Wisconsin to Port Canaveral - Road Trip!

[WIFamily]

With airline prices as such, I am seriously considering driving for our April cruise. We live in Southeastern Wisconsin. I've made many cross-country trips before, so I know what to expect, but this would be the longest trip by far for my family - my wife, two young men 22 and 18, and two boys 14 and 10.

I recall when I was 12 or so, Mom and Dad loaded me, my brother and sister into the station wagon and made the drive. We stopped overnight twice on the way down and once on the way back. It wasn't a terrible trip from my recollection.

The car situation would be good, we have a comfy / roomy new vehicle. With all the technology the kids have now-a-days, I think it wouldn't be too bad, but my wife is nervous.

BTW, I'll continuously watch for airline deals and sales - but I'm not expecting any big savings.

Have others made similar trips, and if so what were your experiences? My plan would be to spend one night at a hotel somewhere around Louisville, or Nashville. Thanks in advance!

 

[RHSTigerMom]

Why is your wife nervous? No babies or toddlers, everyone is potty trained and worse case scenario, they are all boys so in a pinch, a water bottle or the side of the road will suffice. They will have earbuds in so it will be quiet. You have multiple drivers (assuming) so you don't have to do all the driving. Sounds like a win-win.

 

[BK2014]

Hello from a fellow resident of Southeastern WI. It is definitely a do-able trip that would likely be cheaper than flying. However, I can't imagine wanting to be in a car with 6 people for 20 hours after a cruise. Especially when you consider all the together-ness you will experience on the drive down, and the 7 days on the cruise sharing a room or two. But that is only my opinion, based on my experiences with my own family. Your family may be much better road-trippers.

If you are still looking at the possibility of flying, have you looked into an of the rewards type credit cards? My wife and I got the Southwest Airlines Premier card about 3 years ago, and the rewards points have paid for our last few trips between Milwaukee and Orlando. If you got the card when they are offering the 50,000 point sign up bonus, you could easily pay for 2 roundtrip tickets, depending on the days that you are able to fly. There is an annual fee, but the direct flights between Milwaukee and Orlando are great. Just a suggestion, I do not work for Southwest or their affiliates!

Otherwise, if you do drive you could just drive straight through since you appear to have 4 people who could take turns driving. That would save the added expense of the hotel on the way there and back.

 

[cantontrebor]

We have made the trip from SE Michigan to Florida each of the past 13 years by car. My kids are now teenagers (15 and 18) and with electronics today we have to check to see if they are even in the car.

For us, Cincinnati, Knoxville and especially Atlanta are the toughest parts of the trip. We try to avoid rush hour. We typically stop on the way South in southern Tennessee or northern Georgia. Holiday Inn Express has been very good to us. On the way home we typically drive straight thru (approx. 18 hours). Trading off drivers every 3 hours is key for the "straight thru" trip.

We have saved enough over the years to take an extra cruise. My kids grew up with the drive so it has been a non issue for us. Good luck and safe driving!

 

[gumbypee]

holy cow you are brave!! I LOATHE driving - I am hoping to move back to Florida soon after living in NM and just the thought of driving across the country one way has me shaking in my boots. Granted, I am one person (and a dog) so all the driving falls on me, but for vacation I would totally fly. But you know you and your family best. I would think the worst part would be after cruise. I would be so cranky driving LOL

 

[Barbydoll8]

Look into flying into Tampa rather than Orlando. Sometimes, sometimes it's cheaper. Yes you will need to drive an extra 2 hours to the port but sometimes the price in flights is worth it.

 

[Huskiesrule]

Depending on how far south you are in WI, you can look at prices out of Chicago also. SWA sometimes has great rates out of Midway. Allegiant flies out of some airports in WI and I know they do Rockford to Orlando-Sanford and other locations in Florida.

 

[WIFamily]

Hi everybody, thanks for the feedback so far!

My wife is nervous because that's a long time in the vehicle, and she's remember when the kids were younger and could get a little feisty on car rides.

Thanks for the tips on rewards cards - I'll check on those, I haven't done much of that in the past couple years.

I've checked on / flown out of Ohare in the past, and even on Allegiant out of Rockford. Unfortunately with Allegiant, they have flights on Thursday's and Sunday's to Sanford. We can't swing the kids missing that much school - ie flying to Florida on Thursday for a Sunday to Sunday cruise on the Magic. We will get enough nasty notices as it is

I'll check into other nearby airlines, and keep watching for deals.

As has been said, kids today have so much to keep them engaged that it would likely be a very peaceful drive!

 

[momof2n2]

I'd do it in a heartbeat.
We just drove with six kids from NY to OR.
We regularly do NY to FL.
Try it once?
We love it. I'd rather spend the money elsewhere than in the not-so-friendly-skies.

ETA We did not do straight thru to OR, but always do straight thru to FL.

 

[DCLDVC1]

The amount we'd spend on airfare would pale in comparison to the amount spent on marriage counseling after a trip like that!

Like mentioned above, be sure to check Southwest out of MDW and/or MKE. You can sometimes find unbelievable deals out of MDW. We were able to get tickets for around $200 roundtrip this summer and there were select flights for $49-$79 each way IIRC.

