reservations ahead of time, otherwise I might just wing it but with a larger family that's harder to do.

[Got Quattro?]

From St. Louis and it's 16 hours.

We have drivenb this when my daughter was 1-2 and 3 years old.

Key is to start drive at 6:00pm....have dinner before you leave, abd pack snacks and drinks. have kids already in PJ's. drive all night. The kids will fall alseep by 9:00 or so.

Drive all night, only stop for gas and to stretch legs.

At 7:00am or so, when everyone wakes up , usually just as you hit florida....stop and have a nice breakfast at a crackerbarrell type place. Take at least an hour.

that will refresh you for the final few hours to disney. Done this many many times

[mermaidlady]

We have driven many times from the northern suburbs to FL The best thing to do IMO is to leave 1-2AM. Taking the I-65 route we normally make it to south of Atlanta where we stop for the night. The best time we made is getting to the Fl/Ga border. It makes a difference on how well the kids travel. Mine are good and we don't even have a DVD player in the car:sunny:

[jeancbpugh]

Originally posted by Got Quattro?
From St. Louis and it's 16 hours.

We have drivenb this when my daughter was 1-2 and 3 years old.

Key is to start drive at 6:00pm....have dinner before you leave, abd pack snacks and drinks. have kids already in PJ's. drive all night.

I'm jealous of those who can do this. I, however, would get in wreck driving all night. I need my sleep. :-D

[Chicago526]

The one time we drove, we stoped in Murfreesboro, TN for the night. I'm not sure of the milage or how long it took us (maybe 20 hours total split between 2 days?), it was back in '98 but I think it was almost exactly half way. We stayed at either a Comfort or Quality Inn, I can't remember it was a Choice Hotel. We didn't like it, I'd pick another if you stop there (it didn't look like it had been vacuumed in a few months, dust bunnies had just about taken over!)

At the time we lived in Schaumburg, about 45 min NW of the city. We left around 4 or 5 in the morning to get ahead of the rush hour traffic. The second day we made sure to time our departure so we'd pass Atlanta during NON-rush hour, too. We got in early evening to Orlando, stayed at a Quality Inn on International Drive (this we liked!) and checked in to Disney the next day.

[jeancbpugh]

Now I am debating the route, too. We will be driving down mid-December, so have to take snow and ice into consideration.

Thanks everyone for the responses so far.

[Got Quattro?]

really no other route to take

when you get past nashville, you dontr need to worry about snow....uless extreme cases

just watch the weather channel and adjust your departure times for weather

[jeancbpugh]

Originally posted by Got Quattro?
really no other route to take

I guess some people start out going south all the way through Illinois, others go east to take I-65 through Indiana.

[Chicago526]

Originally posted by jeancbpugh
I guess some people start out going south all the way through Illinois, others go east to take I-65 through Indiana.

We went via I-65 thru IN if it helps you out any!

[Got Quattro?]

65 south

or

55 south to 57 south to 24 east

either way they all end up in Nashville....then 24 east to 75 south to FL turnpike

[We4mickey]

We drive from Wisconsin and drive all the way through Illinois from Rockford on down. It is an hour longer for us, but the drive is so much better. You don't have all the tolls and you don't have near the traffic. We usually drive to either just north or just south of Atlanta leaving by 3am. Drive until we figure out the time we will hit Atlanta and then decide where we will stop. We would much rather go through at 3am than rush hour. We just got back last week and hit construction in Atlanta, 6 lanes down to 3. What a mess. Unfortunately we got a late start and had to go through at that time. For us it is 8 hours to get through Illinois.

[cranbiz]

I drive from MA many times. It is about 1300 miles and will normally take about 22-23 hours. We drive straight through and usually change when one is tired. We always get out and stretch at gas stops and will make potty stops when required.

While I agree that the sleep in the car is not the greatest, it is usually enough to allow you to continue when your partner (s) need a break.

DS and I just did a trip in Oct and it worked out fine. DS, DD (23) and myself are again driving down in Dec and will meet DW and DD (16) at MCO.

