Driving from Central Illinois

[TMARE]

Hi! This is my first post. :wave:

Just wondering if anyone has made the drive from the northern half of Central Illinois. We are just south of Kankakee, and wondered if anyone had advice on quickest routes and best places to stay.

We are heading down in late June and plan on making the drive down in two days, probably stopping near Chattanooga on day one, and then staying off WDW property on day two. That way we can check into the Polynesian first thing the day of our ressies and head straight to the parks!

Can't wait!!

Thanks!

 

[jsdratm]

I drove myself in October from Cedar Rapids, IA. On the way there, I left work about 2pm and stopped for the night at a way side on the south border of tennessee. Got to Orlando the next day at around 4pm I think.

On the way back, I drove straight through (about 22 hours!) even though I didn't think I could do it. I was super tired, but I was sick of driving and just wanted to get home. I left on a saturday morning at around 6 am and got home at 4 am. :hammer:

My best advice is to listen to talk radio instead of music since it keeps you alert. Also, stop every few hours to stretch and wake up. You could definitely make Orlando from Illinois in one day if you left in the early morning, but it is a bit rough.

Some more advice, Atlanta traffic is awful so try to avoid rush hour.

 

[rshell68]

:wave:Welcome to the boards

We drive almost every trip. We are 45 minutes south of Champaign. DH usually likes to get to about Valdosta first day. It just makes that second day go a whole lot faster.

This trip we started much later than we usually do so we stopped in Chattanooga the first night. We stayed at a Chattanooga-Lookout Mountan Holiday Inn Express. It close to the Interstate and very nice.

 

[mickeypal1]

We are about 1 hour north of you and we have driven this many times. We always take 57 to Rt 24 then to Rt 75. We then take the Florida Turnpike and then RT 4. It is not a bad drive but I wouldn't try to do it in 1 day. I know in Chattanooga there is a Country Inn and Suites and a Hampton Inn. Exit 174. There are also some places to eat at this exit. We have made a book of exits and things at the exits if you have other questions.

 

[Unplugged]

We drove last year for the first time and with our 2 year old. We're in Northwest Indiana south of the intersection of I80/94 and I65. We stopped in Chattanooga TN (a very nice and new Hilton Garden Inn), which for us works out to be almost exactly in the middle. We drove 8A to 5P each of 2 days. Other than rain in Florida slowing us down we made better time than I thought we would.

Our route was: I65 -> I24 -> I75 (475)

 

[shawn]

We Live In St Louis We Usually Drive To Valdosta That Leaves For An Easy Second Day

 

[mickeypal1]

Another place that we often drive to is Dalton, GA. It is about 10 miles into Georgia. It has a Courtyard, a Hampton and a Country Inn and Suites. It also has many great food places. We like to stay here more than Chattanooga.

 

[Mia319]

We are about 1 hour north of you and we have driven this many times. We always take 57 to Rt 24 then to Rt 75. We then take the Florida Turnpike and then RT 4.

we come from the joliet area and take this same way too.... but we do the whole drive in 1 day... it's not that bad on the way down cause we are so excited to get there, but the way home sure does stink!

if we were ever to stop we would probably go all the way to atlanta which is about 12 hours, stay the night there, then drive the other 6 early in the morning so we could have a semi-full day at disney.

 

[HiddenMinnie]

We drive from Indianapolis, IN with 4 kids and usually one or two other relatives (that's 7-8 people in one SUV!!). It's not as bad as it sounds though! The day we leave we completely wear the kids out and then leave around 9pm. The kids sleep for the first half of the trip! By the time they wake up, we are south of Atlanta, GA. We stop for a leasurely breakfast and we usually roll into Orlando around mid-afternoon. Last year we spent our first night at an Extend-a-suites near the disney property. We get a good night's sleep and are at our resort by 8am the next morning to check in and hit the parks!! I'm starting to get excited!! We are also heading down at the end of June!

 

[Cubs Brian]

We also drive from Joliet,the I57-I24-I75 route is the best. WE nevertake any bypasses(except for I475 in Macon). Usually we drive straight thru, breakfast near Mt Vernon(Cracker Barrel).Normally we make it in about 18-20 hrs.Leave home about 4:00am arrive around midnight. Our first "night" we star at Pop Century and then check into whatever DVC property that we wiil call home for the next 5 nites about 8:00am and hit the parks by opening. Both my wife and I split the driving so its not that bad:lol::lol:

 

[MIDisneyFamily]

We drive from Detroit every year. We Head all the way down I-75 from up here, We especially love driving through (or around depending on what time it is) Atlanta. We love the car pool lane rides. Up a ramp, down a ramp...those things are insane. When we are down on the turnpike in Florida we take 429 off of the Florida turnpike instead of going over to I-4...its a toll road, but waayyyyy less hectic and crowded than I-4. It isnt finished on google earth, but its there and been finished for a year and a half or two years. You take it south to the Western Way Rd. which heads onto the Disney proprty right next to the back of Animal Kingdom, You can see the back lots and the animal housing for the Animal Kingdom. When we were on 429, I think we were one of only a handfull of cars from the turnpike , down to the exit. 429 goes all the way to, and past 192 if your headed down that way for anything along there, like the World's most tacky souvenier stores, one with a Giant Wizard on the top of it.

 

[sbkline]

:wave:Welcome to the boards

We drive almost every trip. We are 45 minutes south of Champaign. DH usually likes to get to about Valdosta first day. It just makes that second day go a whole lot faster.

This trip we started much later than we usually do so we stopped in Chattanooga the first night. We stayed at a Chattanooga-Lookout Mountan Holiday Inn Express. It close to the Interstate and very nice.

