Driving from Minneapolis, anyone do this?

[tinarena2000]

We are driving down from Minneapolis for the 1st time,(Driving that is) Has anyone else driven from this area, and if so where did you stop to stay the night? Any tips for us? We are a family of 5 driving all adults, the kids are 17, 22 and 25. Any tips for the road trip would be helpful. Thank you in advance

Tina

 

[disneymom3]

We have been driving to FL for years now and live nw of Mpls. It takes us about 28 hours of drving time less a stop overnight. We drive through the first night, arriving in Nashville at about 14 hours after we set out. We stop for the night in the Macon GA area and make it to WDW by about 4 the next day.

I have younger kids--in fact our first drive down was because after taking the boys at almost two yrs and the other 5 months, DH said he was never going on an airplane with them again. The kids are now 8, 9 and 13 and they LOVE to drive.

On our way home we stop in northern Atlanta and then in Janesville for the nights so it takes us longer to get back but generally DH can't take a long nap to save up for driving the night through.

We go to Madison, then head south on I think 90 to whatever goes outside of Rockford IL. No way are we going through Chicago. If you go to the AAA website I think you can plan out a TripTik even without being a member. You just have to print it yourself. From our house it's about 1500 miles.

 

[seasheller]

We are right on the Minnesota border, 30 miles north of Hudson on I94 and drive down every winter. We are 1600 miles away and always stay half way in Paducah, Kentucky. Lots of motels on exit 4. It is 12 hours of driving each day for two days. Since you have several drivers, it is possible to do it straight through, but you will be dead tired when you get there. Most of the state of Illinois is easy country driving, Kentucky is a quickie state, Tennessee is busy around Nashville and Chattanooga, Georgia takes a long time. We always take the HOV lane through Atlanta rather than the bypass; it is much quicker at almost any time of the day. Florida is easy freeway driving, with no major cities to go through until you turn off 75 toward Orlando. Be sure to stop at the Florida visitor center for free samples of orange juice. Hope you have a great trip!

 

[ShiPooOwner]

We live on the northeast side of the Cities. I read the other posts and they don't seem to mind the drive or actually like it. I'll be the wet blanket and say I don't ever want to drive it again. We broke it up with two nights in a motel with the first one in middle or So. IL. It seems like it takes forever to drive through IL and GA. We then stopped again outside Atlanta for the second night. It turned into the longest 2 1/2 days of my life and I think we drove it twice before we said never again. So, Tina, I'm afraid my only tip is don't do it! SC or NWA will get you there in three hours and is worth the extra money compared to all that time in the car. We just booked tickets for early December with SC for less than $200 each.

If you must drive, I recommend the following:

NEVER stop to use the restroom anywhere in or near Chicago.

 

[Minnesota!]

Never driven to FL, but driving from Saint Paul to Cincinnati cured me of ever wanting to drive to FL, lol!

IL is verrrrrry long and boring.

However, you have 5 drivers. Each taking 3 hour shifts - if you are people that can sleep in the car - you can probably make it down there in a good amount of time. My dad made it to Daytona Beach from here in under 20 hours once. Set out early early one AM, get to WDW early early the next AM and just sleep once you check in!

Have fun!

 

[tinarena2000]

Thank you my Minnesota friends (And Wisconsin), I know it will be a long haul, and I am ready for the adventure, I think... I do apprecitate the help and tips. See you in the World

Tina

 

[mombare]

Hello fellow Mn'er!

We made the trek in January 2008, and we are hoping to make the second trek in early 2010. We live near Rochester, and after some serious car issues the night before scared1, we headed on our way about mid-morning. We hit Illinois and the absolute worst blizzard I have ever seen in my life! We made our first stop in Effingham, IL and spent the night at the Holiday Inn. I would definitely recommend driving beyond that, but we were just literally stuck. Side note....make sure you don't have snow covering your license plate when driving in a blizzard because apparently pulling a certain person over (ME) for that offense was much more pressing than the 20 cars flipped upside down in the ditch). So...we made it to our destinatin in GA (relatives) the second night. One thing to be aware of when planning this - you do not want to hit Atlanta during rush hour. We spent extra time eating and shopping at a town in the mountains so that we wouldn't hit rush hour. We did hit some in Chattanooga, but not nearly as bad as Atlanta would have been. We stayed in GA a few days before embarking to Florida, and the drive to Orlando was about 9 hours from Athens, GA.