[SpecialK]

I've taken the 65 route and 57 is a much easier drive. Depending upon where you're coming from, getting to 65 can be a nightmare, especially if you're going across 80/94. Truck city.

I'm also not a big fan of driving straight through. I know it can be done and a lot of people prefer it, but it's not for me. I don't feel that I would be rested enough to be considered a safe driver. And DH and I get really crabby when we don't sleep!

We're planning on driving next summer and breaking it into three days. Stop early - let the kids swim and rest. We don't have severe time restrictions so we're taking our time.

[BCV23]

Another vote for 57 over 65. A few more miles for less time and a more peaceful drive.

[FamilyGuy]

Hi all, :wave2:
New poster here. There is some really great info and ideas on these boards.

We are leaving Plainfield, IL at approx 7pm and hoping to check in @ 6 PM the following evening.

The wife plans to stay up late the night before and sleep during the day prior to leaving. Reading the posts here makes me almost think that we may have to break out our driving into a couple of days, as we have never driven this distance before.

Still going to try and do it though. Our portable GPS system assures us that we will stay on track and more importantly it accurately gives an ETA, which will hopefully help us to stay focused on our goal.

I will be working on Sat Dec 4th, so we can not leave earlier. At present we have a reservation at the CR for check in 12/05. If for some reason we decided relatively last minute to check in a day later (say 2 or 3 pm on 12/05, I called the CR to inform them we would not be checking in that night), would Disney actually charge me? I will obviously call them and ask, but in my experience, many times policies differ from actual experiences. IE they tell you they will charge you for the night even though you haven't checked in, but they do not enforce that. Or would I be better doing the opposite? Changing the reservation to 12/06, and checking in a day earlier when we arrive there. I suppose if neccessary, I could check into a place outside of Disney for one night.....

Any thoughts and / or input is appreciated. :D

I should mention, when I first considered driving to Orlando, I thought that I-65 would be the natural route to go, however both Mapquest (we all know how reliable that can be) and my handy dandy Navigation device suggest I-57 (for both the Mapquest and the Nav routes I requested the fastest route).

And lastly, I just checked flights and they are still available relatively cheaply: $876.00 round trip for 5,. all taxes included via SWA. Then I would rent a car too, which would be another $150.00 So driving will save us over $700.00. Some people would look at it as $700.00 well spent though....... decisions decisions

[BCV23]

Welcome to the DIS, FamilyGuy.

If it were me, I would snag those SW tickets. When factoring in the cost, if you include wear and tear on your car, it might make you feel better.

If you do decide to drive, I would break the trip up.

Have a great first trip!

[notyetretired]

Definitely take I-57. From Chicago it's impossible to get to I-65 these days without hitting tons of construction. The Skyway, I-80, and I-94 ALL have lane closures.

[tinaluis]

We've made the drive many times and definitely prefer 57/24/75 over 65/24/75. There is far less congestion and traffic on I-57. We have 3 daughters (8,6,3) and we usually split the drive. We drive about 14 hours the first day, getting us just north of Atlanta, and stay overnight. The next day is about 8 hours of driving. On the way home, we stop overnight in Nashville. Every time I plan the overnight stay, I think we may not need to stop, that we can drive straight through, but I'm sure glad we planned it when we rest our weary heads.

[FamilyGuy]

Originally posted by BCV23
Welcome to the DIS, FamilyGuy.

If it were me, I would snag those SW tickets. When factoring in the cost, if you include wear and tear on your car, it might make you feel better.

If you do decide to drive, I would break the trip up.

Have a great first trip!

I actually found tickets on www.usa3000air.com for only $668 round trip for 5 - wow that's cheap. They fly into st petersburg only & have a limited number of flights daily. I'd rent a car and drive to Orlando from there if I did that flight. A close friend who recommended I check their prices (who previously worked for an airline) told me that all of their planes are new since they are relatively new airline.

