Driving from Missouri to Orlando

[eisforpants]

Who's done it?

What roads did you take and how were they?

We are getting ready to drive in October and are needing to put together a good plan that will take us on easy to drive roads (4 lane, well maintained).

Thanks so much in advance for the help!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

It's been many years since I've driven to Orlando (we leave in 32 days ), so I'm a tad fuzzy on the very tail end of it (off to Mapquest LOL), but we've done other parts of FL quite a bit & the drive time's about the same. I've got most of it down.

We're ~ an hour from STL out I44, so we take I44 to I270 South to I255 across the MS, then I64. I find this route easier than going through downtown STL. If you're coming from anywhere West or North of STL, you'll eventually wind up on I64. If you're SW or Bootheel, probably a different route. Anyway, from I64, it's down to I57 at Mt. Vernon, IL. Then, I57 for about an hour to I24 just past Marion, IL. I24 will take you through Paducah, Nashville, and Chattanooga. There, you'll take I75 South through the entire length of GA including Atlanta (definitely to be avoided during rush hour), and then it looks like the FL turnpike for about an hour to get down to the end. It's all Interstate or divided highway the whole way - again, assuming you're coming through STL. Rest areas in IL on this route all have playgrounds, BTW.

HTH

 

[undertheseas]

That's the way we went too. We tried doing it straight thru on the way down, big mistake because no one slept like we thought they would. On the way back we stopped in Chattanooga to go through Ruby Falls and the children's museum so that helped break up the trip.

 

[popy]

From St Louis area 16 hours, good roads, 4 lanes, alot of rest stops.
Atlanta a little tricky but not bad.

On the way down we stayed over nite at Valdosa, Ga. but we should of went further. On the way back we drove straight through, a little long but was to close to stop.

Trick is, stop at all the rest stops and walk around.

 

[RogueJayhawk]

We are driving from Kansas City to Orlando in June. We plan on leaving around 4am and trying to make it to Macon Ga for the night.

 

[NotUrsula]

If you're coming from anywhere West or North of STL, you'll eventually wind up on I64. If you're SW or Bootheel, probably a different route.

Depending on how far south, the different route will normally take you through Memphis, continuing SW on I-22 to Birmingham, then I-20 to the I-285 beltway around Atlanta to continue on to I-75. This route avoids the mountains in Tennessee.

Alternatively, one could cross the River on I-155 near Caruthersville, then cross down to I-40 via US412 to I-40 on your way to Nashville (43 miles on the smaller road). Going that way causes you to backtrack northward a bit on I-40, but if you want to drive through hilly terrain from the Bootheel area, that would be your route.

Most folks who are no further south than about Cape Girardeau will backtrack north to I-270 south of St. Louis to cross the river and head for I-64 in Illinois (Gumbo's route), because that is the faster route (even though it does take you through those gas-sucking mountains, LOL.)

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Depending on how far south, the different route will normally take you through Memphis, continuing SW on I-22 to Birmingham, then I-20 to the I-285 beltway around Atlanta to continue on to I-75. This route avoids the mountains in Tennessee.

Alternatively, one could cross the River on I-155 near Caruthersville, then cross down to I-40 via US412 to I-40 on your way to Nashville (43 miles on the smaller road). Going that way causes you to backtrack northward a bit on I-40, but if you want to drive through hilly terrain from the Bootheel area, that would be your route.

Most folks who are no further south than about Cape Girardeau will backtrack north to I-270 south of St. Louis to cross the river and head for I-64 in Illinois (Gumbo's route), because that is the faster route (even though it does take you through those gas-sucking mountains, LOL.)

You could also use some of the smaller roads for about 1.5 hours if you cut across the MS from Cape or the MS & OH from Sikeston straight over to Paducah. Even from STL, those routes are only slightly slower to Paducah than going Interstate all the way. Back in the 55 MPH Interstate speed limit days, that's how we used to go

 

[eisforpants]

Thank you for confusing me even more guys!!!

I am coming from Springfield MO (probably should have said that first), so my 2 choices are St Louis or Cape. Google Maps say Cape is an hour shorter, but if it is all crappy roads, I would prefer to stay on Interstates and drive the extra hour.


All this Disney planning is exhausting. I don't know how people do multiple yearly trips. It'll take me at least a year to recouperate from all the planning.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

From Springfield, I would not go through Cape. I would do STL or go through Sikeston (assuming you take 60 across the lower part of MO). From there, you'd take this route:

http://classic.mapquest.com/maps?1c...s=KY&2y=US&2l=37.085709&2g=-88.595833&2v=CITY



I went to an event in Wickliffe, KY last year via that route & detoured through Paducah on my way home (picked up potato soup at Rafferty's to score some points with the Mrs. ). It's Interstate 1/2 of the way to the MS crossing, then 2-lane throught Cairo, Wickliffe, and then all the way to Paducah. BUT, it's pretty well maintained & traffic is light.

