"For 2,000+ Mile Round-Trip Drivers Only!" (Part V)

[CopperWife]

Question for you Chicago area drivers.

We are coming from McHenry County (far northwest suburbs) and have made probably 10 or so drives to Florida over the past 15 years. My husband works nights so we usually leave around 5pm on a Friday, drive thru the night and take the 65-24-75 route.

We switch off drivers to stay alert and this works best for our family. We are a family of 5 (DD20, DD17, DS7) and the kids sleep well in the car as does mom and dad when they aren’t driving. We stop for potty breaks and generally grab food from the drive through for meals when we drive. Our longest stop is normally at Bucee’s lol.


However, this year we are heading to POR on Friday, May 24 - Memorial Day weekend.

Wondering if it’s a terrible idea to be leaving Friday night, traffic-wise, because of the holiday weekend? Should we leave earlier in the day or keep it as is? What would *you* do?

We don’t check in to POR until Sunday and have planned an Orlando area hotel for Saturday night. The goal is to be in Orlando for Saturday night regardless of when we leave.

 

[morrik5]

Question for you Chicago area drivers.

We are coming from McHenry County (far northwest suburbs) and have made probably 10 or so drives to Florida over the past 15 years. My husband works nights so we usually leave around 5pm on a Friday, drive thru the night and take the 65-24-75 route.

We switch off drivers to stay alert and this works best for our family. We are a family of 5 (DD20, DD17, DS7) and the kids sleep well in the car as does mom and dad when they aren’t driving. We stop for potty breaks and generally grab food from the drive through for meals when we drive. Our longest stop is normally at Bucee’s lol.


However, this year we are heading to POR on Friday, May 24 - Memorial Day weekend.

Wondering if it’s a terrible idea to be leaving Friday night, traffic-wise, because of the holiday weekend? Should we leave earlier in the day or keep it as is? What would *you* do?

We don’t check in to POR until Sunday and have planned an Orlando area hotel for Saturday night. The goal is to be in Orlando for Saturday night regardless of when we leave.

Personally we would leave earlier but traffic will probably still be busier because people will take the day off thinking that they too will beat the traffic. If hubby works nights, perhaps leave later, say after 9 pm.

 

[nighttowll]

I think as long as you are leaving Friday it won't matter when. So many people take Friday off that you'd need to leave Wednesday or Thursday to avoid traffic. When I've been in Florida that weekend before, the difference in traffic from 7am or 8 am on Friday to 10 am or 11 am is insane. Friday is busy all day.

 

[CopperWife]

I think as long as you are leaving Friday it won't matter when. So many people take Friday off that you'd need to leave Wednesday or Thursday to avoid traffic. When I've been in Florida that weekend before, the difference in traffic from 7am or 8 am on Friday to 10 am or 11 am is insane. Friday is busy all day

Yeah this wouldn’t have been my first choice of dates but with the kids and their schedules, pickings are slim! Plus my in-laws are so graciously treating us to the trip. They took us on a family trip when my girls were younger. But then our DS came along (surprise!) and they want to see Disney thru his eyes.

When I’ve done the drive to Florida on my own (kiddo plays club volleyball and Nationals is at the Orange County convention center), we’ve left at 4am and that worked well to get us thru chicago because morning traffic but we would stop just north of Atlanta for the night.

 

[theyoungs07]

Driving from Northern Illinois, I've done it several times...but it's been several years now. We have driven both through Atlanta, or the western route through Birmingham in the past. I like going through Alabama because we can avoid Monteagle and Atlanta, but it does have some slower roads. For those that have driven similar routes, which do you prefer and why? It's been 5 years and I'm just debating which to take this year. In the past, we've left early in the morning and drive to Macon or Dothan.

 

[zebrastreyepz]

Driving from Northern Illinois, I've done it several times...but it's been several years now. We have driven both through Atlanta, or the western route through Birmingham in the past. I like going through Alabama because we can avoid Monteagle and Atlanta, but it does have some slower roads. For those that have driven similar routes, which do you prefer and why? It's been 5 years and I'm just debating which to take this year. In the past, we've left early in the morning and drive to Macon or Dothan.

We come from Tulsa and prefer going through Dothan as opposed to going through Atlanta.

In our experience, Atlanta isn't the only challenge on that route. Summer 2017, we struggled to find gas and a place to eat closer to the FL/GA border. Traffic was a nightmare at every exit and some places were out of gas completely.

