Anyone Drive from IL

[HappyLawyer]

Thinking about it i must be crazy, but wondering, how long, whatstates you go through.

 

[westjones]

We drive from Indiana, so if you go through Indianapolis you would head down through Louisville, KY, to Nashville, TN, to Atlanta, GA, to Orlando, FL.

That is the fastest way, but it isn't a fun drive. Too many cities, and Atlanta is terrible (well, I don't drive it, DH does, but he hates it).

We have also tried going through Cincinnati, OH to Knoxville, TN to I95 and then down to Florida. We will be doing this on the way down since we are going to the Disney Cruise first, but then we are going to WDW so we will come home through Atlanta.

Try to hit Atlanta (and all of the cities if possible) at off times.

From Indianapolis through the Atlanta way, it is about 16-17 hours driving.

DJ

 

[Traveliz]

I drive from Central Illinois and do not go through Indy.

I go down through Illinois (getting to 57) from 64 from 4 from I-55 -- its a short cut from where I am - at any rate ending up on 57 to 24 to 75.

That takes me through Kentucky Tennessee, Georgia and then Florida.

I have done it three times this past year. So apparently I don't think its crazy. We find it cost effective.

Liz

 

[westjones]

I drive from Central Illinois and do not go through Indy.

I go down through Illinois (getting to 57) from 64 from 4 from I-55 -- its a short cut from where I am - at any rate ending up on 57 to 24 to 75.

That takes me through Kentucky Tennessee, Georgia and then Florida.

I have done it three times this past year. So apparently I don't think its crazy. We find it cost effective.

Liz

How many hours does it take you to drive? Just curious what others have experienced.
Thanks,
DJ

 

[danno561]

I also drive from Central Illinois several times a year and you can figure about 15 1/2 hours to Orlando. I always use the HOV lane when going through Atlanta and generally only stop to fill up with gas. I also take 74 to 57 to 24 to 75 to 475 back onto 75. I am excited to be making another return visit this Saturday staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge for two nights, a club room at Royal Pacific for two nights and two nights at the Sheraton on Sand Key.

 

[alicenwonder99]

We've driven there twice and we said never again. It's just too long. We have a large family, so we drove to save money. But saving money on transportation isn't worth it. We will fly from now on.

We have gone both ways: down I-57 (through Illinois) and down I-65 (through Indiana). The trip through Illinois seemed better...but I'm sure there's really no difference. It's all flat, unimpressive views either way.

Both times we stopped at Chattanooga on our trips down there, and our trips home. If you need the names of some hotels, email me back and I'll try to find the info for you. These were good hotels that had room for the 6 of us.

We also tried to stop along the way to see things, but that just takes up more time and takes even longer to get home.

Mary

 

[westjones]

We've driven there twice and we said never again. It's just too long. We have a large family, so we drove to save money. But saving money on transportation isn't worth it. We will fly from now on.

Mary

That is what we said too, but this year (so far) airfare is looking high for 2006 spring break. I 'hope' we can fly, but there are 4 of us, and if we can't get a good rate, we will be back to driving. Right now, I am just assuming we are driving unless something good comes along.

Hope we both are able to find good rates for our families to fly. It isn't fun in the car for that long with the kids!

DJ

 

[Jon99]

From Kankakee County, it takes us about 17 hours, depending how often we stop and assuming no traffic delays.. We drive straight thru, normally leaving mid afternoon and getting to WDW the next morning..

 

[westjones]

From Kankakee County, it takes us about 17 hours, depending how often we stop and assuming no traffic delays.. We drive straight thru, normally leaving mid afternoon and getting to WDW the next morning..