 

[Mrs Green]

Growing up in MN, we did several long road trips including one to Florida/wdw with loads of extended family. Now grown up with kids of my own and living in Dallas with family in Chicago and mn, we frequently road trip to visit all of them. I will say that when I talk about road trips with my friends at least half are completely repulsed by the idea. It just isn't everyone's cup of tea. Sometimes it isn't even my cup of tea (like when the baby is crying 5 minutes after we just stopped and we still have 8 hours to go ). The drive from Wisconsin is totally doable. Your kids will have their devices to keep them occupied. You will save a good deal of money. You and everyone else will probably get cranky at times, but that can happen when flying too. If you can find some interesting stops along the way that always helps. If you pack healthy snacks and don't rely solely on gas station food that always helps. There is a board on dis, dedicated to long drives...might be under wdw section. It's fun and lots of people to give ideas about stops and routes etc. Good luck with your decision and the drive if you decide to do it. Consider writing a tr; I for one would read it.

 

[TandLMommy28]

We make the drive from Fort Wayne, Indiana. It's not quite as far as Wisconsin but it is about 1100 miles. Honestly, I prefer the drive to flying. Flying stresses me out with all the rules. It drives me crazy!

We try to find fun places to stop along the way to make it more exciting.
Road trips are a lot more memorable than most flights and I love hitting the road as a family! You can do it, and it will be great!

 

[cgolf]

With airline prices as such, I am seriously considering driving for our April cruise. We live in Southeastern Wisconsin. I've made many cross-country trips before, so I know what to expect, but this would be the longest trip by far for my family - my wife, two young men 22 and 18, and two boys 14 and 10.

I recall when I was 12 or so, Mom and Dad loaded me, my brother and sister into the station wagon and made the drive. We stopped overnight twice on the way down and once on the way back. It wasn't a terrible trip from my recollection.

The car situation would be good, we have a comfy / roomy new vehicle. With all the technology the kids have now-a-days, I think it wouldn't be too bad, but my wife is nervous.

BTW, I'll continuously watch for airline deals and sales - but I'm not expecting any big savings.

Have others made similar trips, and if so what were your experiences? My plan would be to spend one night at a hotel somewhere around Louisville, or Nashville. Thanks in advance!

We actually fly Southwest out of Milwaukee and get the I wanna get away tickets for under 140 each way. The nice thing is that of course they don't have baggage fees. When we price compared other airlines this was a lot cheaper. I do believe the the tickets have some stipulations on them, but they have been great deals for us.

As for a long drive, not sure. We did this like thirty years ago and I don't remember it being horrible, but I wasn't the driver. We also did a lot of sightseeing which broke it up. Would be concerned about car trouble, even with new cars stuff happens, you would want enough of a cushion to cover this. Also with vacation time at work, are you using a lot to cover the drive? That time could be used for another vacation or possibly paid out depending on your place of work.

If anything You could add some sightseeing into the drive to make it more enjoyable and to give you some breaks along the way.

 

[cedricandsophie]

We drive from Chicsgo all the time. Drive about 8 to 9 hours first day and like to stay in Nashville and see the grand olde Opry on the way back. But my husband and I like to drive. He loves books on tape and I listen along. The kid watches videos on her DVC player. With all the electronics available today the kids would be good for quite a while

 

[PredzMan]

We've done both last year. In April we drove and stayed in Chattanooga, TN. We loved the city. Got into Cocoa Beach around 5pm the next day. With that being said, airfare is so low from Milwaukee on Southwest I got roundtrip for our Star Wars cruise in Feb 16' for under $250 a person. Personally we love flying down now, we're at Cocoa Beach by noon and have the day to relax. On the way back, we're home into Milwaukee by 1:15pm the day the cruise ends. But if you decide to drive, we can't say enough about Chattanooga, excellent places to eat, really fun little city.

 

[Castaway April]

I got a super good deal from Midway in Chicago to Orlando on Southwest. $70 each way. We will have to drive about 5 hours from Iowa to get to Chicago, but better than 21 hours!

 

[egesicki]

We did Fox Valley to the panhandle at spring break with 3 and 8yo. It was ok, but it is challenging finding 4 travel days on top of a 7 night vacation. Funny side note, we stayed south side of Indy the night the Badgers played in the final four and the next morning at the breakfast buffet we were the only red in a sea of blue.

 

[UCFGrad01]

I have family in Milwaukee and they make the drive once or twice a year usually. They stop overnight once, usually somewhere in TN.

 

[funseeker]

We drive from SE PA. This will be our third trip. Kids ages 9-14 (they were 6-11 the first time).

It's a 16 hour drive and we go straight through the night. DH went to school in FLA and worked t here during winters so he has done the drive many times. He is the night owl and drives most of the night. I'm the early bird and take the early morning shift.

For us flying has gotten too expensive so we deal with the drive. It's not the greatest but it's not the worst either.

 

[elange99]

We are on the WI border in Illinois and make the drive every year. We start early the first day (normally 5-6am) and drive through til about midnight or so, stopping around Tipton, GA. That leaves about a six-seven hour drive the next day and allows us to hit our resort, chill for a little bit then go to Downtown Disney (our tradition). We do not have any kids though so I imagine that can make a big difference. The other difference is there are normally three of us, I am a day shifter, my wife is a second shifter and the third is a third shifter so we have all times of day covered for driving.