Driving from Houston to Orlando..advice needed please!

[Alicat3784]

Hi all! We are near Beaumont (Groves to be exact) we are going to WDW for Thanksgiving this year. We haven't decided yet if we are driving or flying but I enjoyed reading the tips.

 

[tina.tina]

Our trip was 12 hours. I bought little gifts for our kids and planned to give them to the kids periodically on the way down to keep them from fighting. Gifts included stickers, little figurines, books, candy, small stuffed animals, WDW maps, glow sticks after dark, card games, and other toys.

We drove for 1 hour and stopped at a rest area. After another 1/2 hour, the kids started to whine. I gave them their first gift. I told them the only way to get another gift was to work together to play games. We played the alphabet game and what am I thinking of (Disney themed). I also asked DD multiplication questions & asked DS what letter does this word start with. When they started getting tired of playing games, I announced that they had won another prize.

We talked a LOT and had some wonderful family togetherness time. The kids didn't pick up their dsi's and we never even turned on the radio. We didn't leave until 4pm so we stopped for the night after driving for 8 hours.

 

[SebLop1977]

Sorry, know this is a little old. But Howdy to all the Golden Triangle neighbors.

We drove back in 2010 from Beaumont, left around noon and took our time since it was our first road trip together. We spent the night in Tallahassee and drove the rest of the way in the next day. I have family that went last Thanksgiving, they left Beaumont early in the am, around 2am I think and drive straight in. They said it was a loooonnnngggggg day. Personally I liked splitting the drive.

Hope everyone stays safe in their travels. Best wishes.

 

[dspud]

Well we just changed our plans. I posted in this thread a few months ago about driving there. I was still planning too until last week. Decided to check Allegiant Airlines as they have started to fly nonstop from Laredo to Orlando. Tickets were so cheap for the days I wanted to go (93.40 each way per person) that it didn't make much sense to drive anymore for the three of us. This way, we have room for some days at Cocoa beach! We leave in 10 days!

 

[Q-man]

Driving solo. Can I make it in 13 hours from the Med Center area? I'd leave 5:30-6am to hit Baton Rouge after morning rush hour.

Have Mobile, AL resv. for the return leg with the family.

 

[VeeHam]

Driving solo. Can I make it in 13 hours from the Med Center area? I'd leave 5:30-6am to hit Baton Rouge after morning rush hour.

Have Mobile, AL resv. for the return leg with the family.

13 hours to me is pushing it. We normally take 17 hours and that includes stops for gas, food and restroom. But the stops only take about 1 hour total of the 17 hours. My DH also has a lead foot.
I would plan minimum 15 hours to be safe. Also, you never know what road construction or accident you might run into. Or in our case a line of cars backed up a couple of miles only to finally get to the front and see an old car driving reeeaalllyyy sslllooowwwlllyyy.

 

[DisneyDreamer0610]

I did the same trip years back with my parents....we stopped in Mobile, AL and then again in Pensicola, FL because the distance is just too much to drive in 2 days. Mobile is a nice area and so is Pensicola as the kid on the trip then we brought video game equiptment and music to listen to along with color books, crayons, journals....books...just anything to keep our mind busy on the long trip. Also pillows and blankets that we could reach and snacks and sodas in a cooler. We didn't stop to eat lunch we made sandwiches for my parents and ourselves on the drive so they could keep driving while we ate....it wasn't the funnest but I'll never forget it and it was still an amazing experience! Good luck!

 

[Q-man]

I did the same trip years back with my parents....we stopped in Mobile, AL and then again in Pensicola, FL because the distance is just too much to drive in 2 days. Mobile is a nice area and so is Pensicola as the kid on the trip then we brought video game equiptment and music to listen to along with color books, crayons, journals....books...just anything to keep our mind busy on the long trip. Also pillows and blankets that we could reach and snacks and sodas in a cooler. We didn't stop to eat lunch we made sandwiches for my parents and ourselves on the drive so they could keep driving while we ate....it wasn't the funnest but I'll never forget it and it was still an amazing experience! Good luck!

Sounds like you did it back when the speed limit was 55 which would make for ~19 hours of behind the wheel time or more as I-10 of 25 years or so ago isn't the same as today. Not sure the MS and AL sections of I-10 were even finished until the mid to latter 80s. You had to use Rte 90 for part of the trip back then. The additional lanes through the Pensacola area and Tallahassee definitely didn't exist then.

I'm thinking more like setting the cruise control at 80mph and 12-13 hours at the wheel plus a couple hours of breaks.

 

[mjk316]

Going to make the drive from spring break with the DW and DD (3), leaving the 8th at midnight to try and make it by 4pm the next day. Wil be adjusting my sleep schedule the two days before since I will be driving the first leg from Midnight to around 5am, then the wife can drive for a few hours while I nap and then I will finish the rest of the way.....but we are going to stop and spend the night on the way back...

 

[Disnewbie76]

Going to make the drive from spring break with the DW and DD (3), leaving the 8th at midnight to try and make it by 4pm the next day. Wil be adjusting my sleep schedule the two days before since I will be driving the first leg from Midnight to around 5am, then the wife can drive for a few hours while I nap and then I will finish the rest of the way.....but we are going to stop and spend the night on the way back...

