Anyone know the quickest way to Disney from Huntsville, AL?

[lmhall2000]

Okay, no joking, if anyone says "plane" I'll slap a Maleficent smilie on you!

We just moved here about 3 months...our house FINALLY sold (well it will be sold on 8/31) in TN and that means our celebratory moving vacation to Disney is ON! It's 9/12-9/19...we've always flown before and unless Delta does some last minute fare war...we'll be driving. It seems senseless to go west to go east to Atlanta...or even worse go north to Chatanooga to go south...what is the quickest way to Orlando from here?

We'll have 3 children ages 6,7,10 riding and boy I'm not looking forward to this drive...but I know many more people have longer rides than this so I'm not complaining in the least.

Also any tips on occupying their time...we'll play movies for them on my dh's laptop...I"m hoping we can drive for 3 hours straight then take a 30 minute run break at rest stops and make it in about 11 hours..is that about right?

Thanks!
Tara

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

What about taking US 431 through Gadsden down to Anniston, then I-20 east to Atlanta, then I-285 down to I-75?

 

[hobogary]

I was going to say "space shuttle" but i wont now.

 

[Luv2Travel]

Hi neighbor, I'm from Athens.
Let me give you a few different ways to go. We started out going to WDW via Atlanta because we preferred the interstate the whole way. But that was 6 years ago (at least 11 trips ago) and the construction on the interstate south of GA got to be too much, so we found other routes. We've gone:
(1) to B'ham, then Atlanta, down to Orlando. Miles: approx. 659, Driving time w/out stops: about 10 hours.
(2) to B'ham, down Hwy 280 to Auburn (we're alumni and like that route ), then through Columbus, GA, over to Tifton, GA, and then down to Orlando. Miles: approx. 589, Driving time: a little over 9 hours or so.
(3) to B'ham, down to Montgomery, then Hwy 231 to Dothan, down to Tallahassee (where we often stop to spend the night on the way down), and then to Lake City and down to Orlando. Miles: approx. 621, Driving time: about 9 hours, 30 minutes.

Of all three routes, I guess we prefer the third one. It's not the shortest, but it's an easy drive. Going through Auburn may be the shortest, but it has more two lanes and more towns to go through. Tallahassee is a 6 hour drive down, and only a 3 to 3 1/2 hour drive to Orlando, so it makes a good stopping point if you need an over-nighter. We usually drive straight back home. HTH, have a great trip.

 

[clkelley]

Howdy neighbor!!

I'm a long time Huntsville resident, and unfortunately, there is really no easy way from Huntsville to Orlando.

I have tried them all. A lot depends on where in Huntsville you live. We live in very West Huntsville, almost in Madison, so most frequently we do take I565W to I65S to I20E to I75S, then take the Florida turnpike to US 27S, then take 192 (Irlo Bronson) to World Drive. We frequently split up the drive. We do one of two things. We leave after work (5 pm ish) and go through Atlanta and stop at Macon on 475 at exit 3 at the Comfort Inn, then continue the next morning. We also have left at 1:30 pm ish and go to Ocala and spend the night there, then check in bright and early at WDW the next morning to get a good room location. We have also gone straight through by leaving Huntsville at about 6:30 am then that gets us through Atlanta about 10:00 am missing the rush.

I have also tried I565W to I65S then down through Dothan to I-10. I really don't like that route because the bit through the small towns absolutely killed my gas mileage.

I have also tried I565E to US 72E to 24E then I75S. That is fairly pleasant, although a few more miles. US 72E is 4 lane all the way and the only real slow down is through Scottsboro. The big advantage through Atlanta is you don't have to worry about making the turn from I-20 to I-75. It is a straight shot down the high occupancy lane on I-75 through Atlanta.

Absolutely DON'T take 431 through Gadsden. YIKES that's miserable.

Welcome to the beautiful Tennessee Valley!!

As far as flying, I know what you mean. Since Independence Air stopped their direct flight to Orlando, Delta hasn't found the need to keep their direct flights to Orlando priced very low. Here lately, we have been using SW Ding! fares out of Birmingham. I just got BHM to MCO for $82.00 roundtrip. My hubby just recently flew out of BHM for a weeklong trip with four adults and an ECV. Instead of parking the cars at BHM airport, he rented two one way mini vans from Alamo for about the same as gas and parking two cars at BHM.

Carol

 

[dudedisney]

Hey, Neighbor
Welcome to the area. We live north of Madison. We're going fall break and were going to go by car but we were looking at 14 hours and dreading it. Luckily, we got a good deal with Delta leaving out of Huntsville. Some relatives insist on driving to B'ham to Southwest but that's a two hour drive and costs of parking so that doesn't make sense to me. Either drive or fly, why bother with both?

Personally, we were thinking of either down thru B'ham or up thru Chat just because DH was a truck driver and knew the routes pretty good. I like the other suggestions listed here but since we're not Auburn folks (no football reference ) we wouldn't know that route.

Whichever way you go, be careful and have fun! See you when you get back! Well, you know what I mean!

 

[mdisdis]

Hi neighbors! We are from the area too. Home is in Toney, DS(9) goes to school in Madison (SJCS), DH and I work in Huntsville so we're all over the area.

I have to agree...stay away from 431. The only time we take 431 is when we visit family in Guntersville. When we take that route, there's always stop-and-go-traffic through the small towns like Guntersville, Albertville, Boaz, Gadsden, etc. The best route we have found is to take I565 to I65 then 20E to 75S. Interstate all the way, best on gas mileage too.

Carol, I see you posting on the camping sites often. We're doing the tent camping for the first time in October. We tent camp every year in Dismals Canyon (Phil Campbell, AL) but I'm sure tent camping in FW is more of a luxury. Just a bit worried about rain. We have survived rain at Dismals Canyon but we were always protected by the box canyon.

 

[WDW&DCLADDICT]

from Huntsville id say I-65 TO I 459 THAN GET ON 280 TO 82 GET ON US-1 IN WAYCROSS THAN GET ON 295 IN JACKSONVILLE THAN GET ON I-95SB THAN GET OFF ON TO I-4 HEADING TO WDW