Advice- NW florida to Orlando via Tallahassee or Jacksonville?

[jayally]

I am driving from orlando airport to fort walton beach, fla to spend a couple of days with relatives before our disneyworld trip. It is a 7 hr + drive. Because our flight gets in at 3:30 we are driving to Gainesville and staying at a fairfield Inn hotel I bought on priceline for the way up. Hotels along that route seem to be expensive and limited. Coming back I am trying to decide if it is worth going through Jacksonville and staying on reward points at an Amerisuites. It is a 5 1/2 drive from fort walton to jacksonville and then about 2 1/2 to orlando. The route is acutally about 30 minutes longer then I-75 but I don't know if I want to drive 5 1/2 hrs arriving about 9-10pm or driving 3 hours to tallahassee arriving a bit earlier but still have another 4+ hour drive in the morning. I need to be back in orlando by 4pm to pick my husband up at the airport so doing it all in one day would mean a very early start for me and my 2 kids with minimal stops. I also want to drive the best route for convienences with little traffic and delays but it would be nice to have some scenery or quick stops to let the kids stretch their legs (8 & 11 yrs) along the way.

Thanks for any advice or tips. We are leaving in a week!

Michelle