Driving from MI

[Dizfan4life]

Thanks! It is great to hear from someone that is basically in my own back yard...lol We want to get down there in the morning, and go to a park for a little bit My DH is trying to convince me that leaving at 2pm is a good Idea, but I'm pretty sure we would hit some of the busier city's in OH for rush hour that way. I'd like to leave earlier, so that if the kids need to stop I can stop and not worry about it at all... and I can take my time while DH is sleeping... He doesn't see that happening, he seems to think we will most likely be there when he wakes up.

I wouldn't leave at 2pm if I were you Cinci traffic is awful during rush hour. We got stuck in that pulling our travel trailer down to the race in Bristol, TN - other detours and backups put us in Cinci during their 6pm rush hour unfortunately . Have a wonderful trip and would you mind letting me know how the drive goes for ya? We are going to fly down next October, but the year after that I am contemplating driving down with our kids. They will be older and I think would handle the drive better.

 

[gchockeymom]

We have driven several times over the years from Detroit area to WDW. We've done it without staying anywhere on the way. I can tell you that the kids were full of energy and we were exhausted, not fun.
The fastest we ever got there was 17 hours.
Now with the Spirit Airlines deals from Detroit, we fly every time. Hubby and I went 2 weeks ago for $94 total for both of us, that's under $50 per person to flyround trip.
I agree with everyone else about the 2pm leave time. You don't want to be in Cincinnati at rush hour, not fun. Especially in March time. It could still be snowing, I know... bite my tongue, but it could be. That will slow you down as well.
Have the dvd players and ipods for the kids, they really do save the day. Put in all of the favorite disney movies, or better yet a video about WDW. My kids love watching old family videos from past trips while we are on the way.
Have a safe but fun trip!!

 

[Jasperann]

I wouldn't leave at 2pm if I were you Cinci traffic is awful during rush hour. We got stuck in that pulling our travel trailer down to the race in Bristol, TN - other detours and backups put us in Cinci during their 6pm rush hour unfortunately . Have a wonderful trip and would you mind letting me know how the drive goes for ya? We are going to fly down next October, but the year after that I am contemplating driving down with our kids. They will be older and I think would handle the drive better.

I sure can.

I won this fight... We are going to be leaving as early as 9am if not earlier. I think 9 would be a good time... we could miss most of the main city's on the way down and if we reach Atlanta near rush hour time we can just stop at a play place for the kids at that time. (My mom said that Atlanta is half way from here...not sure about that though ) We will be getting there really early the next morning though and I want waffle house for breakfast... (do they have those in FL)

 

[Jasperann]

We have driven several times over the years from Detroit area to WDW. We've done it without staying anywhere on the way. I can tell you that the kids were full of energy and we were exhausted, not fun.
The fastest we ever got there was 17 hours.
Now with the Spirit Airlines deals from Detroit, we fly every time. Hubby and I went 2 weeks ago for $94 total for both of us, that's under $50 per person to flyround trip.
I agree with everyone else about the 2pm leave time. You don't want to be in Cincinnati at rush hour, not fun. Especially in March time. It could still be snowing, I know... bite my tongue, but it could be. That will slow you down as well.
Have the dvd players and ipods for the kids, they really do save the day. Put in all of the favorite disney movies, or better yet a video about WDW. My kids love watching old family videos from past trips while we are on the way.
Have a safe but fun trip!!

My DH is really wanting to drive... He wants the experience of driving. Maybe next time he will change his mind. But I'm okay with driving, and I really hope that the Snow isn't to bad.. I'm pretty sure there was snow on the ground last year around that time. That is why I want to leave early so that I can take my time and not feel rushed. I'm pretty sure that DH is going to be exhausted when we get there, because he will be the one that has been up all night driving, because he will be coming off of midnights anyways. But then we are going to a park that day. I'm thinking Epcot... not 100% sure about that though. Maybe DHS?? I'd love to hear everyone's opinion on this. We are going to MK the next day and AK the next, then Epcot, DHS, MK and then on the last day we are going to the park we really enjoyed the most... Hope we all agree...

