Driving from Upper Michigan Help!!!!

[casey49781]

WE are taking our first drive , We are leaving from Upper Michigan, It says at Map Quest it will take us 23 hours, We will be traveling with 2 kids 12 and 9, How far do most of you travel the first day and what route do you take. I see I can go I 75 , but is there a shorter route and help would be great. Thankyou in advance.

 

[dzorn]

We are from the metro Detroit area. We do take 75 down. How long you drive the first day depends on how long the kiddos can take. We usually like to drive as long as possible the first day. If we are going to stop for the night we stop by 10pm but depending on DD(car sick) we may stop earlier. We usually hit mostly fast food but never drive through. Always go in to stretch, potty break, and hopefully one with a play structure. We usually stop for at least one longer meal (think Applebee's) to give a long break. We do have a portable DVD and usually will pick up 1-2 new movies that do not get opened until we leave. MP3 and video games can help pass the time. I do want to also get the along 75 driving book but I always for get to order it. Good luck with the planning we will be doing the drive in a few weeks.

Denise in MI

 

[casey49781]

Thankyou . Let me know how the trip went, its 5 hours for us to get to Detroit. So how long does it take you to get there? We would like to drive atleast 12 hours plus first day and have a shorter ride the next day. We will be doing a 4 day cruise first so will be able to rest for a couple before heading out to the parks . I was also going to get the I 75 book it looks interesting. Also 10 hours from Detroit would put me about where. Thankyou alot.

 

[MyKidsMom1820]

we will be driving from GR area. We are trying to determine if we should leave after my husband gets home from work (6 pm) and drive til midnight the first day, get a hotel and get in late to WDW the second day, or if we should start very early in the morning and drive all day, get a hotel on the road and arrive earlier in the day at wdw..... I am thinking the second option to maximize our first day at disney. Mapquest says the drive is 17 hours from our house.

We are planning to take 75, I think the route I have mapped out has us going south for awhile on a different highway before we meet up with 75 tho ...some people have told me to go straight through atlanta and try not to hit it during rush hours, and bypass Macon. This will be our first time driving tho so we have no first hand experience.

 

[pumpkinboy]

I like to avoid driving in or near Atlanta whenever possible, definately during either rush hour; it just becomes a parking lot.

For a scenic alternative, you might think of hanging a left at Knoxville, TN and heading down I-40 thru the Great Smokys to beautiful Asheville, NC, then down I-26 to I-95. And if you can stop in Asheville, so much the better. Savannah, GA is on that route as well, another pretty and interesting town, plus Disney has a resort in Hilton Head nearby. It's not much longer in terms of distance and you avoid Atlanta entirely (I like Atlanta too, but you have to admit, the traffic is terrible).

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Hello casey49781,

We live a little north of Atlanta. It takes us about 7-8 hours to make it WDW. If we leave on a weekday, we travel though town at about 6:30-7am and use the HOV lane. It is not too bad at all. My thought is to get up on your second day and try to go through Atlanta at about 6:30am. Then you could pull off south of the city and get breakfast at about 7:30am. The rest of the drive is NO big deal.

On your return trip, the afternoon rush is intense and spread out over a larger part of the day.

We tune to WSB radio 750 AM for traffic info.

 

[pumpkinboy]

If you do end up on I-75, you will be taking the Florida Turnpike into the Orlando area, which si a toll road, as you know. You may want to stop at someplace in northern Florida, at a CVS or someplace else that sells the SunPass Mini (or better yet, have someone buy one for you and ship it to you so it's already active when you get to FL). This way you can pay tolls automatically, and not have to stop at the toll booths.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

When my family and I drive to WDW we take I-75 all the way and on our 1st day of driving we go all way to Cleveland, Tennessee. On our 2nd day of driving instead of arriving at WDW during the evening we drive to Valdosta, Georgia and arrive the next day to WDW sometime in the afternoon.

 

[casey49781]

If someone can tell me if i leave from detroit were will i be if i drive 10 hours? Because from my house to detroit its 5 hours , i would like to leave at 5am get to detroit at 10am and drive 10 more hours. thanks for the help

 

[dzorn]

I honestly cannot remember. When are you going? We leave in 30 days and would happily note it for you. Just PM me if you want me to keep track or else I will forget.

Denise in MI

 

[casey49781]

we are not leaving til oct so that would be great and any other tips would also be great. thanks a bunch

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Detroit to Kennesaw GA is 11 hours according to Mapquest.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Kennesaw GA to a generic location of Lake Buena Vista Fl is 7.5 hours per Mapquest.

You could check into your resort and hit the park by 3pm your first day in town!

 

[MrMarv]

It's about 950 miles (15+ hours) from Traverse City MI to Atlanta according to Mapquest; I don't know if you could drive that much in one day.