 

[CopperWife]

Driving from Northern Illinois, I've done it several times...but it's been several years now. We have driven both through Atlanta, or the western route through Birmingham in the past. I like going through Alabama because we can avoid Monteagle and Atlanta, but it does have some slower roads. For those that have driven similar routes, which do you prefer and why? It's been 5 years and I'm just debating which to take this year. In the past, we've left early in the morning and drive to Macon or Dothan.

We’ve made the trip a bunch of times but have never done the western route. To be fair, we usually cruise thru Atlanta at off hours so traffic isn’t an issue.

I’ve done the trip on my own and was nervous about the mountains but they’re weren’t bad at all

 

[tguz]

Driving from Northern Illinois, I've done it several times...but it's been several years now. We have driven both through Atlanta, or the western route through Birmingham in the past. I like going through Alabama because we can avoid Monteagle and Atlanta, but it does have some slower roads. For those that have driven similar routes, which do you prefer and why? It's been 5 years and I'm just debating which to take this year. In the past, we've left early in the morning and drive to Macon or Dothan.

We drive from Southeast Iowa and we prefer the Western route. We leave early in the morning and that put us trying to go thru Atlanta at bad times. We have been stopped in traffic on the interstate or creeping along for miles. The only time we had success was when we went through just before Midnight as we had to start our trip later than usual. To us, the Western route is less stressful and we enjoy it more.

 

[mamabunny]

Driving from Northern Illinois, I've done it several times...but it's been several years now. We have driven both through Atlanta, or the western route through Birmingham in the past. I like going through Alabama because we can avoid Monteagle and Atlanta, but it does have some slower roads. For those that have driven similar routes, which do you prefer and why? It's been 5 years and I'm just debating which to take this year. In the past, we've left early in the morning and drive to Macon or Dothan.

We used to stay in Dothan; this past year we starting bypassing the ‘ol Ross Clark Circle (Oh Ross, how we do not miss you ) and motoring on down to Marianna, FL. Why? I’m so glad you asked.

In Marianna, now there is a brand new Hampton Inn, right next to I-10. There is also a Dunkin Donuts, for your morning coffee, Chick-Fil-A for those so inclined, and a Dickie’s BBQ that has never disappointed us once. The Hampton is new, clean and seems to be well-managed. It’s not fancy, but it’s a great stopping point due to its proximity to the interstate and services. We have stayed there 4 or 5 times in the last 12 months, and have had an excellent experience every time.

We come from Tulsa and prefer going through Dothan as opposed to going through Atlanta.

In our experience, Atlanta isn't the only challenge on that route. Summer 2017, we struggled to find gas and a place to eat closer to the FL/GA border. Traffic was a nightmare at every exit and some places were out of gas completely.

Howdy neighbor! We come from Tulsa too! We drive over to the Memphis area for our first night on the road, and then down to Marianna FL. We’ve been driving this so long, I remember when I-22 out of Olive Branch didn’t go *quite* all the way to I-65. We would take the “old road” from Germantown over to Huntsville, then pick up 65 to go south.

°o° °o° °o° °o° °o° °o° °o° °o°

Regardless of where you spend the night, remember when you get on I-10, your time change from Central to Eastern will happen between mile markers 160 to 161, right on the Apalachicola River!

Travel safe, y’all - we’ll be home again in April/May!

 

[Spaceace5150]

I am sure I could have gotten ford to provide a rental if I pressed it. But I didn’t want to wait until Saturday morning for ford to open. The. Wait for the nearest rental car place. We would have for sure lost a day of vacation.

Wow! Glad everything worked out for you. That is always my fear of the car breaking down and then trying to figure out what to do.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Doing our annual drive down ( straight thru) in 2 weeks. So excited!

 

[jaredjohn4]

We usually take the western route through Illinois pulling a 5th wheel. I don't like going around Chicago and down through Indiana unless we have to. We time it to go through Atlanta around midnight. Then we pull into a Cracker Barrel in Macon for a few hours. This year we were in Gainesville FL in January, February, going back in April, and then again in June. So we have been leaving our camper in Alabama and Florida. Storage for the camper for a month is less than a tank of fuel. Its a lot easier drive without pulling the camper. 22 mpg vs 11 mpg also helps. We'll finally bring the camper home at the end of June.

 

[dvczerfs]

Doing our annual drive down ( straight thru) in 2 weeks. So excited!

Are you going to be in Epcot at all this trip? Let me know, I’ll Pm you when I work. It would be great to meet you guys after talking on the boards for all these years. lol.

 

[dvczerfs]

Good to see people from other parts of the country on here other than the east coast.
If your heading down the next week and a half or so, weather is supposed to be real nice.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Yes! Not sure which day/s yet.

