Driving from Northern IL

[fabfinn]

Anyone else pull this off? Where's a good half-way point? Any trusted websites to find safe, clean, family friendly rest stops, hotels, dining options?

We'll have a 10 year old, 7 year old, and 2.5 year old... are we crazy?

Thanks so much!

 

[usrtyz]

We drove from Madison, WI in 2009. At that time I had a 2 1/2 year old and a 4 year old. We stopped in Chattanooga on the way down and on the way back we stopped in Effingham. We are going again next year and have decided to fly. It wasn't that the drive was bad, we just got a good deal on plane tickets. I figured it would be over $400 to drive and I had gotten plane tickets for $800 for all five of us.

 

[HuskerFaninIL]

I live in Northern Illinois (about 2 seconds from WI) and I wish you luck. My kids would probably drive me nuts, so we're flying

Have a safe trip and I hope you get good information on half way and such.

 

[WIDisneyFan]

We live in the Milwaukee area (so not too far from you) and made the drive to Disney this summer as well as drove to Jacksonville FL over spring break. Our crew consists of me, my wife and 3 kids ages 6, 4 and 2.

The drive really is not that bad, more than anything just a bit long and boring. On our way down we stopped in Dalton, GA which was about 12 hours travel time including stops. There is a nice Hampton Inn there that I would recommend.

On the way home we made a stop in Jacksonville to visit family so I can't be too much help there.

There is a great thread on the topic of long drives that you should take a look at. For 2,000+ Mile Round-Trip Drivers Only! (II) http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2507731&page=213. It is a great group of people that can answer just about any question on long drives.

If you have any questions I can answer please feel free to drop me a PM

 

[DemoBri1]

I think that you will find a great many people use Chattanooga as a 1/2 way point. We took a trip down to Atlanta one year and that's where we stayed. I've also heard about the Dalton, GA area as well, so I think either one would be a good start.

 

[cruisingkat]

We drive down to FL several times a year. We are in the Chicago area and usually stop just south of Atlanta in McDonough,GA. We leave around 9:30-10 am (chicago time) and arrive around 8:30-9 pm (GA time). We try to get through Atlanta at night so we don't have to deal with rush hour in the morning. When we first started driving down, we used Chattanooga as our stopping point. We then tried stopping in the Atlanta area but found that we had to deal with the morning rush the next day. So we now stop in McDonough, GA which gets us through Atlanta in the evening.

 

[lugnut33]

We drove from Beloit, WI last Dec. I did all the driving and it wasn't too bad. We ran into a snow storm in TN, so we took the western route through Memphis, Miss and Alabama because hwy 24 around Chattanooga was snow covered (they ended up closing it). Stayed in Birmingham, then drove the rest of the way the next day. On the way back we made it to around Paducah, KY. Had heavy traffic all the way from Orlando to Chattanooga.

 

[Jeafl]

We're in the northwest suburbs of Chicago and drive down there all the time. We always stay at the Hampton Inn in Marietta, GA on the way down. It's a longer drive the first day, and we generally get there by mid afternoon on the second day.

 

[hollypoast]

We drove from Madison, WI in 2009. At that time I had a 2 1/2 year old and a 4 year old. We stopped in Chattanooga on the way down and on the way back we stopped in Effingham. We are going again next year and have decided to fly. It wasn't that the drive was bad, we just got a good deal on plane tickets. I figured it would be over $400 to drive and I had gotten plane tickets for $800 for all five of us.

We live in Sauk City... where are you flying out of and what airline?

 

[budafam]

We drove from Manitowoc, WI in May for our first trip ever. Manitowoc is between Milwaukee & Green Bay. We left around 7:30 am on a Friday morning and stopped in Chattanooga, TN around 9 that night. We drove the rest of the way the next day and got to Disney at 4:00. We drove with a 2 & 4 year old and they were fantastic the entire time. We were really nervous about driving but it went sooo smoothly, we're planning to do it again next year (unless we can find a flight that is about the same price as gas). My husband was extremely nervous about driving so long (as he usually gets tired) but he did great and did ALL the driving (even though I offered numerous times!) It's really not that bad... there are so many bigger cities that break up the drive... it goes by quickly. Even our ride home seemed to go pretty quick.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

On our way down we stopped in Dalton, GA which was about 12 hours travel time including stops. There is a nice Hampton Inn there that I would recommend.

I have stayed multiple times at that specifc Hampton Inn and I would also recommend it.

 

[fabfinn]

All your posts are so encouraging. We're feeling better about this decision.

How about paying tolls? We have an I-Pass which is on the EZ-Pass system but I checked and it looks like we'll only be able to use that in Indiana when we drive through it.

Have you found most rest areas to be nice? We're hoping not to stop too often. Thinking now of leaving around 430am on a Friday. I hate to pull the kids out of school one more day but we want to be able to be in Disney by mid-afternoon on Saturday.

Thanks again for all your help! This is great.

 

[mjmartin01]

you can use the IPass on I65? We are driving next June (we usually fly).

 

[kneemeister]

I 65 is a Freeway, so you only need your I-pass for the skyway and the first few miles of the Indiana Toll Road to I-65. That is the only toll until the Florida Turnpike.

 

[mjmartin01]

ok thanks..we've never drove to Fl before so I have no clue...