The Drive From TX to FL - Help!

[Texian@WDW]

First time to drive to WDW. Has anyone over-nighted in Biloxi or Mobile? Have any suggestions on were to stay and eat? We would probably want to make our trip going fast, but could slow down coming back home.

Thanks!

 

[deirdrefitch]

Hi Fellow Texan! We have driven twice, and making our third drive in June. We have always stopped in Pensacola the first night. There are all the standard chains right off the interstate.
We stayed at the Holiday Inn and Comfort Suites there. They are really nice and clean. Prices are average. All the major restraunts and food chains are in the same area. We normally get up early and opt for the McDonalds across the street for breakfast. We are going to leave a little earlier, and go on to Tallahassee which is just three hours further. This will cut a little travel time off of our trip the next day. I can't remember what we passed in Alabama or Mississippi because we weren't in those states very long. I do remember there was some sort of Naval Ship you can tour, and several nice hotels in that same area as we passed by on the interstate in Alabama.

 

[Texian@WDW]

Dierdre:

I don't think your too far from me (College Sta.). How long does it take to get to Pensacola from Cameron?

If we can swing it, I'd rather be in FL on our first day.

Thanks for your reply.

 

[stacy6552]

i dont know the area, but when i moved from CA to DC, the information AAA provided me was wonderful. They handed me a special map of my route, noting long distances between gas stations and reccommended hotels along the way.

 

[hipporina]

Wow, it really is a small world afterall! I lived in College Station for a while during school and loved it! Thats actually where we lived when we made our last trip 3yrs ago.

We now live on I-45 about 1 hr south of Dallas, so you are a little closer to WDW than we are. Our plan is to make our first day on the road our long day. We are getting up early and driving to Marianna, FL. It is on I-10 west of Tallahassee. The next day we will only have about 6 hrs to WDW so that we can get settled into our room and hit Downtown Disney and the pool.

On our last trip, we were planning on stopping in Pascagoula, MS but it was only around 6:00 when we got there and that was too early to stop. We got to Marianna around 1 or 2 in the morning, but we also got a late start and took frequent, long breaks. (There were 11 of us ranging from 1 to 65) It is really only about 10-12 hrs of actual drive time.

If you do decide to stop there, we stayed and are staying again at the Holiday Inn Express there. It is clean and nice and cheap. We booked through the Holiday Inn website for $63/night for 5/16.

I know that is way too much info, but I hope it helps!

Kristy

 

[Texian@WDW]

Thanks for all your info. I decided we will stop in Pensacola. I think that will be a good break for my 2 DDs (and me and DH). I get so impatient when I'm not driving!!!! DH likes to do all the piloting.

Kristy, have fun and be careful along the way.

 

[deirdrefitch]

Hi Texian! It takes us about 11 hrs from Cameron to Pensacola.
It is approx 682 miles. From Pensacola to Tallashassee it is 197 miles and approx 3 hrs. From Tallahassee to Disney it is 269 miles taking approx 4 1/2 hrs. Just for your info from Cameron straight to Disney it is 1,119 miles taking approx 18 total hrs.
I got this from MSN map it. I have used these directions each time, and they are fairly accurate with times. Depending on road construction, and how many times you stop for gas, food, etc.
this will help you plan. Nice to know other Texans are headed the same way we are. We are leaving on June 2nd. When are you going?

 

[4greatboys]

Hello fellow Texans! Kristy--we have relatives in Jewett--sounds like you are close to there. We have thought about driving the 2 big ones would be okay but I have wondered how the 3 yr old and 1 yr old would be. I would want to drive when its time for them to sleep so it woudlnt be to rough on them.

 

[Deb & Bill]

If you don't want to drive all the way to Pensacola, Daphne AL is a great place to stop. Daphne is just across Mobile Bay from Mobile. There is a Comfort Suites at this exit and a Hampton Inn. Also an Econo Lodge. Right on the bay and right off the interstate. The USS Alabama is docked on the west side of Mobile Bay

Hotels in Pensacola are a little farther off the Interstate. We usually drive from NW Louisiana, but have driven from far west side of Houston (Cy-Fair) on an occasion. We drove to Marianna one time and Tallahassee (left Houston about 8 AM) the other. And we didn't leave Houston until noon to get to Marianna. As long as you can avoid rush hour in Houston and Baton Rouge, you should be fine.

 

[Texian@WDW]

Thanks for all the great info.

We're leaving in July - said we would never do Disney during the heat of summer again after the last time, but oh well. We got a taste of what it's going to be like after sitting at an Aggie baseball game last night - HOT and HUMID!

I think we will stay in Pensacola because it sounds like a nice break. I hate riding for long periods.

Ya'll have fun!

