Driving from St. Louis

[bugbugmom]

I posted this question a while ago and didn't get any response. So, I'm trying again. For those who drive from the St. Louis area...do you drive straight through? Or, do you drive halfway and stay overnight? If, you stay overnight what area and what hotel. TIA

 

[Princess Tink]

I'm not from St Louis but, I'd like to help if I can. Myself, DH, and DS (6 yrs old, 5 at the time) drove from a little town north of KC Missouri last June. I've listed the break down of our trip below. A few tips I can offer to you would be:
1) Book a room if you think your going to need a place to stay on the way down and the return trip, we looked for a place to stay on the way down for over an hour...on the way home we looked for a place to stay all the way between Murfreesboro, TN and just east of St Louis and never did find a place to stay. We ended up driving home straight through but, I would not ever want to do that again, we left Orlando Fri 130pm and got home Sat 9am...we lost a lot of time looking for a room. My husband did not want to book one because he wanted to see how far he could make it, not a good idea!
2) If you have children, get a DVD Player or VCR....this was a life saver.
3) take snacks and stuff with you. We packed sandwich fixings, chips, fruit, drinks, and salads so we could eat in the car. We actually found a really nice place to have a picnic which was awesome.

Left Lawson, MO SAT 0522 AM
Stopped just east of St Louis SAT 0906 AM
Gased/Break at ALT 41 in KY SAT 1236 PM
(stopped for 35 minutes (300-335PM) for a picnic at Rest Area in TN (beautiful view))
Gased/Break at Exit 296 SAT 0447 PM
Gased/Break Exit 18 Valdosta, GA SAT 0935 PM
((looked for a room/place to stay), finally found one in Lake City, FL (Super 8, not recommended))
Left Exit 423 Lake City, FL SUN 1009 AM
Arrived at WDW-Boardwalk Villas SUN 1230 PM
TOTAL HOURS 17.50

Hope this helps!

 

[gw_lit]

I haven't lived in St. Louis for about 8 years, but when we would drive to WDW, we'd split the trip into 2 days, 16 hours plus is just too much for one day, especially with small kids in the car. We'd usually try to get an early start (5 a.m. or so) with the kids still sleeping. Or goal would be to get past Atlanta (about 9 hours from St. Louis) and stop around Macon, that leaves about 6 hours of driving for the second day.

I can't vouch for any hotels since its been so long since I've done the drive, but I did check and there a couple of Hampton Inns in Macon, right off the interstate. I've always had good luck with Hamptons.

 

[bugbugmom]

Thank you Princess Tink and gw-lit for your responses. We did drive straight through last year...never again Our goal was to get further south of Atlanta. Thanks for the headsup...we'll check out some hotels in Macon, GA. Glad to see you are still a Blues fan!!!

 

[jctwizzer]

When driving to Orlando from St. Louis, we'd try to get south of Atlanta (McDonough?) on the way down; and somewhere between Chatanooga and Nashville on the way back. Usually worked out pretty well w/o stressing anyone: we didn't stop at any one chain; lately we've done o.k. with Hampton Inn or Fairfield by Marriott..............smooth:

 

[FWFamily4Life]

if you are going to stop here is a web site that will help you with information on I-75 exits. it is very useful. Im not sure why its not included in the transportation boad like the one for 1-95

http://www.i75exitguide.com/index.htm

its 16 hours for us from NE IN and we drive straight through overnight.

 

[bugbugmom]

Thanks to all for the responses. We can't wait