driving from Cincinnati??

[charity]

We are going to be driving from Cincinnati in June with a 5 year old. This will be our first time driving and I have no idea how long it will take or where we should stop on the way to spend the night.
Any suggestion??
My DS is great in a car we drive to my grandparents 3 hours away and we usually don't stop for a break, so I hope we don't have to take many stops.
Thanks!

 

[CincyMouse]

Hi,
you can tell by my name that I am from Cincy too! We are staying at the Holiday Inn in Tifton, GA, about 10 hours from Cincy. That leaves us with only 4 hours the next day. If you couldn't make it that far on the first day, Atlanta is about 8 hours, and Macon GA is about 9 hours. On the way home, we may stop in Chattanooga or Knoxville TN or may push on through home. Our driving will be daytime driving, as my kids (3 and 5) do better in the day then at night.

 

[charity]

Hi,
you can tell by my name that I am from Cincy too! We are staying at the Holiday Inn in Tifton, GA, about 10 hours from Cincy. That leaves us with only 4 hours the next day. If you couldn't make it that far on the first day, Atlanta is about 8 hours, and Macon GA is about 9 hours. On the way home, we may stop in Chattanooga or Knoxville TN or may push on through home. Our driving will be daytime driving, as my kids (3 and 5) do better in the day then at night.

Do you pre book you hotel in GA?

 

[CincyMouse]

Do you pre book you hotel in GA?

Yes, just go to Holiday Inn website and search Tifton GA. It's right off the highway, Starbucks nearby, and with AAA rate it's only $81.70 a night incl tax! They have an outdoor pool too (not so good for me in January!) and it looks recently updated, and has FREE HOT BREAKFAST!!

 

[mrsmom]

It took us 16 hours with four kids and it just alot of time to be in a car, Plus we seen alot of one car accidents with people falling asleep at the wheel. I would stop and stay the night at a hotel. We stayed in a hotel on the way back and it was more enjoyable ride home.I would never again drive straight thru. We fly now. airtran has good deals out of dayton.
Kim

 

[charity]

QUOTE=mrsmom;29771731]It took us 16 hours with four kids and it just alot of time to be in a car, Plus we seen alot of one car accidents with people falling asleep at the wheel. I would stop and stay the night at a hotel. We stayed in a hotel on the way back and it was more enjoyable ride home.I would never again drive straight thru. We fly now. airtran has good deals out of dayton.
Kim[/QUOTE]

I know we would need to stop I just have know idea where or if I should try to pre book a hotel or just wing finding one when we are ready.

 

[mrsmom]

We did priceline for Dalton Ga they were at of places check out www.biddingfortravel.com
we got two rooms for less then 50.00 each.Good luck.
Kim

 

[Bibbidi]

We've driven to FL several times from Cincy. It takes about 14-15 hours, depending on how many stops we make. Last trip (August 2008) we stopped in Valdosta, GA which is right on the GA/FL border. We stayed at a Country Inn & Suites there that was VERY nice for the money. It took about 12 hours to get to Valdosta though. Our family is used to long car trips so it's no biggie, but honestly I think 10 hours is a good stopping point.

 

[frtchr]

We're driving from Lexington in March with a 2 year old and a 6 month old. We have reservations to stop in Macon on the way down and Atlanta on the way home. I think 7 hours in a car with kids that little is all we can do. Hope you have a great trip!

 

[mahend0]

We too are driving from Cincy -- with 3 kids, 6 and under. We like to get the bulk of the driving done on the way down on the first day, so we are headed to Lake City FL, already have the hotel booked. We are night owls anyway, but particularly like to hit Atlanta at night so (a) don't have to take the extra 20 miles on the bypass and (b) no traffic. On the way back, we are booked near Chattanooga.

To make the trip easier, go to the library and rent one of the books on driving down I-75. The books contain fun facts and places to spot and their history, and also nice tips like a popular speed trap and what stops the indoor playgrounds are at. Good luck. I think the drive through the mountains is beautiful.

 

[revmom]

We're driving from Lexington in March with a 2 year old and a 6 month old. We have reservations to stop in Macon on the way down and Atlanta on the way home. I think 7 hours in a car with kids that little is all we can do. Hope you have a great trip!

We'll be driving from Lawrenceburg in June. Macon is 7 hrs away? I was thinking of trying to get 10 hours in on the first day so that we have more time to get settled on the second. I thought Macon was further. I'll have to check it out more.

