People from the Chicago area...?

[PRINCESS VIJA]

Have you ever driven to WDW? For several reasons we are considering doing this but I wonder if we are crazy? How was the trip. We would be driving The day before Thanksgiving and staying a week. When we go our DS will be 9 and DD will be 5. How long did it take? What routes are best? Is there plenty of spots to stop and rest? What about motels, do we need to make ressies or can we just drive until we need to stop?

 

[Brisully]

I did last year for Discon. I left my house (SW Suburbs) at 5:30 AM on Sunday. I made it to the Florida border at about 7:00 same night. I drove for about an hour more and stayed at a little hotel for the night. I was in WDW by 10:00 the next morning. The drive down was pretty good, but the drive back was terrible!!!!! (I didn't want to come home!!!!)

 

[cgcw]

We just did this in December. As much as I hate to fly, I'm beginning to think the future trips might be by air.

We left our area about 12:30 on Friday afternoon. As we went down Indiana, the skies began to darken and we started hitting rain, sleet and then snow. It was lovely traveling weather! We spent the night at a Red Roof Inn in Elizabethtown, KY. It was actually very clean and well kept up, not what I usually expected from a Red Roof Inn. We left there at about 6:30 the next am and we were in Orlando by 8 pm that night. We stayed at what used to be a Hampton Inn - maybe the Universal Palm. It was okay for one night but I could not have lasted there several.

Our return trip was a bit more eventful. DS2 got sick on Friday and we ended up staying Saturday night because I didn't want to travel with him sick. By Sunday, he was on the road to getting better so we headed home - of course, no one wanted to leave so we didn't get on the road until about 1 pm. DH told me to head to Tampa, and that's exactly what I did. We went about 2 hours out of our way by the time we were back on course. About that time, we stopped for gas and as we were leaving the gas station, our van started grinding and growling like it had never done before. Steam started coming out of the engine and we smelled a rubber burning smell. We just looked at each other with that deer in the eyes looks. DH said, just drive and we'll worry about it later if we breakdown. So we traveled along. DH called a friend who suggested we stop and check the transmission fluid. So next stop in a well lighted area with a hotel next door to the gas station, we stopped. Transmission fluid was fine but the van started reving up and down as if we were pressing on the gas peddle. DH being the optimist, said lets go. We'll worry about it later if we stall. We made it to Atlanta that night. We left Atlanta at 4:45 am and were back home by 6 pm that night. Every stop, we'd check the transmission fluid and it was always fine. We never stalled but it sure made for an interesting trip home. When we took our van in, it turned out that most of the problem were covered under warranty -- something with the AC compressor and the tranmission line having a crack in it. Fortunately, we didn't cause any long term damage to our van. I'm just not sure I'd do it again, at least with our own vehicle. With a rental, we would have just gotten a new one and moved on without any worries.

Oh, did I also mention that the TV/VCR broke also on the way home. Made for a longer trip for the kids. It was kind of nice in a way though because we told old stories and sang Christmas caroles.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Originally posted by PRINCESS VIJA
Have you ever driven to WDW?.....

Midwest Express, all the way!!!!

 

[December99]

Note to PV....Brisully drives VERY FAST....so don't take his word on it!!!! ROFL

We have driven the last two times we have gone and this past time we cut our trip by 2 hours (which for us is alot). We packed lunchmeat for lunches on the way down and when we did a potty stop at a rest area, we grabbed our sandwiches and took off....and ate in the car. Might not be that easy with smaller kids. i have a 13yo.

Depending where you are actually leaving from varies on the timing. We live closer to I39 so we go that way down to 74 over to 57 and then down to 24 and take that all the way. We usually leave about 4am and stop in Dalton, GA around 3pm (2pm our time) or 4pm - something like that. That is our longest day - we do the longest day first. Then we get up and leave around 6am and get to Orlando with a stop at Ocala by 3pm at the very latest.

With gas stops (and we make these potty stops too) and maybe one rest area stop the whole day it takes us about 19 hours. Coming back we stop around Murphysboro, TN which makes that day the longest day. We like the longest part of the trip in the first day (about 12 hours) so that the second day isn't that much of a killer. But of course, as Brisully said - going home is always the killer.

Just one word of advice...make sure you have plenty of room for the kids. When we took the van we took the middle seat out and put the luggage and cooler there and Britt sat in the back. Gave her a bit more privacy and us some privacy too - during dark time she had a lantern that she could use to read or do whatever that hung from the little clothes hanger thing and it didn't bother the person that was driving (one of those nice camping lanterns from Target, it was battery operated or operated on a car outlet which was just behind her). This last trip we had my dad's tv/vcr combo and that helped her but we took the tracker and it was a bit more cramped.

 

[Doctor P]

I have done the drive from the Chicago area at least 8 times and I have flown at least another 6 or 8 times. The drive is long, but not extremely difficult (in 1999 DW was not feeling well, so I ended up driving all but one hour of the trip home and was no worse for the wear). The trip is about 1250 miles for us, but there are tricks to making it smooth, IMHO. First of all, leave very early in the morning (before the sun rises)...there is something reenergizing about the sunrise. Second, IMHO, is, in the wintertime, drive directly south as quickly as you can--that is why we use I57. There is something reenergizing about seeing things green up on that first day. Third, always do the long day on the first day--we try to go at least 700 miles or so on the first day. Fourth, make sure you stop at the OFFICIAL Disney Welcome Center on I75 near Ocala.

The second day of the trip down is by far my favorite day of the trip. Going through Atlanta, entering Florida, seeing the orange groves, stopping at the Disney Welcome Center, entering WDW, and having a special dinner or just exploring the first night at a leisurely rate...I'm ready to go back!!!

Plus...when you drive you have more freedom with your car available to you for exploring and for side trips.