If you go the STL route, definitely take I-270 South to I-255 into Illinois. It will take you well South of downtown STL and save you quite a bit of time. That is, unless you really want a good view of the Arch, although the best view will be coming home.


BTW, if you come up I44, exit 251 is often the last cheap gas in MO. You may or may not make it another 10-15 miles up the road before it goes up, but this is often the cutoff - still ~45 miles from STL.

 

[eisforpants]

Thanks so much for your replies.

I am now a little more confident that I will be able to drive with fairly decent roads.

I just didn't want to have to drive the roads like they have here in the Ozarks (curvy, hilly, too narrow) all the way to Orlando. I don't mind driving them around here, because I know them, but if you're unfamiliar, it can be scary.

 

[NotUrsula]

Thanks so much for your replies.

I am now a little more confident that I will be able to drive with fairly decent roads.

I just didn't want to have to drive the roads like they have here in the Ozarks (curvy, hilly, too narrow) all the way to Orlando. I don't mind driving them around here, because I know them, but if your unfamiliar, it can be scary.

Really not that many curves and hills in Southern Illinois, LOL, though you will encounter narrow roads. It's flat as a pancake, but can be swampy in spots. (We once drove through the area east of Cairo through the cornfields in the wee hours in mid-summer, and we started getting this awful pounding on the windshield; it felt like hitting hail, but it was ... bugs. Beetles, actually. The wipers were just about useless. Seemed like millions of them, and they were big enough to make a constant splattering sound. One of the weirdest experiences of my life.)

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Thanks so much for your replies.

I am now a little more confident that I will be able to drive with fairly decent roads.

I just didn't want to have to drive the roads like they have here in the Ozarks (curvy, hilly, too narrow) all the way to Orlando. I don't mind driving them around here, because I know them, but if you're unfamiliar, it can be scary.

If you go up through STL, it's basically Interstate all the way to Orlando. But, it may be a bit longer than cutting across.

Even if you cut through Cape or Sikeston, you're looking at 90 minutes at most off the Interstate. And as previously mentioned it's nothing like the curvy, hilly roads we have in the "backwoods" parts of MO.

The short portion from Wickliffe, KY to Paducah is about the only portion comparable to a MO backroad. And it's a mild version at that. The rest is all Interstate or divided highway (comparable to HWY 60 or better). Best part is, the road into Paducah ends up right on "restaurant row" & plugs right into I24 It's also kind of cool as you cross the MS River, take a right and then immediately get on another bridge to cross the Ohio River. You can sort of see the confluence there.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Really not that many curves and hills in Southern Illinois, LOL, though you will encounter narrow roads. It's flat as a pancake, but can be swampy in spots. (We once drove through the area east of Cairo through the cornfields in the wee hours in mid-summer, and we started getting this awful pounding on the windshield; it felt like hitting hail, but it was ... bugs. Beetles, actually. The wipers were just about useless. Seemed like millions of them, and they were big enough to make a constant splattering sound. One of the weirdest experiences of my life.)

It's kind of amazing to think that entire area for MILES was all under water in '93.

 

[NotUrsula]

It's kind of amazing to think that entire area for MILES was all under water in '93.

I remember it all too well; I was working down in the flatlands at the time (on the W side of the River) and got a call from my city mgr. at 3 am that I needed to get to work ASAP to move furniture and computers because they were afraid that our levee was going to breach. It held, as it happened, but I slept in my office for 3 days while we waited for the all-clear.

One other caution for the OP about driving the backroads in that area: they are very prone to fog, especially in summer. My advice it to try to pass through that area in the daytime if at all possible; there are places where it can be very foggy at night and in the early morning hours just after sunrise.

PS:

All this Disney planning is exhausting. I don't know how people do multiple yearly trips. It'll take me at least a year to recouperate from all the planning.

LOL, that's easy, at least from my POV. None of our trips are planned far in advance; we go only when we can grab a good airfare sale. The most planning that we really have to do is to make a couple of ADR's, check the EMH schedule to decide which park to do which day, and set the alarm for o' dark-thirty for our 30 min. drive to the airport. What can I say -- we live dangerously! (Seriously, my DH *hates* long-distance highway driving, but he has to drive all over the state for work. When we vacation we don't drive there; we fly or we don't go.)

 

[chamonix]

Really not that many curves and hills in Southern Illinois, LOL, though you will encounter narrow roads. It's flat as a pancake, but can be swampy in spots. (We once drove through the area east of Cairo through the cornfields in the wee hours in mid-summer, and we started getting this awful pounding on the windshield; it felt like hitting hail, but it was ... bugs. Beetles, actually. The wipers were just about useless. Seemed like millions of them, and they were big enough to make a constant splattering sound. One of the weirdest experiences of my life.)

