Driving from Madison, WI to WDW, anyone know of any...

[jacobwill62009]

We are driving to WDW this May from Madison...so excited! Does anyone have any tips/webistes that you can share on maps/stops to make along the way. Fun or crazy things to see or to just get out of the car for a bit so our 2 and 4 year old can run some energy off for a bit. We are leaving at 7pm at night so they can watch a movie and then sleep (hopefully. We are driving straight through (I will be sleeping during the afternoon before we leave and will drive a good portion of the night shift). So we are looking to make a few short stops on the way that next day. Any advice/help is always appreciated.

 

[OhMari]

Hi,
I'm from Wisconsin too.
I live north of you on 151.

Anyhow, you probably will be getting into TN by morning.
If you want to take a break around 10:00 a.m., you could
go to Look Out Mountain, and past all the "tourist traps",
there is a Federal Park with a playground on top of the mountain.
Grab breakfast on the bottom of the mountain.
They only bad thing, TN rerouted the highway, and you will have to go
about 5 miles out of your way now to get to Look Out Mountain.

Don't do Jack Daniels in TN, it is an hour off the main highway.
We got suckered into that one in 2000.
The highway signs didn't say it was 40 miles off the main highway.

I am going to move you to our Transportation Board.
Hopefully people with little kids will have some answers.
We do a lot of traveling with our older kids, when we go to moto-cross races. And we hardly ever stop for anything anymore.

 

[jacobwill62009]

Thank you! The Mountain sounds like a great idea...and thank you for moving this to transportation. I missed that whole category.

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

I would not avoid the tourist traps on Lookout Mountain. Rock City is a very cool place on top to the mountain, full of rock formations and pathways between huge boulders and pieces of the mountain. And the famous Incline Railroad is a rack railroad that takes you up there at a very steep incline. I think both would be enjoyed by 2 & 4 yr olds. But you're looking at a few hours here, not a quick break to burn off energy. Lookout Mountain is just outside Chatanooga.

BobK/Orlando

 

[thorphin]

A colleague just drove down from IL and told me that I had to stop off at the Opry Mills Mall in Nashville. They have a stingray reef in the mall and you can get up close and touch the stingrays. Even better, you can pay a little money for shrimp that you can then feed to the stingrays. I'm no expert in stingray physiology but apparently they end up sucking up your whole arm! Wild and crazy enough?

 

[hearts8701]

i can tell you NOT to stop at ruby falls its a red light behind it is a water fall i'm not kidding!

 

[dzorn]

http://www.amazon.com/Along-Interstate-75-Knowledge-Entertainment-Interstate/dp/1896819346
Not sure what route you take.

Denise in MI

 

[shalom]

Depending on the route you take, you might check out the Parthenon in Nashville. My kids loved it at that age - although I think the real appeal was the gift shop, since some little ones are scared of the statue of Athena. It costs to go inside but you can walk around the park or the outside of the Parthenon for free and I think hit the gift shop as well.

According to someone on this board, there's a rest area on I-75 at Lake Nickajack (right outside Chattanooga) that's a good place to stretch your legs and have a picnic lunch.

Further down I-75, in Georgia, the Ocmulgee National Monument might be a good place to stretch your legs. There's a visitor's center and what not if I remember rightly, although it's more of an historical sight than a scenic one (Indian mounds).

If you have a membership in a zoo, there are a lot of zoos pretty close to the route you can get into for free. I hear the Chattanooga zoo in particular is small enough it's good for a short visit.

 

[robinb]

Hello from a fellow Madisonian !

We have made the drive a couple of times and are thinking of doing it again this summer. It's about 1200 miles each way and it takes us just about 2 full days of driving (22 hours), without making any touist-y stops along the way. We drive about 12 hours per day and stop for meals and potty stops. We aim to stop for the night in Chattanooga on the way down and Nashville on the way home. If you want to avoid the Chicago area you can go south on I-39 (at Rockford on I-90) to Bloomington and then pick up I-74 Champaign. From there you can go east on I-74 to Indianapolis and then south on I-65 to I-24, or you can go south on I-57 to I-24. We did the I-57 route last time we drove.

Be aware the Illinois is a HUGE state and there is a reason we call people from there "flat landers" .

ETA: Your kids are 2 & 4. A stop at a McDonald's Playland was a highlight of a long trip for my DD at that age.

 

[cruisingkat]

We live in IL around Chicago and drive to Florida several times a year. We take I57 down to I24 to I75. We don't like to take I65 through IN - did that once and was awful - a ton of semi traffic.