 

[scazares]

Hi Yall! We too are driving to Fl but we are starting way down south so it will be 12 hours just to Ms for us. We are planing to leave around midnight so the girls will sleep for some of the way. We will be leaving in 12 days for the first time sooo excited any tips would be great our girls are 3 and 7. Thanks Shawn

 

[travelitis]

We're on the TX/LA border along hwy 10. It takes us 15 hours including stops. Our kids (11,9, & 4) are good long-distance travelers, but we've found that either napping until 3 a.m. or starting after work and driving through the night work for us. For Disney we start right after dh gets home from work and just trade off through the night, because we want to get there just as soon as possible. For crowd control we have TV/VCR, GBA's, and toys they select. This works because I'm a night owl, and the kids sleep a lot (read: bicker less). If we're really, really in need of sleep, FL rest stops have police, so it's pretty safe to stop and catch a 30 min nap. The couple of days before we go, I'll make sure I stay up really late just to screw up my sleep schedule enough to be alert at 3:00 a.m. (no effort required to do that) My military dh is up at 5:00 a.m. every day. If you want to stop along the way, though, I don't see why you couldn't make it to Pensacola which is 8 hrs. from here.

 

[Texian@WDW]

Travelitis:

No way that we can drive past 10:00 p.m. - too old (ha). We do have friends who drive through from Beaumont.

 

[onceuponadream]

Hi fellow Texans! We are leaving May 31 after our kids swim meet and planning on driving about 7 hours. We will finish the trip June 1. We live in Clear Lake City (SE Houston). Anyone ever driven from Houston? Wondering how many hours it takes. We have driven to Gulf Shores, Panama City and Destin so we know how far it is from Houston to those locations. Anyone know how far Disney is from there? We can hardley wait

 

[ahutton]

From Austin we left after work and drove past Lake Charles our first evening and stopped in Crowley. On day 2 we had dinner in Marianna, Florida (there is a Ruby Tuesday's right of the freeway that was nice) but ended up pressing on to WDW that night. Going down we stopped several times, more than we should have really, and it took forever. Coming home we went from the Dolphin to Beaumont, TX the first night. It was a very long day but our DDs survived it and the next morning was much easier and a short run into Austin.

I used and loved Best Western's trip planner. It gave a listing of all the hotels along our route, that way we could try to be someplace but if we wanted to press on a bit further we had a list of what was next, how far it was and what was there. And we were able to call ahead to confirm there was a room waiting when we decided to stop so we didn't get there and find we had to keep going (which happened to my family once).

 

[scazares]

where did you find the best western trip planner? Total it will take us 20 hours with no stops. Yea right like thats going to happen with two girls! Shawn

 

[Deb & Bill]

14 hours from Houston. 14 hours from Shreveport. If you leave about 8 or 9, you can get to Tallahassee about dinner time. Course you lose an hour.

We leave WDW about 2 or 3 and get to Daphne AL for a late dinner.

 

[kc5grw]

When we drove to WDW from Dallas in March 1998 we stopped in Mobile the first night. We took sandwich fixen's and only stopped for fuel and potty breaks. We bought take out to take to the motel room on that first night. Our kids were 2,4, and 9 at the time so we weren't to keen on eating out after that long trip on the road.

This year we will be arriving 12/19. The kid's last day of school is the 19th, but it is an early release day and typically nothing but party day. I had been planning on leaving right after they get out on the 18th and driving straight through. I'm now more inclined to go ahead and take them out the 18th and not have to drive straight through. This is actually preferred since we also have tickets to MVMCP on the 19th. This trip will probably be similar to last one, only this time we'll be pulling our fifth wheel and staying in FW when we get there. So we'll have our kitchen and bedroom following us down the road. Last time we stayed in a timeshare that my dad had off property.

 

[Elk34]

We have gotten to where we only stay at Hampton Inn's on road trips. These aren't the kind of places that you want to spend your entire vacation but for the stopover I think they are the best.

They are owned by Hilton and the quality of the parent company shows in Hampton. They have a free continental breakfast that is more than enough for the 4 of us. Last year on the drive to Florida my wife left her purse at breakfast and didn't realize it until we were at our destination. We called and they held it in their safe until we came back through on the way back to Texas.

So, I would figure out which town you will be able to make it to and then go online and make a Hampton Inn reservation. They are comparable in price to Ramada, Holiday INN, LaQuinta etc. but I think they are better quality.

 

[Imelda in TX]

We're planning to leave at about 8PM on a Friday evening and drive through the night so that our 2 girls sleep. We hope to arrive in Tallahassee on Saturday at about 3 PM.

We like to arrive early in Tallahassee because of a beautiful state park with shady trees and a lake. Our girls play there while we have our usual Steak-n-Shake dinner on a picnic table. We get a good night's rest and then its only about a four-hour drive to WDW on Sunday.

Scazares: what part of South Texas are you from? We're from Harlingen.