Driving From Texas....

[disneybabe2005]

Anyone driven from Dallas/Fort Worth to WDW? DH and I are taking DS7 and DD4 in July. Got an offer from a friend of the family to use their timeshare at OKW...FOR FREE!! Have to use it by July 31st. So excited!

Anyway, we're thinking about stopping in Destin, FL ('bout 13 hour drive). Anyone have inexpensive hotel recommendations? Hotels there are expensive, I guess because of the beach. I heard it's beautiful there.

 

[HollisterSweetie]

Hello! We`ve driven from DFW to WDW once before and will never do it again. We stopped in Pensacola so i`m not sure about any hotels in Destin. But the hotels along the beach in Pensacola had amazing views and I`m sure they will be well worth the money in Destin too. Have fun!!

 

[disneybabe2005]

Yeah, it's a long drive, but for all 4 of us to fly would be over $1200, this late in the game. Just got the offer for the OKW 2 weeks ago. Haven't been able to find decent airfare rates for our dates. Would love to fly, but can't afford the expense!

 

[shatzjsl]

I haven't driven it but plan to someday. I bet there are some beautiful areas to drive through. Lucky you to get free rooming! Have a great trip!!

 

[dturner]

Yea, I've driven it several times, always stay in Pensacola Beach - Destin is too far for me to drive to in one day, LOL!!!!

If you don't want to stay on the beach, the Holiday Inn in Pensacola just off I10 at University Mall comes up all the times on Priceline for cheap, cheap, cheap.

 

[Aristocath]

Last time we drove was in May of 2002 and our boys were 4 and 2 1/2 at the time. We left on a Thursday morning from Fort Worth at about 5 am. It was such an easy drive for us that we were in Vicksburg,Mississippi by lunch. We had planned to spend the night in Pensacola but it was only 6 when we finished dinner there so we kept driving to Tallahassee for the night. It really helped the boys to have a shorter drive on Friday. They were so excited and we were at our resort by 12:30 or 1 that afternoon.

You probably don't want to spend the night in Destin unless you just really want to see Destin. It is at least 30 miles off the main interstate and will just add to your drive time. With kids, we were trying to make it as quick as possible.

 

[disneybabe2005]

Yes, that's true. It does add time. We were thinking about getting a head start, maybe even before 5 am so the kids can sleep for part of the way. DH wants to go for Tallahassee too the first day, so that we can have the shorter drive the next day. That does make sense. I guess if we spend more time at our stops for meals, it won't seem so long of a drive...

Maybe we should do Destin on the way home. We'll have 2 nights on the way back. We could drive to Destin from Orlando, spend the night and have time at the beach the next day. Hmmmm...

Thanks for the input!

 

[Aimeedyan]

We always drove straight through when we drove, we wanted to get there and cut down on budget costs! We opted to drive last May, there were just 3 of us adults, and once I figured in extra meals and hotel and days off work to stop and stay somewhere it ended up being just as expensive to fly! So we drove straight through.

Now, last year we drove from San Marcos, so we went south through Houston and across through Baton Rouge and such. It was a piece of cake! I would not have wanted to stop, either. From start to finish, including meal and potty stops, it was just 17 hours. We left at 10pm and got there early afternoon the next day. Nightime driving was the best - no traffic, no obnoxious drivers, no construction, etc. Great! Daytime was more frustrating as there was more traffic to deal with, even on a Saturday. We also needed to just get 2 meals this way, breakfast and lunch. We had dinner at Pop Century =)

When we were kids and drove straight through, mom and dad made us go to sleep and put us in the car asleep around 11pm and dad drove all day long. By the time we were awake, most of the trip was over so we didn't go stircrazy at all.

For us, driving was easy and worth it. This past trip we flew because it was just DH and I and he can't drive long distance or at night - he knows his limits thankfully. I ended up driving the majority of the 17 hours last year and was fine with it, and knew I could do it. My sister stayed up to make sure I stayed awake and okay.

I think if you stop after 13 hours, you might as well push that extra 4-5 hours and just get there, but everyone needs to learn their limits and judge accordingly. Lots of people cannot do nighttime driving, and it's good to realize that and drive in daytime only - even if it means 2 days of travel and a hotel room somewhere in Mississippi. If you want to stop and break up the trip, I'd do it more halfway than that...

Good luck in your plans!

 

[HaleyB]

We drove last June from Austin and it was easy. We had 3 kids in the car from 6-17! We stopped at a city recomended here and used Priceline to get the room for a really good price, I think it was about $35 and it came with breakfast (cereal muffins juice). I am looking for my binder from that trip, because I just booked another trip for October and want to bid for the same area.
It is an easy drive, 2 med days on the road. We drive to Disneyland too and that is a bit harder, 2 long days and one short one. But WDW is easy.

 

[cajunmommy]

I might save Destin for the return trip. As a previous poster said, it's a bit off of I-10, so it would definitely add to your drive time.

If you're planning on P'cola as an overnight stop, it would be good to call ahead. Many of the properties are still recovering from Ivan, so availability might be limited.

 

[Melissa M]

Last December we drove from Waco. On the way there, we spent the night in Pensacola. We'd heard rumors of hurricane damage, but it wasn't that bad. We stayed at the Motel 6. We just wanted a place to crash.

