Driving from Chicago suburbs

[JBurke]

We are planning our first driving trip to WDW this July, leaving from the western suburbs of Chicago.

Can anyone tell me what was the most challenging part of the drive, meaning what areas were the hardest to drive because of hills/mountains/winding roads?

Thanks!

 

[famsen]

Sure! We've done the drive from the Northwest Suburbs at least a dozen times, round trip.
The most challenging part would be through the mountains just to the north and through Chattanooga, TN. It's winding highway and there are a few sharp turns and steep inclines but we've never run into any problems. This type of mountainous highway probably goes for about 100 miles or so but the worst of it is about 25 miles. It is also the most beautiful part of the ride.

 

[famsen]

Oh, I just noticed you are from Carol Stream. We are in Hoffman Estates; practically neighbors!

 

[Legendofthehawk]

Oh, I just noticed you are from Carol Stream. We are in Hoffman Estates; practically neighbors!

Hey Neighbor! You're one town away from us!

We've done the drive twice, and it looks like we are doing it again this fall.

For us, the most challenging part is Georgia.. Why? It is the longest state, and you keep seeing signs for the "flordia tourist center" about 2-4 hours away from Florida! It really can mess with your head after a long trip of.. "we're almost there.... almost there...! "

To...
"yeah. No."

We are people who like to drive straight through , so it can get a bit challenging. I also advise you.. when you stop at a nice gas station, if you have to go or not.. go to the restroom! To quote the great Dr. "There are many places between hether and yon, that will scare you so much you might not want to go on". There are very scary places indeed, so.. remember. You heard it here first. Pee when you can!

Other than that, I can agree with the PP. If you are traveling very late at night the hills and mountains can have a high level of suck. There are no street lamps. There is often traffic of truckers who are driving entirely too fast for 3am.

I can update later with the best places to stop overnight if you are continuing the drive if you are interested.

 

[famsen]

Hey Neighbor! You're one town away from us!

For us, the most challenging part is Georgia.. Why? It is the longest state, and you keep seeing signs for the "flordia tourist center" about 2-4 hours away from Florida! It really can mess with your head after a long trip of.. "we're almost there.... almost there...! "

To...
"yeah. No."

Hi there!
I agree with the Georgia part. We just made the drive three weeks ago. Next week we are going back and I absolutely had to bite the bullet and buy us plane tickets. The drive home was miserable; long, boring and sad because we had all that time for reality to sink in.

Georgia is a a looooong ride. It seems like we never got out of there and there is not much to see, however; I make it a point to always stop at Adcock Peanuts in Tifton, GA to load up on nuts.

 

[2luvmickey]

I'm from Wheaton and I took that drive last August with my three DS! (DH stayed home with the dog.)

Aside from some traffic around Chicagoland (a given), Indy and Louisville, the winding road is the only "challenge." When I was young, many years ago, I recalled a tunnel through the mountains. Nope, didn't happen on this trip. Guess I mixed that up with a trip to the East coast

We broke up our trip with a stop in Atlanta the first night. We spent the next morning at the Aquarium, mostly to see the huge whale sharks, and made it to Disney in time for dinner.

On our way home, made a overnight stop in Kentucky. Our next day was a visit to the amazing Mammoth Caves, and we made it home around 10pm.

Aside from the mountainous terrain, be aware of the time zones. Atlanta is on EST, while Mammoth Caves is on CST. This should help
http://www.time.gov

It's a long trip, and my kids won't do it again, but I didn't regret it! As long as you have books, gameboys, dvd's, tunes and food, you're good to go.

Have fun!

 

[GusMan]

Other than that, I can agree with the PP. If you are traveling very late at night the hills and mountains can have a high level of suck. There are no street lamps. There is often traffic of truckers who are driving entirely too fast for 3am.

Yea... I can vouch for this.
Done the drive at night a couple times and to be honest, I hate going through the mountains at night. During the day, I have no issues. I joke around with the wife and say that I like seeing the cliff I am about to drive off.

From where we are, also in the Chicago Suburbs, Atlanta is about 11 hrs or so away, including stops. It makes for a nice break and I can get a hotel room rather cheap. From there, its about another 10 hrs which is really not all that bad during the day. Not having to drive at night allows me to be at least awake when we arrive. When we get there, we usually go to DTD for a while and then stay either at a Value resort or somewhere offsite.

