Best route - Chicago to Orlando

[mama23babies]

Wanted to bump this thread up, we're driving down on May 31st, wondering if anyone has any good advice!

Thanks!

Debbie

 

[Mom2Luci]

Wanted to bump this thread up, we're driving down on May 31st, wondering if anyone has any good advice!

Thanks!

Debbie

We did the drive in Feb...mostly straight through there, but got stuck in Lafayette, IN overnight on the way home. We took 65 - left Mt Prospect at 8ish on Saturday night and got to Valdosta at 1 ish CT on Sunday. We were slowed down some by snow, but it wasn't bad.

Coming home was longer with more breaks and the unplanned overnight stop. I think the next time we drive we will have a planned stop on the way home around Louisville maybe.

 

[Surfinpiratee]

Wanted to bump this thread up, we're driving down on May 31st, wondering if anyone has any good advice!

Thanks!

Debbie

We did the drive this past January! We took 65-23-75? The drive there was simple. It was just my boyfriend and I and we switched off every 3-4 hours, amd if we weren't driving we were sleeping, usually. There was one leg he drove for like 6 hours to let me sleep longer

We left Illinois around 8pm on a Thursday. Ended up in Disney World around 7pm on Friday. It took us lobger than we thought...but I also wasn't going the 70mph speed limit (I thought that seemed fast..then I got used to it..haha).

The drive home was a little tougher..we were more tired. We may or may not plan a stop on the way home. We left Florida about 1:30pm and arrived back home around noon the next day

 

[2dogmom]

We drove down the summer of 2012 and stopped a night each way. We are toying with the idea of driving straight through. We have 3 drivers. I'm just afraid that we will be thrown off for the first day or two from not enough sleep. Did driving through catch up with you?

 

[Surfinpiratee]

We drove down the summer of 2012 and stopped a night each way. We are toying with the idea of driving straight through. We have 3 drivers. I'm just afraid that we will be thrown off for the first day or two from not enough sleep. Did driving through catch up with you?

Not really, no. The first night we went to bed super early, no parks. We were tired from the parks and getting up early at the end of the trip (have a rest day!!!) Maybe drive straight through on the wsy there...and stop on the way home?

 

[2dogmom]

Not really, no. The first night we went to bed super early, no parks. We were tired from the parks and getting up early at the end of the trip (have a rest day!!!) Maybe drive straight through on the wsy there...and stop on the way home?

That was my original plan, but then "we always do xyz on our first day we can't miss that" says the 13yo. May need to stop on the way down.

 

[mama23babies]

We are leaving Saturday May 31st, and we have a Chef Mickey res for Sunday at 6, our plan is to leave before dawn on Saturday, and drive until about 10pm, sleep, and leave as early as possible on Sunday morning. We did that our last trip and got to ASMU by 3:00. My kids are as crazy as I am, they wanted to hit the park as soon as possible, so we did Magic Kingdom until close. We slept in the next morning. We figure we'll run on adrenaline the first day. This time, Sunday at MK has EMH until 2 am. Not sure we'll make it that long, but who knows?

Deb

 

[MarthaJr.]

We're in Wisconsin and have done the trek 4 times and vowed the last time we drove- after a 4 hour delay in Atlanta, that we'd never drive again. We were hot, exhausted, carsick, and had a cranky/frustrated teenager--nothing worse than one of those! (According to DH-you shouldn't run the AC in your car when you're sitting in a traffic jam on the freeway for more than a couple minutes---whatever lol!) Thanks to Southwest Airlines I've not had to go through that again.

With that being said, our first trip down--15 years ago in October was really quite pleasant. The kids were small and easily amused in the car. Who knew a teenager would be more difficult to keep happy?

Good Luck and have a safe trip!

 

[irish dancer]

We have done the drive the past 4 years and will do so again May 30th. The cost of 5 plane tickets is just more than we want to budget so it's either drive or not go so we drive.

We've done the 57 route most of the time and feel that there is less truck traffic than on 65. Either route is really fine. We do not do it straight through. On the way down we stop in Macon, GA and the way back somewhere in TN it all depends on if we hit a park on the morning of departure day or if we hit the road right away.

Our kids are all tween/teens so they self-entertain and we pack a lot of snacks and drinks so stops are usually quick gas/bathroom breaks and we make sure to avoid Atlanta during rush hour AT ALL COSTS! Sometimes delays are unavoidable though, last year on our trip home we sat for 90min without moving just after crossing over into GA. Thank God for smart phones I was able to google and find out that there was an accident that had the highway closed while they helicoptered people from the accident out. It messed up our plans but at least we knew what was going on.

If anyone is making the drive for Spring Break updates on construction, etc would be greatly appreciated!

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Best route Chicago to Orlando? Get in your car, drive to O'Hare or Midway, and board a plane for MCO.