Chicago burbs to Orlando

[Ponza79]

I'm looking for some tips for our trip. We are driving from the NW burbs of Chicago and are planning on doing it straight through. Any tips on when to leave, drive time, routes.... TIA!

 

[grimley1968]

I haven't driven through Louisville recently, but I've read that there are some problems on I-65 between Indy and Louisville. Assuming you still go down I-65 to Indy, you might want to consider taking I-74 from Indy to Cincinnati, then getting on I-75 there and taking it all the way through Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia. I-75 is a better road in Ky. & Tn. than I-65, with more 3-lane stretches, less construction, etc. And you avoid the mess around Louisville.

The time of day you drive around Cincy doesn't matter, since you'd be on I-275, which is nothing compared to Atlanta's or Chicago's loops, traffic-wise. I-75 kind of skirts around Lexington and there is a bit of a shortcut around Knoxville. Chattanooga isn't that bad for traffic, though I-75 does pretty much go right by it. I'd just make sure to be in Atlanta away from any rush hours.

 

[Minniedap]

We are just north of IL line near I94. We find leaving between 2 AM and 3 AM put us in the major cities at decent times. We only stop for gas. Usually have lunch packed in the car. It takes us about 19 hours.

 

[chicagoshannon]

We are leaving from the south burbs in about 3 weeks. We will leave after work, around 5pm or so, and drive straight through. We should arrive around noon the next day.

We like driving through the night so the kids sleep through a good part of the trip.

We last drove in December and I65 was fine. Will have to look into the construction info stated above.

 

[Ponza79]

We leave in July so I know Chicago traffic is going to be bad. I hope to leave and get through it before pm rush hour. I just get concerned about timing when I get toward Ga I have heard about the speed traps and traffic. It sounds rough.
chicagoshannon any info you can give me when you get back would be great.

 

[Ponza79]

Minniedap It takes you 19 hours from WI? That's the fastest time I have heard so far. What route did you take?

 

[Minniedap]

We take 94 to 65 to 75. We have never run into bad traffic. We leave 5 weeks from today. This will be our 14th trip since 2001. It is just a matter of hitting the major cities at the right time. We do travel with children and they know the routine very well. We do not waste much time when stopping for gas. Also, if you are leaving before the PM rush hour, you will travel through GA during early AM hours so you will not encounter much traffic. Once you get through Atlanta, no problems at all.

 

[Ponza79]

So if we leave mid afternoon we'll be safe. Great thanks so much. Let me know how the drive is when you get back. Construction and whatnot.....

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

I'm looking for some tips for our trip. We are driving from the NW burbs of Chicago and are planning on doing it straight through. Any tips on when to leave, drive time, routes.... TIA!

You may want to consider driving south through Illinois on I-57 to I-24, instead I-65 through Indiana. It's a few more miles, but you can avoid the heavy traffic through Chicago's south suburbs and Gary, Indiana, as well as the construction south of Indianapolis. You could save time and have a more pleasant trip.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

You may want to consider driving south through Illinois on I-57 to I-24, instead I-65 through Indiana. It's a few more miles, but you can avoid the heavy traffic through Chicago's south suburbs and Gary, Indiana, as well as the construction south of Indianapolis. You could save time and have a more pleasant trip.

That would be my advice too. We just got back from a drive to WDW on April 20th and that is the route we took. We've taken the route through Indiana a few times before and prefer I57 because it's less hectic. It is several miles longer though, but worth it to us. We leave Chicago at about 8:30 pm on a Friday and arrive in Orlando at about 5-6 pm depending on how often we stop to eat and for bathroom breaks. DH and I switch off on driving and we really like to start the drive late so that we have the sunlight/day time hours to aid us in the final stretch when we're most tired.

There is a fair bit of construction everywhere but other than slowing down a bit for reduced speed limits it was a pleasant drive. We don't go over the speed limit by more than 3-4 miles, but we saw plenty of state troopers in all states, not just Georgia.

Gas was the least expensive in Tennessee this year, so be sure to fill up before leaving Tennessee.

We'll be making the drive again at the end of August for our end of Summer trip so be sure to report back on any road construction or other issues you encounter. Have a safe trip!