 

[famsen]

We also break up the trip to WDW by stopping for the night just north of Atlanta. Then we leave around 4:00am the next day and with a few gas stops, food and a visit to the Florida Welcome Center for our cup of orange juice, we get to our hotel by mid-day.

Now coming home is another story. I just want to get the drive over with and get home so we usually drive straight through. It's a killer, though.
Even with breaks, I come home with my legs swelled to the size of elephants and I am crabby and exhausted. That's why despite my overwhelming fear(that is not a strong enough word) of flying, that is what we are doing next week for our birthday/Mother's Day trip.

It's nice to meet my Disney neighbors here on this thread.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

We live in Atlanta.

Try to avoid it during rush hour.

Try driving to the south side of it so the next morning you are headed the opposite direction of everybody else. Or if you stay on the north side, try the 4 or 5 am trick mentioned by a PP.

It is about 7.5 hours from Atlanta to WDW depending on frequency of stops.

It is a pretty quiet/boring drive through the rest of GA except for some construction in the southern part of the state.

 

[JBurke]

Thanks for all the advice neighbors!
We plan on spending the night somewhere along the way.
On average, how many hours did it take you to drive from suburbs to WDW?

 

[Legendofthehawk]

We also break up the trip to WDW by stopping for the night just north of Atlanta. Then we leave around 4:00am the next day and with a few gas stops, food and a visit to the Florida Welcome Center for our cup of orange juice, we get to our hotel by mid-day.

Now coming home is another story. I just want to get the drive over with and get home so we usually drive straight through. It's a killer, though.
Even with breaks, I come home with my legs swelled to the size of elephants and I am crabby and exhausted. That's why despite my overwhelming fear(that is not a strong enough word) of flying, that is what we are doing next week for our birthday/Mother's Day trip.

It's nice to meet my Disney neighbors here on this thread.

We are going to be doing that this year since we are going to FL instead of CA. we are going to stop somewhere I think to add an extra day to the trip.

It is tough to drive through.. and even though mapquest may tell you its only 16-17 hours.. (HAHA), plan on 22 if you have little ones. If we were going to do that again, we'd do it, but stay off site a day ahead of time. Since it is so exhausting making that drive than having to "go go go go!"

Big thing is to stop. If you are going to drive, you need to stop at least every four hours (if not for gas), to stretch out your legs to avoid blood clots. Good to walk around, do some stretches for the hamstring. Switch out drivers. Drink your water. If you have cruise control on the highways, use it, and do little circles with your legs.

I feel you on the flying thing. Too bad you guys aren't going in Oct, or all of us "hate to fly!" dis's could fly together. Good thing about that flight though is it's only 2 hours. If you do it in early morning when you are barely awake, or do a red eye, it will pass by super super quick.

If it helps, I'll send some good flying thoughts your way!

Yea... I can vouch for this.
Done the drive at night a couple times and to be honest, I hate going through the mountains at night. During the day, I have no issues. I joke around with the wife and say that I like seeing the cliff I am about to drive off.

From where we are, also in the Chicago Suburbs, Atlanta is about 11 hrs or so away, including stops. It makes for a nice break and I can get a hotel room rather cheap. From there, its about another 10 hrs which is really not all that bad during the day. Not having to drive at night allows me to be at least awake when we arrive. When we get there, we usually go to DTD for a while and then stay either at a Value resort or somewhere offsite.

What time do you guys normally leave?

That makes sound sense to stop in Atlanta, but for my intense dislike of Georgia (only how long it is!!) I don't think I could do it. lol.

We still have nightmares that we are driving along that road, waiting to get to florida.

 

[famsen]

I feel you on the flying thing. Too bad you guys aren't going in Oct, or all of us "hate to fly!" dis's could fly together. Good thing about that flight though is it's only 2 hours. If you do it in early morning when you are barely awake, or do a red eye, it will pass by super super quick.

If it helps, I'll send some good flying thoughts your way!

We are going again September 25-Oct. 2. I think if I survive flying this trip, we will be doing the flying thing again then. I don't think I will get my husband to ever go back with me if I say we are driving.

 

[2luvmickey]

Thanks for all the advice neighbors!
We plan on spending the night somewhere along the way.
On average, how many hours did it take you to drive from suburbs to WDW?

It took a about 12 - 12.5 hours to get to Atlanta (don't forget you lose an hour, so if you leave at 7am, you will get to Atlanta after 8pm).

