Driving to Mickey from Ohio

[charity]

this will be our first driving trip, so I'm at a loss of what to do for a hotel on the way down.
when you drive do you pre book a hotel or do you just wait until you are ready to stop and try to find the next hotel?
We have a 5 year old he is good in a car, we take a 3 hour trip on a regular, so I think he will do OK.
Thanks

 

[kydisneyfans]

It really depends on what part of Ohio you are from and what route you are taking. Hotel rooms are more plentiful along I 75 than I77. We have used priceline before and estimated where we would be, but have misjudged and either gotten to the hotel too early or too late for our needs. Most state Welcome Centers will assist, but they are only open limited hours.

Now we just tag team and drive straight through. If you are in the Cincinnati area, plan on 14-15 hours, manageable with 2 drivers.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

I suggest you make a reservation in advance. Figure out how far you want to drive the first day. From a point just north of Atlanta it is 7.5 hours to WDW.

If you drive just past ATL it is about 6.5 hours to WDW. Monday thru Friday you want to avoid rush hour.

The drive from a point just south of ATL to WDW is completely painless.

 

[4MCMICKEY]

I would wait and get a hotel when you get tired. We drove down last year from Ohio and had all intentions of driving halfway and spending the night and then while driving realized it was not that bad and would continue until we got tired. We left at 3:00 in the morning to avoid the and at 7:00 was in Orlando. We stopped at the rest area right inside Florida(very nice) picked up their hotel book and used that to book our stay. I had made a list of hotels that I picked up from here from several cities that were good places to stay and would have used that as a guidance of what hotel to stay at.

We stopped about every 3 hours ...switched drivers and stretched our legs...was not a bad drive.

 

[charity]

I would wait and get a hotel when you get tired. We drove down last year from Ohio and had all intentions of driving halfway and spending the night and then while driving realized it was not that bad and would continue until we got tired. We left at 3:00 in the morning to avoid the and at 7:00 was in Orlando. We stopped at the rest area right inside Florida(very nice) picked up their hotel book and used that to book our stay. I had made a list of hotels that I picked up from here from several cities that were good places to stay and would have used that as a guidance of what hotel to stay at.

We stopped about every 3 hours ...switched drivers and stretched our legs...was not a bad drive.

Thanks! I did not think of the welcome rest areas having the hotel books! I think we will just drive until we get ready to stop.

 

[bradisgoofy]

One thing we have found is we try to stop no later then 8pm. We have had trouble finding a room after that as most travelers seem to stop around that time.

 

[wilde_oscar]

I've made that drive a few times recently... and I drive till I get tired, then pull off. My method is to go several motels in from the highway, better rate, though the hotel is usually crappy

trying to go more than about 16 hours driving in a day is very hard on the body. and you wanna stop every 4 hours if just to stand up and move around your blood as my grandma would say.