The other thing is that I won't be driving my own car, I will have the benefit of driving a dealer owned vehicle (unless we decide to take our own car).

I can't believe how much I am waffling between flying and driving. Cost really shouldn't be an excuse. Can't get my wife to budge though. She wants to drive. She is extremly afraid of flying. I recently won an all expenses paid trip to Cancun and she wouldn't go because of flying and leaving the kids behind. Took a $1500 cash option instead of Cancun. That is helping to pay for this Disney trip.

[FamilyGuy]

OK, no more waffling.

The family voted 3 to 1 (I voted fly or drive, either one - so does that make it 4 to 2) to fly instead of drive.

I just booked the flight on ATA for $778 r/t for 5 of us... great deal!

We are buying annual passes for the trip and will return at least once over the next year. We may drive down on another trip. We are flying this time though.

Phew..... sigh of relief ::yes::

[jeancbpugh]

Congrats on coming to a decision!

I looked at our plans: 16 days and 3,000 miles...and I wonder if we've lost our minds. :p

[hearts8701]

i live in chicago o'hare area and had my daughter in the college program twice in the last 2 years so i have drove many times to orlando we have always drove straight thru making it in about 18 hours taking little naps and stopping for breakfast a fast lunch and dinner so here are a few tips

for those who are going to make that drive 57 is the best compared to 65 & fastest
remember when you do reach atlanta and if your looking for a rest stop GOOD LUCK there are only a few and they are far between (of course this is when you'll get tired)
the same with illinois on the way back not many rest stops

also instead of taking floridas' turnpike all the way in we used
I-10 east towards jacksonville to avoid construction and traffic

watch the weather we had a terrible ice storm in tennesse being from chicago we thought it was no big deal alittle ice and snow yeah right!!!
well let me tell you it was terrible we where stuck in the mountains where traffic was shut down and i do mean SHUT DOWN for 18 hrs in jan.
so if you go in the winter months be careful and in the summer its just as scary with the rain going thru the mountains so try to drive thru tennesse in daylight
just listen to the radio in bad weather and remember this is not your city you don't know what the weather is like or what damage it can do
most of all you want a have a safe trip

[alicenwonder99]

My dh is worried about driving through Chattanooga in January, too.

We need a place to stay overnight. We are a family of 6 (4 kids) and I found a Holiday Inn in a town called Ringgold, GA. It doesn't matter there is nothing to do in the town, we just need a clean place to sleep, an indoor pool, and some food. We chose the Holiday Inn because we have points for a free nights stay. I'm sure my older 2 children will be stuck sleeping on the floor, but what other choice do we have??? That's why it has to be a clean place (no critters running across the floor at night).

Does anyone have a better choice??

Also, we drove before going down I-65 through Indianapolis. We are this time going down I-57. Hope it works out better. :)

Mary

[Becky2005]

My dh is worried about driving through Chattanooga in January, too.

We need a place to stay overnight. We are a family of 6 (4 kids) and I found a Holiday Inn in a town called Ringgold, GA.

Mary

We have 6 in our family too (4 kids) and I have researched for a hotel that would hold 6...if it's the Holiday Inn that I found, it holds 6 people so that your older ones shouldn't have to be sleeping on the floor. OK...I just looked and the Holiday Inn I was looking at is in Marietta, 2265 KINGSTON CT (FORMERLY DELK RD), guess it's a different Holiday Inn. I've looked at so many hotels trying to find one that they all run together now. :rolleyes:

[hearts8701]

if you are driving straight thru to Georgia you'll be tired and looking for rest not site seeing that's for sure the kids will be looking to run they've been locked in a car for hours, so when you stop rest.. have a good dinner... let the kids run around the hotel...swimming will tire them out for the night they won't care about sleeping on the floor maybe bringing sleeping bags will make all the children want to sleep on the floor something to consider as a gift from santa if they don't already have sleeping bags... wake up refreshed and continue on your way because..............
YOUR GOING TO DISNEY WORLD :earseek:

[jeancbpugh]