Getting to WDW took about another 7 - 7.5 hours.

The trip is long, it can be boring, but it was an adventure!

 

[HHSTigerFan]

We always leave by 2:00 AM and get into Gainesville or Ocala for a late dinner...

 

[hearts8701]

just drove back yesterday we live in the o'hare airport area it took 17 1/2 hours stopping for gas & fast food no kids in car 1 driver 57-24-75
IL. 5 1/2 long hrs
KY. 2 hrs
TN. 2 1/2 hrs
GA. 5 hrs
FL. 3 hrs

 

[cruisingkat]

We drive to FL and back several times a year (grandkids live in FL and we stop at Disney on the way down or the way home or both). We live in the Downers Grove area and after trying several different routes, we take 355-80-57-24-75 to Florida turnpike exit to Disney. (we tried going other routes like 65 through Indianapolis) and it was really murder - the truck traffic was unbelievable and ended up taking longer).
The mountains aren't that bad - even Atlanta (as long as it isn't the middle of rush hour) isn't that bad especially if you have 2 or more people in the car and can use the HOV lane. To us the worst is on I24 in Nashville. About 3 or 4 interstates merge and diverge in short distance and you have to keep switching sides (i.e. keep left, keep right). Once you manuever that, the mountains (hills) are a piece of cake.
There is just the two of us and hubby does all the driving (I only have a motorcycle license) so we do break it into two days. We used to stop in Chattanooga, but Atlanta wasn't that much farther and since it was after rush hour when we got Chattanooga, we decided to stop around Atlanta. But our favorite Holiday Inn Express in Atlanta closed, so we now stop just south of Atlanta in McDonough, GA. This puts greater majority of driving on the first day.
On the way home, we stop just past Chattanooga (we usually leave at a later time from Disney than we do from home on the way down).
We usually leave home between 9 and 10am and get just south of Atlanta around 9pm (allowing for the time change and traffic). We leave the next morning around 10 or 11am and get to Disney anywhere between 3 and 5pm depending on traffic (and accidents).

 

[DanG07]

We've made the drive 4 times to WDW from Wilmette. Twice we stopped in GA on the way to WDW and twice we drove straight through. Each time we drove straight through on the way back home. I say if you are planning to drive straight through leave between 2:00 am to 3:00 am and you'll make it to WDW before 10:00 pm. This way you also avoid the mountain areas in TN at nighttime, which can be a little scary. If you are planning on stopping mid-way, I would definitely pre-plan the motel (or hotel), because you do not want to be stuck in a sketchy part of GA. I also agree with previous posters about using the restrooms in what appear to be clean gas stations, as we have encountered some pretty gross places when we really had to go.

 

[Hugpug]

I did the trip a few times and I travel solo and do not drive at night. My most challege was getting thru Atlanta. The mountains did not bother me at all. I always stopped in Nashville the first night and then again some place in Georgia. I usally hit WDW by noon.
It was OK but now I preferr to Fly even don't I don't like it that much. But when time and money are a problem you do the best possible. I always enjoyed the drive but it just not for me anymore.

 

[Berta]

We've made the drive from NW Indiana many times...here's what we've learned:

1) Traffic around Indy can be dicey...but if you go straight thru on I65, its easier than using the 465 bypass...

2) Best place to stop to eat/layover in TN is the Murphreysboro exit

3) Mountain driving in TN is not too bad, but I definitely wouldn't do it at night; if the pavement is wet, you can slow down by downshifting as you move down the mountains

4) Radio station reception in mountains is definitely sporadic; plan ahead if you like a certain style of music

5) When driving thru Atlanta, stay in the HOV lanes; also, even though the speed limit is 70, most traffic moves thru GA at 80-85...if you aren't comfortable with that, stay to the right...its too easy to get caught up in keeping up with traffic!

6) We stop in Atlanta on the way down, and then on the way back too...some years, we have pushed thru to Elizabethtown. KY...nice selection of hotels there too.

7) Gas is historically cheapest in TN...make sure you top off BEFORE you are within 40 mi of the TN/GA state line

It can be a long 2 days in the car...but it can be really fun, too! And one of these years, I'M GOING TO STOP AT LOOKOUT MTN AND SEE RUBY FALLS, I SWEAR!!!!

 

[PinkRhombus]

When you're almost to Louisville...still in Indiana on I-65...watch out for the State Police. They patrol that area pretty heavily.