Driving from Northern Illinois

[pskorf]

We normally fly to WDW but this year with the price of airfare this year (Spring Break Week) we have opted to drive instead. We will be traveling with myself, my husband and 2 15-year-old girls. We are thinking of leaving on Friday afternoon (between 2-3pm) and driving straight thru. Can anyone tell me the best route to take?

My husband will drive for part of the way on Friday afternoon, but then I will mostly likey do the night driving as I am a night-owl. If we do decide to crash somewhere for a few hours on Friday night instead, where is a good place to stay?

Thanks for your help.

 

[ilovevacation]

God bless you for driving. I love PA...so i can't offer specific advice to your situation. I can recommend using an online direction site and check out the routes. When we drive 10 hours to the beach each summer we do the same. We leave Friday afternoon. Prior to leaving we check out our routes and really consider how far we can go in one day. We typically stop 7 hours in so that we get some sleep and are safe. Also, you should keep in mind what you want to do the first day you arrive. I world think $100 hotel is probably with the sleep in comparison to what a day at Disney costs. Also, if you drive through the night what is the livelihood your room will be available when you arrive to freshen up? Just a few logistic things to consider.
Safe travels!

 

[WIDisneyFan]

We live just North of Milwaukee and have made the drive to Florida a number of times over the last few years. What seems to work the best for us this time of year is:
Take I-94 to I-294 around Chicago
to I-80
to I-65 South (stay on I-65 all the way to Nashville)
to I-24 (to Chattanooga)
to I-75

Now I am guessing from location listing as Northwest IL you are probably from the Rockford area in general? If so I would modify the route to
Take I-39 South
to I-74 and take that to Indianapolis where you cold pick up I-65

the other option would be

Take I-39 South
to I-74
to I-57 and pick up I-24 in southern Illinois.

I personally do not like the I-57 route as to me it seems to be the most boring drive on the planet but from reading the forums it does seem to be popular (and admittedly will likely have less traffic than I-65)

As for places to stay - there is a Hampton Inn and a Holiday Inn express in Dalton Georgia (exit 333) that seems to work well for us. It is about 11-12 hours drive time from Milwaukee. Another spot we have used is the Holiday Inn Express in Elizabethtown KY. It is about 7 hours from Milwaukee (we switch between the two locations based on if it is a longer 1st or 2nd day of driving).

Good luck with the drive and safe travels!

 

[cemeb4dk]

agree with the poster above, take 65 route, a bit faster and its good to get out of Illinois asap. The only thing with leaving at your time posted is you may hit some rush hour on the 80/94 at the border of Il/In. It just depends on how far west you are if its still better to take 294 to 65 or take 39 south.

** another thing we do, as we have always drove straight thru, was leave about 8-9 pm. Then you get to the chattanooga area around 8 AM or so. We usually stop here for breakfast and then do the ruby falls tour. Its a great way to break the drive up and stretch your legs.

 

[grimley1968]

A bit of local (Kentucky) advice: the sooner (further north) you get on I-75, the better, IMHO. I-75 has more 3-lane interstate in Kentucky (and I believe in Tennessee) than I-65 does. From Indy, you can take I-74 to I-275 around Cincy and then on to I-75. A lot of the widening and maintenance work that is now going on on I-65 took place years ago on I-75. You're going to end up on I-75 at some point anyway. In my scenario, you just make the jog east further north than in other scenarios.

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

I personally recommend the I-57 & I-24 routing. Yes, it's boring.* Yes, you're still in Illinois 5-6 hours after leaving home. But it has these plusses:

1) Much less traffic and considerably less truck traffic than I-65.
2) I-57 has no big cities to contend with. With I-65 you got to deal with NW Indiana, Indianapolis and Louisville.
3) When you finally leave Illinois and cross that bridge into Kentucky, you're just two hours from Nashville and now you really feel like you're making progress.
4) You never know what time zone you're in via I-65. Central Time, Eastern Time, then Central Time again, then Eastern Time again. And Nashville is west of Louisville so you're backtracking!
5) On your return trip, you reach Illinois very early in the journey. So while you still have those 5-6 hours to drive, you do feel "at home" sooner than I-65.

*-I-65 isn't any less boring, lol.

BobK/Orlando

 

[cruisingkat]

I personally recommend the I-57 & I-24 routing. Yes, it's boring.* Yes, you're still in Illinois 5-6 hours after leaving home. But it has these plusses:

1) Much less traffic and considerably less truck traffic than I-65.
2) I-57 has no big cities to contend with. With I-65 you got to deal with NW Indiana, Indianapolis and Louisville.
3) When you finally leave Illinois and cross that bridge into Kentucky, you're just two hours from Nashville and now you really feel like you're making progress.
4) You never know what time zone you're in via I-65. Central Time, Eastern Time, then Central Time again, then Eastern Time again. And Nashville is west of Louisville so you're backtracking!
5) On your return trip, you reach Illinois very early in the journey. So while you still have those 5-6 hours to drive, you do feel "at home" sooner than I-65.

*-I-65 isn't any less boring, lol.

BobK/Orlando

Have to agree with you. We drive to FL several times a year from the Chicago area -last year we ended up driving to Disney 5 times but usually do 3 - 4 drives a year. We have tried both 65 through IN and 57 through IL. We much prefer 57 over 65. The trip on 57 might be just a little longer than on 65, but it doesn't add that much time to be noticeable. There seems to be more trucks on 65. That seems to add extra stress to the drive especially when you try to pass. Even though 65 has a higher speed limit than IL, at least IL has the same speed limit for trucks and cars so you really don't get sandwiched in a group of trucks like you do in IN.