On the way home, we stayed in New Orleans. We visited the French Quarter. Knowing that we were having a "fun" stop on the way home made leaving WDW a little bit (but not much) easier!

 

[tigger12jb]

We plan on driving up to WDW in Jan, When we went earlier this year we flew, but we're going to attempt to drive this year. It will be me, DH and Ds (2 almost 3 when we go), We will take the drive from Tyler, Texas (which is 90 miles east of Dallas) I-20, through Jackson Miss, then I believe it's 59 down to Mobile Alab., then I-10 through Pensacola, then 75 through Tallahassee, Gainesville, Orlando etc..

We have family in Jackson, Miss and Pensacola (took us a little under 9 hours) so we've driven that far we figured why not make the extra 6 hour drive from pensacola to orlando

 

[disneybabe2005]

I think we're going to stop in Tallahassee on the way there, if DH doesn't want to drive straight through, and do Destin on the way back. That way, we can look forward to one more fun stop before heading back home. Thanks for all the great tips. I love these boards!

 

[VintageKnight]

my wife and i drove straight through on may 18-19 22 hrs, the anticipation of getting there kept us awake. coming home though took 23 hrs since we were driving from port canaveral.

okc- dfw- shreveport- lafayette- mobile pensacola tallahasse ocala then orlando and wdw.

same way back but should have stopped around mobile. we'll do it again, but stop on the way back.

DVK

 

[littledreamer7]

we are driving from Waco in just 2 weeks and it is interesting to see where everyone recommends staying - we are going to try to do the drive at night and not stop until we're there but don't know yet - we allowed 2 days just in case. We always take road trips though instead of planes. It saves money but most of all we can stop if we see something we want to do on the way and we have the most memories from our road trips!

angie

first trip for ds and first trip since short visit in 1997

 

[foundnemo]

We're driving from DFW to WDW in the very near future. Here's a tip, though: make reservations for wherever you plan to stay along the way. We found out a couple of nights ago that there wasn't much left open in the Pensacola/Destin/Mobile area. We were shocked as we'd driven before (albeit from Alexandria, LA, it was also in the fall) and never had a problem just stopping and finding a hotel room. We did get rooms, but not our first choices. Good luck.
BTW, we're going the S'port, Hattiesburg, MS route. Some friends of our said it shaved about an hour off of total time (as opposed to the Lafayette way). Guess we'll see

 

[jlcbshaw]

We have taken many trips and we have always driven. We usually go with family and that means about 13 of us and to fly that many people can be really expensive. Even when we go with just our six, it seems easier to drive. We drive from north Texas (Wichita Falls) and on average takes 21 hours.

Our normal routine is to drive straight through going down, leaving at 7pm and arriving around 5pm local time. On our return trip we usually stop in Bilouxi, MS. We have always set a point at which we want to arrive for our return trip. As someone else noted, trying to find a hotel room can sometimes be harder than one would think. Plus if you make plans to stop somewhere, then it is easier to plan a budget. We always use Priceline and when we check into our hotel there always seems to be someone walking up wanting to know if there is any vacancy. If there is, they always pay premium prices, usually at least double of what we paid for planning ahead.

So to kind of answer the OP's original question my number one concern would be the tolerantion level of your children and how much they are willing to stay in the vehicle when deciding when and where to stop, but I would say plan ahead. Even though our youngest is 9, and oldest is 16, the CD players and DVD player are a must!

The highways from Dallas to Orlando are all good and there isn't many areas where you can get lost, unless my wife is driving, but that is a different story.

Good luck, any more questions I would be glad to help, just PM.

 

[disneyloveralways]

I have driven this many times. Next road trip departs next Monday. I usually spend two days on the way down. Pensacola is a good stop but Destin is not much farther. Makes a short second day. It is a bit of a boring drive alot of pine trees but a road trip can be relaxing. Enjoy!

 

[m&m's mom]

Haven't done it yet. Everytime I think about it I chicken out and we fly. We just got back Saturday in 2 1/2 hours vs. 21. I'll suck it up and fly.
We were late planning this last trip and airfare was quite horrid. I will only fly non-stop because of the time and hassle w/ 2 kids. Anyhoo, this time the only halfway decent airfare I could get was on AirTran. I was nervous but it was fine.
On the other hand my DH has driven it before and he said it was a very pleasant drive.
We had a 2 week trip planned w/ me, DH, 2 DD's and both of our DM's for right after 9/11. Well my DH's mother did not feel comfortable flying so soon after 9/11 and being w/out a car for those 2 weeks so he offered to drive her. They said they had a great time. They stopped at a relatives for lunch, hit the beach for a day and took a full 2 days+ to get there. Now I am sure it was my DHs way of putting off the inevitable of actually being at WDW again but it worked.
Jeff (Nebsky) drove it last year as well from DFW area. Maybe he will chime in.
Anyway you look at it -You'll be going to WDW!!!!!

 

[HaleyB]

I just looked up my notes from last June. We stopped in Destin and stayed at the La Quinta with a Priceline bid of $32 dollars (with fees it was $41).

I would much rather drive with kids than fly. We flew to CA a few weeks ago and it was horrible, took a day plus a second day to recover- we drive it in 2 1/2 relaxing days listening to books on tape and not having my dd cry because her ears are hurting. WDW is only 2 days, and easy ones at that. Plus we get to spend a day in New Orleans.