Driving to WDW from Houston

[Grog]

There was a thread on here a few months ago (or longer) by people who had driven from the Houston area. I'm unable to look for it due to the search function being down so I thought I'd start a new thread to ask some questions.

I plan on driving for our next trip, and will be driving straight through. I'm no stranger to long distance driving, so this won't be a problem. I've looked up the distance on Yahoo Maps, AAA, and a couple of other places, and none can agree on the driving time, sometimes having as much as a two hour difference. I'm sure that some sites list times with zero stops and some probably include stops, but they don't say.

My question for those who have driven from the Houston area...

How long did it take you and how often did you stop. I want to be there by late afternoon on the day we arrive which will mean leaving in the wee hours of the morning, so I need to get an idea of when we need to hit the road. I've already factored in the hour for the time change from CST to EST.

 

[Mommaof3]

Grog

We are south of Houston in Lake Jackson. (Straight down Hwy 288) We usually come up to Houston, go aroung 610 to I-10 and then head east. We stop at the LA. border at the rest stop, and then about every 2-3 hours there after. It takes about 20 hrs. for us to reach WDW. Somestimes we stop for the night and break the drive into two chunks. This year we are leaving around 10 at night and going straight through. (DH coming off of nights and this works better) I was wondering if anyone had info on I-10 in Pensacola. Is the bridge repaired, or is there still a detour?

Melissa

 

[mom2rb]

My neighbor drove last summer. We are in Katy and she said it took 14 hours. They did stop for the night but they drove 7 hours a day.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We have driven from Cypress and it took us about 14 hours. We live in NW LA and it takes us about the same amount of time. When we leave after work, we drive to Daphne AL (just east of Mobile Bay) and that takes us about 7 hours (we get there pretty late). We get up early the next morning at get to WDW about 2 or 3PM.

Once we left our house early in the AM (about 4 or 5) and got to WDW about 9 PM.

Stopping places - just east of Baton Rouge (last exit there - we usually gas up here and grab something to eat). Daphne gas up again or go further.

Avoid Quincy. Gas it extremely high here no matter what you are paying anywhere else. Marianna is a good stopping place. Once we turn south (just north of Lake City), we don't stop until we get to Okahumpka Rest stop on the Turnpike. Gas up here (sometimes it is cheaper than other places) and head on in to WDW.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Grog... I was wondering if anyone had info on I-10 in Pensacola. Is the bridge repaired, or is there still a detour?

There is still only one bridge open with one lane in each direction. It's gonna take a long time to get the other bridge opened up.

 

[Grog]

Thanks everyone. I had guesstimated about 14-15 hours based on the mileage and the number of stops I will probably make, but wanted to hear how others fared. The trip there will be done in one shot, but the drive back will be split into two days. The way I'm currently planning it, I should hit Pensacola around breakfast time, so hopefully traffic won't be too bad yet. We'll be driving there on a Sunday.

 

[Deb & Bill]

On the day we leave WDW for home, we usually hit the parks until about 1 or 2PM. Then stop at Daphne. We get home about 2PM the next day.

 

[Aimeedyan]

We drove from San Marcos in May, right through Houston. Took us 17 hours - straight through (including stops). So take off the 2.5 betwen San Marcos and Houston (I think that's what it takes).

We left at 10pm-rolled into Houston about midnight, 12:30 I think (the only good time to hit Houston at all LOL!), got into Orlando mid afternoon. We were 3 adults, we stopped about 4-5 times for late night coffee (Whataburger in Houston), potty after the coffee, breakfast at Chick Fil A somewhere in Mississippi (i asked the cashier where the heck we were), and lunch at a Taco Bell somewhere in the panhandle. And a gas stop one or twice.

We ate all meals in the car, btw - we were in a hurry!

Drive was easy, ESPECIALLY at night - the only way to do it. Through the Florida panhandle is BORING, so we started to count Waffle Houses. There are a BAJILLION between here and there.

Good luck!

 

[Mommaof3]

Thanks for the information concerning I-10 in Pensacola. We are leaving tomorrow around 5 or 6 pm. Hope everyone has a safe trip!
Melissa

 

[cajunmommy]

Just remember to hop onto I-12East in Baton Rouge instead of taking I-10 straight through to New Orleans. Yucky construction delays here in Baton Rouge just east of the I-12 / I-10 split.

The I-12 will reconnect with I-10 in Slidell, LA (just north of Lake Pontchartrain).

 

[Mommaof3]

Thanks for the reminder. I am from Alexandria, LA and still have lots of relatives in the neck of the woods!

Melissa

 

[lisatx04]

We drove from Tomball this past July and it took about 16 hours. We left around 1pm (don't ask) and drove about 1.5 hours past Pensacola the first day, due to no hotel rooms available. I won't make that mistake again!! We stopped every 3 hours or so. The ride was short from there into WDW.

Coming home we did in one day. The ride wasn't bad at all. I liked it a whole lot better that when we used to drive the I-95 corridor down the east coast. That was a boring ride!!

Planning on driving in June when we go. This trip in December we will fly, due to it being the holidays.

 

[TXBelle]

We will be traveling to WDW from Houston on the 15th. When we drove in May, it took us 16 and 1/2 hours with a number of stops. A friend of mine just got back from Florida, and she said the wait on I-10 around Pensacola to get across the one lane bridge was long. She recommended hitting the Pensacola area at an off-time (late at night or early in the morning) to avoid a long wait.