Anyone from TX done a driving trip report?

[Anne's Family]

August of this year (or next ) will be our first time to drive to WDW from Dallas and we'll be trailing our popup camper and staying in Fort Wilderness. I'm looking for anyone who has ever done a trip report detailing their drive from Texas to Florida to help out with my planning. If you stayed at Fort Wilderness... all the better! I think I'll also post this in the camping forum to double my possibilities. Hope that's ok!

 

[mouseman41]

I don't have a trip report, but I have made the trip from Houston to Orlando several times. I would be happy to answer any questions.

 

[dallasdisneymommy]

Hi Neighbor!

We have always flown before, but this June we are driving to WDW for a week then spending a week on the beach in Seaside. My plan is to get to Pensacola on the first day, then drive the remaining 6 hours to WDW on day two. We'll see! I will have 3 kids and a nanny in tow so we may have to make lots of stops.

I will be writing a trip report and will be happy to share any tips I gather along the way!

 

[maryhenry]

We are from Shreveport and have made the drive twice. The first time, we wanted to spend two nights at the beach, and decided to stop at Panama City Beach. Big mistake. PCB is way off of I-10 so it took forever to make it there off of the interstate. If you want to stop at the beach overnight, I would stop at Navarre Beach - it is only a short way off I-10 so you don't waste a lot of time.

The second time, we decided it was not worth it to spend the night at the beach. We drove all the way to Tallahassee, although that might be kind of hard for you since you are 3 hours further west than me. It was nice, b/c the next morning we woke up at 6:00 and were in Orlando in about 3 hours (as I remember).

However, we are going in May (39 days to be exact), and we got $100 round trip on Allegiant Air!! Then we a deal on a mini-van from Dollar - $177.00! We figured for the price of gas/hotels/food on the road - we will come out ahead for our family of 4. I kind of miss the idea of the family roadtrip, but we'll get there in 2 hours!! That will really help my husband's back too.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We also live in Shreveport and have driven at least twenty times without any problems. We will be driving down in June and adding on a week at Marco Island. We usually go I-49 to I-10 to I-12, back to I-10 and then on to I-75 and Florida Turnpike. Most of the time we leave after school or work and drive to Daphne, Al (just east of Mobile) then head into Orlando by 3pm the next day.

The last few times, we took off first thing in the morning and drove to Tallahassee and then skated into Orlando the next morning about 10.

 

[dallasdisneymommy]

We also live in Shreveport and have driven at least twenty times without any problems. We will be driving down in June and adding on a week at Marco Island. We usually go I-49 to I-10 to I-12, back to I-10 and then on to I-75 and Florida Turnpike. Most of the time we leave after school or work and drive to Daphne, Al (just east of Mobile) then head into Orlando by 3pm the next day.

The last few times, we took off first thing in the morning and drove to Tallahassee and then skated into Orlando the next morning about 10.

Just curious, do you find I-49/I-10/I-12 faster than taking I-20 down to I-10? Mapquest takes me via I-20, so I'm curious about your logic and experience. Also, do you find Daphne to be a safe place to stop? I'm traveling with my kids and a nanny this time and my husband is flying in later, so I'll want to stop somewhere that doesn't feel too transient. Thanks!

 

[CanadianGuy]

This is really more of a transportation question than a themeparks question and as such I'll be moving this over to the transportation board.

Thanks!

Knox

 

[dixipixi]

I don't know if I-49 to I-10/12 is faster, but you should avoid I-55 between Jackson and I-12 at all costs!!!

I don't know about the condition of I-49, but I-55 is in terrible shape. Even if it took an hour more, I would consider another route! There are lots of wrecks and vehicle damage caused by the poor road conditions.

This is my neck of the woods and it has to be pretty important business to get me on that stretch of road. The road is in much better condition in MS, but once you cross over into LA, it goes downhill pretty quickly.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Just curious, do you find I-49/I-10/I-12 faster than taking I-20 down to I-10? Mapquest takes me via I-20, so I'm curious about your logic and experience. Also, do you find Daphne to be a safe place to stop? I'm traveling with my kids and a nanny this time and my husband is flying in later, so I'll want to stop somewhere that doesn't feel too transient. Thanks!

I don't think that I-20 intersects I-10. We have taken the I-20 route to Jackson, then headed south on US59(or 49, not sure) through Hattiesburg and ending up in Mobile. Not too bad, but more stop lights and intersections, two lane roads that way. We did take I-20 to AL, headed to Montgomery (when the bridge was out in Pensacola after Hurricane Ivan took it out in 2004) and then over to I-75 in GA. That was not good at all. I-49 is only about six blocks from my house and I've always found it pretty good. You just don't want to get to Baton Rouge around 4:30 - traffic gets real bad getting over the Misssissippi River bridge on I-10. It takes about 3 hours to get from Shreveport to Lafayette travelling the speed limit. About another 45 min to get to BR from Lafayette.

We've stopped in Daphne at least 15 or more times. We've stayed mostly at Comfort Suites, a few times at the Hampton, once a Microtel, once at Hilton Garden Suites. Never had any problems there, even stopping around midnight or later once (hazmat spill on I-10 near Slidell that time, rerouted traffic to Hwy 80). There are several fast food places; we got our best meal on the way home last time at the IHOP in Daphne. They made us the best pancakes, all we wanted. There is also a Taco Bell, Arbys, a few other places right around all the hotels. And they are right off the interstate.