Houstonians - driving to WDW

[bxtx]

So it's a little while until we leave for WDW but I am the ultimate planner!

We're in Katy, just west of Houston. How long does it take you to get to WDW?

We figure we can do 200 miles / 3.5 hours on a tank of gas towing our TT, so any advice on where to stop? Get gas? Eat? Or just let the kids out to run around? Or places to avoid!

The current plan is to leave Friday evening, drive through the night swapping between drivers every tank stop, but then rest for a couple of hours at breakfast as the kids will be awake by then, plus a decent stop for lunch. We figure we'd get to FtW around 6pm Saturday. Is this realistic?

As always, all advice is gratefully received!

BX

 

[becky1960]

The big problem is La. the rest stops were pretty much wiped out by Katrina/Rita. If my memory is right the Welcome to La rest stop is ok and another one closer to Lafeyette. After you leave La. the rest of the states are pretty good especially Fla. I 10 is also pretty bumpy after Baton Rouge for about 75 + miles. We usually take two days. Its about 20 - 24 hrs.

Driving at night the first part will probably help with time. Good luck, you will have a good time and its worth the drive.

 

[Shorty82]

Be sure to stop at the Florida Welcome Center. It is very nice and IIRC you get free Florida orange juice.

I believe the Mississippi Welcome Center has free soft drinks and coffee. I know the one going westbound from Alabama into Mississippi has them and I assume the eastbound from Louisiana does. The building is pretty and has a fireplace to warm up by.

Wave at me as you come through Pensacola!

 

[Mr Man]

Yup,

You can easily be there by 6pm. We usually arrive around 1-2pm if we leave the previous night by 8pm.

From Spring, it is approx 1,060 miles to FW entrance. I have driven it w/TT straight (no overnight stays-just gas, eat,run the kids etc) and done it in 17-18hrs.

Problem is, I am beat when I arrive at FW......much prefer to stop at Lake City KOA...rest for a while and then do the last 3hrs refreshed. If we do the Lake City stop, we generally leave Spring at 4am Sat morning & time it out for a Sun morning check-in at FW. DW and the kids like this best.

We generally stop for gas every 225-250miles (as our truck can travel at least 280-290miles per tank). This generally means a minimum of 4 stops along the way for fuel, 2 stops to stretch legs in rest area and 1 stop in Orlando before we arrive (we combine this with our supermarket stop before we enter FW).

LA is still hurting from Katrina when it comes to Rest Areas. We generally gas up in Lafayette, and then don't stop for gas again until we reach Mississippi. The rest area in Mississippi at the Stennis Space Center is real nice. Good place for the kids to run wild for a bit (security is present). Our other rest stop is usually around Tallahassee FL (but sometimes Pensacola). It just depends on the kids and the amount of junk food they have consumed .

Note, Mississippi always has the cheapest gas. Make sure you fill up at least once there. FL is expensive for gas (noticably more).....

Food. I am not much help here. We generally do fast food or "Moon-pie" & a "Yoo-hoo" type junk food. We are on a "road trip" after all & DDP is waiting for us at WDW.

If you insist on a recommendation though DW and I love to eat at "The Pig Stand" in Lafayette. Real deal cajun cookin' (Hoo-dah) in a down-home atmosphere and very inexpensive to boot. We generally stop here on the way home and pick-up Po-boys to go.

Road conditions. As PP said, I-12 between BR and the Mississipi border is "rough"; however, I-10 between Beaumont & LA border is even rougher. I thought our TT was going to separate from the truck a few times. Take your time through here. I-10 is much improved from LA border to Baton Rouge nowadays (still can't call it great though).

 

[bxtx]

You guys are great!

 

[splashmtnfan]

Stop at Cracker Barrel at least once! They have clean restrooms, great snacks, like in the old days, and great shopping, oh their food is so gooooood. They serve great down-home cooking, with choices for everyone!!! We get the audio books also, you "buy" the cd's or tape of the book, and when you drop it off at the next Cracker Barrel, you get a refund, for the book, all except the 3.49 you pay for keeping it for a whole week! Robin Roberts has a new book out that I have been wanting to get..........OOO...I think I'll go get one today at our Cracker Barrel! You could even stop at the one in Baytown, get your book on your way out of town, and then stop in Slidell, La. to eat or, Pensacola, Fl.. There are also a couple in Mississippi. Either way, you will enjoy the food, the atmosphere and the shopping. They even have good cd books for children! To me, the dvd's in the car are great, but cd's help a child picture something in their minds.
Cracker Barrel's are located on the main highway/interstate, so easy to get to/stop at, so relaxing, usually have a fireplace to enjoy while eating. Have a great trip!!!!