I think driving is a absolutely wonderful, especially when you are on a budget and you have the extra time. Our kids were 3 and 5 at the time, and they were absolute troopers! I think having extra adults along to drive is a bonus, especially for the return drive. Have fun!

 

[disneymom3]

I would add that yes GA and IL are LONG states! That is what bums out the kids so we have to find other markers than "hey we are in a new state!" Course it thrilled them on our way to CA because no states took that long.

As for not stopping in Chicago...I say, don't go near Chicago period! Some of those toll line things are insane!! Also, don't stop in GA at a gas station to use the bathroom. You are NOT going to find what you do here at home and it might just scare you. The rest stops in GA are lovely, stick to those!

 

[tegdig]

We have done it many, many, too many times!
I hate going over Eagle Mountain in Tennessee, just before Chatanooga, no one else in my family hates it, I just have a thing about it. We used to go down I94 through Rockford, Nashville, Atlanta, etc. The last few times we went via Huntsville from Nashville rather than Chatanooga to not go on "my mountain". That worked well. We have also gone down 35E through Iowa and take I80 over and then down through Memphis, etc. We seem to make any of the trips in about the same amount of time.....usually one night on the road.
Have a safe trip.

 

[lovemygrowingfamily]

Wow some of you are scaring me. Our family is leaving January 29, 2010 from Grand Forks,ND and we plan to get to Disney on Sunday Jan 30th and driving staight through with just dinner, gas and potty breaks. I work nights so I am used to driving at night and sleeping during the day and dh works days so it should work well.

Since some of you have driven in the middle of winter what route would you think would be the best. I have 3 mapped out one was through Chicago sounds like I will X that one off the list. Our kids are used to driving to the cities 5 hours and back in 1 day.Is there anything is Tennessee to do in the mjiddle of winter?

 

[MommaSnowwhite]

I haven't driven from MSP but I had to read this thread (I have family in the area). I was laughing about the GA bathrooms - grossest I have ever seen! My DH even thought they were disgusting!

We have driven from Michigan - about 18 hours and we did not drive through the night. I don't know how people do it!

best of luck!

 

[corpgirl]

We drive from central MN to Disney every other Christmas. Last December we drove straight through with no overnite stops. I have stopped in Chattenooga then straight to Disney. With a family of 5, sometimes 6, driving is alot cheaper than flying. We start at about 6 pm, drive through the night and sometimes stop overnite, then up early in the morning to Disney. Take the route through Rockford, ILL then to Chattenooga. Avoid Atlanta during rush hour - terrible. Also, watch the speed through Georgia. Hope this helps. Planning our next road trip for Christmas 2010.

 

[Chicago526]

I live in the Chicago area and have driven to MN and to WDW (seperate trips, of course).

Don't go near Chicago or Atlanta anywhere close to rush hour if you can avoid it. Traffic in both cities can be a nightmare, espeically if there is bad weather. In Chicago rush hour starts at about 6-6:30 AM and lets up around 9 AM, and picks up again around 4-4:30 until 7ish at night. I haven't been thru Atlanta in 10 years, but I'd imagine the rush hour times would be similar.

If taking toll roads in IL, have plenty of small bills and change handy and pay attention to the signs. We have electronic tolling now (IPASS) and you need to be sure you are in a cash lane (lane signs have big dollar $ on them). If for some reason you're in an IPASS lane and you don't have enough time to change over...STAY IN YOUR LANE and just go through it. You can go online later and pay the toll on the toll athority's website. I've seen some crazy moves by people trying to get out of the IPASS lane at the last second (including people BACKING UP! ) and it's not worth an accident.

 

[irisesareblue]

Wow some of you are scaring me. Our family is leaving January 29, 2010 from Grand Forks,ND and we plan to get to Disney on Sunday Jan 30th and driving staight through with just dinner, gas and potty breaks. I work nights so I am used to driving at night and sleeping during the day and dh works days so it should work well.

