Driving from MI to Disney....

[umaangel00]

Not sure where to post this. If its in the wrong place, can someone please move it? Thanks! Anways, we will be doing this treak all over again in March. What should I consider when doing this? It will be DH and I only. We have no children yet. Any tips are greatly appreciated!

 

[DisneyMom5]

Are you coming from the west or east side?
We drive about 10-12 hours a day, with stops. We are from the west side of MI, so we stop around Chattanooga for the night.
I would say take a lot of breaks, enjoy the scenery, Have a great time!

 

[hotrodtigger]

DW and I have done the drive six times over the last 11 years. We like to get the books on tape or CD at Cracker Barrel. They're spread out all the way down I-75. If you return them as soon as you finish, it's only like $3/week. If you like a particular subject, sometimes you can get them from the library too.
The last two times we've actually made it across the Florida border on the first day driving in about 16 hours (we live right on the Michigan border near I-75). It makes for a long first day, but a nice short second day. The drives through Georgia and Florida seem to take forever.

 

[umaangel00]

We will be coming from Grand Rapids(West Michigan). I just did the trip in March. DH drove us until we were out of snow (I can't drive in the winter lol). I then drove us the rest of the way. We only stopped once or twice at truck stops to sleep. On the way home, I drove the entire way!

 

[umaangel00]

Oh yeah I never finished the post. LOL. Anyways, I wanted to say that I just need tips to make it better. I love to drive ( I can not stand being the passanger, I get panic attacks for some reason). So anything I can do to make the trip more enjoyable always helps.

 

[Local_Girl]

We drive down from Holland, MI and stop for the night right across the Georgia border, in Calhoun, GA. It means a long first day, but a shorter second day. Also, because we often leave on a Sat. morning, we are driving through Atlanta on Sunday morning, avoiding rush hour traffic...

As for passing the time, we've always been concerned with keeping the kids occupied...mostly with DVDs and Gameboys . DH and I just enjoy talking to each other and listening to music.

 

[SyracuseWolvrine]

Drove from Ann Arbor to Orlando twice. Both times were on I-75, and both times, I stopped overnight after I was south of Atlanta. If you'll be driving on I-75, get the book "Along Interstate 75" (not remembering the author's name right now), incredibly useful book ... has detail maps of the entire route, as well as listing all the gas/hotel/fast food and some entertainment options, sorted by exit.

 

[umaangel00]

When we went before, we stopped in Macon, GA and got a hotel room. It made for a nice short 2nd day that's for sure. LOL. We have Microsoft Streets and Trips. I can't get enough of that program! LOL. It's great. The only thing we don't have is the GPS locator because we didn't think we would need it. I haven't even planned our trip yet though. DH is upset because I am planning it now and it's 8 months away. I have 3 travel agency working with me to get the best quote. We were going to stay off Disney property but I want the full Disney experience this time, so we are probably going to stay at either All Star Pops or All star music.

 

[iluvbears]

this is my first time posting so bear with me. My DH and I will be driving down from the Holland MI area in Jan and this our first time traveling that far of a distance in the winter. What tips does anyone have

 

[umaangel00]

I am not sure what tips I can give since I started this thread and I have only taken the trip once. I guess the one tip I can give is if you feel like you need a break, take one! I didn't do that and I was miserable until I did take a break. I wanted to get to my stopping point in the worst way and I refused to stop until I did. I wouldn't recommended bringing a cooler either. We hardly used ours. We had drinks and food in it but the food got ruined by the ice melting so we stuck to fast food restaurants on the way back.

 

[Simba]

We've done the trip from the Grand Rapids area twice. Both times we made it to Lake City, FL the first day. It was a very, very long drive for the 1st day, but it was great getting up at 7am on day two and being to Disney before noon. Just take your time and do whatever is comfortable for you. A lot depends on time constraints you may have as well. Enjoy the ride Just an idea, you might want to check Allegiant Air out of Lansing for flights. I'm nt sure your reason for driving, but you may be able to get direct flights to Orlando-Sanford for around $165. That may be cheaper than driving if the gas prices stay the way they do. Just an idea.

 

[umaangel00]

I wish I could fly. I am afraid of doing it. Never done it, never will. LOL

 

[Simba]

Alright, I understand. I knew there must be a reason for you to driving

 

[DisneyMom5]

My friends always fly out of Flint. They claim that it has the cheapest to Orlando. I have six kids, thus, we drive! We don't mind the driving so much. The scenery through Kentucky and Tennesse are interesting.

We've done the trip from the Grand Rapids area twice. Both times we made it to Lake City, FL the first day. It was a very, very long drive for the 1st day, but it was great getting up at 7am on day two and being to Disney before noon. Just take your time and do whatever is comfortable for you. A lot depends on time constraints you may have as well. Enjoy the ride Just an idea, you might want to check Allegiant Air out of Lansing for flights. I'm nt sure your reason for driving, but you may be able to get direct flights to Orlando-Sanford for around $165. That may be cheaper than driving if the gas prices stay the way they do. Just an idea.

 

[umaangel00]

I didn't mind the drive down, hated it on the way back though. LOL. Not much traffiic either. Once I got into Florida, everyone was going 85-90 the whole time too!

 

[WDW1st-timers]

Were from Southwestern Ontario and we are doing the drive in about 58 more days. We'll be crossing the ambassador bridge through Michigan and hopefully making it to exit 101 in Georgia. I think it was called Cordele. I'm thinking on about 17 hours till we reach there. I just want to get past Atlanta and then we are fine. I'm not one to be stuck in a traffic jam.
From what I have been told it should be about 21 hours straight if we wanted; non-stop. Minus gas stops.


Can't wait!!!!!!!!!!

 

[umaangel00]

It's only 21 hours from your place? REALLY??? From my house it's about 24-25 hours and Im in Michigan. LOL

 

[Disneyjosh229]

We did it this way. Its not the cheapest, but its the easiest IMO.

1. Left From Brighton (40 mi NW of Detroit) at about 6:00 pm
2. Drove to Florence, KY (Just south of Cinci)
3. Spent the night in Florence and left early at about 7:00 am.
4. Arrived at about 10:00 PM in Orlando.

 

[bigmac5]

We are from St. Thomas Ont (near London) We cross over at Port Huron and then catch up to I-75 and take it all the way down. We like to leave about 3 am. You can get get a lot of miles in before the rest of the world wakes up. We take a lot of short breaks and grab a motel around 3-5pm (depending on how we are feeling) Eat, relax, bed by 9 and start out again at 3. We don't really sightsee on the way down since we have done it before and we usually want to get to our distination

 

[WDW1st-timers]

It's only 21 hours from your place? REALLY??? From my house it's about 24-25 hours and Im in Michigan. LOL

Yup!!!!!!!! Check out mapquest and the I-75 book and they both give me the same answer. You must drive slow! Just kidding. We plan on leaving about 11 at night on Friday. Drive till around 5pm. Grab a hotel in GA, and then back up around 8 on the road for the rest of the trip. I'm thinking around 1 or 2 we should be in Disney. I have used mapquest for alot of my trips and it's been really accuate.