We have 6 in our family too (4 kids) and I have researched for a hotel that would hold 6...if it's the Holiday Inn that I found, it holds 6 people so that your older ones shouldn't have to be sleeping on the floor. OK...I just looked and the Holiday Inn I was looking at is in Marietta, 2265 KINGSTON CT (FORMERLY DELK RD), guess it's a different Holiday Inn. I've looked at so many hotels trying to find one that they all run together now. :rolleyes:

We invested in an aerobed. We just have two kids, but there are times when they each need their own space to stretch out. So we bring the aerobed, a sleeping bag, and a couple of pillows on every road trip.

[alicenwonder99]

We have 6 in our family too (4 kids) and I have researched for a hotel that would hold 6...if it's the Holiday Inn that I found, it holds 6 people so that your older ones shouldn't have to be sleeping on the floor. OK...I just looked and the Holiday Inn I was looking at is in Marietta, 2265 KINGSTON CT (FORMERLY DELK RD), guess it's a different Holiday Inn. I've looked at so many hotels trying to find one that they all run together now. :rolleyes:


Thanks. :) I'll research this hotel and see how far it is. I can't imagine dh wanting to drive much into Georgia our first day.

BTW, which resort are you staying at in WDW? We're going to stay in a FW cabin (first time there).

Mary

[alicenwonder99]

Well, it doesn't seem like that hotel in Mareitta GA has an indoor pool. Plus, it seems too far for the first day's drive. Instead, I booked a hotel in Chattanooga, TN that has an indoor pool, free breakfast, and a suite that sleeps 7. I got that for 10,000 points with the Priority Club so we got that room for free. :) The picture of the pool doesn't look that great, but it says it's heated and I'm sure the kids won't mind.

Mary

[Becky2005]

We are staying at the Contemporary as our littliest one is only 1, so he won't count for occupancy rates at WDW (I have no idea if regular hotels count under 3 for occupancy rates or not. LOL!! I had always assumed it was a person, therefore they counted!)

Originally we were going to do the cabins as we started planning about 2 years ago before we knew we were going to be a family of 6 instead of 5. I've heard wonderful things about the cabins and if my kids were older, I think that is where we would stay but with dealing with the internal busses with a stroller, then dealing with external busses with a stroller and all the baby stuff that goes with it...location of the Contemporary won out (walking to MK was a HUGE factor for naps & such).

I know for us, we can definitely get into Marietta the first day, we drove straight home from Griffin once which is south of Atlanta (DH had done the Richard Petty Driving at the racetrack), when we only had our oldest 2 and they were young (before any were in school)...we hadn't planned it that way, just kind of happened due to "we are so close, let's just go for it" (after not finding a vacant hotel) DH told me "Never let me do that again" when we got into the driveway (it was awful - we were both falling asleep at the wheel, so I know that is not a repeat experience we want to do!), so I know we need to stop North of Atlanta and that it's feasible (that also gets the bulk of the driving out of the way the 1st day!).

Depends on where you start in the Chicagoland area though. ;)

Looks like we were posting at the same time. I see you already booked your hotel. Have fun (I forgot about the indoor pool part - since we are going in July, I just wanted a pool at the hotel, didn't matter if it was indoor/outdoor).

[alicenwonder99]

Hi Becky,

That's too funny: we had original ressies for the Contemporary!!! My 13 year old niece moved in with us last month so now we are an unexpected family of 6. I know EXACTLY what you mean about the stroller situation. Our last visit we brought our double stroller with for the little ones and it was a major pain. We won't be using our own stroller this time (little ones are 6 and 4), but that's why I wanted to stay at the Contemporary, the easy access to MK.

Have a fun trip. I'll post after our stay at the Holiday Inn in Chattanooga and let you know how it is.

Mary
(from the southwest suburbs)

[jeancbpugh]

(from the southwest suburbs)

We're southwest, also. 30 miles west of Chicago. I'm still debating the route. I need to make a ressie for the way down. You think Chattanooga is about 1/2 way?

