Has anyone driven from Chicago area?

[Minnie824]

We'll be driving down to Disney this Nov from the Chicago area. We plan on taking the route thru Indianapolis. I was wondering how far you think we'll get the 1st day? I was hoping to get to around Valdosta, GA...I had heard it was a nice area to stop, there seems to be a newer hotel there to stay over. A little more info...we'll have DD4 and DD1.5 w/us. Plan to leave around 3am, hopefully getting to Valdosta, bringing along a potty for 4yo just in case. Night before, dropping kids at parents so we can sleep a little also. Do you think this is possible? And has anyone stayed in the Valdosta area before? Thanks!

 

[jlovesee]

My husband and I have driven from kansas city, MO round trip 3 times (once for our wedding, 1st anniversary and this year for our 3rd anniversary). The first time was aweful, but Im getting to actually enjoy it! To your question Chicago is about three hours closer I believe, and we usually make it to Valdosta about Midnight so you should be fine, Valdosta is a great place to stop as prices are good, and the whole mentality of Im almost to florida! Then in the morning you get to stop at the florida welcome center that's fun. There is a new Sleep Inn built in Valdosta, which we stayed at this January and I felt it was a very good deal. Only word of warning Georgia is a very long state to drive though as most of it is very rural...

Jennifer

 

[siouxi31]

Yes, we have driven to WDW from Chicago. We seem to make it just past Atlanta each time and then get completely exhausted. Valdosta is about 3 hours further down the road from Atlanta.

 

[Minnie824]

My husband and I have driven from kansas city, MO round trip 3 times (once for our wedding, 1st anniversary and this year for our 3rd anniversary). The first time was aweful, but Im getting to actually enjoy it! To your question Chicago is about three hours closer I believe, and we usually make it to Valdosta about Midnight so you should be fine, Valdosta is a great place to stop as prices are good, and the whole mentality of Im almost to florida! Then in the morning you get to stop at the florida welcome center that's fun. There is a new Sleep Inn built in Valdosta, which we stayed at this January and I felt it was a very good deal. Only word of warning Georgia is a very long state to drive though as most of it is very rural...

Jennifer

What time do you leave that you make it there about midnight? I think we want to try to get as far as possible, that way the next day, the kids won't have as much driving, we can take our time in the am, and still get there early enough. Thanks!

 

[Alice Sr.]

Yes, we have driven to WDW from Chicago. We seem to make it just past Atlanta each time and then get completely exhausted. Valdosta is about 3 hours further down the road from Atlanta.

I have driven many times, and I agree south side of Atlanta. By the time I get through the TN mountains I'm about done. I think that's about a 10-11 drive. The next day never seems like a bad drive from Atlanta, we always get in early and feel fresh.

 

[Minnie824]

I was looking into south of Atlanta as another option....can you recommend a hotel/city south of Atlanta? I saw a country inn i believe it said Morrow, Ga? 11 miles south of Atlanta? I just want to make sure we get far enough past all that traffic as to not deal w/it the next morning.

 

[siouxi31]

Atlanta traffic is some of the worst so you're right to make it past there for a good start in the morning. I can only tell you not to stay at Motel 8 in Forsythe. The place was a dump about 4 years ago. Maybe you can check into some hotel reviews..I think hotels.com has reviews.

 

[FINFAN]

We have had better luck taking the I-57/24/65 route from Chicago....seems like forever to get out of Il, but then you just fly thru KY/TN and are in Atlanta! I agree Valdosta is pushing it...we drove in Dec however and ran out of day light by 5:30 p.m. going thru Chattanooga...right when we wanted the kids to see the mountains. (as if they were going to stop playing Game Cube anyway ) We have hit some pretty nasty traffic thru Indy on 65 and did not encounter anything like it on 57. We made it to Acworth (just N or Atlanta in 11 hours, and we had stopped for a bit heading down. We were checked into our hotel by 8 p.m. which was great as we got a decent nights sleep. Departed Acworth at 7 a.m....used the outer circle to avoid Atlanta and hit the usual traffic jam about an hour N. of Valdosta....and pulled into the Dolphin parking lot about 3 p.m. Again, we stopped at the Fl welcome center for a bit...for nostalgia sake...did it as kids every trip, enjoyed our free OJ drink, tossed a football around, took cheesy tourist pics at the "welcome to Fl" sign...anyway, we arrived fairly rested, at a decent hour. could've been sooner if he hadn't stopped, and we did hit traffic heading into WDW for about 15 miles, but it was not too bad. Took the same route home departing 1/1...but boy was 75 backed up from Atlanta clear thru Valdosta heading into Fl that day! I think if you can depart by 3 or 4 a.m., and you can def make it past Atlanta, but you may wiped the next day and not get an early start or have enough sleep. I would drive again if the repairs we'd have to make to our van wouldn't cost us a fortune!


