I used to visit family in that area when I was a kid. We would stop in Fairfield to visit my great aunt and uncle, and then go to Flora to my grandpa's. Every time we went to visit, I would come home with a southern accent that would stick with me for weeks! My first grade teacher was so confused when my mom went in for a conference and she didn't have my accent, she ended up making me go to speech class!
We aren't brave enough to make the drive, but if airfare keeps going up at this rate we might have to do it eventually. 16 hours doesn't really sound too bad. I think part of the reason DH loves Disney so much is that there's no driving involved. He somtimes drives 4-6 hours a day for work, so it's the last thing he wants to do on vacation.