We have done that too. It helps when going through those cities to go at night. I just get a little nervous stopping for bathroom breaks in the middle of the night (although, so far, we haven't had any problems, I just get nervous).
DJ

 

[inkkognito]

For us (south suburbs of Chicago) it is about 18 hours straight through via the I-57 route. We left at night (6:30 p.m.) and missed the worst of the traffic through Atlanta. Just be aware, you will go down a mountain in Tennessee, and it's steep enough to have a "runaway" lane for trucks.
Barb

 

[westjones]

For us (south suburbs of Chicago) it is about 18 hours straight through via the I-57 route. We left at night (6:30 p.m.) and missed the worst of the traffic through Atlanta. Just be aware, you will go down a mountain in Tennessee, and it's steep enough to have a "runaway" lane for trucks.
Barb

Barb,
I'm just curious. Is it cheaper for you and Tony to drive or fly? DH and I have always thought that when it is just the two of us, it would probably be cheaper to fly. But with two kids (a total of 4 of us) it definantly is cheaper to drive.
DJ

 

[chrismiss56]

I have driven the Indianapolis route more times than I can count. Used to do it with my family when the only route was US 41. From the north suburbs of Chicago to Port Orleans doorstep or Boardwalk it takes us about 21 hours non stop. I always seem to take the late late night shift going through the mountains of Tenn at night (interesting experience!!). One time we got to Atlanta about 7am when they had the '96 Olympics. It was actually nice because we were on one end of the city and everything was on the other end.

Now we fly when we can - free miles or just got $92.90 last week rd trip on TED (UA airline) non stop and good times for us. Going in mid August. Won't pay over $225 and prefer to be $150 or under.

Have a Magical Disney Day!!
Linda

 

[Connor' Dad]

Good to see a few sentral IL people. Urbana here.

I-L-L!

 

[julfre]

I-N-I!!

Had to finish that!

I'm in Decatur IL!

 

[stauncie]

Wow, howdy neighbors!
Danville area here.
We have driven several times and flown about the same number of times.
We are a family of 5, and while driving is cheaper than flying, you have to consider the time at takes. Its about 18 hours of driving time (not counting restroom and food breaks )
We stop every 2.5 hours for 10 minutes drive 14-16 hours the first day and stop near Macon, Ga to sleep. This leaves about 4-6 hours of drive time for the second day.
when we fly, it takes 2 hours to get to the Airport, 2 hour flight time, and 2 hours to get to our hotel on the other end. We SAVE 2 1/2 days of vacation time by flying. That makes it worth it to us!

 

[tubachick]

Yes, in the city. It takes 19 hours from here. We have only driven to WDW--- DH and I love it. we leave late at night, and drive until chattanoga (down I57) then spend the night ... and then leave early enough to miss rush hour in atlanta. then depending on our schedule we either stay one more night outside the world to get ready for our WDW trip, or check in late to our Home resort. We love this, and the drive home helps us "unwind" from our vacation. On our way home we always spend the night in Marion IL -and I go to all of my old SIU hang outs. (GO SALUKIS!!!)

 

[atigeg]

This is inkkognito on hubby's computer:

DJ, we didn't tally up the gas money, although our vehicle gets great gas mileage. Still, give the stress of driving, flying is cheaper in terms of sanity, especially since we've been getting $105 deals on Southwest Ding. Of course, I'm probably jaded because our drive turned out to be during the Atlanta ice storm in January. We had no idea that it was expected or we would have simply delayed our trip by a day. After that drive, I NEVER want to see the state of GA from a car window again!
Barb

 

[manning]

For us (south suburbs of Chicago) it is about 18 hours straight through via the I-57 route. We left at night (6:30 p.m.) and missed the worst of the traffic through Atlanta. Just be aware, you will go down a mountain in Tennessee, and it's steep enough to have a "runaway" lane for trucks.
Barb

If I remember correctly that is about a 5-6 percent grade, which is steep.

 

[manning]

This is inkkognito on hubby's computer:

DJ, we didn't tally up the gas money, although our vehicle gets great gas mileage. Still, give the stress of driving, flying is cheaper in terms of sanity, especially since we've been getting $105 deals on Southwest Ding. Of course, I'm probably jaded because our drive turned out to be during the Atlanta ice storm in January. We had no idea that it was expected or we would have simply delayed our trip by a day. After that drive, I NEVER want to see the state of GA from a car window again!
Barb

Ain't it fun (terrifying) watching the Atlanta drivers sliding past you?? Got caught once there and watched a lady skid past with.....both hands over her eyes in fear. Or was she praying??

Did I mention she was driving?

 

[twingle3]

hi neighbors...I'm from Hoopeston. We were going to drive in September but my husband thought that with 3 kids I would be crazy when we got there. So we get to fly yeeehaaa.