 

[frtchr]

I checked, and Macon is just under 7.5 hours from Lexington. It's a bit further than I planned, but an extra 30 minutes won't kill us. I hope. LOL

 

[Leajess99]

We too are driving from Cincy -- with 3 kids, 6 and under. We like to get the bulk of the driving done on the way down on the first day, so we are headed to Lake City FL, already have the hotel booked. We are night owls anyway, but particularly like to hit Atlanta at night so (a) don't have to take the extra 20 miles on the bypass and (b) no traffic. On the way back, we are booked near Chattanooga.

To make the trip easier, go to the library and rent one of the books on driving down I-75. The books contain fun facts and places to spot and their history, and also nice tips like a popular speed trap and what stops the indoor playgrounds are at. Good luck. I think the drive through the mountains is beautiful.

We stayed in Lake City in October and never again will I stay at the Super 8 there. It was beyond disgusting and so bad that we did sponge bathes because the shower was so gross there was no way you would get clean. We were going down with another family and they picked the hotel down. I picked the hotel on the way home as I am more picky about hotels.

Last trip, my kids played their Nintendo DS (older one) and Leapster L-Max (youngest one) and we had no fighting in the car. They also slept part of the way. We will be going down again in October and this time they each have their own portable DVD player that they got for Christmas. We also have kids' cds that they love listening to.

 

[peyjax]

Do you pre book you hotel in GA?

I would caution you on this. A couple of years ago we drove with our 2 year old and it took 16 + hours. We had made reservations in advance because I did not want to get swindled late at night. However it happened anyway because the places I reserved were dumps. On line they looked fine (they always do) but in reality it was extremely awful. I had already paid and the cancelation was not pretty, so we suffered through.

Another downside to pre booking is you have to make it to your destination. On the way there we probably could have driven further on the way back we were peeling our eyes open looking for the exit sign to the hotel. When you drive just bring some hotel numbers with you and call when you are getting tired and ask for the nearest hotel. That way you know you are getting a fair price and you can check it out in person.

Personally I did not like stopping in a hotel. We have usually gotten good deals flying out of Colombus and Louisville, but this year I think we will drive again. My goal is to attempt to drive through the night. We will see??

 

[srwarden1928]

I grew up about an hour south of Cincinnati. I recommend getting south of Macon on your first day. We particularly like to stay at the Ramada in Tifton, because it is right next door to the best Shoneys breakfast bar we have ever eaten at. We mentioned last trip that we always like to stop on our trips because there was something about that location that was better than most Shoneys, and the server attributed it to the fact that many employees there, including all the cooks, had been there over 20 years. Those people take pride in their work and it shows. The Ramada next door is VERY reasonable and clean. It gives you a pleasant drive to Disney the next day.

 

[lindap1]

We've decided that since my brother lives in Tennessee (9 hours away) that we will spend the night at his house, then drive the remainder to WDW the next morning. I believe that WDW is about 18 hours from us (Cleveland area).

 

[leighe]

We've driven to FL several times from Cincy. It takes about 14-15 hours, depending on how many stops we make. Last trip (August 2008) we stopped in Valdosta, GA which is right on the GA/FL border. We stayed at a Country Inn & Suites there that was VERY nice for the money. It took about 12 hours to get to Valdosta though. Our family is used to long car trips so it's no biggie, but honestly I think 10 hours is a good stopping point.

Exactly the city and hotel that I was going to suggest. We drive from Lexington, which is about an hour and a half south of Cincy. We are thinking about driving through the night, this year, however.

 

[abby&emmasmom]

We are driving for the first time this June (18-27). We live in N KY, just over the 471 bridge. Our kids are a little bit older and great at traveling, so I think we are just going to "wing" it. I plan on getting as far as we can possibly get before stopping. However, growing up we always stopped in Valdosta, GA. It's a wonderfu feeling to wake up and be that close to the FL line. Maybe we'll cross paths & good luck!!

 

[mcottovs]

We live in northern Kentucky and drove last October with our 11 and 14 year olds. We stopped in Valdosta, GA and prebooked a room at Courtyard by Marriott (it was the least expensive for our needs {2 queen beds}). It took us about 12 hours and was a long way (we were all asleep soundly by 9pm!), but it was only 3 more hours to Disney when we checked out the next day. We were going to stop around Knoxville on the way back, but we tag teamed napping and driving and went straight through. I think it took about 16 hours.
I have road tripped alone with my kids when they were 7 and 4 and I brought lots of car activities and surprised them with a small gift about halfway down. It's not easy but very doable...good luck!

 

[enlmomma]

I live in NKY also, We are going in Feb and will leave at 2am. We drive most of the day and stop every 3 hours. this lets the kids run a little and have bathroom breaks. I think it took us 14 hours last time