Best route - Chicago to Orlando

[smidgy]

we can't drive at night, so we are limited. however, hubby is retired, so when we do drive, somehow we end up talking ourselves into leaving a day early, spend an extra night on the road.

which eventually usually turns into a night in Kissimmee, where we eat at the ponderosa, and check in super early at our WDW resort the next day!!!

how cool for you, christmas in disney! have a safe trip, you will be leaving after the thursday night snow. have fun!!!!

 

[myxdvz]

I'm subbing to this thread because one of these days we will drive because flying a family of 6 MDW > MCO is getting expensive.

We have June reservations and managed to get flights using our points.

We also have Thanksgiving reservations and its too early to book flights - but we're out of points (saving them for the next 6 months until November flights open up) so we might end up driving.

My only worry is winter driving. It's been great the last 2 Christmases but what if we decide we'll drive and then got the weather? Ack!

Also, so far DH hasn't agreed to drive round trip. He's agreed to drive one way, but is adamant that he wouldn't want to do it going back coz he just "relaxed from vacation and wouldn't want to stress again" Maybe I'll have to drive back.

 

[CamnWS6]

My wife and I made this trip with our two kids ( 5 & 5 months) last September and are planning on doing it again this May. We drove straight through both ways. We took the 65 to 24 to 75 route. Pretty much only stopped for gas and grabbing a quick bite to eat at a fast food place (drive-thru). I did most of the driving. I got us down to Georgia before finally needing to let my eyes rest a little bit. The two parts of the trip that were the worst were the bottom half of Georgia and Indiana. Very boring to drive through. We left Elk Grove around 3:40pm and were at our resort at 11:00am the next morning.

 

[N.Lo]

My wife and I made this trip with our two kids ( 5 & 5 months) last September and are planning on doing it again this May. We drove straight through both ways. We took the 65 to 24 to 75 route. Pretty much only stopped for gas and grabbing a quick bite to eat at a fast food place (drive-thru). I did most of the driving. I got us down to Georgia before finally needing to let my eyes rest a little bit. The two parts of the trip that were the worst were the bottom half of Georgia and Indiana. Very boring to drive through. We left Elk Grove around 3:40pm and were at our resort at 11:00am the next morning.

We are making the trip down in March for our cruise. My DH is much more excited for driving than I am. We are also in Elk Grove. You have given me hope!

 

[4HppyCamprs]

We are taking the trip from NW Indiana to Orlando next month and we will be driving for the first time. I am nervous, nobody else in the family seems nervous at all. I know we need to avoid rush hour Atlanta. We are going pretty slow and not driving non stop. Subbing here to see how others are doing it/have done it.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[droycro]

My wife and I made this trip with our two kids ( 5 & 5 months) last September and are planning on doing it again this May. We drove straight through both ways. We took the 65 to 24 to 75 route. Pretty much only stopped for gas and grabbing a quick bite to eat at a fast food place (drive-thru). I did most of the driving. I got us down to Georgia before finally needing to let my eyes rest a little bit. The two parts of the trip that were the worst were the bottom half of Georgia and Indiana. Very boring to drive through. We left Elk Grove around 3:40pm and were at our resort at 11:00am the next morning.

We are driving down in March, and we plan to leave around 2pm. We live in Algonquin. Based on your travel times, we should be at the World before lunch. Thanks for posting!

 

[cruisingkat]

I'm subbing to this thread because one of these days we will drive because flying a family of 6 MDW > MCO is getting expensive.

We have June reservations and managed to get flights using our points.

We also have Thanksgiving reservations and its too early to book flights - but we're out of points (saving them for the next 6 months until November flights open up) so we might end up driving.

My only worry is winter driving. It's been great the last 2 Christmases but what if we decide we'll drive and then got the weather? Ack!

Also, so far DH hasn't agreed to drive round trip. He's agreed to drive one way, but is adamant that he wouldn't want to do it going back coz he just "relaxed from vacation and wouldn't want to stress again" Maybe I'll have to drive back.

We have driven down in Nov. and Dec. and usually allow ourselves an extra day just in case.
I will usually make a non-Disney reservation for the night we expect to arrive with our Disney reservation starting the night after. The non-Disney reservation is cancellable - we usually know by the time you need to cancel if we will make it down that day.
If we realize we can't make it, we can cancel that non-Disney reservation and stop along the way. If we had that night as a Disney reservation, we would be charged for that night and still have to pay for a room along the way. It we don't have to cancel, it actually works out great as we can get a good nights rest (have dinner and maybe shop at downtown Disney) and be ready to check into our Disney hotel, leave the bags, and hit the parks in the morning rested and relaxed.

 

[CamnWS6]

We missed Atlanta rush hour both on the way down and back, but there was a good amount of construction in Kentucky and some of Tennessee. We hit that at night as well so I am not sure how that would be during the day. I actually really enjoyed driving though. The only thing that stunk was we drove through the mountains at night and didn't get to see the views. We are deciding if we want to change that this time or do it how we did last time without some of the traffic issues.

With leaving when we did thought the kids were only up for maybe half the trip.

 

[afcgirl]

Hi, driving from Chicago burbs to DW in 10 days. We always take 65 (faster than 57) to 24 to 75.

