Driving from Atlanta?

[val2001]

What is your recommendation? To drive or fly? We haven't booked our flights yet and now dh thinks we should drive instead. That's a long drive for a 4 and 7 yo I think, but sometimes the airport delays can be just as long.

 

[xABearx]

We live in Atlanta and have driven the past 5 years, we leave at 6am and usually get to Orlando around 2pm (with various stops on the way) and we enjoy the drive as we have a little more flexibility to stop when we'd like to shop, eat, or whatever .... we have no children so I can't tell you what it would be like driving down with them ..... hope this gives you some sort of an idea as to what to do ..... Andy

 

[geffric]

We drive ( with Kids) from Chicago, and have since they have been 4 and 2 years old.. we think that we are on the home stretch when we get past Atlanta.. we have a DVD player and give them unlimited screen time, makes the drive go much faster when the only fighting that they can do is " who has the remote and which movie is next".. ours has 2 screens so i can play games while the other does movies.

 

[tbuot]

I live in Atlanta and we have done both. We drove last time and stopped off for the night in Gainesville (we have friends that live there) and then spent the night before the cruise at the Radisson. Our DS's are 3 and 6 and that 5 1/2 hours was about all they could do. We do have a car vhs player and that helps alot. I guess it would depend on when you leave...we left around 8 in the morning but if you left at night and they slept down you could maybe drive straight down.

Had we not stopped in Gainesville I don't think we could have remained sane. Traffic was HORRIBLE from Gainesville past Orlando...granted this was Thanksgiving week.

We are cruising again in May and flying this time. Good Luck and have a wonderful trip no matter what you decide.

 

[jwann]

We, too, have driven to the last 3 cruises. We have to go through Atlanta (which is 7 hours from our house) so it's just about the half-way point for us. We make the entire trip in one day and our boys are 5 and 8. TV/VCR combo and Gameboys help the ride but they are also GREAT travelers. We like the freedom on being able to drive to the port on our own and being one of the first ones there.

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

I live in Atlanta and we have family in Florida so I am well familiar with the drive. Back when we were DINK's (double income, no kids), I insisted that we fly anywhere where the driving time was over six hours. Now that we're living on one income and we have an additional fare to purchase, we don't fly unless the driving time is over 12 hours.

That being said... we have definitely experienced some of the traffic delays described above when traveling during peak holiday weekends. But most of the time, it's fine. The bottleneck is usually the southern part of Georgia where there are two stretches on I-75, totalling 80 miles, where there are only two lanes in each direction. For the rest of I-75 there are at least three lanes in each direction.

Microsoft Streets & Trips estimates the driving time as 8 hours, 24 minutes from our house in Marietta. That's via my preferred route of I-75 to I-10, I-10 to I-95 in Jax, and I-95 to Exit 205. Depending on what time you're leaving, you may want to consider stopping for the night either in St. Augustine or Daytona Beach.

 

[Jon in SC]

We drove from Greenville, SC both times last year.

The car VCR is the key!

We left after my DD got out of school at 2:30 and drove to just south of Jacksonville. At the port by noon.

Straight shot (about 10 hrs. with stops) home. In the car by 9:00 am.

Flying with connections (in ALT for us) takes almost as long. When you consider the cost and hassle factor of flying, driving won out for us. YMMV.

 

[felixdacat]

Looks like the consensus is...
If you have a video system in your car then drive, if not fly.
I'm doing a land/sea vacation at the end of April. My kids are 3 & 5.
We did a test a few weeks ago. We drove down to Orlando to take the kids to Universal. It took about 7 hours, with two quick stops for gas/snacks/potty.
If you're doing a similar arrangement and what to hit Orlando first, the the previous poster's assesment of the southern end of I75 in Georgia being the most difficult stretch, is true.
If you're heading straight to Port Canaveral, then tehre is some construction on the top end of Florida's I95, just south of I295 which is a little rough.

 

[westjones]

We drive from Indiana, and once we get past Atlanta we feel like we are 'almost there'!

We too have a video unit in our van and we also have a cooler that plugs into the cig lighter. Its a home on wheels .

