Driving Time from Atlanta to WDW

[brwneyedbelle]

We drove from Atlanta to WDW in October and it took us about 7 hours. We stopped one time for gas and potty break.

 

[LilyWDW]

You might be surpirsed at how well your DD travels. We live in the Pigeon Forge, TN area and we made the drive to WDW just a couple of weeks ago. We left home around 10 PM and drove straight through and arrived at our resort at 730 AM. We were traveling with my son who just turned 2 and my nephew who just turned 1. Our original plan was to travel halfway and stop to get a room, but the boys slept for the whole trip and were traveling so well that we ended up just going straight through. I was shocked at how well both of the kids traveled. We also wanted to fly but 1. It was cheaper on us to drive and 2. Due to recent surgery my doctor would not clear me to fly. Honestly driving worked out great for us. When we arrive we checked in and of course our room was not ready so we went right outside of Disney property and ate breakfast at McDonalds and then we made a quick run by walmart to get the few food items we wanted for the refrigerator in or room for the kids (fruit, milk, yogurt). Before we were even done checking out at WalMart I got a text on my phone saying our room was ready. We went back to the room, showered, changed clothes and took off for Epcot. My mom and I took the kids while DH slept for a few hours since he drove all night and when he was up and refreshed he met us at Epcot. The kids traveled just as well on the way home. I was completely prepared for a lot of stops and a lot of meltdowns, but they surprised me at how well they traveled. Good Luck and I hope you have a great trip.

Most of that was getting OUT of Pigeon Forge...

Sorry, couldn't resist! Yea, it was about 10 hours from NE TN. Long, but still shorter then driving up to Chicago which I have done a number of times. We will actually be doing the Disney Drive in June. Luckily we will have 4 drivers so we can switch off as needed and just drive right through without anyone being stuck with the whole time.

 

[arwood82]

Most of that was getting OUT of Pigeon Forge...

Sorry, couldn't resist! Yea, it was about 10 hours from NE TN. Long, but still shorter then driving up to Chicago which I have done a number of times. We will actually be doing the Disney Drive in June. Luckily we will have 4 drivers so we can switch off as needed and just drive right through without anyone being stuck with the whole time.

Yes Pigeon Forge traffic is a nightmare at most times. Our original plan was to trade out driving with myself, my husband, and my mom. However, he was off work that day and slept for a while while mom and I worked. He enjoys driving anyway and gets car sick quite easily so he just drove the whole time. We kept trying to take over, but he would not let us.

 

[OB1]

I live east of Atlanta - and it takes us just under 7 hours to drive straight through. On our trips where we can not leave until late afternoon, we will drive to a half way point. We have stopped at Valdosta, but really try to push to Gainesville, and have made it to Ocala before. Our last 3 trips, we booked a hotel on Priceline. The Valdosta hotel was $35 instead of $69 as a walk in, and Gainesville was $40 instead of $75. We leave the next morning around 6:00 and come close to being in the park at opening.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

We drive down all the time. We pack sandwiches and eat on the way down.

We hit the road by 6:30 am and make a couple of quick stops on the way to Valdosta. We get gas there and unpack our food. ATL to Valdosta is almost the exact midpoint of the trip. We arrive at WDW about 1:30pm to 2pm and are able to enjoy either a WP or a major park until 5-7pm. For us, the drive is not too long and we are energized when we arrive. Then we check in, set up the room, go to bed, and get up the next day to hit the park of our choice!

BTW.......once you are past Macon it is just about all open road until you hit a Gainesville/Ocala. Once past ATL you have conquered the toughest part of the trip.

 

[DOOM1001]

It's around 6-7 hours,I've driven several times to Atlanta from Miami and it's about 10 hours plus,so take about 3.5-4 hours from that which is the Miami to Orlando drive and you're looking at 6.5-7.5 hours.

 

[disney minnie]

3 hours to Valdosta and 3 hours 20 minutes from Valdosta to WDW

 

[JanB]

Thanks for the replies! My thought was to get up and leave at 5:00am the morning we go. We would miss rush hour and as long as we didn't make many stops it sounds like we should arrive no later than 2:00pm. I can make our dining reservations next week, so that was one reason I was curious on how long the trip would take. I had no idea how late/early I should make our dinner reservation on our arrival day! I really don't want to stop half way and now seeing as it really isn't THAT far (we drive 6 hours to Panama City Beach and I can deal with that!) I think driving may be doable. Although I REALLY want to fly! I was thinking it would be like a 10 hour drive.

Robin

Depending on where in "North Georgia" you are, and depending on what day of the week you are planning to drive --- 5:00AM may not be early enough. If it's a Saturday or Sunday, you'll likely be fine. However, I would not recommend that you be planning to hit I285 on a weekday morning between 7AM and 9AM.

We live just off of I85 in Gwinnett County -- the drive to WDW is 7 to 7.5 hrs. It's a very easy drive. You just want to strategize your day and time of day that you drive through the city.

 

[Jacie]

We're driving from KY coming through Atlanta and it's about 12 hours for us. We will have our 8 year old and 18 month old. I'd say doable with a 3 year old for sure!

 

[Grundgetta]

We live 20 minutes south of Atlanta and it take us 6 hours with stopping to get gas once and then stopping for something to eat usually through the drive thru. We have done the drive atleast 7 or 8 times now. Thats driving 75 mph on the interstate.

That's the same for us. We are 20 mins south of the airport & we drive down 3-4 times a year. It takes 6 hours with one restroom stop & one stop through a drive-thru, driving about 75-80ish. We leave around 6am & arrive around lunch time.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

We live in Montgomery, Alabama. Our route is a little different, but it takes about the same amount of time.

