I 75 Hotels in Tenn & Georgia

[sheboz]

Kicking around the idea of driving to WDW from Windsor, ON. Our goal is to drive 12 to 14 hours the first day of our trip.
Are there any hotels you recommend or rest stops/play areas?
What amount of $$ do you budget for the drive (excluding gas)?
What is your ultimate tip for a fun non stressed drive?

TIA I look froward to hearing all of your ideas!

 

[minnie mum]

Do you belong to CAA? You can do an online triptik. It will also show you the restaurants and hotels near each exit.

For gas: have you tryed using gasbuddy.com? You plug in your vehicle info and route and it will calculate your gas cost for you. Also handy info on current gas prices along your route. Our return trip from Easter Ontario in our Volvo was less than $500 for gas in Oct 2011.

My best tip for long distance travel- do your homework ahead of time. Have a good map in addition to your GPS. Take at least a 10 minute stop every 2 hours (pee break, gas/meals, etc). It REALLY helps to prevent drowsiness and inattention on a long drive.

 

[sheboz]

I do plan on doing my homework, I am all for that. Just wondering if you have a preferred location to stop and rest. I also plan to borrow my Dad's I-75 travel guide. I just like to hear tips and experiences from other experienced disers.

 

[utkscvol1]

I live 20 minutes from Chattanooga which is right on the ga line what are you looking for?

 

[sheboz]

Thank you for your reply! A hotel with a nice pool or an outdoor area for the kids to play. Close to 75. DS & DD will most certainly need to get some energy out. We are hoping to keep the cost around $75 for two queens. Any recommendation would be helpful. Thank you.

 

[utkscvol1]

They just opened a brand new holiday inn express off exit 27in cleveland- right by the interstate with shopping and restaurants close by-

 

[sheboz]

Thanks for such a prompt response, I will check it out for sure!

 

[rjan67]

After many stays at cheaper hotels (one particulary in Chattanooga that had a sign behind the desk saying "no refunds after 20 minutes" - UGH!) - we now always stay at a Holiday Inn Express. I always make sure there is an indoor pool and they offer breakfast in the morning which is perfect for kids. I personally don't book ahead until we stop for dinner and look ahead to see how much farther we want to drive and find one on I75 and call ahead. We have often driven farther than we thought we would (or if you are running behind). Try to stay out of urban areas (hotels tend to be slightly less expensive). Sometimes when the kids were getting squirrelly in the car, I would look for a Target on route, that allows for a little shopping, allows the kids to move around. I also would recommend investing in a gps if you don't have one. I also have the I75 guide and used it pre-gps, but I think you find that most useful. As for the car ride, my kids have always had a way to watch movies (we even rigged up a 13 inch tv/vcr pre portable dvd systems) and they can watch what they like. I have even been know to bring the gaming system for my boys -whatever keeps them happy. When they were smaller, I would hit up the dollar store for a fun bag of things to do - but they are older now, so they have their ipods, computers etc. We still play some word games in the car or do eye spy. My rule is do whatever keeps everybody happy!

 

[CindyV]

we have driven several time now. we are in london, so you are 2 hours closer We have booked hotels before hand, as well as not. We have a general idea of where we want to end up and where we should be. We book and have until 4 or 6 sometimes that day to cancel. Which we did this time, we made good time, so we cancelled our reservation. Its not something i would recommend because u never know. We have just done it a couple times just incase.
Gas for us was just over $200 each way. We stop for dinner and get a coupon book and look for a hotel that way as well. Got one for $80. We have stayed in the comfort inn brands and like them. We drive a lot the first day and have between 4-5 hours the next day to go. We are always in disney by lunch.
We love the drive. We leave early in the morning the first day, stop for breakfast lunch, each time getting gas, eating, letting our son run/walk around.
We make sure he has enough stuff to do in the car and snacks. The i 75 book makes it less stressful for us. We plan where we are going to stop/eat, and its fun to follow along. Every page is about 20 minutes for us, so i enjoyed following along with every page turned.
We have stayed in macon,tifton and cordele. In macon we stayed at the residence inn, we got it for cheap back then, but now its expensive. We enjoyed residence in because it was a two bedroom suite for around 100. We liked comfort inn and have stayed at that or another one of their brands. But i dont recommend cordele comfort inn because the highway is right there and a train right behind.. The 1 75 book is great because u can use it now to look up the hotels it lists about whether u like them or not. We looked online at ones we thought we may like to stay, many spots on the way.

 

[OntarioDisneyMom]

We live in Blenheim....near Chatham..we drive every year and love it....cost about 500 for us round trip. Typically don't reserve rooms on the way down. With the exception of last year when we went the first week of april for my dd,s birthday, we never have issues with rooms. Last year was so unreal with traffic volumes it was a nightmare trying to find a place. We ALWAYS stay at holiday inn. Holiday inn is expensive but is always great. We typically leave Thursday after work, drive about 3 to 5 hours ( stay between Findlay and Cincinnati). Then the next day do 10 to 12 hours and stay around macon. It only leaves a short drive Saturday which works out great.....FYI make sure you hit popcorn haven in Calhoun Georgia.... It's about 10 min off the hwy and has the best popcorn on the planet.

 

[Tiger926]

Have done the drive a million times.

We stay in urban areas, which are more costly, but we are picky about where we stop, sleep and eat. Do not recommend rural areas at all, as motels can be run down, and there are usually no stores around, as well as cell reception can be iffy too. We only stay at Marriott or Hilton brands, but will occasionally stay at a Holiday Inn Express if it's new.

For us, it's important to have stores, restaurants and clean/safe hotels in our reach. We have a GPS as well as OnStar in our car, and we always have the most updated version of Driving i75.

We stop at Targets and Walmarts so that we can stretch, kids pick out some toys, use washroom and buy fresh food. We never stop at gas stations, excecpt for busy urban gas stations, and we only stop for gas, that's it. We don't eat fast food, nor drink pop nor eat candy, so we eat fruit, cheese crackers for snacks, as well as make fresh sandwiches and drink water or juice. We are also picky about where we stop to eat for meals, as we all have allergies/diet sensitivities to worry about.

For us, it's about keeping my hubby comfortable since he does all of the driving, as well as the kids, so they have books, DVD players (each have their own, and we bring at least 50 DVDs), iPod and iPad, DS and games/toys. We eat healthy, stay hydrated, get exercise, and make sure that we don't push ourselves too much at all!

Good luck! Tiger