 

[mickeymousemom]

I'm going to agree with the tip that you drive through Illinois as much as you can. I live in Indiana just north of Indy and there is major road construction going on from north of the city all the way through off and on. Try to stay away from the major cities around rush hour if at all possible, especially Atlanta. We left later than we were supposed to a few years ago and got stuck in Friday Atlanta evening traffic. We hit the city about 3:30 in the afternoon and didn't get away from the backed up traffic until almost 4 hours later. We ended up taking an exit just south of the city and went through some small towns and cut back over after calling the State Police and finding out where it smoothed out. It was a huge mess. I actually love the drive, but we really try to plan out our driving time better now. . Have a great trip!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I haven't driven through Louisville recently, but I've read that there are some problems on I-65 between Indy and Louisville. Assuming you still go down I-65 to Indy, you might want to consider taking I-74 from Indy to Cincinnati, then getting on I-75 there and taking it all the way through Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia. I-75 is a better road in Ky. & Tn. than I-65, with more 3-lane stretches, less construction, etc. And you avoid the mess around Louisville.

The time of day you drive around Cincy doesn't matter, since you'd be on I-275, which is nothing compared to Atlanta's or Chicago's loops, traffic-wise. I-75 kind of skirts around Lexington and there is a bit of a shortcut around Knoxville. Chattanooga isn't that bad for traffic, though I-75 does pretty much go right by it. I'd just make sure to be in Atlanta away from any rush hours.

I think if you enter Chattanooga on 75, you're good to go. We lost an hour there on 24 once though (right at rush hour). There is a HUGE hill on the East side of the city where 24 plugs into 75 and it really slows the big rigs. Traffic was backed up on 24 several miles West of Chattanooga.

 

[Ponza79]

mickeymousemom. is Indy construction like Chicago where it goes on forever? We won't be going until late July but I'm going to assume that the construction will be still going on then. Thank you for your advice!

 

[mickeymousemom]

mickeymousemom. is Indy construction like Chicago where it goes on forever? We won't be going until late July but I'm going to assume that the construction will be still going on then. Thank you for your advice!

Ugh...I can't imagine anything being as bad as Chicago is construction wise, but it's been bad the last few years all around the city. They're totally redoing a lot of the highways, making them purty, etc. I'm not sure how bad it is in some areas of 65, but for the most part, 65 and 465 are ok. They've been working on several areas of US 31 for a few years and that's where most of the trouble is. I know I this is a bit different than what I stated earlier, but I have done a little research since. If you prefer coming thru Indiana then I really think you'd be ok using 65, just check with INDOT online sooner to your trip! Hope that helped!!

 

[Ponza79]

It did. Thank you

 

[mickeymousemom]

It did. Thank you

No problem!! Will try to keep you updated if I hear or see anything else!

 

[yoopermom]

I was one of the ones posting that we hit a lot of construction traffic from Indianapolis to Louisville a few weeks ago (we had the bad luck of going through it in a thunderstorm, too).

I don't know how long it's planned for, though...

Terri

 

[4luv2cdisney]

OP, I'm just a couple of towns away from you. We've done it all sorts of ways! Left at different times (anywhere from early afternoon to middle of the night) and taken several different routes. Sometimes, we take one route down and another one back. But it seems like unless there's an accident or some serious construction, we seem the trip is about 19 hours no matter what. It's taken us as long as 21 hours a couple of times, but it was because of accident back-ups. We eat in the car as much as possible. We may go inside to eat for one meal.

Overnight driving is definitely less traffic, but we found we find we have to stop to get out and walk around to "wake-up" a lot more. It was ideal when the kids were little, because they would sleep through most of the drive! The times we've been delayed by accidents have been daytime drives. OTOH, the most serious accidents we've seen have been at night Be safe!

 

[Kirless]

Any thoughts on good locations to stop on the way (NW Chicago to DW)? We are splitting up the drive into 2-3 days leaving on a Saturday morning and expecting to arrive on Monday. Would love to do some small sight seeing on the way. Thoughts?

 

[mama23babies]

I'm curious about this too. We are splitting the drive, leaving super early on Saturday morning, (May 31) and planning to arrive mid day on Sunday. We figure if we got as far past Atlanta as we could on Saturday then we could sleep and not the road Sunday. I'm curious about places to stop too.

Deb