Driving from Atlanta?

[SteffyLou]

Hi Everyone,

We live outside of Chicago and have been trying to figure out how to get to Disney around Easter. The cheapest option is to fly to Atlanta and then drive. The flight arrives in at 9pm.

Is this silly? Is it worth it to spend $400-500 more to fly into Jacksonville? (Orlando and Tampa are out of the question)

 

[Turksmom]

We drive from PA and our overnight stop is always Atlanta on the way down and back. it's a relatively quick and easy drive, so we have time to enjoy both the first and last day at Disney. The Embassy Suites at Duluth/ Sugarloaf/ Gwinnet is our favorite place to stay in that area.

 

[gatour]

Not totally outrageous.

First two questions are you staying on property and were you already planning on renting a care for the length of stay.

The drive from Atlanta would be I-75, the turnpike and then perhaps US 27 and using the old original entrance to WDW on 192

The alternate would be staying on the turnpike to 429 and then go on property at Western Way.

If you are planning on renting car one way each way (either from ATL or JAX) you need to look at if there is an additional surcharge for one way rentals.

Back in the day, there were definitely one way surcharges for one way rentals. However based on reports within Florida they seemed to have gone away. Not sure if they still apply for ATL to FL and vice a versa.

The drive from ATL to Orlando is around 6+ hours. While JAX to Orlando is around 2 1/2 hours Are you planning on spending in the night in Atlanta after your 9pm arrival, if so you will need to factor that into you financial equations.

If you are staying on property keep in mind of the parking fees.

Without knowing more details, it is hard to determine the cost benefit of flying into Atl vs Jax etc.

Just some thoughts

 

[gatour]

Not totally outrageous.

First two questions are you staying on property and were you already planning on renting a care for the length of stay.

The drive from Atlanta would be I-75, the turnpike and then perhaps US 27 and using the old original entrance to WDW on 192

The alternate would be staying on the turnpike to 429 and then go on property at Western Way.

If you are planning on renting car one way each way (either from ATL or JAX) you need to look at if there is an additional surcharge for one way rentals.

Back in the day, there were definitely one way surcharges for one way rentals. However based on reports within Florida they seemed to have gone away. Not sure if they still apply for ATL to FL and vice a versa.

The drive from ATL to Orlando is around 6+ hours. While JAX to Orlando is around 2 1/2 hours Are you planning on spending in the night in Atlanta after your 9pm arrival, if so you will need to factor that into you financial equations.

If you are staying on property keep in mind of the parking fees.

Without knowing more details, it is hard to determine the cost benefit of flying into Atl vs Jax etc.

Just some thoughts

 

[SteffyLou]

We own DVC and would be staying on property. We would rent a car. Since it is DVC, there would be no parking.

I’m guessing we would stay overnight somewhere if we flew to Atlanta- idk if it would be there or if we would drive a little and then stop.

 

[JimMIA]

Obviously we know nothing about your party size or flight costs, but I can give you some other options for shorter drives. Flight costs are not directly related to distance, so even flying to Miami might actually be cheaper than flying to Atlanta, and it's a much shorter drive.

Driving from Atlanta, according to Google Maps, is about 6 1/2 hours. If you're not familiar with ATL, it is located south of downtown Atlanta, so you would not have to drive through the worst of Atlanta traffic.

Other airports you might try are:

• West Palm Beach (PBI) -- 2 1/4 hours (all expressway)
• Fort Lauderdale (FLL) -- 3 1/2 hours (all expressway)
• Miami (MIA) -- 3 3/4 hours (all expressway)
• And if your airline flies into Sanford (SFB) -- 1 hour (all expressway)

I have not driven SFB - WDW, so I'm not an expert on that route.

All three of the South Florida routes are the same and all would be easy drives unless you drove during rush hour. Especially the area from MIA to north of the city of Ft. Lauderdale would be quite slow during rush hour (nothing like Atlanta rush hour, but slow).

 

[loves to dive]

I would run all the numbers and see if you save anything by renting the car in Atlanta vs. Jacksonville. I live in Athens, which is about a hour north of Atlanta and we drive down whenever we go. We don't have to go through Atlanta, we hit 75 in Macon and for us it's about a 7 to 7 1/2 hour drive. The airport is south of downtown so you would miss all that traffic. There are loads of hotels around the airport, some not a bad price but you would need to factor in that cost as well to see if it makes more sense to fly to Jacksonville instead. It's an easy drive, we hit the turnpike and get off on the Western Way exit, very easy and takes you straight to Disney property.

