Driving Time from Atlanta to WDW

[Pixie Princess]

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

Hey Robin,

I live over in Jefferson, so not too far from you. I live right off 85, and it takes me between 7 and 8 hours depending on how much I need to stop. We normally eat and get gas in Valdosta off of exit 18. The Chick-fil-A has playground so great for letting the kiddos burn off some steam. I don't think the McDs on that exit has a playground. It is a busy road, but I have found it the best place to stop.

We are close to the same drive time through Atlanta so that will put the halfway point for you in Tifton if you decide to stop. I would push it to Valdosta, or even Lake City, FL if you think you can. Exit 16 in Valdosta seems to have more hotels on it than exit 18, but they both have them. My SIL and MIL stayed at Best Western in Tifton in March on the way down to a cheerleading competition. They said it was a nice place. Any of the I-75 rest stops will have discount books with walk in rates at hotels all along the way.

You could consider taking US129 down to Macon, but from Gainesville I'm not sure that really will do you any good. For me it adds no more than 10 min. to the trip, and is a good alternative if I can't leave at a time where I avoid the ATL traffic. Most people around here actually go that way to S. GA, but I prefer to travel where I maintain cell signal. Once you leave Athens, it is two lane and through the country.

 

[Jennasis]

I admit it, we LOVE the drive to WDW. We're about 45 minutes north of Charlotte and it takes us usually 9 hours (less if I'M driving. Dh is a snail at the wheel). We stop for gas and potty but any food we get (Chik-fil-A usually) is to-go. Our route is 77 south to 26 East to 95 south to I-4 South and straight into WDW.

My relatives in Georgia (Peachtree City, about 20 minutes south of ATL) say it takes 7 hours to get to WDW.

 

[poeticdiabetic]

I live north of Marietta and it takes 7 hours to get there. Also, let me give you some pointers (because driving to WDW is kinda what I do.)

1. If possible, drive at night. If driving at night doesn't bother you, it's great! The kids (and the wife) are all asleep. No bathroom breaks but your own. Also, driving at night is better for gas mileage because there's not a lot of traffic and the weather's cooler (which helps.)

2. Cruise Control. It saves gas. Use it!

3. Expect a fill up in Florida. If you live south of Atlanta, you may fill up way into Florida, but I make it into Florida on one tank of gas all the time.

4. Shower and put on the clothes you are going to wear to WDW right before you enter into the car. Sounds weird, but if you drive at night, your room will not be ready until 3PM, so you will be in those same clothes until you get into your room. We do that so we can be somewhat clean while we wait for the room.

5. Sleep and relax the day before. I try to relax and sleep on my couch until it's time to shower and put the bags in the car. The reason why is because we normally reach WDW at around 7:30 or 8 AM the next day. At that time, we freshen up, brush our teeth, eat some breakfast bars and juice boxes, check in and grab our KTTW cards and be at the bus stop headed to the parks in about 30 minutes.

Yep, we have a nice system for driving long distances (including me eating sunflower seeds, drinking lukewarm Coke Zero, listening to some good Chill, classic Hip Hop and Dubstep, and playing a certain song, "Summer Sun" by Koop when I wake up the family around sunrise.)

 

[chartle]

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!

I was thinking the same thing though I think flying would actually take a little longer.

Also if you always get a rental you save that cost and you get to pack your car anyway you want. You don't have to fit everything that you need into a certain number of suitcases that can only weight x amount. If you want, you can take all the water and food you want even a small cooler.

 

[mcever4]

Hey Robin,

I live over in Jefferson, so not too far from you. I live right off 85, and it takes me between 7 and 8 hours depending on how much I need to stop. We normally eat and get gas in Valdosta off of exit 18. The Chick-fil-A has playground so great for letting the kiddos burn off some steam. I don't think the McDs on that exit has a playground. It is a busy road, but I have found it the best place to stop.

We are close to the same drive time through Atlanta so that will put the halfway point for you in Tifton if you decide to stop. I would push it to Valdosta, or even Lake City, FL if you think you can. Exit 16 in Valdosta seems to have more hotels on it than exit 18, but they both have them. My SIL and MIL stayed at Best Western in Tifton in March on the way down to a cheerleading competition. They said it was a nice place. Any of the I-75 rest stops will have discount books with walk in rates at hotels all along the way.

You could consider taking US129 down to Macon, but from Gainesville I'm not sure that really will do you any good. For me it adds no more than 10 min. to the trip, and is a good alternative if I can't leave at a time where I avoid the ATL traffic. Most people around here actually go that way to S. GA, but I prefer to travel where I maintain cell signal. Once you leave Athens, it is two lane and through the country.

Pixie princess, My husbands parents live in Talmo, so they are very close to you! From what everyone has said, I think we may just try to drive straight through. Doesn't seem as bad as I thought! We drive to PCB several times a year and that only takes 6 hours. Doesn't seem like it be be much longer than that to get to WDW. Now if May would just hurry up and get here!!!

Robin

 

[Praise2Him]

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

Me too! BUT, it sure is nice when coming home

 

[Music City Mama]

Me too! BUT, it sure is nice when coming home

I agree! At least the one good thing about coming home is gaining an hour.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

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!