[HappyLawyer]

well u guys are brave i am freakin out about renting a car in fl for the first time, from chicago we just fly :boat:

[alicenwonder99]

We're southwest, also. 30 miles west of Chicago. I'm still debating the route. I need to make a ressie for the way down. You think Chattanooga is about 1/2 way?

Yeah, that's what we figured.

Mary

[Jon99]

This is what we do, for us works very well...

We live in Kankakee County, take my wife to work in the morning, DD and I pick her up at school (she teaches) at 3:00 sharp, because I dropped her off we can leave right from Manteno.. Head down I-57, hitting Effingham by 5:00 and Paducah by 7:00, where we stop and eat.. Back in the Jeep by 7:45, can normally be in Nashville by midnight, Atlanta by 3:00 EST, stop in Valdosta to eat around 6:00 and into Orlando by 10:00..

[manning]

Use to drive Chicago to Disney many times via I-65, I-24, And I-75.

Mileage wise. Chattanooga is the half way point.

[jeancbpugh]

Okay, I've made two reservations for possible stopovers: one in Chattanooga, the other at Atlanta. We'll cancel depending on how we are doing that day.

Still undecided on I-65 vs. I-57!

[ILPHIL]

We've made the drive many times during all seasons and now definitely prefer the I-24 route. Drive straight thru from the far north suburbs making lots of stops. IF we travel on a weekday leaving right after morning rush hour in Chicago sets us up to miss the busy times in Nashville & Atlanta. Wife and I take turns driving during the day and I go all night, usually with a hour or two nap at the rest area outside Macon. My normal goal is to be in FL by the time everybody else wakes up. Gets us to WDW late morning, gives us time to pick-up some groceries and head to our resort.
I'm more than willing to trade being a little tired the 1st day to avoid the hassles of dealing with O'Hare...
Looking forward to doing it again in June! :D

[alicenwonder99]

Okay, I've made two reservations for possible stopovers: one in Chattanooga, the other at Atlanta. We'll cancel depending on how we are doing that day.

Still undecided on I-65 vs. I-57!

We drove I-65 last time down, and this time we're going I-57. According to the online driving directions, it will be faster...but who knows!

If you go on the McDonald's site, they have a driving direction link. You can find the McDonald playlands off the Interstate on your drive! Also, I went on the Cracker Barrel site and found the Cracker Barrel's on our drive down (the kids love that place and we ONLY go there on family vacations). I also figured out where the rest stops are. Here's my stops on the way to WDW taking I-57, I-24, I-75 (if anyone is interested...lol):

DAY 1
Stop #1: Interstate Rest Area, exit 114 (eat breakfast brought packed from home)
Stop #2: McDonald's Playland - exit 65, Cadiz KY (eat lunch)
Stop #3: Cannonsburgh Village - exit 78B, Murfreesboro, TN (siteseeing stop for about 1 hour)
Stop #4: Holiday Inn in Chattanooga, TN - overnight stay

DAY2
Stop #1: Cracker Barrel - exit 218, McDonough, GA (breakfast)
Stop #2: Interstate Rest Area - exit 118, Pinehurst, GA
Stop #3: McDonald's Playland - exit 5, Lake Park, GA (eat lunch)
Stop #4: Interstate Rest ARea - exit 346, Marion Cty, FL
Next stop - WDW!!

It may seem we have alot of stops, but my 4 and 6 year olds are still in car seats and I feel they need to get out and move around. And I didn't figure out gas fill-up stops...I'm leaving that up to dh since he's the one doing all the driving.

I still need to figure out our stops on the way home.

Mary

[hearts8701]

that's great the way you figured in Mcdonalds and cracker barrel from their websites.
is there a website for rest areas?

[alicenwonder99]

that's great the way you figured in Mcdonalds and cracker barrel from their websites.
is there a website for rest areas?