Pam

 

[ILPHIL]

From the IL - WI border and always drive straight thru. We time our departure to miss rush hour in Chicago, Nashville and Atlanta. We make frequent rest stops and still arrive in roughly 24 hrs. Stopping for the night along the way would just make the trip seem that much longer.
Have done both the I-65 thru IN and the I-57/I-24 routes and find the I-57 to be far less stressful.
But, to each his own...

 

[RAD]

I would second the comments on taking the I57 to I24 route and forget Indiana. Yes, it's a bit farther but you miss a lot of traffic going that way and when you get to southern Illinois you see that the state actually does have some hills in it

I also agree that Valdosta is REALLY a long drive for the first day. I haven't done the drive in a number of years but I've seen a number of posts that say that traffic in Georgia in general on the entier I75 route is one big mess. Some have recommended taking the I65/US231/I10 route through Alabama being a better alternative.

 

[jlovesee]

I will definitly agree that Valdosta is a hike, we left once at 11AM (we had to load up all the stuff for the wedding) and got there at I think 2-3AM and then left at 9AM once got there at 12:30-1, and then last time we left at 6AM and got there around 11, but I think kids might slow you down a bit. Another thought would be Macon Ga, which is about an hour or two or so south of Atlanta, your out of the metro area, and about halfway through GA.

I still recommend stopping at the Florida Welcome center though, they have great brochures for stuff around the area, and we got the Orlando Magicard thing last year there, plus free orange juice! (yes I love free stuff)

When we leave Valdosta about 9 or so, we usually hit Orlando about 2 or 3, so you would probably make it there a few hours later if you stopped in Macon. BTW we usually stay within 5 miles or so of the speed limit, so we are not speedsters

Jennifer

 

[nuke]

I drove from the LaGrange area once.
We left at 5am and made it to 1 hour past Atlanta at 8pm.
It was two adults so there weren't many stops along the way.

 

[house_of_princesses]

I have driven down from Frankfort (just south of the city) twice now w/ my 4 dd's. I'm the only driver. Previous to my being the solo driver, we have made the same drive too many times to count. I57 is the way to go, avoid Indy. We always stay at a wonderful Country Inn and Suites in Dalton, GA. Clean, spacious, friendly, free breakfast. Has a mini fridge in the room to cool off all the juice you'll be hauling! We arrive early afternoon, plenty of time to stretch, get your bearings, unpack, take a swim. Just chill before the big rush hits!! Have fun!

 

[manning]

Mileage wise, Chattanooga is the half way point.

 

[Jon99]

We live in Kankakee County, normally leave around 3:00 PM and arrive at WDW around 10:00 AM.... Always taken 57/24/75, but thinking about trying I-10 to avoid 75...

 

[cbrfan]

We drive from mid-Michigan and stop in Macon, GA. There's a nice Hampton Inn off I-475 (I think it's Exit 3). That's about as far south as we can make it. We go through Atlanta in the evening when the traffic is light and we don't have to take the bypass. This area of Macon is just out of the heavy traffic areas. We've always found the drive the next morning to be smooth sailing.
I agree with house of princesses. The Country Inns & Suites in Dalton is wonderful. But I find it better to stop there on the way home instead of on the way south. Too much traffic in Atlanta in the morning. I don't like facing it first thing in the morning. Better to be south of town.

 

[Vijoge]

We live in Joliet. We overnight in Chattanooga. We've never tried to go ay farther than that in one day. Avoid the Fairfield Inn in Chattanooga. Last time we were there it was run by idiots.

 

[obsessed with disney]

We have driven several times straight through. We leave when the kids go to sleep so that they don't ask "are we there yet" anymore times than they have to. we stop for washroom breaks and gas. We have made it in 18 hours (from just south of Chicago). We are exhausted when we get there but we eat, go for a swim and are ready to go in the morning.

 

[Jon99]

Is US231 a 2 or 4 lane highway????? Based on what we normally plan, would be driving thru there around 2-4 AM, how about gas stations, restrooms etc???

 

[wordzylady]

We also live in Kankakee County and we usually make it to around Dalton, GA and stay I believe at the Country Inn and Suites also.