Hey Robin, I would love that route if you can find it. We get off the turnpike early on the Western Beltway, but it takes us in the back gate near Animal Kingdom, I would love to go in your way, sounds like it would cut off quite a bit, even though there is no traffic on that road.

OP, we drive from the same town as Robin and it takes us about 6 to 6.5 hours, but we only stop for restroom breaks and so DH can stretch his legs, and possible snack breaks. We ususally leave around midnight (no traffic on I-75) and I sleep all the way. We have a minivan and don't have to stop for gas. We get to our resort about 7-7:30, check in, have a little breakfast and hit the parks for a few hours.

 

[whitjake]

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

I will be doing the drive on Wed so I can let you know for sure. We debated flying and Delta is offering some great deals round trip $138 per person however my DH is meeting us down there and I feel like it would be harder getting myself and 2 kiddos to the airport along with our luggage so I opted to drive-- that way DH will drive back with us and we will have a car and car sets with us while there--

 

[heatherbynum]

Its about a 7 drive. We just did that drive from Alabama going through Atlanta but we didn't do 75 mph. We stayed at about 60-65.

 

[k^2]

I agree with all the estimates of 7 to 8 hours. Our last drive down (leaving from Midtown, Atlanta) took us almost exactly 7.5 hours and included a stop at the Starbucks in Stockbridge, GA (exit 224), the Florida Welcome Center (tradition), and Panera in Gainesville, FL (Gainesville has EVERYTHING you could ever want for lunch, except for a Whataburger). On the way home, if you want to get home faster, we made FABULOUS time by leaving right after lunch (Earl of Sandwich is the way to go!) and only stopping once for gas. We got home by dinnertime.

Personally, I think driving to Disney is great for both the cost savings and for the flexibility of having your own car. It saved us so much time compared to waiting for the buses!

 

[EddieMccoy2]

I live in Villa Rican and have Annual passes. We sometimes leave Friday after work and come back on Sunday just for a quick weekend trip. Driving is 7.5 hours from my house. I've done it so much, I hardly even notice the time and I have a 6 and 3 year old.

 

[baseballgal]

I live 20 miles N of Atlanta and am planning at least 8 hours in the car. First drive that long with a just turned 4 yr old and an almost 2 year old. Our plan is similar to others I've read. We want to get up by 4 and be in the car by 4:30 heading out. Hoping kids will go back to sleep if not immediately within the first hour. Then planning stop to eat breakfast whenever they wake up (in my dream it's about 8:30). After that, I'm going to let them watch a movie (Disney of course) to eat up another couple hours. Hopefully after that, we will be getting close...

 

[reelmom]

We live about 30 minutes south of Atlanta. We left around 7:00am last time and arrived about 2:15 pm. We were able to check in and then head straight to the Magic Kingdom by 3:15.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

Hey Robin, I would love that route if you can find it. We get off the turnpike early on the Western Beltway, but it takes us in the back gate near Animal Kingdom, I would love to go in your way, sounds like it would cut off quite a bit, even though there is no traffic on that road.

OP, we drive from the same town as Robin and it takes us about 6 to 6.5 hours, but we only stop for restroom breaks and so DH can stretch his legs, and possible snack breaks. We ususally leave around midnight (no traffic on I-75) and I sleep all the way. We have a minivan and don't have to stop for gas. We get to our resort about 7-7:30, check in, have a little breakfast and hit the parks for a few hours.

I would love to know too!!

BTW, PrincessSuzanne....RTR!

 

[THEJOEL]

Can someone please advise me on the driving time from Atlanta to WDW? I have always flown, but DH is saying NOOOOOOO for our May trip . He thinks it will be to expensive. He hasn't traveled with our DD who will be 3 at the time and I think he is crazy to want to drive, but we shall see! Also anyone know of a decent hotel about half way in case I can't convince him to fly? Maybe I could convince him to leave the night before and stop half way. I hate losing a whole day at WDW by having to drive!

Thanks for any help!
Robin

I live in Augusta and it took us a little under 8 hours. There is about 90-120 mins of backroads to I16/I95. We made good time.
What we did last year when our DD was 4. What I decided to do was drive through the night and let my DD sleep. We did a full day in MK after check in and then came back to POR took about a 2 hour nap and then went to Biergarten for dinner that night. It worked well for us even though I was beat.

 

[Scrappy_Tink]

It doesn't matter what time we'd leave, or how we timed it...we hit Atlanta and it's like someone opens the big traffic gate from H.E. double toothpicks!! We hit it once at 4:00 AM and couldn't figure out what in the world all those cars were doing out that time of day? Now I know...they are all driving to WDW!!

 

[RaySharpton]

Can someone please advise me on the driving time from Atlanta to WDW? I have always flown, but DH is saying NOOOOOOO for our May trip . He thinks it will be to expensive. He hasn't traveled with our DD who will be 3 at the time and I think he is crazy to want to drive, but we shall see! Also anyone know of a decent hotel about half way in case I can't convince him to fly? Maybe I could convince him to leave the night before and stop half way. I hate losing a whole day at WDW by having to drive!