We either get up and leave at 5am...and arrive at Disney at 3PM, or spend the night in Lake City, Florida. We stay at the Fairfield.

You guys have one BIG advantage over us. I always dread the time change from Central to Eastern time.

 

[jennyl772003]

Dh says 7 hours also. He also says for our trip that part is the easiest. Other then the city, the traffic is good and it's an easy drive. I did lol a little because for us ATL is our 'half way' stopping point so it tickled me a little to think someone would stop half way from that.

This year we even got a late start, 9, to miss the Atlanta traffic and were here by 4ish (?) with a stop at Super Target. We stopped for lunch in Tifton. You'll probbly really like having a car here too.

 

[rcraw45425]

We're inColumbus so we have to get over to 75 first, which takes about 2 hours. From Tifton it's about 4,5 hours. We've been so many times our gps takes us off of the turnpike at Winter Garden, in the back way by the monorail barn (back gate) behind Space Mountain to the MK resorts like the Contemporary and Grand Floridian! :

 

[mcever4]

Depending on where in "North Georgia" you are, and depending on what day of the week you are planning to drive --- 5:00AM may not be early enough. If it's a Saturday or Sunday, you'll likely be fine. However, I would not recommend that you be planning to hit I285 on a weekday morning between 7AM and 9AM.

We live just off of I85 in Gwinnett County -- the drive to WDW is 7 to 7.5 hrs. It's a very easy drive. You just want to strategize your day and time of day that you drive through the city.

I live in Gainesville, just North of Atlanta. It takes me about 50 minutes to get through DT Atlanta. I'm beginning to think maybe the drive won't be as bad as I thought after all!

Robin

 

[Mfgs]

We live in South Forsyth county and have never flown because Disney seems too "close" to not drive. Your kids may surprise you in the car. Mine are now 14 and 10 but we started driving to WDW when they were 6 and 2 and they never minded it. Oh sure we would get the occasional, "are we there yet?" but all in all, not too bad. When they were younger we would leave really early in the morning. Like 4:00 or 5:00 am, and they would sleep a good way through the trip. The drive takes us about 7 to 7.5 hours. We only stop for bathroom breaks and do drive thru lunches or I pack our lunch. When you factor in the cost of the airline tickets and the airport parking, plus the travel time to the airport, security wait, travel to the gate, wait at the gate, boarding, time in the air, deplaning, baggage claim (baggage fees ), DME. Whew! I'd rather just load my car up (with as much stuff as I want to bring ) and head on down the road. Plus you will have a car at the world. Not tethered to Disney transportation! Can you tell that I am a fan of driving to WDW?

 

[rcraw45425]

I live in Gainesville, just North of Atlanta. It takes me about 50 minutes to get through DT Atlanta. I'm beginning to think maybe the drive won't be as bad as I thought after all!

Robin

Robin,another Robin chiming in here.... our girls are 14 and 16 now, we have made the drive consistantly, pretty much every year, usually more than once per year, since our girls were almost 1 and almost 3. Multiple trips, as you can see from our signature. We have never flown, even when we owned our own airplane. IT's not a bad drive with little ones. Videos help (we always travelled with a video player and a bag of Disney films). Now the girls bring iPads and their Blackberry's/Droids. I flip on the wifi hotspot and they're fine. If you're staying onsite by MK and have a gps that you can send data to, try to get the route that will take you in through Winter Garden. It saves us about 45 minutes of drive time. I'll ry to figure out the exit from the turnpike and post it for you. Before our cruise in APril we stayed the night at the Boardwalk Inn. Left the house around 6-6:30 (fun getting teens moving) and we were in the room by1:30 and that included a stop for gas and fast food. Tried to stop at Starbucks in Tifton and I walekd back to the car, the line was out the door!

 

[AJA]

We live just north of Chattanooga TN and make the entire drive in 9-10 hours.

From just north of Atlanta it's about 7 hours (that includes stopping for gas and something quick to eat). Getting through ATL is the trick. Sometimes it's easy and quick and sometimes not. We usually consider it will take us at least one hour from the northern outskirts to the southern outskirts.

 

[kamik86]

I can't imagine flying for what is a 7 hour drive... it was 6 back and forth to college and I drove that every time (and never stopped part way for the night either, although I was never tired from disney or excited to start touring as soon as I got there for that).

How much faster would it really even be to fly? Flight time is 1.5 hours, you are supposed to be at the airport at least an hour early for security etc, then 1.5 hours after landing to get to the resort (for ME or for getting the rental car and bags then driving) so its 4 hours to fly. You'll only save 3 hours over driving and that is if there are no delays of any kind!

 

[ChattaAlley]

The people who are saying it takes 7 hours is more correct. It is a real easy drive. And if you go in the afternoon and get past ATL traffic then you should be good to go. I personally like to drive more so to fly. I checked airfare from Chattanooga to Orlando and it was ridiculous. So we will be driving.

 

[rcraw45425]

The people who are saying it takes 7 hours is more correct. It is a real easy drive. And if you go in the afternoon and get past ATL traffic then you should be good to go. I personally like to drive more so to fly. I checked airfare from Chattanooga to Orlando and it was ridiculous. So we will be driving.

Agree about airfare cost. We would have to drive NORTH to Atlanta to get decent fares into MCO. From our local airport it's ridiculous and still involves changing planes at ATL. No time saver there. Plus, even with cheap cheap rates, we have four "adults" so we are talking over $500 to fly. I can get there and back on three tanks of gaso, so we're talking less than $250 there. Plus we ahve a car if we decide to shop or something and we are not locked in to when we have to leave!