Anyone from Illinois ever driven down to Disney?

[DisneyFan1003]

We're contemplating driving down for our holiday trip this year as airfare for two is running around $1000. Anyone ever done it from central Illinois? How was the drive? How long did it take?

Thanks!

 

[cheschire]

In '96 I drove down with my parents from Iowa City, so I guess it would be similar for you. The drive down took 3 days and we took a route that the local AAA drew out for us. As I was a hyperactive kid I really didn't enjoy the drive down much but in retrospect it really wasn't that bad.

 

[rackman]

We're contemplating driving down for our holiday trip this year as airfare for two is running around $1000. Anyone ever done it from central Illinois? How was the drive? How long did it take?

Thanks!

My in-laws drove the drive from Chicago to Orlando and they took it at a leisurely 3 day pace. They found it pleasant, but I guess it all depends on how much of a hurry you are to get to Florida. You can power down to Florida in under two days, but you'll be wiped out.

 

[wdwfan22]

I've driven from Springfield IL. The drive isn't that bad. We made it in 2 days have done it in 1 but that's a killer

 

[justducky78]

My in-laws drove down to FL once and said it wasn't too bad. It took them about 2-3 days stopping along the way. I guess it depends on how many days you have off and how much patience you have in a car for that length of time! With WDW we usually just want to GET THERE ALREADY!

Not sure exactly which days you're planning on going, but Midwest airlines has fares around $268/pp in December of this year. We were planning a trip there but now we're going to Disneyland (not quite the same!) instead because we have family in CA. Good luck - in this instance it's not about the journey, but the destination, right?!

 

[nelsonj3]

We live in Southwestern Indiana, and my family used to drive down there every year. It is a 16 hour drive for us, but with 5 people in the family, it was easy to share driving resposibilities when everyone was of age. We would sometimes stay overnight in Georgia (Valdosta is a good spot), or we would sometimes leave early and drive straight through.

However, when my wife and I went on our Honeymoon two weeks ago, we flew from Indianapolis for about $250 roundtrip each person.

Edit: I didn't see that you were from Peoria. I was born in Champagne, and my grandparents live in Metamora.

 

[Coree]

We live in Champaign/Urbana and have driven to Disney every time we've gone (once or twice a year for the last several years). We've done it straight through and we've also broken it up into two days. It works fine for us, but we don't mind driving and I hate to fly so it's worth it. It normally takes us about 18 hours.

 

[Monsterfan99]

I've made 15 family trips to FL(4 to Disney) from Taylorville (a town 30 min from Springfield). If you have two drivers and drive non-stop, you can make it in 18-24 hours. If you get a chance, drive through Nashville at night, a beautiful city.

 

[swimmom]

I've driven twice from the Chicago. Once when I was a kid and my dad really takes his time and it was about three days. And the second time was with my husband when we were engaged & I wanted him to meet my grandparents who weren't able to make it to our wedding. We drove in two days.

I myself don't like driving trips any longer than a day. I would much rather fly if it takes more than a day. I have seen airfare from Chicago around $170/person roundtrip. As a matter of fact our trip in December only cost us about $260.00 for three with one ticket on miles and a $100.00 voucher from American. Wasn't going to let that voucher go to waste, so we have to go back again this December! :xmas:

 

[rainfully]

I've driven many, many times from St. Louis. If I leave about 2:am, I can be in Orlando by late afternoon!

 

[SGT623]

I've made the trip many times by car (sometimes in a day sometimes 2), but many more by plane. You can get airfare for 2 much cheaper than you quoted. Southwest has a sale from STL to Orlando right now($59...with restrictions), and the Mid America Airport in Belleville has a standing $79 each way fare. Have fun!

 

[disneydreams]

Drove from Michigan to WDW plenty of times. ON a good trip about 22 hrs.

 

[Nansafan]

We've driven straight through from Chicago in 22 hours and taken our time and driven it in 2 days stopping in Macon, Georgia on the way down and somewhere in Kentucky on the way back. We've only done the drives on summer trips. Not sure what driving through the mountains would be like in the winter, probably pretty but how snow covered, I don't know.

 

[BeauBeau22]

Four friends and I are driving down to Disney World tomorrow. We are all from the south suburbs of Chicago and we plan to drive straight through to Orlando. We have talked to many people and from what we have heard we are guessing it will take us anywhere from 17 to 20 hours depending on traffic and how long we stop. I'll let you know how long it took us when we get back.

 

[yellowstoner]

Used to do that drive all the time from Chicago. We would leave on a Friday night around 9-10pm CST and made it to Disney by 5-6pm EST on Saturday. So with stops for gas and one sit down food stop it was about 20 hours straight through.

 

[yellowstoner]

We have talked to many people and from what we have heard we are guessing it will take us anywhere from 17 to 20 hours depending on traffic and how long we stop.

You would be correct BeauBeau.

 

[Tinkrbell]

We haven't driven from Illinois, but we have driven from the Milwaukee area. It took us 3 days to get to WDW. On the first night, we stayed in Nashville, 2nd night we were in Valdosta & we got to WDW by early afternoon on day 3. It wasn't a hard drive & the only place we ran into traffic was in Atlanta.