Driving from Texas to Orlando

[bear74]

We are thinking of Driving from Austin, Tx. to Orlando. Has anyone done this recently? Our DD will be 4 when we go. How far were you able to go on your first day?

TIA for all the help/

 

[disneyfreakk]

i have never driven from texas to florida and i dont have any kids. BUT i thought this link might help out. http://mappoint.msn.com/ this site ...a car, plus it would cut down on travel time.

 

[Nebsky]

I made the drive from Dallas back in March. Never driven from Austin, but the drive itself was really fun for me and my family.

Figure you have to get to Houston to get on I10.
Go through Louisianna and once you get to New Orleans you definately want to take the loop to skip the city. I think you would go I10 - I12 - I10. After New Orleans your back on I10.

The drive for me went from Dallas, Shreveport LA, Jackson MS, Mobile AL then onto I10. I10 from Mobile/Pensacola to Lake City Florida is absolutely horrible. If you are going to do it, be prepared for it to never end. UGGH!! Not a whole lot to see. At Lake City FL you turn south on I75 and go to Floridas Turnpike. Then its a straight shot to I4 and Disney World.

It took us 17.5 hours from Dallas. We were moving right along.
Since you have kiddo in the car, I would reccommend one of the DVD/VCR players. They are a live saver (especially in the panhandle of FL!!!!) Our son was great in the car and was very low key.

Our first day we left at 4am and made it to Lake City in 14 hours. We could have made it all the way to Disney, but didnt because we had passed the cut off time for cancelling our hotel room for free. On the way home, we made the mistake of leaving the park at 7pm. We only made it to between Tallahassee/Pensacola near Eglin AFB area. We wanted to make it all the way home. It was brutal.

If you have any other questions, just ask...

Jeff

 

[Dcat2u]

We drove from Killeen to Orlando & Pt Canaveral last month. We usually drive to Pensacola which can take 10-12hrs stop overnight and then on to Orlando 5-7hrs. Hope this helps!

 

[Planogirl]

We've done it from both Houston and Dallas. We drive hard the first day and try to stop in Pensacola or thereabouts. We made it to Tallahassee one time but that was difficult.

I prefer to get the hardest part of the drive over with on day one. Then it's a lot easier on day two.

 

[Karibeth19]

We drive from Tulsa, OK (not Texas, but close enough!), and it usually takes us 17 to 18 hours to get there. I definitely agree with the other posters, do most of your driving the first day, so the second day is shorter. Our last trip, we made it to Hattiesburg, MS on the first day, and arrived at WDW by 3:00 the next day. You're fortunate because you are in such close proximity to I-10, so you probably can make it to Fla. the first day, which will really shorten your second day. We don't have the luxury of being able to stay on major interstates the whole way, and that's what slows us down. As for your DD, I agree that a DVD or VCR player is a must! My DD was 5 the first time and 6 the second time we drove, and the videos were a lifesaver! If you haven't yet, order a Disney vacation planning video for her to watch on the way. My DD watched hers over and over again on our trips. Also, make sure she understands that it will take two days to get there, and that when you're done driving on the first day, you won't be there yet. My DD was so excited on our first trip that after only an hour and a half she was asking, "Are we almost there? When will we be there?". So, the morning of our second trip, I sat her down and reminded her (at great length!) that we wouldn't be there until the next day. Also, since she always wanted to know where we were, we gave her a map with our stopping point and WDW marked, so we could point out where we were, and she could see how much farther we had to go.

Hope this helps!

 

[Aimeedyan]

We drove, essentially, from Austin in May, but we drove all the way through. Only took us 17 hours, including all gas and meal stops. We were in a hurry (did not speed, though! just ate in the car and such) =)

The drive was great, very easy and at night was even better. If someone can handle night driving I REALLY recommend driving alot late at night... there was a big difference in traffic once the sun came up and the drive got more frustrating =)

We left at 10pm from San Marcos, and drove all the way through.