I wish we were that close, we would never consider flying. We are planning to fly in September for our 7 day cruise, but in December we are driving there for our 4 day cruise. We will probably do a lot more driving than flying in the future, it is just with the 7 day cruise leaving on Saturday it makes it more difficult for us to get there (DH has to take off more than a week). The 4 day cruises lets us leave Friday night after work, and then drive all day Saturday to get there (and even gives us some time Sunday morning to finish up the trip is we need it).

We love the 7 day cruise, but the 4 day one works so much better with a driving schedule and the fact that we need to only be gone for 1 week due to other commitments.

DJ

 

[mike2beach]

Wal-Mart sells a portable DVD player with a 6 inch screen for about $200.00. We usually start to pick up a few Dvd's several months before our trips and keep them stored until we leave. This also works great on flights also.

 

[disneylover5]

We drive from DC. We got did the 1/24 Eastern. We left at noon Friday (after the teenagers were done woth their important classes) and drove to Savannah GA. We also have a DD7 and DD10. The stop helped to break up the trip. We left Savvannah at about 7:00am and were on the ship by 1:00pm.

When we dis-embarked on Saturday at 8:05 am, I was so impressed that Disney had our luggage (10 pieces) ready and we were on our way by 8:25 am. We drove straight through to DC with a stop for Dinner (and a few potty breaks) and we pulled in the driveway at 10:55pm....tired but glad in be in our oun beds!

 

[lbgraves]

We drive from Eastern NC and it takes us around 9 hours to get to JAX FL. We have made that trip often with the kids since we have family there. In December we will be driving straight to Port Canaveral...or Orlando if we decide to add a day or two to the vacation. I agree that a TV/VCR is a lifesaver. We got ours on sale at Target for 130.00 a couple years ago & it was the best money we ever spent!!! Once we decided to fly to JAX before the kids were around. It took us just as long as driving there.

 

[Carol36]

We live East of Macon, GA. We have been driving to WDW since our youngest was 4. We have four children, with the oldest being almost 7 yrs older than the youngest. There are different road games that you can play and books to read. It is always a fun adventure for us...family time. We do not have a video unit, although my dh is dying for one. I don't know why! He has to keep his eyes on the road not a video, while driving. You do have to make the right decision for your family, but I think that you could have alot of fun on your journey. Have a great trip!

Carol36

 

[mdcruiser0226]

We too, almost always drive to Florida from up here in Baltimore. My sister is 4 now and it usually takes 2days to get down, stoppiong for the night in SC/GA. When we leave to go on our 2/26 cruise, it will be our first time flying in years!

 

[steverog]

I would only fly if it dirt cheap and you didn't have a large family (only 2 kids or less) plus if you are spending anytime at WDW it's nice to have a car to go into Orlando and off site to eat. Disney's food gets expensive.

This August when we are cruising, we will not be going to Orlando therefore we may fly.

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

we drive every time. we leave at 5 pm so that by 9-10 pm DD is knocked out. by sunrise we are in florida. the trips normally takes 12-14 hrs with 2 drivers and a dvd player. only stops are for gas and some potty breaks. we bring lots of snack foods and drinks for the trip.

 

[westjones]

We have done this too, leaving after DH gets off work and driving through the night. We may do this in December when we go, but we will see. It is quite the adventure! But it gets you there a lot faster and saves the cost of a night in a hotel.
DJ

 

[smchan]

Originally posted by steverog
if you are spending anytime at WDW it's nice to have a car to go into Orlando and off site to eat. Disney's food gets expensive.

Amen to that. One can save a small fortune just taking a few meals off site.

Sam

 

[wildcatwmn]

We come from NY and we are driving. Airfare on school holiday weeks is RIDICULOUS and the times are awful (get to FL at midnight, leave at 6:30am). Then, you need to rent a car when you get there anyway.

When we have found cheap fare, we have flown, but for $250/week, I rent a car with unlimited miles and leave mine at home. The gameboy and now the new DVD player from Gma will be great.

 

[val2001]

Thanks everyone for your responses. We drive to Florida quite often with our kids on a 6 hour trip, but 8 1/2 seems even longer to me. We do have a VCR in the car.

airfaire is usually reasonably priced. I think I can get a flight for about $200, but x 4 = $800, so that's why I think now after reading all these favorable driving responses, I may do as my hubby wishes: drive and save the $800 for excursions.