 

[stacy347]

Jasperann ~ since you're going to have a second/full day at Epcot, I think that would be a good place for your first day as well. It would be a great time to do World Showcase because you can do that at your own pace and if any of you get tired, there are plenty of spots to stop and relax.

That way, you can leisurely visit the countries and on your other Epcot day, you can do the commando rush for rides.

I would get a FP for Maelstrom as soon as you get to World Showcase though. It can get to be quite a long wait in the afternoon but it is a fun ride.

Also, I have found that the timeline you get at www.freetrip.com is very accurate from MI to FL ~ I take it with me each time as a guideline.

 

[baby1disney]

Hi from Toledo!!!

We usually drive straight down I-75, but the last trip that we took(which was this past March)we went to I-75 and then took I-95 down thru the Carolinas. That was far better to me because you got to see the Smokies(?) on the way. It was a beautiful sunny day the day we went thru it and it was absolutely STUNNING!!!!!! We are def going that way again. Alot of DISers take that way(I-95) coming from New York, Cleveland area, etc. In my opinion, it was a little quicker than straight down.

We stopped in Brunswick, GA....which about 14 hrs into the drive. We left here at 2am and got to the hotel about 7pmish. We stopped for about 2 hours total grabbing something to eat, bathroom breaks, takin pics of mountains, etc. Then from the hotel, we were only 3 1/2 hrs from DISNEY!!! We left the hotel about 5:30 in the morning and got to AKV about 9:30-9:45(we stopped for breakfast on the way!!) that morning. The Florida line from the hotel was about 45 mins out I wanna say.

But...either way you go, just have fun and remember that ach second, minute, hour that passes...you're that much closer to the best place on Earth!!!

 

[Jasperann]

Jasperann ~ since you're going to have a second/full day at Epcot, I think that would be a good place for your first day as well. It would be a great time to do World Showcase because you can do that at your own pace and if any of you get tired, there are plenty of spots to stop and relax.

That way, you can leisurely visit the countries and on your other Epcot day, you can do the commando rush for rides.

I would get a FP for Maelstrom as soon as you get to World Showcase though. It can get to be quite a long wait in the afternoon but it is a fun ride.

Also, I have found that the timeline you get at www.freetrip.com is very accurate from MI to FL ~ I take it with me each time as a guideline.

I was thinking that Epcot would be the way to go too. That way... one of the times we wouldn't be rushing at least.

Thanks for the link. I've book marked it along with my other WDW things...

 

[Jasperann]

Hi from Toledo!!!

We usually drive straight down I-75, but the last trip that we took(which was this past March)we went to I-75 and then took I-95 down thru the Carolinas. That was far better to me because you got to see the Smokies(?) on the way. It was a beautiful sunny day the day we went thru it and it was absolutely STUNNING!!!!!! We are def going that way again. Alot of DISers take that way(I-95) coming from New York, Cleveland area, etc. In my opinion, it was a little quicker than straight down.

We stopped in Brunswick, GA....which about 14 hrs into the drive. We left here at 2am and got to the hotel about 7pmish. We stopped for about 2 hours total grabbing something to eat, bathroom breaks, takin pics of mountains, etc. Then from the hotel, we were only 3 1/2 hrs from DISNEY!!! We left the hotel about 5:30 in the morning and got to AKV about 9:30-9:45(we stopped for breakfast on the way!!) that morning. The Florida line from the hotel was about 45 mins out I wanna say.

But...either way you go, just have fun and remember that ach second, minute, hour that passes...you're that much closer to the best place on Earth!!!

I might look into that... but the drive threw the Carolinas is so long!!

I look at my time like that right now... lol Every second counts. I'm not wishing my life away.. I'm just wishing for my trip to be closer.