 

[sam_gordon]

Obviously we know nothing about your party size or flight costs, but I can give you some other options for shorter drives. Flight costs are not directly related to distance, so even flying to Miami might actually be cheaper than flying to Atlanta, and it's a much shorter drive.

Driving from Atlanta, according to Google Maps, is about 6 1/2 hours. If you're not familiar with ATL, it is located south of downtown Atlanta, so you would not have to drive through the worst of Atlanta traffic.

Other airports you might try are:

• West Palm Beach (PBI) -- 2 1/4 hours (all expressway)
• Fort Lauderdale (FLL) -- 3 1/2 hours (all expressway)
• Miami (MIA) -- 3 3/4 hours (all expressway)
• And if your airline flies into Sanford (SFB) -- 1 hour (all expressway)

I have not driven SFB - WDW, so I'm not an expert on that route.

All three of the South Florida routes are the same and all would be easy drives unless you drove during rush hour. Especially the area from MIA to north of the city of Ft. Lauderdale would be quite slow during rush hour (nothing like Atlanta rush hour, but slow).

I would also add Melbourne (MLB) and Daytona (DAB) as options. They're both about 90 minutes from WDW.

 

[AngiTN]

Another option to consider. Changing airlines and flying out of Atlanta. Don't know who you've looked in to.
We fly from there some. I keep a watch on Southwest. It's not unusual for them to have $49 flights, each way, in and out of Atlanta, non stop. There's no way we can even drive down for that (for the 2 of us) when you consider gas, wear and tear, our time, etc. Heck, a few times I find flights for $39.
We've booked trips just because we found such cheap airfare.

 

[LadyBeBop]

Another option to consider. Changing airlines and flying out of Atlanta. Don't know who you've looked in to.
We fly from there some. I keep a watch on Southwest. It's not unusual for them to have $49 flights, each way, in and out of Atlanta, non stop. There's no way we can even drive down for that (for the 2 of us) when you consider gas, wear and tear, our time, etc. Heck, a few times I find flights for $39.
We've booked trips just because we found such cheap airfare.

That's a good idea. However, wouldn't you need a very long time between flights? At least three hours? You'd have to recheck your bags then go through security again.

OP, have you looked into Southwest out of Midway?

 

[AngiTN]

That's a good idea. However, wouldn't you need a very long time between flights? At least three hours? You'd have to recheck your bags then go through security again.

OP, have you looked into Southwest out of Midway?

Still much faster than driving from Atlanta.

 

[sam_gordon]

Still much faster than driving from Atlanta.

Not really. Say a three hour layover + 1 hour flight + 30 minutes to taxi, deplane, get to transportation + 30 minute ride to WDW = 5 hours.
Drive time from ATL to WDW is 6 hours.

Don't get me wrong, it's worth looking into, but you're not going to save a lot of time.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Driving from Atlanta, according to Google Maps, is about 6 1/2 hours. If you're not familiar with ATL, it is located south of downtown Atlanta, so you would not have to drive through the worst of Atlanta traffic.

Just wanted to add that while I agree that leaving from the ATL airport by car you miss the bulk of the "bad" traffic through downtown and the northern suburbs..... the drive south on I-75 from the Airport until you get through McDonough/Locust Grove can be no joke depending on the time of day. It's an odd/frustrating stretch because in theory you're heading away from town but the traffic is still awful.

Going back is not any better - the stretch between Macon and Atlanta is pretty darn crowded and any wreck/stall/issue can make a mess. Lots of "phantom jams" on I-75 through Henry County (south of Atlanta) that make you want to go nuts.

It's all manageable, but it's not exactly smooth sailing either.

 

[smiths02]

Not really. Say a three hour layover + 1 hour flight + 30 minutes to taxi, deplane, get to transportation + 30 minute ride to WDW = 5 hours.
Drive time from ATL to WDW is 6 hours.

Don't get me wrong, it's worth looking into, but you're not going to save a lot of time.

We live just south of the ATL airport. We have never made it door to door in 6 hours. There is unexpected traffic or construction always. People have to use the bathroom, eat, fuel the car.