Thanks for any help!
Robin

Hi, Robin. Here is another thread with the same question with more answeres for you.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2832679

This is what I wrote over there. I copy and pasted it below.


I live in Atlanta, Georgia and I will be driving down to WDW again in two weeks. I always drive down to WDW every December for the past ten years or more.

For myself, I drive before morning traffic starts straight through Atlanta, I-75/I-85. And when I pass the Atlanta Braves baseball stadium, I reset my odometer to zero miles, because I always thought this was the center of Atlanta.

It takes me 455 miles from Atlanta to Disney Pop Century Resort and at least eight hours with one gas/restroom break at Georgia Exit #5.

I know you didn't ask this, but since I have some free time, I thought I would just share and write this out for you.

Once I-85/I-75 in Atlanta area separates again and you take I-75 South to Macon, it takes about 65 miles to get to Exit #177 which is the Macon, Georgia I-475 South By-Pass which hooks back up to I-75 South to WDW. Don't go through Macon, Georgia city unless you just want to go through the city.

At Georgia I-75, Exit #5, there are several fast food drive throughs including Chick-fi-la, 24-hour McDonalds (coffee). Cracker Barrel sitdown meals. Valdosta, has more hotels, restaurants, gas stations as said above, but I just have always stopped here for no particular reason.

Once you get closer to WDW on I-75, don't forget to get in the far left lane to get on the Florida Turnpike South at Florida I-75, Exit #328 which is also called SR-41.

Before I started taking an earlier exit #267-A on the Florida Turnpike South to merge into SR-49. (takes me 14 miles to Exit #8-B, Western Way which is another 4 miles deadending into WDW West Buena Vista Way near between Coronado Springs Resort and All Stars Resorts.)

Sorry about that....I used to take the Florida Turnpike to Florida I-4 and then to WDW. The funny thing is when I got to I-4, I would sometimes take the wrong exit and head toward Orlando instead of toward Tampa.

I was tired and always thought of Orlando and WDW being the same area. It is, but when exiting Florida Turnpike, Orlando is the opposite direction from WDW.

I like taking the earlier Toll exit that I mentioned earlier. At least I don't mistakingly make the wrong turn to head toward Orlando.

I usually use my car's speed control set at 68 mph, just incase the speed limit changes for different city from 70 to 65 or 55 limits or whatever. Over the years, it just seemed to be the right speed for me and I save a little gas.

You do have to watch those city area speed limits when they drop down all of a sudden if you like to drive over 70 mph, because you will get a ticket sometimes. Sometimes there are no state or local city police out on the median and sometimes there is one or two or three police cars next to each other just waiting for super speeders.

I also stay in the "far right lane" or "slow lane". I never drive in a faster lane and drive slower than the rest of the traffic unless I am passing someone. It is amazing how fast those 18-wheel trucks fly by at 75 mph and I never seem to be in anyone's way in the "slow lane".

I guess that as I get older, I just don't have the need for speed or have to get there quicker. I certainly don't miss switching lanes back and forth when passing slower cars when I used to go the speed limit of 70 mph or faster.

Drive carefully and defensively with the unknown sleepy or tired car or truck driver on the road that might be just around the corner somewhere.

Safe travels everyone and please hope that I travel safely to the magical WDW in two weeks there and back home.

 

[Pixie Princess]

Pixie princess, My husbands parents live in Talmo, so they are very close to you! From what everyone has said, I think we may just try to drive straight through. Doesn't seem as bad as I thought! We drive to PCB several times a year and that only takes 6 hours. Doesn't seem like it be be much longer than that to get to WDW. Now if May would just hurry up and get here!!!

Robin

Practically neighbors! If you can do PCB, you can easily do WDW. WDW may be longer, but I think it is an "easier" drive than PCB. I think the worst part of the drive is from the GA/FL border to Ocala. For some reason that feels like it drags on forever.

To be honest if I got a screamin' deal on airfare, I'd fly just to get there faster. But I've only seen the screamin' deal once a couple years ago, and didn't jump on it fast enough. Enjoy your trip! May is one of the months we typcially go and love it.

 

[vinotinto]

It really depends where in Atlanta. We're ITP (that's inside-the-perimeter for non-Atlanta folks looking at this because they're driving through ATL from outside of ATL), and it can be anywhere from 6.75 to 7.5 hours, depending on traffic, speed and potty breaks. We usually leave at 6 am, and arrive around 1sh pm. We stop for 2 potty breaks, and a gas refill halfway in Valdosta.

The first time we drove, I was nervous about such a long drive, we booked the Homewood Suites in Gainsville FL, which is slightly over 5 hours from ATL. Let me tell you, that was a BAD idea. The couple next to us woke us up at 4:30 am. At first we thought they were fighting, but it soon became obvious it was an amorous interlude. Kids were up, we were up. We would have gotten more sleep had we driven all the way to WDW. Lesson learned. SInce then, we've joked about the Hoewood Suites in Gainesville.

P.S. - I do try to drive 76-80 mph as much as possible.