Since some of you have driven in the middle of winter what route would you think would be the best. I have 3 mapped out one was through Chicago sounds like I will X that one off the list. Our kids are used to driving to the cities 5 hours and back in 1 day.Is there anything is Tennessee to do in the mjiddle of winter?

Hi - we live north of you (in Manitoba) and would recommend that if you are travelling through the winter, take I-29 south to Kansas City (area), then go east to St. Louis (I-29/I-70/I-24/I-75)- my theory is that you'll drive out of the snow on the first leg of the drive (as opposed to going east first near the lakes which will mean that your moving east will be through snowier territory). We drove through Minneapolis/Chicago route on our first trip down last year and then drove back the Kansas City/I-29 route. This year, I'll be driving down after a Christmas viist with family in Ontario and will take I-75 from Detroit south but on my way back home to manitoba from Orlando will take the I-75/I-24/I-70/I-29 route.

 

[tegdig]

when we take the route south through St.Louis, Memphis, Birmingham,Montgomery, Dothan, Tallahassee, we get out of the snow much faster. My family thinks I am nuts when I go this way, but I do better with weather, mountains, and I make it in the same amount of time and mileage.
That time of the year can be very tricky with weather.

 

[ShiPooOwner]

I haven't driven from MSP but I had to read this thread (I have family in the area). I was laughing about the GA bathrooms - grossest I have ever seen! My DH even thought they were disgusting!

We have driven from Michigan - about 18 hours and we did not drive through the night. I don't know how people do it!

best of luck!

I'll betcha the restroom we stopped at (DH has a pea-sized bladder I think) somewhere in the heart of Chicago beats all the GA restrooms piled on top of one another! I was afraid to get out of the car because I was sure I'd get mugged at 7:30 A.M. so I locked all the doors. I'll never forget the gross details DH told me about the restroom. Too gross to go into here but we had to cross about five lanes of rush hour traffic to get there! So much for small bladders!

 

[OhMari]

Wow some of you are scaring me. Our family is leaving January 29, 2010 from Grand Forks,ND and we plan to get to Disney on Sunday Jan 30th and driving staight through with just dinner, gas and potty breaks. I work nights so I am used to driving at night and sleeping during the day and dh works days so it should work well.

Since some of you have driven in the middle of winter what route would you think would be the best. I have 3 mapped out one was through Chicago sounds like I will X that one off the list. Our kids are used to driving to the cities 5 hours and back in 1 day.Is there anything is Tennessee to do in the mjiddle of winter?

We pull through downtown Chicago all the time. With a 48 ft trailer. If you are coming down I94/I90 from MN-WI-IL, stop at the border rest stop in WI.
It's a beautiful bathroom break.

We take the old 41 off of (I94/I90) right outside the border and you do hit a few stop/go lights. For us, if we took the first toll, it is over $16, but if you want to stay on I94, if it only .75 for the first toll. Anyway, if you are not going through rush hour time, go downtown Chicago. Stay on I94 and you will only have to pay one more toll, vs. the 294 around Chicago. Downtown is 5-7 lanes wide, they open up express lanes and we never have trouble, getting through downtown Chicago.

I94/I90 will run into I80, then hit I65 all the way to Nashville.
Others will go over in Indiapolis from I65 and go east till they reach I75 which is a straight shot then to Florida.

Get some type of DVD player, movies help make the trip go faster.

 

[MommaSnowwhite]

I also wanted to add - you can get an I-Pass for free for the Illinois toll road. We got ours at a grocery store in Illinois - but you maybe able to get them online. They will save you alot in tolls and you can also use them in different states (I think FL is one of the co-operating states). Happy driving!

 

[tinarena2000]

Question about the Mountains, how long does it take to cross and how big are they?

 

[rapmarks]

We make the trip from Wisconsin Dells to Naples Florida twice a year. We are almost 6 hours from the Florida border....oh what a long ride.
Anyhow, here is a tip for Nashville, if you are going through at a busy time, you can take the Briley Parkway. It is one mile longer, but if you go east on it and around the city it is very lightly traveled. There is a short stretch that isn't expressway, but it still goes very smoothly.

We also take the HOV lane thru Atlanta, it has always moved nicely. We even went thru Atlanta between 6 and 7 in the evening and during the morning rush hour another time, and were never backed up.