Yes. I don't have the URLs in front of me right now, but I just did a simple Yahoo search of Illinois Department of Transportation (and Kentucky, and Tennesse, and Georgia, and Florida). They all have the Interstate rest areas listed. If you can't find it, let me know and I'll post it for you. I still have to figure our stops for the ride home.

Mary

[hearts8701]

thanks i did located the rest areas especially for Georgia
you might want to post the Webster here for future drivers from Chicago who might research this site later

[jeancbpugh]

Turns out DH has to attend a meeting at work the morning we are supposed to start out. I am considering loading the car and starting without him. We can pick him up at the airport in Louisville. What do you all think? I am reluctant to lose a day of vacation...

[jeancbpugh]

Turns out DH has to attend a meeting at work the morning we are supposed to start out. I am considering loading the car and starting without him. We can pick him up at the airport in Louisville. What do you all think? I am reluctant to lose a day of vacation...

I forgot to mention that we'd have to go by I-65 to work it. Doesn't look like there are any reasonable airports along I-57.

[jeancbpugh]

Turns out DH has to attend a meeting at work the morning we are supposed to start out. I am considering loading the car and starting without him. We can pick him up at the airport in Louisville. What do you all think? I am reluctant to lose a day of vacation...

We decided to just leave midday after his meeting, go I-57, and stop for the night at Nashville.

[FamilyGuy]

We invested in an aerobed. We just have two kids, but there are times when they each need their own space to stretch out. So we bring the aerobed, a sleeping bag, and a couple of pillows on every road trip.


Can you tell me more about the aerobed. Specifically if you would be comfortable checking it on a flight in its carrying case (or bag?). Or would it need to be packed in a suitcase? How big is it when deflated?

I think my wife and kids really didn't mind the flight to Orlando and back - maybe even kind of enjoyed it.

[jeancbpugh]

Can you tell me more about the aerobed. Specifically if you would be comfortable checking it on a flight in its carrying case (or bag?). Or would it need to be packed in a suitcase? How big is it when deflated?


It is about the size of a sleeping bag stuffed in its sack.

http://www.thinkaero.com/retail/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=Aero&category%5Fname=Beds&product%5Fid=AeroBed&cookie%5Ftest=1

[PrincessCandaceMarie]

Hello ~

I know members of my family either stop in Atlanta (and shop and enjoy the sights) then continue on to St. Pete Beach or Sanibel Island, and other members of my family just drive straight through....whatever you prefer, just be careful and have fun!

[jeancbpugh]

We hit the road tomorrow afternoon. Forecast looks good: cold but not precipation. I'll let you all know how it goes!

[jeancbpugh]

We were supposed to leave HOURS ago and DH hasn't even left work yet. Lord only knows how far we'll drive today, and where we'll end up stopping.

Just goes to show you that no matter how carefully you plan, life gets in the way and throws you a curve ball.

[jeancbpugh]

We left our Chicago suburb day#1 at 3:30pm. Went down I-57 (great road! no traffic!) Arrived Nashville 11:30pm and stayed the night.

Next day left at 8:30 and drove to WDW, arriving 6:30pm. (1205 miles from home to WDW)

Spent 1.5 weeks in Florida various places.

Then left for home at 8:30pm after dinner at Kona Cafe. Drove until south of Atlanta (Tifton) and stayed overnight. Next day drove home (again by way of I-57 which was great) arriving just after midnight.
Total hours engine ran on the way home from the Poly to Chicago= 18 hr, 41 min.

We drove 3911 miles total.

It was easier than we expected. No snow or ice to slow us down. Just a few spots of traffic (Atlanta and Miami).

The kids loved the DVD players and the PS2.

We'd do it again, but not for a couple of years.

[Shagley]

Does anyone know of any cheap, decent hotels just south of Nashville?

We are leaving Peoria at 5:00pm, and we would like to make it just south of Nashville before we stop for the night.

Or maybe I should be asking if anyone is aware of any areas we should avoid south of Nashville. We were thinking of getting a hotel in the Murfreesboro area.

Any advice would be appreciated!!

