Driving from the Chicago area to WDW

[TheDshow]

We are driving to Disney this year. This will be the first time we have driven. Any suggestions on where to stop and what we might want to see along the way. My dh wants to drive straight through??? Good or bad idea?

 

[etoiles]

Hi! We are also driving from the Chicago area to Disney! (We are going in June, not sure when you are going.)

This is our first drive there but we have been in other southern areas before. Here are some of our favorite spots to stop and stretch our legs.

- Indianapolis art museum in Indianapolis, IN. It is free and fabulous! When I first went there I found it hard to believe that they had masters such as Rembrandt in a free museum. Nice restrooms too. Good place to stop for 10-20 minutes and 2-3 min off the highway.

- Lynn's Paradise Cafe in Louisville, KY. We went there previously on a KY road trip and loved it! When driving to Orlando this year DH stated that he MUST get a hot brown (Kentucky sandwich) from there again this year as we pass by!

As for stopping, I guess it depends if you want see things along the way or just get there. We are the see things along the way type so we are stopping in Atlanta for the night on the way there (never been to Atlanta) to see some things in the evening before heading to Orlando. On the way back we are stopping in Nashville for the night to see some sights before finishing the drive to Chicago.

We have done a 14 hr drive just the two of us before so you could probably handle a 17 hr drive with the two of you if you are in a hurry to get there.

 

[maddiesmom0116]

Hi-
It depends if you have kids with you and their ages. If no kids then straight through can be done by trading off driving every 3 or 4 hours. If yiou have kids, it can still be done, but it is hard on them to be couped up and that translates to hard on you. I am from Northern Indiana and we drove it when I was a kid a few times and it wasn't alot of fun. We drove straight througha couple of times,but we started to stay in Atlanta after my parents got tired of always hitting Atlanta traffic no matter how they planned around it. If you stop and stay you are also in a much better mood when you get to Disney too.

 

[chicagoshannon]

We always drive. I grew up in Southeastern Wisconsin and we would drive straight through on the way down and then stay in a hotel on the way home. We would leave the house at like 4am.

This year we're driving also (in south suburbs now) We're planning on stopping at the mamoth caves in Kentucky for about 2 hours. We will then continue the drive and stop just south of Atlanta for the night. If we didn't make the stop at mamoth caves we'd stop in Valdosta Georgia for the night. It's right near the Florida/Georgia border.

We then will stop at the Florida welcome center. You get free orange juice and they have tons of information on things to see.

If you're planning on going to a park your first day at Disney I'd highly suggest stopping for the night or your kids will be VERY crabby from not sleeping in a bed.

 

[etoiles]

Has anyone stopped to see something in Atlanta? Anything you recommend? Otherwise I am starting to think that maybe just driving through might be best.

Good tip on the Florida welcome center!

 

[Lucy6]

I'll be able to let you know in a few weeks. We are driving from the Southern burbs at the end of March. We are planning to drive straight through, the plan is to leave about 7 or 8PM on a Thursday. We are not planning anything Friday when we get there, just settle in, and get some rest. We are me, dh, ds13, and dd9. This is our plan, we'll see......

 

[Broadway Duchess]

Has anyone stopped to see something in Atlanta? Anything you recommend? Otherwise I am starting to think that maybe just driving through might be best.

Good tip on the Florida welcome center!

We used to drive all the time, but haven't in a long time. Hopefully our June vacay will be a road trip. ITA, good call on the OJ at the FL welcome center.

We haven't stayed overnight in Atlanta in some years, as we'd found it a little better on our schedule to make it to Macon, or even Valdosta before resting, but there is quite a bit to do there. This year, I plan on stopping at the new aquarium in Atlanta; it's supposed to be better than the Shedd, so I'm interested to see if that's accurate. Other things we've done in the past in Atlanta are:

• Carter Presidential Center (my family loves history and politics, so mileage varies)
• Underground Atlanta (sort of like Navy Pier; lots of shopping and eating)
• MLK gravesite
• Ebenezer Baptist Church site
• The Varsity (diner-ish restaurant; pretty good food from what I recall)
• CNN Center (we made a video of a newscast starring our family)
• The World of Coke (I only drink Coke products when I do drink pop, so I loved it, but Pepsi lovers might not care for it. Lots of samples.)
• Centennial Olympic Park - Has a 5-ring fountain which squirts water from the ground; great on a hot day!
• I don't remember too much about this, but July '95 there was some sort of street festival. It wasn't quite as big as the Taste of Chicago, but it was in a similar vein. I don't remember it being there the next year but that could have been because of the Olympics and I was kind of caught up in that.

 

[tadi]

You can take a night stop in Pigeon Forge or Gatlinburg. See Clingman's dome (highest point on east side of Missi) in Smoky monuntains National Park. Next morning you can take BlueRidge Parkway for about 40 - 70 miles from Gatlinburg, then take highway again to orlando.

Smoky will be right in middle of your journey (630 miles) from Chicago and Orlando both.

On return you can stop in Mammoth caves. Night halt. Take Mammoth cave tours next morning and then start for Chicago in night. Mammoth caves is 800 miles from orlando, 400 miles from Chicago.

If you do not want to spend lot on night stays, then get cheaper hotels like Super8, EconoLodge etc for about 40 for family of four.

Enjoy.

 

[TheDshow]

Thanks everyone for your tips!!! Very helpful. I will be checking into all of them.

 

[etoiles]

Also wanted to thank everyone for the tips. I think maybe we will check out things in Atlanta and spend the night there or close by there since we enjoy seeing new things and visiting new places. There seems to be lots to do.

To anyone who hasn't been to the Smokey Mountains - Tadi is right on the money and Clingman's Dome is gorgeous. It would be worth a stop.