Driving to WDW....WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!

[Suzanna1973]

We are driving to WDW from St. Louis, MO. We want to make the drive a two day trip. What is the best place to stop for the end of day one? Do we stop in Georgia or do we drive to Florida and stop at the state line??


Help is needed! Help is appreciated!

 

[Princess Roo]

How old is your son? If you're not sure how it's going to go, I'd probably make 2 reservations (one each place) that can be canceled before 6PM and then just evaluate at 5PM which you feel like doing. On long trips I always like to go as far as I can the 1st day, but we haven't tried a multi-day trip with little ones yet. The one 10-hour trip we tried with DS has made us very fond of air travel - LOL!

 

[tlbwriter]

We stopped at Valdosta, GA and I really wish we had pushed on into Florida, as it was an hour or so farther from WDW than I expected.

 

[tnkr_bell]

Hey there, I'm from St. Louis too. We're actually going to be driving down at the end of April next year and I can't wait. Anyway, we usually stop in Atltanta, GA. It's about 10 hours from St. Louis to there and then I think another 8 hours from Atlanta to WDW.

Here's another couple of options that we have done and are going to try.

When we went a few years ago ds was 4 1/2 and dd was 18mos. We left at like 11:00 or 12:00 at night and drove through the night so the kids slept most of the way. We made it to Chatanooga around 10:00 or 11:00 and stopped and did some sightseeing and had lunch. Then we drove on to Atlanta and stayed the night, we got in around 3:00 or so. Now the next day we actually stayed in Atlanta and visited friends and then drove on to WDW the following day, but you could just head out the next day. It allowed us to get in early enough to get dinner and get the kids to bed at a normal time and we went to bed early to catch up on some of the sleep we missed.

Now this is what we are going to try next year. This time though ds will be 6 1/2, dd will be 1month shy of 5 and new dd will be about 15mos. Plus we will have a friend going with us who will help drive also. Our plan is to leave Friday around 6:00 or so and drive straight through to WDW. There will be three adults to take turns driving and napping and playing with the kids. If I plan 18 to 20 hours to drive we should get into Kissimmee around 2 or so in the afternoon. I figure we can find a cheap hotel to spend the night and get some rest after the drive and then head over to WDW Sunday late morning or early afternoon.

Whatever you do, good luck and have a great trip.

 

[Suzanna1973]

There are 13 of us going. My mother(68), my sister(47), her two boys(12 and 7), My other sister(37), her two boys(14 and 3), me(35), my son(12), our neice(25), her 3 children(7, 4, 1). We are taking two minivans. All of our husbands and my DD(17) have opted to stay home. Not disney freaks(uh...hello???)

I really like the idea of driving through till Florida. We want to leave around 8am Saturday the 24th of May and arrive at our rental home by early afternoon on Sunday.

 

[LadyShea]

According to Google Maps, stopping near Atlanta would put you at 8 hours the first day and 7 the second, if you want to break it up evenly.

If not, how many hours do you think you can handle straight through?

 

[3littleHalls]

We are three hrs east of St. Louis. and drive to WDW every year. When we make the trip in 2 days we stay the night in Macon. Mostly we just leave here at 4 or 5am and hit Orlando around 9 at night. THat is with many stops since we have 3 young children. Have a good trip!!

 

[disneywith4boys]

It's been about 6 years since we drove, but we pressed into Fla. late in the night, and found the hotel prices really shot up after we crossed the state line. We wound up driving back to Ga. By then we were wiped out when we got to a hotel. Good Luck

 

[Suzanna1973]

Thank you all so much for your advice.

We like the idea of driving 8 hours the first day and 7 the second.

 

[rwrocksme]

WAIT!!!

I live in North Florida, and I know that if you stop in Florida instead of Georgia, you will be spending the night in Tallahassee or Lake City. Before you make plans to do this, make sure there will not be an FSU game going on! It's impossible to get a hotel those weekends.

Also, no matter where you stop, gas up BEFORE you cross into FL. It will save you a lot of money!

 

[princesssfws]

When we drove from KC area we stopped in Macon, GA. That way you aren't in the Big city of Atlanta and having to pay more than in Macon. There was a great Holiday Express right off the Freeway, free breakfast and then hop back on and I think it was about 6 hrs to WDW from there.

 

[ndgqccmiller]

Hey there, I'm from St. Louis too. We're actually going to be driving down at the end of April next year and I can't wait. Anyway, we usually stop in Atltanta, GA. It's about 10 hours from St. Louis to there and then I think another 8 hours from Atlanta to WDW.

Here's another couple of options that we have done and are going to try.

When we went a few years ago ds was 4 1/2 and dd was 18mos. We left at like 11:00 or 12:00 at night and drove through the night so the kids slept most of the way. We made it to Chatanooga around 10:00 or 11:00 and stopped and did some sightseeing and had lunch. Then we drove on to Atlanta and stayed the night, we got in around 3:00 or so. Now the next day we actually stayed in Atlanta and visited friends and then drove on to WDW the following day, but you could just head out the next day. It allowed us to get in early enough to get dinner and get the kids to bed at a normal time and we went to bed early to catch up on some of the sleep we missed.

Now this is what we are going to try next year. This time though ds will be 6 1/2, dd will be 1month shy of 5 and new dd will be about 15mos. Plus we will have a friend going with us who will help drive also. Our plan is to leave Friday around 6:00 or so and drive straight through to WDW. There will be three adults to take turns driving and napping and playing with the kids. If I plan 18 to 20 hours to drive we should get into Kissimmee around 2 or so in the afternoon. I figure we can find a cheap hotel to spend the night and get some rest after the drive and then head over to WDW Sunday late morning or early afternoon.

Whatever you do, good luck and have a great trip.

Hey there,
I am from Chattanooga. It is a great city to stop in, it has a lot to do, not to mention hotels are a lot cheaper here than in Atlanta. Atlanta is about an hour and a half from here. When we went to Colorado our halfway point was St Louis. From Chattanooga to Disney World it takes us about 8 hours we leave at around 4 am get to the hotel swim, husband takes a nap and have a good dinner. Than first thing in the morning were off to Chef Mickeys and then MK. Thats what we did on our first trip and that is going to be our tradition. If you decide to stay in Chattanooga just let me know and I will give you good hotels to stay in. Our downtown area is great 3 parks, walking bridge, old time carasuol for kids, aquirium, kids museum. I know your going to Disney, but this isn't a bad place to stop. Good luck!

 

[twins4disney]

we live just south of st. louis also, this past May we left around 3 in the afternoon, drove to Macon, stayed the night, getting there around 12:30, then left the next day around 9 and arrived at WDW around 2:30 . Just be careful with some of the stops in and around Macon, some of those okay looking hotels on the web are a little scary.
On the trip home, we left BCV at 8:30 am drove straight thru and got back home around 2:00 am. We stopped in Chattanoogna about 6:00 had dinner, then pushed on to home
Have a great time on your trip, we packed the Leapsters, and lots of DVD's our five year old twins did not sleep that much, but they were pretty good.