We have driven from southwest Houston for the last two years and are doing so again in 3 weeks. I usually start out driving in the afternoon and drive for 7 or 8 hours. Then my wife takes over and does the last 8 hours through the night without stopping. Our kids sleep most of the way since the majority is at night. Otherwise they do well with movies and games on their iPads. . This year my mother is coming along for literally her first vacation in her entire life, so we will have an extra driver and that should help some.

 

[Disnewbie76]

Howdy from Sugar Land! I just wanted to say Hi, and have a great trip!

Hello! From a fellow Dis'er in Sugar Land.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

I love books on CD on long trips, as does DH. Normally, we plan a book or three and save them up to bring with us for a Disney trip (driving from BTR).

In a pinch, though, Cracker Barrel Restaurant rents books on CD. Say you stop in Beaumont at that Cracker Barrel and rent a book. Your CC is charged the full cost of buying that book on CD. You finish it off in Biloxi and return it there. Your CC is credited the cost of the book, minus $3.39+tax for every week you've had the audio-book.

They usually have a good range of books, including some that are fit for an entire family.

http://www.crackerbarrel.com/travel/books-on-audio/

We also rent audiobooks from our public library for free. But if everyone is bored and tired and you didn't think about a book to listen to as a family - well, there are Cracker Barrels and the fee is nominal.

 

[baboo800]

fly its a lot quicker


Posted from DISboards.com App for Android

 

[Disnewbie76]

I'd be happy to fly.. so you are paying for our tickets right? that will be 7 tickets, 4 adults and 3 children. Approx. 2100$ versus 400-500$ for gas....unless you are paying, we will be driving. lol

 

[baboo800]

im just saying that the time you will save up will make up for the extra money spent


Posted from DISboards.com App for Android

 

[Disnewbie76]

while I understand the sentiment...and don't get me wrong, i would rather fly than drive for just the reason you are saying, but then that would cut down on the amount of days i could stay at disney by limiting my funds even more. So, i choose to drive and spend more of the money for more time at disney. We always try to go once a year and stay for 10 days. If we flew, we would have to cut that time significantly because of the affect it would have on our budget. So my wife and I split the time and drive straight through the 16 hours and get it over with.

 

[pktbMouse]

ok so..Im back...reporting in on the drive from the last time I posted We ended up renting a Toyota Camry rather than taking my big expedition and it worked out cheaper than driving the expedition and surprisingly we had plenty enough room in it.....the kids were fine, we took plenty movies for them, books, ipods, dsi, games etc...it was me that whined the whole trip LOL. I had my list of hotels with me starting with the worst case scenario at the 8 hr mark all the way to tallahassee and we actually made it to Marianna the first night no problem at all (12 hrs) now I say 12 hours...it should normally only take 10 hours or shorter but we got hit with terrible thunderstorms for part of the way and had to slow down, we saw some pretty bad crashes on the way, very scary stuff. We were never so glad to get in that room for a nice hot shower and comfy bed. We stayed in the Comfort suites and got a great rate of $70 a night incuded a lovely hot breakfast. I would highly reccomend this hotel, very clean, comfy beds. Funny thing happened to us...about 5am in the morning we were awakened to a dog barking, I woke up and was about to bang on the wall and tell them to shut their dog up when my 10 yr old sprang out of bed and grabbed his backpack...he had set his alarm on his ipod ( with a dog barking sound) so we would not be late for setting off for Disney) !!!!! SOOO we were all up earlier than planned...I would imagine so were the people in the next room who probably thought WE had a dog in our room!!!!
After a nice hot breakfast we set off to Disney..it took us about 6 hours the next day going at a nice pace with nice clean restrooms on route ( yes we hit some pretty nasty ones on the way !!!
On the way back we stopped off at Panama City beach for 2 nights (omg beautiful) wished we had stayed longer so we ended up driving back here in August for a week.
To be honest the drive was not as bad as I thought and I would definity do it again if it was the only way we could afford to go to Disney. Happily....I am pleased to announce this year we have decided to forego the moderate resort and switch back to a value resort and fly again. We booked our flights last week (YAYYYYYYY) got a great deal with United...Houston to Orlando may 6th to 11th $870 for 4 of us.I cant say I miss the driving..I will however miss the CBR...oh well you cant have everything..we are trying the Music resort this year, somewhere new and hey it is Disney! So to those of you thinking of driving the 16 hour drive with young kids I say YES definitly do it..its SOO worth it.

 

[Disnewbie76]

We will be there the same time you are. We are leaving houston the evening of the 5th and driving down and returning on the 16th.

 

[pktbMouse]

We will be there the same time you are. We are leaving houston the evening of the 5th and driving down and returning on the 16th.

yayy where are you staying?? we did the longer days last time when we were driving but the money we are saving on the less days boarding the dogs this year let us buy the flights. (3 big dogs and one cat $115 a night!!) we honestly dont have any trustworthy neighbors to take care of them so we feel much safer just boarding them. May is a lovely time of year to go. This is when we always go every year when its not so busy and not too hot. I hope you have a wonderful vacation. My 4yr old has flown before when he was 18 months old but cant remember what it was like so he will be super exicited, all he can talk about is how he wants to fly on a plane in the sky. We will tell him nearer the time as you know what he will be like...we will never hear the end of it!!!

 

[::danielle::]

Does anyone have suggestions of parks/playgrounds along the route to stop? My kids cannot ride in the car for so long without burning some energy. Truck stops creep me out so we avoid those. A small community or neighborhood park near the freeway would be ideal.