Any tips about driving from Chicago?

[erika412]

I've read quite a few of the threads about driving tips. Does anyone have any additional suggestions about driving from Chicago? What time of the day do you leave? How long do you drive? Where do you stay overnight? Anything?

 

[chicagoshannon]

We leave in 2 weeks. I think we're going to leave around 4am and stop maybe 8pm. I"m hoping that gets us south of Atlanta.

We will be stopping in Kentucky for a break. We're going to go to Dinosaur World near Mammoth caves. It will be a nice way to run off some energy.

We've stayed in Macon, GA and it seems like a decent area. We've also stayed in Valdosta (it's the last city in GA)

Another thing to make sure you do is stop at the Florida Welcome Center. It's really nice, you get free orange juice or grape fruit juice, and they have all of the brochures you could ever want.

 

[stsomewhere]

We leave in 2 weeks. I think we're going to leave around 4am and stop maybe 8pm. I"m hoping that gets us south of Atlanta.

We will be stopping in Kentucky for a break. We're going to go to Dinosaur World near Mammoth caves. It will be a nice way to run off some energy.

We've stayed in Macon, GA and it seems like a decent area. We've also stayed in Valdosta (it's the last city in GA)

Another thing to make sure you do is stop at the Florida Welcome Center. It's really nice, you get free orange juice or grape fruit juice, and they have all of the brochures you could ever want.

We have been to Dino World. DD-3 was scared of them. Ds-6 was a little, too.

I would recommend Kentucky down under. It was great.

 

[drinkme]

Does anyone have any additional suggestions about driving from Chicago?

My tip would be : DON'T DO IT!!! lol

It's such a long drive, and you could fly out of Midway (SWA) cheaply.

However, if you really want to drive, we like driving through Illinois instead of Indiana.

We stopped in Chattanooga. That's about the 1/2 way point.

We ended up stopping about every 1-2 hours. The kids are strapped in their car seats and need to get out to stretch. If you go on McDonalds website, you can plot your trip and find all of the Playlands on the Interstates. However, we noticed once you get south of Kentucky, most of the Playlands are outside.

Bring along a dvd player and tons of movies.

Really think about 2 days stuck in your car with all the kids vs. a 3 hour plane ride. Don't forget that you still have to drive home!!!

HTH

 

[Trixie15]

We drive from Chicago and really enjoy it! We leave the dvd's and other electronics at home. We take turns telling stories, reading books quietly or out loud to each other. We sing songs and have discussions about all sorts of things. They color pictures and play with the bag of toys. We have them help us read the map. We play I-spy and 20 questions and license plate bingo... the list goes on and on.

I would encourage you to leave the DVD player at home and really spend some time interacting with them instead of letting the tv entertain them for hours on end. The getting there really can be a great part of the vacation!!

They're 8, 7, 5, and 2 and they LOVE going on road trips! We have never felt like we are *stuck in a car with them* like spending time with your kids is some kind of bad thing.

We'll be stopping in Atlanta overnight on the way there and Chattanooga on the way back.

 

[akayek31]

Is the Florida welcome center open 24 hrs?

 

[erika412]

Jennifer, what time do you leave that allows you to stop in atlanta? How long is the driving time from Chicago?

 

[Trixie15]

It's long - about 11 hours (+ stop time) from where we are (just a little south of the city.) But the goal is to leave early - like 5 a.m. - and get into the hotel in Atlanta by 7 or 8 pm. We chose Atlanta because it makes the next day (the day we arrive) way less long (7 hours in the car + stop time.) We may even try to be packed up the night before and leave at 4 a.m. so the kids will sleep for a few hours right off the bat. But that way, if we can get out of the hotel in Atlanta at a decent time, like 7 a.m., we will get to the house we rented at about 4 and the kids will have time to swim and settle in and explore the house. If we can get a swimming session in that night, then they'll be way more willing to actually go to MK the next day!

We're stopping in Chattanooga on the way back, though.

 

[ilandrazdsw]

My tip: Stop at the Merrillville exit on 65 and pick me up!

 

[dzneelvr]

It is a good idea to plan where you will stop overnight instead of just taking pot luck on an exit. We mistakingly tried to "wing it" the one time we drove and the exit choices were quite nasty. We ended up driving straight through. Our family doesn't like the jet-lag type energy drain that comes with such a long drive (21 hours total), so we went back to flying.