 

[MidgeD79]

I live in extreme seMI and we've been driving to WDW for years. Dave Hunter's "Along I-75" is excellent and we buy a new edition each time we go. It takes about 11 hours to get to Chatanooga and another 10 to WDW. It took forever to get through Flippin Georgia. It's a name of a town off 75 and I thought the name was too funny! lol We pack a seperate bag for a hotel stay on the way down, do lots of eating at rest stops, and wait to buy Pepsi until we get to a state that doesn't have return bottles and we buy peaches and Vidalia onions in Georgia.

 

[bradisgoofy]

May I suggest, take I-69 to Indianapolis and then take I-65 all the way to Montgomery, AL. Take I-85 east to exit 9 ( Route 271 ) south, about 5 miles, to US-231. This is a four lane 65mph road that passes round a couple of big towns but does not really slow you down too much. There is a Flying J on the south side of Dothan, AL that is a good place to stop and eat and get your last tank of cheaper fuel before Florida. Then continue south to I-10. Take that east to exit 225 ( US-19 ). US-19 is another four lane 65mph road that passes through some small towns. This is the favorite part of the trip, for me. There is almost no traffic and it goes through some beautiful Florida back country. Go south to Chiefland, FL where you will take ALT US-27 south. This will bring you back to I-75. From there it is on to the Florida Turnpike and then the Western Way Tollroad ( 429 ) and the WDW western entrance.

This is only a little longer then I-75 through Atlanta, but I despise driving through Atlanta and that goes for I-75, too. We have done this route in our 38' motorhome the last two trips and there are no mountains. Other then Nashville, there are no major cities to go through either. I've always taken I-65 to I-24 to I-75 when going to Florida, but I have found taking the above route I arrive more relaxed and enjoy the trip more.


Someone mention getting from Traverse City to Atlanta in 15 hours, heck, it took us 14 hours from Jackson.

We always try to stop before 9pm as we have found motels booked up sometimes by then.

 

[casey49781]

Well here is a copy from Mapquest for directions going to Cape Canaveral , we are driving down then going on a cruise for 4days when we get back from cruise we will be heading to POP Century for a few days before heading home. I posted the directions below if anyone has better ideas please do share with me to save me some time. Thankyou.

1
Start out going NORTHWEST on I-75 BL toward S MACKINAC LN. 0.5 mi

2:
Turn LEFT onto CASTLE ROCK RD. 0.0 mi
3:
Merge onto I-75 S via the ramp on the LEFT toward MACKINAC BR (Portions toll). 197.0 mi
4:
I-75 S becomes US-23 S (Crossing into OHIO). 143.2 mi
5:
Merge onto I-75 S via EXIT 1A toward DAYTON. 35.8 mi
6:
Merge onto OH-15 E via EXIT 156 toward US-23/KENTON/COLUMBUS. 17.4 mi
7:
OH-15 E becomes US-23 S. 66.6 mi
8:
Merge onto I-270 E via EXIT 23A toward I-71/COLUMBUS. 22.7 mi
9:
Merge onto US-33 E via EXIT 46B toward LANCASTER. 66.3 mi
10:
Merge onto US-50 E/OH-32 E via the exit on the LEFT toward BELPRE. 19.4 mi
11:
Merge onto US-50 E/OH-7 N/OH-32 E via the ramp on the LEFT toward BELPRE/MARIETTA. 10.3 mi
12:
Take the OH-339 ramp toward US-50/PARKERSBURG/BEVERLY. 0.2 mi
13:
Merge onto US-50 E toward US-50/PARKERSBURG (Crossing into WEST VIRGINIA). 11.1 mi
14:
Merge onto I-77 S toward CHARLESTON (Portions toll) (Crossing into VIRGINIA). 211.4 mi
15:
Merge onto I-77 S via EXIT 81 toward CHARLOTTE NC (Passing through NORTH CAROLINA, then crossing into SOUTH CAROLINA). 229.0 mi
16
Merge onto I-26 E via the exit on the LEFT toward CHARLESTON. 52.9 mi

17:
Merge onto I-95 S via EXIT 169A toward SAVANNAH (Passing through GEORGIA, then crossing into FLORIDA). 375.3 mi
18:
Take the SR-528 E exit, EXIT 205, toward CANAVERAL/CAPE-PORT-A.F.S.. 0.9 mi
19:
Merge onto FL-528 TOLL E (Portions toll). 0.2 mi
20:
FL-528 TOLL E becomes FL-528 E. 11.9 mi
21:
FL-528 E becomes FL-A1A S/ASTRONAUT BLVD. 1.2 mi
22:
End at 8701 Astronaut Blvd Cape Canaveral, FL 32920-4307