 

[spiders]

So if you really want to save money...are you staying overnight in Atlanta? If you are then you should rent the car (or use a hotel shuttle and then take an Uber to an off airport rental site next day) and then return it the next morning to somewhere else in Atlanta.

If you rent from the airport then you'll have a higher rate and you'll also be paying airport concession fees (usually about 10%) plus you'll have your daily airport customer facility charge which in Atlanta is $5 per day. If you rent the car from the airport and then return it the next day to some off airport local branch then you can re-rent the car at an actual lower rate plus get rid of the airport concession fees and the daily customer facility charge. When you return it, you can just go back directly to the airport.

Enterprise is the only one that may not let you do this.

 

[Darklord77]

We live just south of the ATL airport. We have never made it door to door in 6 hours. There is unexpected traffic or construction always. People have to use the bathroom, eat, fuel the car.

Agreed, ATL to WDW is not being done in 6 hours on an average day.

Just wanted to add that while I agree that leaving from the ATL airport by car you miss the bulk of the "bad" traffic through downtown and the northern suburbs..... the drive south on I-75 from the Airport until you get through McDonough/Locust Grove can be no joke depending on the time of day. It's an odd/frustrating stretch because in theory you're heading away from town but the traffic is still awful.

The poster said she's arriving in ATL at 9pm. My experience says the southside shouldn't be that horrible at 9-10pm.

We drive from PA and our overnight stop is always Atlanta on the way down and back. it's a relatively quick and easy drive, so we have time to enjoy both the first and last day at Disney. The Embassy Suites at Duluth/ Sugarloaf/ Gwinnet is our favorite place to stay in that area.

Duluth/Gwinnett County is northeast of ATL. Opposite direction of WDW. However I agree. Embassy Suites are great in general and that area is a nice and relatively safe compared to 1 or 2 exits further south down I-85.

 

[AngiTN]

Agreed, ATL to WDW is not being done in 6 hours on an average day.



The poster said she's arriving in ATL at 9pm. My experience says the southside shouldn't be that horrible at 9-10pm.



Duluth/Gwinnett County is northeast of ATL. Opposite direction of WDW. However I agree. Embassy Suites are great in general and that area is a nice and relatively safe compared to 1 or 2 exits further south down I-85.

They do a lot of the construction around there at night. It may be WORSE then. I know I've personally seen that

 

[sam_gordon]

We live just south of the ATL airport. We have never made it door to door in 6 hours. There is unexpected traffic or construction always. People have to use the bathroom, eat, fuel the car.

I did a google map check from ATL to WDW. It showed 6 hours and 5 minutes. Google maps has been pretty accurate for me (even including stops).

 

[Brett Wyman]

They do a lot of the construction around there at night. It may be WORSE then. I know I've personally seen that

We drive from Atlanta and it's not just the construction in Atlanta but there is frequent construction on 75 in S GA and N Florida. And 75 after Ocala before the Turnpike is notorious for backing it up. We've made the trip in 7 hours and it's taken 11 before if traffic is bad. To the OP I'd say what is more valuable to you, time or money? And go from there. Driving from Atlanta is a full day trip though.

I did a google map check from ATL to WDW. It showed 6 hours and 5 minutes. Google maps has been pretty accurate for me (even including stops).

Its 6 1/2 hours IF you dont stop to eat or pee AND if you aren't crossing through Atlanta from the north AND if there's no traffic issues on 75. We did 7 hours back in September on a Saturday. Traffic was perfect. So it does happen.

For our trip in 3 weeks we are flying with ME. Soooo much better : )

 

[sam_gordon]

Its 6 1/2 hours IF you dont stop to eat or pee AND if you aren't crossing through Atlanta from the north AND if there's no traffic issues on 75. We did 7 hours back in September on a Saturday. Traffic was perfect. So it does happen.

ATL is south of Atlanta proper, so why you'd include time to go through Atlanta is beyond me. Obviously it depends on how fast you're willing to drive and what else is happening on the roads. Google shows it at 441 miles, which for 6 hours would be averaging 73mph. For 7 hours, it would be average 63. So let's say it takes 6 1/2. Compare that to the 5 hours (if you're lucky) flying and it's not that much of a time savings to fly (from ATL w/a three hour layover), which is all I was trying to say.