Any construction issues lately? We are leaving in the afternoon this time and only driving to Louisville first day, so second day will be the long one.

Also, to those who drive straight through the night, how do you do it? Aren't you worried about safety issues? Also I feel I can't see good at night :
Would love to get there in one day though.

 

[HHSTigerFan]

We normally take 57, have tried 65 a few, never seems to save us time and then need to mess with NWI and Indy, no thanks..

Leave at like 2AM, if you hustle will be down there by 9:00... Rather quite easy..

 

[CopperWife]

We are starting from Schaumburg

I'm thinking 57 might be the way to go to avoid Indianapolis (and those scary looking giant windmills, LOL)

Hahahahahahahaha - those windmills freak me out, too! We drove by them at night on our last trip to Disney and my husband woke me up - "what am I looking at?" he asked. All you could see were these crazy red lights!

Our last trip to Disney was May 2011. We dropped off our dogs with family in Huntley and jumped on 90 at 6pm on a Friday night. We rolled into Pop at 1pm central time, 2 pm Florida time. Not too shabby! The hubby and I switched off and the kids were champs!

 

[cruisingkat]

I know that it has been mentioned that IN has a higher speed limit than IL, but IL has raised the speed limit for trucks to the same as cars. So besides having less truck traffic, you don't get behind a truck that is passing at a lower speed limit than you are doing (taking for granted that you don't speed ). The difference between 65 and 57 is about 20 minutes or about 12 miles with 65 being the shorter route. To me avoiding all the heavy truck traffic on 65 is worth 20 minutes of my time.

As far as the windmills go in IN, we have noticed some popping up along 57 in middle to southern IL.

 

[droycro]

We left on 3/22 at 2pm. Arrived at POR by 9:00am. Took 57 to 24 to 75, then Florida Turnpike to Western Beltway. Smooth sailing the whole way. We were at Nashville at 10:30pm, Atlanta at 2:00am, FL border at 6:00am. Made about 5 stops for gas/short breaks.

 

[CamnWS6]

Hi, driving from Chicago burbs to DW in 10 days. We always take 65 (faster than 57) to 24 to 75.

Any construction issues lately? We are leaving in the afternoon this time and only driving to Louisville first day, so second day will be the long one.

Also, to those who drive straight through the night, how do you do it? Aren't you worried about safety issues? Also I feel I can't see good at night :
Would love to get there in one day though.

I had my wife go to sleep for a bit when it started getting dark so she would be rested. I drove until I needed a break from it. Then I took a little nap and was ready to go again.

This time around we are leaving at 3:00am and hoping to get down there around 10-11 that night. Were there any traffic issues when you went down in March?

 

[Surfinpiratee]

Bump? Haha, I want to bring this thread alive!
DBF and I will be coming from north of Chicago in January! How is it making the drive in the winter? Any roads you've found better in the winter??

 

[jimbostacks]

I did not have any issues with roads...must have caught good weather going through some of the mountain areas. On the way there we stayed over night in Chattanooga and spent a little time at Lookout Mountain, etc.... kind of cool. Then the next day we took off pretty early and hit Stone Mountain Georgia.....kids and I loved walking on top of that rock...thought it was the coolest thing....first time a cable car ride. On the way back, I ha a kid with a bad cold and could not take another night in a hotel, so I drove all the way back from Disney to Western Suburbs...with stops only 18 hours. Left at 6am Florida time. My kids were great, did not make a stop until past Atlanta. Took the normal route both ways......through Indianapolis, Louisville, Nashville, Chattanooga, Atlanta, etc... the only bad traffic each way was Nashville. I think we caught the end of a NFL game on the way there. I was a solo driver this time....I like road trips, but would like to hit tourist stops. If not in a hurry..I think there is a path through Gatlinburg that may be nice for a couple...you can rent cabin homes with fireplaces, etc....I think the Gatlinburg way adds 1-2 hours and goes through Asheville.

 

[bjschil]

We are also leaving Dec 31 from SW Wisconsin. We realize, weather will play a factor in our departure time. Is the Briley Parkway truly an easier route through Nashville rather than staying on 24. Or is more dependent upon the time of day you take that route?

 

[geffric]

We just got back and there was construction everywhere. and rain, fog, heavy rain!


We usually take 53 to 80, then 65 to 24 to 75. But to avoid the tie ups and construction around Indy, we took 24 to 57. It was clear sailing. BTW gas was way cheaper than here in the NW suburbs. Even on Disney property, it was 30 cents cheaper.

 

[cruisingkat]

We are also leaving Dec 31 from SW Wisconsin. We realize, weather will play a factor in our departure time. Is the Briley Parkway truly an easier route through Nashville rather than staying on 24. Or is more dependent upon the time of day you take that route?

It is dependent on the time and day you drive through. We drove down on Sunday Sept. 29 around 11 am and breezed through on 24 - no delays and light traffic. Because we drive down to FL so often, we have the lane changes you need to make to stay on 24 through Nashville committed to memory.

 

[glimmerman76]

57 has a bunch of construction going on... I always check http://gettingaroundillinois.com/gai.htm?mt=cons