[weluvpluto]

Does anyone know of any cheap, decent hotels just south of Nashville?

We are leaving Peoria at 5:00pm, and we would like to make it just south of Nashville before we stop for the night.

Or maybe I should be asking if anyone is aware of any areas we should avoid south of Nashville. We were thinking of getting a hotel in the Murfreesboro area.

Any advice would be appreciated!!

Here's a link to a thread that should help you a bit (I hope! :blush: )
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=735363&highlight=Murfreesboro

[KATIESMOMMY]

Just a quick word about reststops--
I was a truck driver for a number of yrs and my DH still is, please be safe and stop other places the the interstate rest areas. These places can be VERY dangerous, esp at night. I am not trying to scare you all or anything--just LOts of bad things happen in these places. In a auto I would stop at one of the major truckstops- Petro, Travel Centers, Flying J. They are safe, clean and well lit--and to be quite honest some of them have excellant food.

[dzneelvr]

The one time we drove, it was a straight shot. We didn't want to waste any time getting to WDW. DH and I took turns so it wasn't so bad. We also extended our usual time and drove over to Vero Beach Disney for a couple of days. That was a wonderful change from the Parks and made our reason for driving logical.
We won't be driving again though. Prior to the "drive trip" our other trips were by air (O Hare and various carriers) and now that we've discovered TMA and the Rockford Regional airport, we'll be flying again from now on. Personally, with our kids now 17 and 15, driving that far is just too crowded and not a fun experience; we did the drive a few years ago before both DS and DD grew 6 inches!!
Research iflytma.com and orlandosanford.com....seriously, I'm a big fan of this partnership out of Rockford. :earsgirl: :earsboy: :earsboy: :earsgirl:

[jeancbpugh]

Does anyone know of any cheap, decent hotels just south of Nashville?

We are leaving Peoria at 5:00pm, and we would like to make it just south of Nashville before we stop for the night.

Or maybe I should be asking if anyone is aware of any areas we should avoid south of Nashville. We were thinking of getting a hotel in the Murfreesboro area.

Any advice would be appreciated!!

In December we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express on the south side of Nashville (714 Spence Lane, Nashville, 615-366-6691). It was fine. It cost $81.24 with tax for a room with two queen beds.

Driving Directions I-40E OR I-65S, EXIT I-24E, THEN EXIT 52 MURFREESBORO RD. LEFT AT LIGHT. I-65N, EXIT 440E KNOXVILLE, EXIT 52. THRU LIGHT HOTEL ON LEFT. I-24W, EXIT 52. I-40W EXIT 213 SPENCE LANE, FOLLOW TEMP DETOUR.

[Shagley]

Thanks for all the help !!

[manning]

Ouch, I have stayed at Hampton Inns cheaper with AAA or ARP.

Also check the rest areas for those discount books.

[FamilyGuy]

I am please to report that all went well on our drive both there and back. We stoppedin Louisville both on the way there and back (Visited Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom!), so we took I-65, did not have an major traffic snarls at all.

Left Sunday Morning at 3:45AM Chicago time, and arrived at midnight that night! We were actually planning to stay the night somwhere between Atlanta and Ocala (Valdosta, more than likely), but felt fine to drive all the way to WDW! I drove the entire way other than the last two hours.

On the way back we left WDW at about 4:30pm and stopped just shy of Chattanooga by about 30 minutes at about 1:00am. Got back on the road the following morning at about 9:30 am, and arrived home by 9:00pm that night. This time my wife drove the last 5 hours or so.

I was so comfortable with the drive I almost feel like, why ever fly to WDW again?

[weluvpluto]

I was so comfortable with the drive I almost feel like, why ever fly to WDW again?

We feel the same way!
Some of our family just moved to Atlanta so now we'll be able to stay with them on the way down and back - but we were getting good enough at it to do it all in one shot :teeth:

BTW - thanks for your report! We leave in 12 days :banana: but we're taking I-57, it just seems a whole lot less stressful for us :goodvibes