traveling from Houston

[TxAnn]

I'm looking for information from anyone who has driven to WDW from Houston, Texas. This will be our first trip. I'm planning 1 1/2 days for the drive. Does this sound right? Any recommendations for a hotel along the way? Also, any great "must see" things on the drive?

There will be 2 adults and 4 kids ranging from 10 years - 2 years.

Thanks for any help!

 

[jennb529]

I think 1 1/2 days is about right. We are from Tyler and have made the drive twice. Of course, my husband refuses to do it again, so in June we are flying out of Houston.

The first day we get up early and drive to Florida, stay in Pensacola or Destin, somewhere along the gulf. If we leave early enough we can usually spend a few hours on the beach once we get there.

The next day we got up and left around 6am and made it to Orlando mid afternoon. Of course, being in Houston you are already a little closer than we are so you might be able to make it further into Florida on your first day's drive.

As far as fun things to see on the way, afraid I can't help you there. There is the big military ship of some kind in Mobile, AL I think, but we never stopped. My husband's family lives in southern Mississippi so we have made the first part of that drive more times than I care to count, so it is just boring to us.

Hope this helps.

 

[EnchantedPrincess]

We are also from Houston, and we drove last year and will be again this year in August. We drove all the way to Tallahassee the first day (started early in the morning around 5am), and then left Tallahassee the next day around 6am, and arrived at Disneyworld at about 10am. We didn't stop along the way to see anything other than to grab lunch and take short breaks and stretch, so I can't really help you there. We stayed at a Holiday Inn in Tallahassee. It really wasn't as bad of a drive as I had thought, and we all enjoyed it despite my 3 yo had a little meltdown at the beginning of our drive.

 

[an_evans]

We are driving form Corpus. We are planning to drive a long day to Pensacola- 12 hours plus potty breaks. Then we will drive the last 6 hours to Orlando the next day!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

We are from around Beaumont-so it's only about an hour to Louisiana from here--we drove when we were kids----we did 8 hours a day and made it in 2 days one time, the other times they broke it down and we were in hotels 2 nights going over. Of course it depends on how many food/potty breaks you have to get in!! I know it's right around 8 hours to hit the Florida line from Lake Charles. Hope you have an awesome trip!!!!!

 

[dato63]

We drove from Houston last year. My big mistake was trusting DH when he said he would get off work early - he didn't, so we hit rush hour trying to leave. Took us 2 flipping hours to just get out of Houston.

We stopped in Mississippi the first night about 1:30 am to rest, not as far as I wanted to get.

So, I'm certainly an example of how not to do it.

What I wanted to share about was the rest stops though. I had planned to find Cracker Barrells along the way for bathroom breaks - as they are generally clean. However, we were very happy to discover that in Florida - the rest stops were surprisingly clean. We stopped, let the girls use the restroom & kick a ball around for a bit in the open area. Was a nice break for everyone.

Coming back was a whole lot easier and DH didn't have to "arrange" to get off early. We live out 290 - near Cypress - and it took us about 15 hours to get home. . .and that is with stops/breakfast, etc. We stopped in Pensacola coming back and stayed at a Motel 6 right along I-10. Wasn't the more glamourous place, but it was certainly reasonably priced & clean.

There is a spot along I-10 (I wasn't driving at this point so not sure what City it was) where you pass through a tunnel that goes under the water - my DDs thought that was the coolest part of the drive. It is on this side of Pensacola. They also have some Jets mounted that you drive by. Last time I rewarded good behavior with Disney Dollars along the way, and that went over well.

Anyhow, we are planning to drive again this year. Airfare is just too high. This time I've learned my lesson and insisted DH take the whole day off!! So we should do much better.

Have a great time.

 

[TxAnn]

OP here

Thanks for all the great advice! I'll start looking into hotels in the Pensacola- Tallahassee area.

It's good to know the Florida rest stops are well taken care of! Rest room breaks along the drive are always questionable.

My youngest will be 2 1/2. It's hard to imagine keeping her happy for such a long drive! I'm sure with more research on this board I'll find some great ideas.

Thanks again!

 

[dato63]

My DDs were 4, so a little older than your youngest, when we drove. I bought car seat desks off ebay. They were able to color, etc. as we went. I also bought little things like sticker books, magnetic paper dolls, play make up, etc and wrapped them up - when they got bored with something I let them open something new. It did seem to keep them going. The dollar store had disney safety scissors - which I let them use too. My car was a bit messy, from the cut up construction paper, but easy to clean and I never heard a whine from the back seat.

Good luck.

 

[TJ's Mom]

Compared to everyone else, we sound crazy. When we drive, we leave Houston at 4. I drive until 9 or 10 and then switch and I fall asleep. My husband naps when I drive and then he drives until about 4am. At that point, I take over and he naps. The kids usually sleep through the night.

We usually get to WDW around 11. We check in and head to the parks. We usually make it an early night at the parks the first night and then we are ready to go.

 

[momofrrr]

We live in League City and have driven several times. We usually leave around 3:30 to 4:00 in the afternoon and drive overnight. When our kids were little we would pop in a movie (and have a selection of 8 or 10) and off we would go. We would stop for dinner after we made it into Louisiana and then I would nap and hubby would drive then about midnight we would switch off and then again about 3:00. We would make it to Plant City for breakfast at Cracker Barrel then into Disney for lunch. The going part was never really a big deal since everyone was so excited but coming home is tuff. I truly suggest a stop around Pensacola or Mobile for the night coming home. We are always just worn out. The drive across I-10 is not bad, the roads and rest stops are really nice (except in Mississippi). We now have 4 drivers so it is a piece of cake. I hope you all have a wonderful trip!

 

[123Disney]

WOW TJ's Mom and Momofrrr you just made me feel better. I was afraid we were the only ones who preferred to make the drive at night. We live NW of Houston in the Magnolia/Woodlands area. About an hour from downtown Houston. We are leaving this Friday around 7:00 after school/work and the trafic calms down. It just seems easier to take turns driving through out the night. The kids sleep. Most of the 18 wheelers are off the road. We usually stop for breakfast after reaching Florida. With several break stops and one meal stop we get there in about 17 hours. That from our door to the hotel.