The only part of southern Illinois that is "flat as a pancake" is the floodplains of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers...which is where you would be driving from Cape to Paducah, on that route. The rest of southern Illinois is pretty much all hills and hollows of the Shawnee National Forest, so if you want to avoid that, stick to the floodplains or take the other routes mentioned upthread! I64 takes you across the flat northern Illinois cornfields, then once you get south of Marion on I57 you will see the hills around you. It's a beautiful area, just wanted to warn the OP to take either the northern 64/57 route or the southern floodplain route, don't try to go through the middle of southern Illinois and expect it to be flat.

 

[NotUrsula]

The only part of southern Illinois that is "flat as a pancake" is the floodplains of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers...which is where you would be driving from Cape to Paducah, on that route. The rest of southern Illinois is pretty much all hills and hollows of the Shawnee National Forest, so if you want to avoid that, stick to the floodplains or take the other routes mentioned upthread! I64 takes you across the flat northern Illinois cornfields, then once you get south of Marion on I57 you will see the hills around you. It's a beautiful area, just wanted to warn the OP to take either the northern 64/57 route or the southern floodplain route, don't try to go through the middle of southern Illinois and expect it to be flat.

True enough. I was probably a bit too general, but what I meant was the part of Southern Illinois that would be on either of the OP's likely routes if she was cutting over between interstates; which is pretty much all in the floodplain area.

 

[eisforpants]

Thanks again guys for the wealth of information. I really appreciate it.

I hope you don't mind if I highjack my own thread but you guys would know the answer to this better than others on this board since you are from this area, but my next question is about the size of the parks (specifically MK) and the crowd levels.

How is it, in comparison to say Silver Dollar City? Is the park twice as big, 20 times as big? I can't grasp how large it may be. Also, I'm going when levels are going to be a 4 according to easywdw. What does that mean in comparison to SDC? I've been to SDC with all types of crowd levels, so it would be helpful to know if a 4 is actually SDC at Christmas or if a 4 is more in line with the early spring/late fall crowds?

Thanks again!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Can't help ya there. I haven't been to Magic Kingdom since 1985 & my memory just isn't that great

 

[kellicb]

It's been many years since I've driven to Orlando (we leave in 32 days ), so I'm a tad fuzzy on the very tail end of it (off to Mapquest LOL), but we've done other parts of FL quite a bit & the drive time's about the same. I've got most of it down.

We're ~ an hour from STL out I44, so we take I44 to I270 South to I255 across the MS, then I64. I find this route easier than going through downtown STL. If you're coming from anywhere West or North of STL, you'll eventually wind up on I64. If you're SW or Bootheel, probably a different route. Anyway, from I64, it's down to I57 at Mt. Vernon, IL. Then, I57 for about an hour to I24 just past Marion, IL. I24 will take you through Paducah, Nashville, and Chattanooga. There, you'll take I75 South through the entire length of GA including Atlanta (definitely to be avoided during rush hour), and then it looks like the FL turnpike for about an hour to get down to the end. It's all Interstate or divided highway the whole way - again, assuming you're coming through STL. Rest areas in IL on this route all have playgrounds, BTW.

HTH

Yep.....what you said. LOL

 

[undertheseas]

How is it, in comparison to say Silver Dollar City? Is the park twice as big, 20 times as big? I can't grasp how large it may be. Also, I'm going when levels are going to be a 4 according to easywdw. What does that mean in comparison to SDC? I've been to SDC with all types of crowd levels, so it would be helpful to know if a 4 is actually SDC at Christmas or if a 4 is more in line with the early spring/late fall crowds?

We just came back from SDC a few weeks ago, the first time back since we've been to Disney for a few trips. The MK is bigger, a lot bigger I think. It may be partially because where SDC is full of trees, the MK is wide open. Also the MK is easier to walk because it's flat, I had forgotten just how hilly SDC is!

A 4 crowd at MK is awesome! I haven't been to SDC at Christmas but it will probably be longer lines than you are used to but a 4 is great at MK.

While we like SDC, we're spoiled by Disney. When we were at SDC a couple of weeks ago it started to rain and there are only 2 rides open when it rains So we and about three schools' worth of kids were all waiting at Fire in the Hole! My kids are really spread apart (14, 11 and 2) and I feel like there are more rides at MK that we can do as a family. SDC has the Grand Exposition but the little kid rides were too small for the rest of us and she had to wait while they rode Wildfire, Powder Keg, the Barn Swing, etc.

I hope that helps!