Driving from Chicago...a few questions

[irish dancer]

We are thinking of driving down for our June trip. We are open to suggestions and help from anyone that has driven down from the Chicago area before. It will be me, dh, dd10, ds6, dd5. We have a Sienna with a dvd player so I think we are set on entertainment. We don't think we can do the drive straight through - anyone have suggestions on hotels for a stop-off? Also best/fastest route?

TIA

 

[Jon99]

We live in Kankakee County so I-57 is the way we choose..We like to take 57/24/75, I think its a little longer, but it also has less traffic.. We leave mid/late afternoon and are usually at WDW by midmorning driving straight through..

 

[WDWLVR]

We take 57 as well. We like it a lot better than 65. We usually leave mid-day and stop for the night in Murfreesboro, TN. The next day we get an early start and usually are at Disney by early evening.

Niether day is a hard push for us and we get a good nights sleep.

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

The fastest route is definitely quoted by Jon99 above; I-57 to Marion, I-24 to Chattanooga & I-75 through Florida (plus Florida's Turnpike). It's all interstate highway. Some people like I-65 to Nashville and then I-24 and I-75 from there, but I disagree because you have to deal with Indianapolis and Louisville versus I-57 where there are no large cities. Also if you look on a map, Nashville is somewhat west of Louisville so you're actually going the wrong way as you head south.

I said this on a prior thread: One advantage of the I-65 routing southbound is that early in the trip you're in Indiana so it seems like you're making progress. When you take the I-57 routing you're still in Illinois after 5 hours of driving so it seems like the drive is taking forever. But it's just a perception. When you finally cross the bridge out of Illinois you are VERY far south and just two hours away from Nashville. And this same perception is a bonus northbound. You cross back into Illinois just two hours after being in central Tennessee (Nashville) so it "seems" like you're home even though you've still got at least 5 hours more to go.

You can easily make the Atlanta area the first day and many people try to make it at least an hour south of there to avoid the next morning's rush hour. If you don't want to push your luck with small kids and make the two days a bit more even, consider Chattanooga which is 2 hours north of Atlanta. Lookout Mountain, The Incline Railway, Ruby Falls and Rock City are great (and inexpensive) tourist attractions in their own right and could break up your journey.

BobK/Orlando

 

[Jon99]

But there are only a couple of good places to eat in southern Illinois along 1-57, Effingham and Mt. Vernon are usually the places we try to hit..

 

[Minnie824]

Sorry, I have to disagree with the above posts...don't go thru IL. It was SO much easier going 65 thru Indiana. We did the 57 thru IL in 2005 and 65 thru Indiana in 2006. Going on 65 is much easier....you pass more cities, more exits that have things to stop at and just going thru bigger areas other than 6 hrs of just 'scenery' made such a difference in passing the time. What we did was leave around 3am... the kids slept til we were in KY so it passed the time for them quickly. We drove straight thru to Gainsville and stayed at a very nice, new Country Inn there. We arrived there around 8pm cst. Then the next day, we only had a 2 hr drive to get to Disney. It worked out well. We always stop for dinner in Tifton. Also if you don't want to drive as far, Perry and Tifton are nice stops in GA.

Oh, and one more thing....the speed limit in Indiana is higher than IL, so you can drive faster on that route. We timed the difference between the 2 years w/different routes and 65 was faster for us by about 30-45 min. Not huge difference, but seemed a lot faster.

 

[Tumblwd501]

I've done the Chicago-Nashville drive numerous times when I went to grad school at Vanderbilt (in Nashville) for a couple of years. So I've done both the 57 and 65 routes many times over. I personally prefer the 65 route but there's really no real difference in time or mileage between the two routes. (And if you're wondering, there's no real reason I like the 65 route, I just do. lol Sorry.)

I would say the only thing that could make a difference is construction. So check the respective DOT webpages for construction updates to make sure there are no major delays on either route and choose accordingly.

As for the speed limit difference a PP mentioned... I'm not sure if that's true? Once you get outside of a metropolitan area, aren't the interstate speed limits in both state's rural areas 65MPH?

 

[stauncie]

We drive from Champaign, Il and have driven to Disney several times, Taking I-57 in Il, Route 41 in In, and I-65. (all to get to I-24)
Indiana raised they speed limit to 70 last year, and even though we haven't driven since they raised the speed limit, taking I-65 was the fastest route for us. Its about 20 hours of driving time for us. We start EARLY in the am drive about 15 hourse the first day. We drive to Tifton, GA where we stay the night. That leaves only 5 hours of drive time for the 2nd day. It makes for a long first day, but I could NEVER get the kids to get back in the vehicle the second day if they have to travel more than 5 hours. (or DH for that matter)

On the return trip home, we tend to drive straight through, not stopping til we get home.

 

[Funwith4kids]

We take I-74, I-57, I-24, I-75, Turnpike. Depending on day of week and time of day, we may drive through ATL & always around Macon. I-57 & I-24 can seem very long because of the lack of big cities, rush hours, and lack of traffic that bring cities bring (if you leave early in the morning and the kids sleep, it doesn't matter what there is to look at). However, that is an opportunity to make some good time on the road as there is less congestion, less wear and tear on the roads thus less road construction. In the Champaign to Nashville leg of the trip, this is also 30 miles shorter than the I-65 route.

We leave after school is out and stop in Smyrna, just south of Nashville (~ 6-7hrs). The next day we arrive by dinner time. We usually don't drive straight through on way down as we are not as lively (awake) as we would like to be when we arrive to take on WDW. On the way back, we may stop, but often drive straight through - depending how early we start off.

For those of you coming across I-74 through central IL, we tried going down I-155, I-55, state route 4 to I-64 to I-57. Less miles, but took longer that I-74 over to I-57 because of traffic around STL and the 2 lane route 4. Have you found a quicker route.

What I have found from our road trips is Mapquest, Google, Freetrips, Rand McNally and other websites/trip planners' quickest routes show the most direct route via interstates. However, knowing traffic around metropolitan areas and road construction as previously posted by someone should be considered they can drive longer durations.

 

[vbarry]

Thanks for the help- I am driving from the Delavan area. I am glad to know that taking I 74 will be easier. I have been worried about this since we usually fly. DD will not fly again because of ear pain- so I guess we are going to try driving!!

I was going to do the I55 to 4 to 64. Now hopefully this will make the drive go quicker!!

Thanks again!

 

[vbarry]

By the way...anyone know how many hours from Delavan??

 

[irish dancer]

Thanks everyone for you help! We will check on construction, etc once we get closer to decide which route to take.

 

[teacher31]

We drove Chicago to Nashville for years before moving to Nashville. Here's our take.

Take 65 out of Chicago and take the Illinois route back. Why? Trying to get back through Chicago where the turn is (I can't remember the number! Sorry. Everyone knows what I'm talking about, though), you will get stuck horribly.

From Nashville to WDW is about 10 hours with 3 stops.