Word of warning, once you get into Florida, there is NOTHING for hours, it seems... nothing to look at, stop at, eat at, nothing. The other states are much more interesting and zip by =)

When crossing through the swamp in Louisiana on the way through Baton Rouge, be sure and obey the speed limit, even though it's ridiculously low. They like to run radar there.

Any other questions, let me know!

 

[Kirby]

We've driven from the Dallas area to WDW twice and taken the same route as Nebsky and agree with all the posters that say to make your first day the longest drive. We left both times about 4:30 and made it to Tallahassee about 7:00 that night.

When you go through LA on I10, make sure you don't follow I10 down through New Orleans. Catch I12 (I believe) in Baton Rouge. It connects back up with I10 over by MS.

And once you get on the toll road in Florida, look for Hwy 27. It takes you west of WDW and 192 intersects with it. On our first driving trip down, we went on down to Orlando and took I4 to WDW. We left on Hwy 27 on our way back and liked it much better. So on our second driving trip, we made sure that we cut off on Hwy 27 to get to WDW. I don't know if it was any faster but we liked the driving on it better.

 

[Robbiesmommy21]

We're driving from Houston to Disney with a 4 yr old.This is our first trip but my dh has driven to charlotte Nc over night before so We're leaving at 7pm and driving straight though. My ds will sleep in the car that night which will make it easier on us and him because we're planing on being there sometime early afternoon. so he wont feel like he's been in the car for as long as it will actually be.
Jacqueline

 

[bear74]

Thanks for all the Info. Where would you guys stay overnight? We were thinking we could get into the panhandle of Flordia on the first day.

We were thinking it would take us 2 days leaving about 5am in the morn. the first day. the second day leaving the hotel around 7-8 am hopefully getting to DTD by 1-2 pm.

 

[Kirby]

We always reached Tallahassee the first day about 7:00 EST, 6:00 CST. We stayed at the Holiday Inn in 2000 and the Hampton Inn in 2002. Both were decent hotels. They are at the same exit. I don't know what is available before that but I can confirm that there is not much between Pensacola and Tallahassee unless you want to get off of the interstate.

 

[mareed]

We'll be doing the drive from Houston at Christmas. I found Marianna, FL that looks like it's right on I-10 between Pensacola and Tallahassee. Looks like it's about 60 miles from Tallahassee.

To the OP from Austin - I'd think about making it to Pensacola or maybe Marianna, which is about 120 miles further. I think making it to Tallahassee would be quite a stretch for 1 day from Austin.

Can anyone comment at all on stopping at Marianna? We have a reservation at the Best Western on the way over. This will be our first time driving, and we're following the strategy mentioned here of leaving early the first day and making it a long day of driving so that the day of arrival in Orlando is a shorter day's driving.

 

[Nebsky]

We stopped in Marianna on the way home. I couldnt remember the name of the town. We stayed at the Ramada Select on the eastbound side. Very nice place and was under 50.00

As for driving to Tallahassee, its easily done in 1 day.
Like I said in my post above, we left Dallas and were in Lake City which is 1.5 hrs or so from Tallahassee. We did that in 14 hours. If you have 2 people driving it works out pretty good. My wife and I switched off every 3-4 hours. We could have made it all the way to Orlando, but our room was guaranted to a credit card and we were past the cut off time. Neither of us were tired.

 

[jrsharp21]

Sorry to dig up such an old topic, but my family is actually considering the drive from Houston to WDW. We moved out to Houston from Norther California about a year ago and were frequent Disneyland visitors. Since we are now a little closer to WDW, we figured we would switch gears and go to that park. Driving seems to be the more economical choice as opposed to flying. I don't mind the long drive, I actually drove out to Houston from Northern California and drove 17 hours before stopping for a rest.

When people do stop, what seems to be the best place to stop and what hotels along the way? Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[jrsharp21]

Disregard. I found the Houston to Orlando thread.