We've made the drive several times, so we know what we're in for (the good, the bad, and the ugly, lol). Sometimes we've driven as far as WDC and taken the AutoTrain, but the value isn't there for us anymore, so we'll drive the whole way. Heading down is always fun with anticipation and reviewing plans, etc. I'm actually kind of looking forward to it as a "detox period" before the real vacation starts, because we've had a LOT going on around here the past few months especially. We will stop overnight in Florence, SC, and from there it's about 7 hours to WDW. We try to arrive between 4-5 so that hopefully our villa is ready to move into without waiting long. It's really the drive back that stinks, and several times we've done it without stopping by switching drivers.
Driving works for us because my DDs are basically adults and can entertain themselves (and we do have a DVD player in the van). We can bring more-or-less anything/as much as we want, which with 4 women is nice. We also go for longer trips (usually 12 nights), so that makes the 2 days of driving in each direction worth it. We also really love having a vehicle down there. We use Disney transportation often, but we prefer to drive ourselves to waterparks (took the bus once and it was a very uncomfortable ride back to resort being wet & freezing in the A/C) & Animal Kingdom, and of course if we need anything off-site. We also usually split-stay, so moving resorts is easy with our own vehicle.
TYSM for the good wishes for our trip!