Twin Cities to Disney World via car

[zamboniman333]

Ok with airline prices going up We are thinking about driving from the Twin Cities to Disney in mid Nov 2011. (unless we can find a good deal on flights like last year) Anyone on the boards done this drive? We will have 2 adults that can drive and one child (3) and plan on trying to make it in 2 days. If we do drive we plan on leaving on a friday am to get there for our sunday check-in. Any thought or tips on places to stop or avoid along the way if we do drive? Also what is the best route to take down?

Tahnks for any tips or thoughts in advance!

 

[mmeyers]

I don't know what the airline prices are for you, but I would start by counting the cost of driving vs. flying. Unless airfare is outrageous, driving has its own costs.

It looks like you'll be driving about 1550 miles. If you get 30mpg, and gas is about $3.50/gallon, you're going to spend $350-$400 in gas alone for your round trip. Add in possible tolls, a night in a hotel each way, plus meals on the road. And the big one (in my opinion)...time. You're looking at 2 days on the road rather than a 3 hour flight (one way).

If you're staying onsite, you can avoid a car rental by using Magical Express. Otherwise that gets added on top of airfare.

For me, even if it cost a bit more, flying would be the way to go. But only you can determine what that $$$ threshold is.

 

[kkmauch]

Trust me...even at $399/person that we just paid for November 5-12 2011, it is worth the money to fly. We've done the drive in December and it's no fun. It does take the full 2 days and we only stopped once. But, weather was a problem and slowed us down and the most direct routes are also the most traveled. We ended up hitting road construction and rush hour a few times. We have decided if we can't afford to fly, we don't go. At $399 a person, we may be paying more to fly than drive, but who knows what gas prices will hit then and we just don't want to waste our time, arrive tired and cranky or risk hitting any weather/construction/detours/rush hour.

 

[Orangewolf]

Have you checked prices thought Disney? We were in the same boat for our Sept trip from the Cities - prices were not budging and were much higher than last year. I got a tip to check through the WDW website and they were much lower and had decent times. Example - SW wanted $1690 for 5 tickets, Air Tran wanted $1773 and we paid $1243 thru WDW website. (which boils down to about $248 per ticket including taxes....)

 

[thewesterberg]

I have a friend who lives a bit north of the Twin Cities that makes the trip every 2-3 months. They have 5 kids so airfare is cost prohibitive for 7 people versus driving. And they (parents and kids) love to make the drive! I can find out info from them if you'd like. I believe they drive straight through. They're leaving next week for another roadtrip to WDW.

I've tossed around the idea, but as a family of 3 I've found that flying costs less (or pretty close, maybe a little more depending on what airfare ends up being) than what it would if we were to drive, stay at a hotel both ways (we wouldn't be able to do the straight through), food, etc. Plus, I don't think I could handle it mentally... DS isn't the best long rider! We were tempted to leave him near an exit ramp on our way to the Dells a couple of years ago and pick him up on our way home! And that was only a 5 hour drive. A 24 hour drive? Sanity has a price tag!

Driving could be a fun adventure for your family if you know what the trip involves and how your child (and you) might handle long days in the car. We might be ready to do this in a couple of years when DS is older - it would be a great way to see a good hunk of country!

 

[budafam]

We're making our first trip to WDW in May as a family and we're driving (from Wisconsin). I hate flying so that's one reason and the other is the cost... even if gas reaches $5 a gallon, it's going to be cheaper for us to drive, stop at a hotel on the way down and one on the way back & stop for meals. We're leaving Friday night at 9pm and driving through (hoping to go past Atlanta by 4pm) then stopping around 5-6ish at night and hopefully only having 4-5 hours to do the next morning so we can enjoy a full day at Disney.

We have 2 kids, ages 2 & 4... I'm sure it's going to be rough at times but I'm planning ahead and going to have surprises for them throughout the day (snacks packed, dvd's and whatnot)... I'm excited.

 

[Northern Disney Girl]

We are about 6 more hours north of you and we are doing the drive in August and VERY excited about it!!! We are planning on making a part of our vacation and taking 3 days to do the drive (each way)!!! Our girls are 10 and (will be turning) 8 and are used to long car trips as we travel out west every summer to visit family!!! It won't necessarily be any less costly for us but we have always wanted to do the drive!! Cheers to you!!

 

[Obadiah Stane]

I have done the drive from the Twin Cities many times for many different reasons. I love the drive and when there are two or more adult drivers we drive straight through. Otherwise, we stop around Chattanooga for an overnight.

There are two routes I take depending on the time of day we leave. One is I-94 to I-90 towards Chicago taking I-290/I-294 around west side. I then connect up to I-80/I-94 on the south side for a quick jaunt over to I-65 in Gary Indiana.

Another route through Chicago I love to take late at night (because I love the city lights of Chicago) is to stay on I-90 right through the heart of the city. I then catch I-65 right where it starts in Gary Indiana. Either way you go you connect up with I-65.

Take I-65 south to I-24 in Tennessee, then I-24 east to I-75 and then I-75 south through Atlanta down to Orlando. The big issue with this route is traffic around Chicago, Nashville, and Atlanta. It can be very heavy depending on time of day and day of week. There are also the tolls in Illinois.

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The other route is I-94 to I-90 to I-39 outside of Rockford, IL. Take I-39 south through Illinois to I-74 and then a quick jaunt to the east on I-74 to I-57.

Take I-57 south to the start of I-24 and jump on I-24 east through a bit of Kentucky and then across Tennessee. Hit I-75 south and take it through Atlanta and down to Orlando.

Issues with this route...Illinois seems like it never ends! And, traffic around Nashville and of course Atlanta. Again, depending on time of day and day of week you can pick your way around Atlanta if you'd like.

Another note...traffic hauls butt on some of the freeways, most certainly stretches of I-65, I-24, and I-75 especially south of Atlanta. Unless you like to play "keep up" some of the traffic zipping by (especially semis) can unnerve some people. It doesn't bother me, but some of my passengers/co-drivers have commented about it...

As for road conditions, you can check on any construction by using the interwebs. Each state has a department of transportation website that lists posted construction areas.

As for weather, mid-November should not be too bad for driving. I plan on driving down around the same time.

 

[Funwith4kids]

IL is pretty flat and boring. However, if you are looking to make some time, traffic is not bad I-74, I-57, I-24 until Nashville. No major towns so no major traffic. Depends on your driving style. (we cruise @ 80 with no issues)

 

[nellyru]

We live in the Twin Citites and just this past December did our first road trip to Disney and we actually had a blast and would deffinetly do it again!!

For us it was quite a savings compared to flying for 5.

We left in the evening of the first big snow storm in December, which was a Friday and drove all the way through to Nashville, TN.
We arrived in Nashville early in the AM. Early enough to get there in time for the free continental breakfast!!
We relaxed, used the pool and hot tub and took a long nap.
Woke up ate some dinner and than we were back on the road and got to Disney in the early am of Sunday.
Only problem with doing that was that our hotel room was not ready and I was sort of hoping we could get in, setteld and refresh before we set off to play. But it is what it is and it worked out ok.

It was a long trip and of course a bit tiring, but your in Disney!
Disney magical sleep and rest happnes, right!!

Oh and we used our GPS- crazy roads were taken- but I believe it did get us there faster!