 

[erika412]

My tip: Stop at the Merrillville exit on 65 and pick me up!

Sure, you can be our nanny.

 

[5stljayhawks]

Ectcho Sketchs at the dollar stores, Coloring books and Crayons (not markers) that way when they are dropped the don't stain.. Just got to pick teh crayon up before they melt in FL.

Find a map that shows where the rest stops are located, all the way down and back (sometimes the n/s bound are located in different areas, particulary around state lines).

This will help with flow control, no punn intended... Depending on the kids ages, we keep a kick ball in the car for them to get out and exercise for 10-15 minutes. We try to stop every two hours or so unless they are sleeping. From what my wife was saying, kids in car seats need to get out and move to prevent blood clots in the backs of thier legs(This is hear say, but does make some since with the firm plastic seats.)

 

[sweetstitches]

We drove in Dec. We stopped in Chattanooga both ways. The drive down wasn't bad at all--the kids did much better than we had expected. We watched a lot of movies, they played with leapsters and we listened to some of their music cds.

The way back was not as much fun because the younger two picked up the flu the last day of our trip. The popcorn buckets came in very handy!

 

[AmyBWV99]

We have driven a number of times with our now 4 & 1 year olds and it's not terrible. The baby made his first drive trip at 2 weeks. Honestly we find driving less stressful than flying with small children. We fly when we have to but remember the minute we get to the airport how much we prefer to drive.

We are just west of Chicago and leave early out the door by 6am as a PP suggested and we stop at the same Best Western in Valdosta, GA. Yeah it's a loooong first day but our 2nd day is just a few hours. We've stayed in other places in various parts of GA but found that BW to work well some have been down right freaky. On the way home we drive from WDW to Mount Vernon, at the Fairfield Inn it's new and clean and always running deals.

We found the ages our kids are they handle one long day and short one best dragging out the 2nd day has proven . We take the DVD player, it can make the difference in getting there and getting there without anyone crying the last hour away, read books, magana doodles, Leap Pads (we;ve gotten car seat trays and they are awesome) and listen to Raffi, etc and they nap well in the car. We always stop for meals at places with play places and prefer the CHik Fil A one's.

 

[Tam1067]

Dalton, Georgia is also a decent place to stop on the way there. It's past Chattanooga but not all the way to Atlanta. And do time your drive not to get to Chattanooga around rush hour. We hit major traffic there, and there's only one way through that town. It cost us lots of time.

I also second the advice to go down I-57 through Illinois instead of going through Indiana. I live in the south suburbs (close to I-80), and I can tell you from experience that the trip through the Gary area is often really jammed with traffic because all the trucks and people going around the lake up to Michigan or east to Ohio are concentrated on that strip of road where I-80 and I-94 merge; of course, in the event of the road work (very common there), delays are even worse. If you go south on I-57, it's a few miles longer, but you will avoid lots of hassle and lost time with traffic delays.

 

[Chereya]

What kind of prices can you get for airfare out of the outlying Chicago airports? The next time we go, we'll be a family of 5. I'm weighing the pros and cons of cheaper/longer driving vs. faster/expensive flying.

 

[4luv2cdisney]

We've gone Southwest for $79 pp each way plus abt $80 for parking for the week (so aruound $800 total). My kids have horrible ear pain that lasts for 24 - 48 hrs after the flight. Big fun. We've also done the drive. Our last trip cost us just under $300 r/t for gas in a minivan. My kids cannot read, watch movies, or get too warm in the car or they get car sick. That's fun, too. We usually leave right after school on a Friday and drive straight through the night. We stop for a nice long breakfast and get to Disney by noon. When we come back, we leave at 3 am, stop for a nice dinner and get home at midnight. I cannot allow myself to think about the "traveling" aspect of Disney or it ruins the fun! Seriously, though, even with the carsick stuff, we usually drive and it's not that bad. The drive back home is worse than on the way there. I think in the future we will stay over somewhere on the way home.

Good luck!

 

[living la vida mickey]

We've driven several times from the Chicago area. We stop in Marietta, GA (just north of Atlanta) at the Hampton Inn. It has worked well for us. We usually travel on Saturday and then hit no traffic Sunday morning as we quickly get through Atlanta.