 

[DisnyMama]

In July my 16 year old ds and I drove to WDW from McKinney, TX and we entered LA at Shreveport and drove down till we hit the 10. We did not see a single rest area in the entire state of LA. I agree with MrMan about stopping at the Stennis Space Center Rest Area in Mississippi. It is an easy off and on and really nice. We took 3 days driving both ways since I am doing all the driving and I can only drive a max of 350-400 per day and can't drive at night on the highways. I am one of those drivers that gets hypnotized by the road so I literally need the rest areas and I stop about once every two hours at most just to get out of the car for a couple of minutes and then I'm fine. We absolutely loved the drive.

The only highway issues I ran into were going through Tallahassee. Lots of highway construction for a few miles.

 

[Shorty82]

Stop at Cracker Barrel at least once! They have clean restrooms, great snacks, like in the old days, and great shopping, oh their food is so gooooood. They serve great down-home cooking, with choices for everyone!!! We get the audio books also, you "buy" the cd's or tape of the book, and when you drop it off at the next Cracker Barrel, you get a refund, for the book, all except the 3.49 you pay for keeping it for a whole week! Robin Roberts has a new book out that I have been wanting to get..........OOO...I think I'll go get one today at our Cracker Barrel! You could even stop at the one in Baytown, get your book on your way out of town, and then stop in Slidell, La. to eat or, Pensacola, Fl.. There are also a couple in Mississippi. Either way, you will enjoy the food, the atmosphere and the shopping. They even have good cd books for children! To me, the dvd's in the car are great, but cd's help a child picture something in their minds.
Cracker Barrel's are located on the main highway/interstate, so easy to get to/stop at, so relaxing, usually have a fireplace to enjoy while eating. Have a great trip!!!!

Cracker Barrels are great. You've already covered most everything about them, except one. They have lots that are bus and RV friendly.

I believe they all have fireplaces. Every one I've been to do. Heck, every one had the exact same floorplan except for one that was a mirror image.

 

[LarryJ]

We figure we can do 200 miles / 3.5 hours on a tank of gas towing our TT

We generally stop for gas every 225-250miles (as our truck can travel at least 280-290miles per tank).

I used to do that but it was like every 325 miles carrying 45 gal of gas in two tanks, now I can go 400 to 450 miles with the diesel van and 39 gal of fuel in the factory tank and with the extra 20 gal I carry can stretch that to an actual fuel stop every 600 to 700 miles. Of course with the DW and two Yorkies we still hit a lot of rest areas for pit stops and even lunch, etc., but no biggie.

Can't help with the OP since driving at night is like a thing of the past for almost 20 years at our age and we no longer have kids or a work schedule to emcumber our travel times/plans. For use it's like 300 to 350miles and a max of 400 in a day towing the TT.

Larry

 

[Mr Man]

I used to do that but it was like every 325 miles carrying 45 gal of gas in two tanks, now I can go 400 to 450 miles with the diesel van and 39 gal of fuel in the factory tank and with the extra 20 gal I carry can stretch that to an actual fuel stop every 600 to 700 miles.Larry

Show-off!

Last time we drove, we did it in a diesel pusher Class A. That thing could go for 425 miles on a tank of gas. My butt hurt so bad after 350 miles that I had to stop.....or go insane!

We are flying down for Spring Break 2008. I need a break. That is the sweetest 2.5hrs........

 

[bxtx]

We are flying down for Spring Break 2008. I need a break. That is the sweetest 2.5hrs........[/QUOTE]

I'm jealous... I think flying *might* be easier with the 3 kids but then I think of being holed up in a tiny weeny hotel room, in the dark, waiting for them to go to sleep so we can whisper to each other. And then I think of all the stuff you have to schlep for a 6 month old, and I realise I LOVE my TT and my own bed! Hence driving through the night, the kids will be asleep! Yeah! We'll be there the week before you I think...

BX

 

[Mr Man]

We are flying down for Spring Break 2008. I need a break. That is the sweetest 2.5hrs........

I'm jealous... I think flying *might* be easier with the 3 kids but then I think of being holed up in a tiny weeny hotel room, in the dark, waiting for them to go to sleep so we can whisper to each other. And then I think of all the stuff you have to schlep for a 6 month old, and I realise I LOVE my TT and my own bed! Hence driving through the night, the kids will be asleep! Yeah! We'll be there the week before you I think...

BX[/QUOTE]

Try the cabins at FW. Plenty of room for the kids. It is more expensive.....but.....um ok, actually it is a LOT more expensive.

That is why we bought into DVC. We do WDW twice yearly. Once at a DVC resort (flying) & once at FW (driving TT or MH or flying and staying in a cabin).

We love the road trip adventure part too (but it does shave time off of our FW stay unfortunately).

Best of luck to y'all. Whatever works for you, is the right thing to do.