Are you going to be in Epcot at all this trip? Let me know, I’ll Pm you when I work. It would be great to meet you guys after talking on the boards for all these years. lol.

 

[CopperWife]

Question for you Chicago area drivers.

We are coming from McHenry County (far northwest suburbs) and have made probably 10 or so drives to Florida over the past 15 years. My husband works nights so we usually leave around 5pm on a Friday, drive thru the night and take the 65-24-75 route.

We switch off drivers to stay alert and this works best for our family. We are a family of 5 (DD20, DD17, DS7) and the kids sleep well in the car as does mom and dad when they aren’t driving. We stop for potty breaks and generally grab food from the drive through for meals when we drive. Our longest stop is normally at Bucee’s lol.


However, this year we are heading to POR on Friday, May 24 - Memorial Day weekend.

Wondering if it’s a terrible idea to be leaving Friday night, traffic-wise, because of the holiday weekend? Should we leave earlier in the day or keep it as is? What would *you* do?

We don’t check in to POR until Sunday and have planned an Orlando area hotel for Saturday night. The goal is to be in Orlando for Saturday night regardless of when we leave.

I asked in February for suggestions on getting to Disney during Memorial Day weekend. After a lot of thought and research, we decided to take 39-74-57 to get out of Illinois. The fact that the Indianapolis 500 was going in this weekend sealed the deal.

We left at 5pm and hit NO TRAFFIC whatsoever. The only snag in the plans was that it rained for about the first 5 hours of the drive and 74 was closed so Google maps rerouted us on some barely traveled backroads for more than an hour. I honestly think we drove down some gravel roads at some point lol.

Trip took the same time as usual and if 74 opens we might take this way regularly to avoid the mess that is Chicago and into-Indiana traffic.

 

[theyoungs07]

I asked in February for suggestions on getting to Disney during Memorial Day weekend. After a lot of thought and research, we decided to take 39-74-57 to get out of Illinois. The fact that the Indianapolis 500 was going in this weekend sealed the deal.

We left at 5pm and hit NO TRAFFIC whatsoever. The only snag in the plans was that it rained for about the first 5 hours of the drive and 74 was closed so Google maps rerouted us on some barely traveled backroads for more than an hour. I honestly think we drove down some gravel roads at some point lol.

Trip took the same time as usual and if 74 opens we might take this way regularly to avoid the mess that is Chicago and into-Indiana traffic.

We left NW Illinois on Sunday and hit tornado warnings in St Louis area when on Hwy 4. Water was over the pavement and it was ugly. We planned to drive straight through Alabama to avoid the mountains and Atlanta. I found being on a non-Interstate was not a good thing (especially during the downpour), so on my way home I went through ATL, to Champaign instead of AL and St. Louis. It's much easier to time a drive from FL through ATL than from home. The weather for that drive down was terrible!

 

[ShannyMcB]

Hi folks DH and I are debating driving vs flying in August. Traveling from RI. Northeast folks how has your experience been? Would be looking at. Friday/Saturday drive down and a Saturday/sunday back for reference.

 

[OKW Lover]

Hi folks DH and I are debating driving vs flying in August. Traveling from RI. Northeast folks how has your experience been? Would be looking at. Friday/Saturday drive down and a Saturday/sunday back for reference.

I've got no recent experience but just wanted to say that before moving to FL 10 years ago my wife and I made several driving trips to WDW from Plymouth MA. We found that if you were taking the I-95 route that it was best to go through NYC very early in the morning. As in 2 am. However, even that put you in the middle of morning traffic going through Baltimore/DC.

We often opted for the more inland route going through Harrisburg and down along 81/77. Again though, that wasn't anything recent. Have fun with the drive!!

 

[bluecastle]

We do the drive from NoVA and it takes us 2 days. I can’t imagine doing 2 days from that far north, but then, I am older now! If you guys can handle over 10 hours each day, then I say go for it. But be prepared for some sudden downpours once you get closer to FL. August is a tricky time for weather. It is in the heart of hurricane season and even without a hurricane you can encounter blinding rain that may cause you to have to pull off the road for a while.

We like to divide our drive time by going a bit further the first day so we have less to do on our 2nd day. (Especially having a granddaughter in the car who is very excited to get to Disney!)

My only advice would be to realistically look at the hours and plan for shared driving time and figure out where would be a good stopover place. (Maybe somewhere in southern VA) Hopefully, someone can give you more advice that has made the trip from that area. Happy Planning!