Driving from Houston to Orlando..advice needed please!

[jrsharp21]

Anyone make the drive lately?

 

[Kasper1014]

We'll be making the drive from San Antonio to Disney World in March. My family are tenured long car trippers and we are soooo excited!!!

 

[LionKingDramaQueen]

Will be making this drive in March. We have done it several times, but it never gets easier. I guess I am just not a true road tripper.

 

[alex9179]

We're leaving in less than two weeks and driving for the first time from League City area. I take the kids to Kansas City every summer, so we're used to 12-13 drives at a stretch. However, we're not leaving until around 11:00am so we've decided to stop for the night in Tallahassee.

The only part I'd like to avoid is traffic around Baton Rouge! We just can't leave any earlier, and later isn't attractive either.

Not sure about stopping on the return trip. I'll probably want to get it out of the way and, with two drivers, it shouldn't be too awful.

 

[jrsharp21]

We are about 40 days out from making this drive. No really prep being done. I think we may just drive on the fly and if we get tired late at night we will look up a hotel room on our phone and stop there. Or else its full steam ahead to Orlando.

I miss the days of living in NorCal where I could get off work, hop in the car and drive to Disneyland and be there in 6 1/2 hours no problem.

 

[jrsharp21]

Less than a month away from heading out to WDW. Anyone make the drive lately?

 

[snarlingcoyote]

We're going from BTR to WDW at Mardi Gras. I'm bringing my knitting and we'll carry a book or two on CD/MP3 to listen to on the way.

I wish I had some good advice for BTR, but the only tips I've got are for some very specific situations and probably won't help too much. There is no way around it. The only good thing is that rush hours aren't terribly long so if traffic is really horrible find a full service restaurant and take your time. . .order appetizers, be indecisive about your entrées, have coffee when you're done. . .and the traffic should be better when you're done.

Unless, in the backup that was causing the problems, there's been a wreck. . .

Yeah, BTR traffic sucks.

 

[jrsharp21]

For those who have driven from that area, what is the quickest way to get to the 10/287/96 interchange in Beaumont? Google Maps says to take 105. A buddy at work said he took 45 down into Houston and then took 10 from there all the way to Florida. Another guy at work said to take Beltway 8 to 90.

We are leaving on a Friday around 4pm so looking to avoid as much Houston traffic as possible.

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

Bumping this thread just to see if anyone has traveled from the Houston area lately. If so, have you got any tips?

 

[jrsharp21]

I think my biggest take away from when we made the drive back in 2014 was to break up the trip over two days. On the way out, we left around 3pm and drove to the Florida border. Stopped and spent the night there. Left around 8am and made the rest of the drive. On the way back, we tried to push through as far as possible. We made it to Baton Rouge before we had to stop and get some rest. Then made the rest of the drive home the next day.

It was nice to have our own car out there though.

 

[CarolynFH]

Bumping this thread just to see if anyone has traveled from the Houston area lately. If so, have you got any tips?

We have driven several times a year since I retired a few years ago. At first we made it a two-day drive, stopping overnight in Pensacola each way, but I have family in New Orleans and we don’t like long days in the car much, so now we take 3 days and stay there and Tallahasse. I would recommend that you get a SunPass so that you can take the toll roads, both the Florida Turnpike and especially Hwy. 429 from the Turnpike down to Western Way, which takes you into WDW past CSR. Saves a lot of time and avoids I-4! What questions do you have?

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

We have driven several times a year since I retired a few years ago. At first we made it a two-day drive, stopping overnight in Pensacola each way, but I have family in New Orleans and we don’t like long days in the car much, so now we take 3 days and stay there and Tallahasse. I would recommend that you get a SunPass so that you can take the toll roads, both the Florida Turnpike and especially Hwy. 429 from the Turnpike down to Western Way, which takes you into WDW past CSR. Saves a lot of time and avoids I-4! What questions do you have?

I guess my first question is - is this feasible to do in one fell swoop? Could we realistically leave Houston and drive straight to WDW with two drivers? I'm a morning person and my partner in crime is a night owl so I'm thinking yes, we can. Is that an ambitous thought?

 

[CarolynFH]

I guess my first question is - is this feasible to do in one fell swoop? Could we realistically leave Houston and drive straight to WDW with two drivers? I'm a morning person and my partner in crime is a night owl so I'm thinking yes, we can. Is that an ambitous thought?

Yes, it's feasible; our son and DiL have done it three times. It's about a 15 hour drive from our house on the north side of the Houston metroplex; they live in Humble, so it's a little shorter. Last December they loaded the kids in the car before sunrise and arrived at WDW around 9 PM, I think - can't remember - and they drove straight through on their way home, too. On a previous trip in 2017 they took 2 days to get to WDW, stopping with our family in NOLA one night, but on the way home they drove straight through. DH and I just aren't up for that sort of trip anymore, but I'm sure y'all could do it!

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

Yes, it's feasible; our son and DiL have done it three times. It's about a 15 hour drive from our house on the north side of the Houston metroplex; they live in Humble, so it's a little shorter. Last December they loaded the kids in the car before sunrise and arrived at WDW around 9 PM, I think - can't remember - and they drove straight through on their way home, too. On a previous trip in 2017 they took 2 days to get to WDW, stopping with our family in NOLA one night, but on the way home they drove straight through. DH and I just aren't up for that sort of trip anymore, but I'm sure y'all could do it!

Great info, thanks! And great info on the Sunpass. I really appreciate your input! My 15 year old has never taken a "road trip" so it will be her first. She speaks really highly of it at this point in time.