If Driving what do you do on the way?

[zenshome]

To our family part of going to WDW is our drive down and back. I am curious what places you go when driving to WDW. We are driving down from Michigan and will be stopping at the Louisville Slugger Bat Factory, The Chattanooga Aquarium, Chattanooga Choo-Choo Hotel, Chattanooga Train Museum, and some caverns. We will also see signs along the way and as long as it won't derail our agenda too much we will stop at sights on the way that we hadn't planned.

How about you what are some good places you have found along the way?

 

[stahshee]

It will be our first time driving ok I plan to stop and vist family

 

[Good Ol Gal]

Sorry, we can't help here because we're too excited to do anything but get there!!

We drive from OH and it takes us about 19 hours to get to WDW and we drive straight thru to Gainesville, 17 hours. We then stop, spend the night and head over to WDW in the morning.

This upcoming trip we're planning on just going straight there.

 

[Cruz91]

Please tell me you're kidding... What part of Ohio do you drive from? I was planning on making it in about 14 total drive time (MAX). We'll leave in the AM and go about 10 - 11 hours from Columbus to Savannah, GA, then have a 'short' 3 hrs the next day to The World... We (and when I say 'We' I mean 'I') drive pretty fast - I justify it because I'm staying with the flow of traffic . When we went to Myrtle Beach last year - we made it in about 8 1/2 hours - including stops...

 

[Minnie824]

We also drove straight thru with our 4yo and 1.5 yo from IL. We left at about 1:30am, DDs slept til 6:30ish...made multiple rest stops, meal stops. Took about 20 hrs including the stops, got there at around 9:30pm cst (10:30 local). After dinner, DDs had fallen asleep again. The timing worked really well for us actually....DH and I got a few hours of sleep the night before, and the night we got there. We had nothing planned the day we arrived, until dinner, so we took our time all morning. One thing about stopping (we did stop over on the way home) was that it was much harder to get DDs back into the car to drive again, after they knew how long it was on day 1. We're planning to do something similar this year again.

 

[Good Ol Gal]

Please tell me you're kidding... What part of Ohio do you drive from? I was planning on making it in about 14 total drive time (MAX). We'll leave in the AM and go about 10 - 11 hours from Columbus to Savannah, GA, then have a 'short' 3 hrs the next day to The World... We (and when I say 'We' I mean 'I') drive pretty fast - I justify it because I'm staying with the flow of traffic . When we went to Myrtle Beach last year - we made it in about 8 1/2 hours - including stops...

We do leave from Col also.

ok... when I added up the hours again it was really 17 1/2. Maybe you're planning on going a different route. We've driven the past two trips and they've both been the same time.

We go 71 to 75 to avoid the mountains because we travel during December. We leave at 4am and get to Gainesville at 730pm and then it's about 2 hours from there to WDW.

If you make it in 14 hours PLEASE tell me which way you go!! I would love to cut 3 hours off our trip!!!

 

[Tinky]

We drive down the majority of the time which is about 20 hours total. We get up really early the first day (about 4am) and drive until breakfast time. We usually put the kids in the van in their jammies and then they get dressed and we have breakfast. This lets us get about 3-4 hours while they are still sleeping (and its soooooooooo quiet... ahhhhhhh). We bring a cooler and fill it with crustables or other picnic stuff and then at lunch time we find a nice rest area usually somewhere in MS or AL to have a picnic. This also gives the kids some time to run around and burn some energy. Then we drive until Tallahassee and stop for the night and then drive the rest of the way into Orlando.
I usually fill the kids backpack with little inexpensive surprises (small games, paper and crayons, etc) and they also have their Game Boys and DVD player so they kinda of mix it up.
One thing that we also do that DH just shakes his head and laughs about is finding weird roadside attractions... I LOVE THIS! You can look at http://www.roadsideamerica.com to check out whats in your path. DH hosband says it cant be more than a couple miles out of the way...

Have fun!

 

[dwcrazee]

We don't make many stops along the way but, the kids watch DVDs and I pick up little presents for them along the way. We stop in SC to visit family so that breaks up our drive.

We also leave from Columbus ( GO BUCKS!!) and yes, it's about 17 hours.

 

[mickeymousemom]

Its about 19-20 hours for us, if I remember right. We normally make as few stops as possible but now that we have a toddler, we stop a little more often to give her breaks from her carseat. We never stop and see other attractions. It takes long enough to get there, and we only have so many days to take, so I'd rather spend that time in FL or WDW. We normally do try to get as far as Lake Park, GA(right before the FL state line) and spend the night there(meaning running in, getting to sleep as fast as possible, sleeping about 5 or 6 hours, and heading back out.) We normally get to Orlando around early afternoon. If it weren't for our toddler we would drive straight thru on the way home.

 

[Cruz91]

We do leave from Col also.

ok... when I added up the hours again it was really 17 1/2. Maybe you're planning on going a different route. We've driven the past two trips and they've both been the same time.

We go 71 to 75 to avoid the mountains because we travel during December. We leave at 4am and get to Gainesville at 730pm and then it's about 2 hours from there to WDW.

If you make it in 14 hours PLEASE tell me which way you go!! I would love to cut 3 hours off our trip!!!

I still haven't made my 'final decision', but the two options for us are both headed towards 77, not 75. One option is going straight East on 70 to 77, the other option is going down 23 (which is two lane for about 30 miles, 4 lane the rest of the time) to 35 to 77 (maybe a couple other little jogs in there too, but those are the biggies).

From the many people I have talked to who are from Columbus and either live in Orlando now or go there frequently, going 75 down easily adds two to three hours onto your drive. The mountains don't bother me in the least, though. If driving through the mountainous terrain of 77 bothers you, maybe that extra time is worth it??? I'm taking the Odyssey in Friday for a final 'once over' and then I'll average about 70 - 75 mph for the whole trip. That's why I don't let the wife drive. She thinks if we're going over 65 we'll sprout wings and fly away or something....

Drive safely - whichever route you choose - and have a great time! I'll post our final direction and how long it took us to get there when I get back - just for future reference.

 

[Princessbaby]

We drive from northern Indiana. I also have family in the Columbus, OH area , so we drive to Columbus and from there it is about 17 hours for us! We drove 75 all the way down. S, maybe next time a new, shorter route may be in order! That would be great!!

 

[larklynn]

We live in MI but border country I work in Toledo it takes around 15 hrs to get to gainsville with potty breaks for the kids. We also stop for the night there normally but when we called to book all the hotels were full for sat. and we have to push to ocala. Our check in is sun. and we like to be rested when we hit the parks. We take DVD's magna doodles, gameboys, music and home work

 

[mom2my3kids]

We are driving from Indiana, we dont stop anywhere other then for gas and stop and eat. We do a lot of walking when we stop and eat so the kids can get some exercise. It usually takes us about 15-16 hours to drive it, but we split it up and stay the night in Georgia..

 

[mjmcca]

I drive frm NYC. We donthave a DVD player but that is on the list of things to get. I pack their bags with some old favs and some new stuff i have picked up. I useed to take the Leapster and the pixter but we now have gameboys and a v smile pocket i plan to take on the next trip. The kdis have gone many times so they are used tot he long drive. We are leaving inthe afternoon this time since we are going after school lets out for Easter break. As soon as hubby gets home I would think.

 

[tmanaster]

We are so excited to get there I barely want anyone to get out to pee! Seriously, on the way down, no stopping. On the way back we stop at the beach for a few days. Last time we stopped at Jekyll Island, GA. It was quiet and relaxing!

 

[mjmcca]

We are so excited to get there I barely want anyone to get out to pee! Seriously, on the way down, no stopping. On the way back we stop at the beach for a few days. Last time we stopped at Jekyll Island, GA. It was quiet and relaxing!

We stop overnight but there is no way I would do a couple of days at the beach after WDW. T me it would be takeing away days I could be inthe parks!

 

[kimmikayb]

We stop overnight but there is no way I would do a couple of days at the beach after WDW. T me it would be takeing away days I could be inthe parks!

Oh, I don't know. After 7 days in the park, a few days at the beach would be great. Rest up before you go back to work.

 

[KristiKelly]

We are so excited to get there I barely want anyone to get out to pee!

In our case, DH is always trying to beat last year's time so he doesn't like to stop to go to the bathroom until it's time to fill up with gas. For us it's about a 10 hour drive so DH is always trying to get down to 9 hour & 45 min so no time for sight seeing for us.

 

[loles]

you wanted to know about interesting sites along the way. I live near Atlanta, GA, and have been to the Chattanooga Aquarium stayed at the Choo-Choo, etc. Beautiful area there- you will have a blast! If you come through Atlanta, you might want to check out our new aquarium here, the worlds largest aquarium. And the World of Coke is always fun for all those Coca-Cola lovers!
I like your plan for enjoying the trip - that is part of the vacation too! When we go in May to WDW, I will try to keep in mind places to stop along the way. Enjoy your vacation!

 

[jlovesee]

Always with Amusement parks on the mind here are some couple hour diversions along the way....

You might want to consider Wild Adventures in Valdosta GA. Its not the greatest of all amusement parks, but its fun, and also you can get into to Cypress Gardens (about 30 mins from Disney) for free with a 1 day admission to Wild Adventures or vice versa.

Another great little park in Chatanooga is Lake Winnie, its small, but fun. It has the world's oldest shoot the chutes ride (predecessor to the modern flume ride) and a good old classic coaster, the Cannonball, plus it is just a really cute little park. Clean and fun.

Jennifer