You must live very close to us, then, because we live a few minutes North of Mattoon, IL, about 45 minutes south of Champaign.

We, too, take I-57 south down to I-24. Then 24 down to Chattanooga, TN and then catch I-75 down to the Florida Turnpike for the final stretch. I do pretty much all the driving and I always take the bypass at Macon. In Atlanta, I sometimes go through Atlanta and sometimes go around it on the bypass, depending on the time of day we go through and on my own personal whim at the time. It is very pretty to drive through Atlanta at night and see the city lit up. But you don't want to try to drive through the city during the rush hour times. :brick:

How far to drive all depends on how long you can last behind the wheel, whether you switch drivers, etc. Myself, I want to make the best time as I can on the primary road trip day so that the next day we only have a few hours left to drive and then the rest of the day at our destination. Last year, we left Mattoon at about 6:20 AM Central Time. We drove to a town in Florida (can't remember the name right off hand) right along I-75, pulling into a Days Inn motel around 10:30 or 11 PM Eastern Time. Got up the next morning and hit the road around 7 AM and arrived at Port Orleans Riverside about 10:30 in the morning. Personally, I'm all for driving straight through without any stops to sleep, by switching drivers periodically. My wife and I did this the first two times we drove down there, but she hated it and put her foot down and said no more. So now we have to stop and sleep somewhere along the way.

 

[Dwarful]

Gee, we should all plan a trip together and have ourselves a little convoy!

We live in 'southern Illinois' (but to us, Southern Illinois is Carbondale, Metropolis, etc), across the Mississippi from St.Louis. We too have done the 7 people in a mini-van with luggage rack on top (yeah, I don't know what we were thinking). Our goal is always to get beyond Atlanta before we stop for the night, but it really depends on when we get to leave. Usually we don't get to leave until 6 PM, which sort of throws things off. This year we are thinking about waiting and leaving early the next morning.

 

[Cubs Brian]

You must live very close to us, then, because we live a few minutes North of Mattoon, IL, about 45 minutes south of Champaign.

We, too, take I-57 south down to I-24. Then 24 down to Chattanooga, TN and then catch I-75 down to the Florida Turnpike for the final stretch. I do pretty much all the driving and I always take the bypass at Macon. In Atlanta, I sometimes go through Atlanta and sometimes go around it on the bypass, depending on the time of day we go through and on my own personal whim at the time. It is very pretty to drive through Atlanta at night and see the city lit up. But you don't want to try to drive through the city during the rush hour times. :brick:

How far to drive all depends on how long you can last behind the wheel, whether you switch drivers, etc. Myself, I want to make the best time as I can on the primary road trip day so that the next day we only have a few hours left to drive and then the rest of the day at our destination. Last year, we left Mattoon at about 6:20 AM Central Time. We drove to a town in Florida (can't remember the name right off hand) right along I-75, pulling into a Days Inn motel around 10:30 or 11 PM Eastern Time. Got up the next morning and hit the road around 7 AM and arrived at Port Orleans Riverside about 10:30 in the morning. Personally, I'm all for driving straight through without any stops to sleep, by switching drivers periodically. My wife and I did this the first two times we drove down there, but she hated it and put her foot down and said no more. So now we have to stop and sleep somewhere along the way.

When my wife puts her foot down, it means we're flying:ROFLOL::ROFLOL::ROFLOL:

 

[MIDisneyFamily]

Our drive from Detroit is about 20 hours in all. With 4 kids in tow, theres no such thing as a quick bathroom or food break. We try to combine stops, like gas and bathroom breaks. We have found a few really nice, well kept and clean Gas station/fast food places over the last few years. We keep our AA books for all the states on the way down so when we need to stop for the night, we just pull out the book, and call ahead to see whats available, and bargain a good rate for the night. Usually theres always a free breakfast at a few of them. If you just exit and try to get a room, go to the second exit if theres two in a row with hotles, everyone always stops at the first exit, and we noticed they were filled 2 trips ago but the next exit had plenty of room, and even gave us a huge discounted rate. Usually we stop near Macon, give or take an hour. We always see all the cars from Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, etc at the rest stop just after/before the turn off West , must be I-24 in Tennesee on the way there and home. We drove it straight throug last time, but I was zonked the day we got there, and we went straight to the MK.

 

[DISMOM]

Exit 174...Hampton Inn. Brings back memories of May, 2006, on our way home. There was a huge storm and a tornado warning. Like crazy, tired people, we didn't even worry about it. A week later, after all the dirty laundry was done and we were rested up, the thought hit me, 'Oh my, we could have been blown away.' :brick: Just goes to show, we were really really exhausted after a full Disney week. Have a great trip. Take a portable dvd player for the kids.

 

[jsdratm]

and past 192 if your headed down that way for anything along there, like the World's most tacky souvenier stores, one with a Giant Wizard on the top of it.

lol, I stopped at that place on my trip. I thought it was really tacky too and had nothing to do with anything. Maybe they were trying to make some vague connection to sorcerer Mickey? :shrug:

All those souveneir shops seem to have the same things in them at steep prices. And they all seem to be run by Indians. (Nothing against people from India) I have never seen so many cheap souveneir stores in one place!

 

[Sticky51]

Like what other people have been saying, DO NOT drive through Atlanta when there is any potential back-up. Even when its not rush hour, you will still end up in bumper to bumper traffic. I live in the NW suburbs of Chicago, and I do my best to go through ATL in the wee hours of the morning.

 

[rshell68]

You must live very close to us, then, because we live a few minutes North of Mattoon, IL, about 45 minutes south of Champaign.

I'm over in Chucktown.

 

[sissa216]

We drove last year for the first time and with our 2 year old. We're in Northwest Indiana south of the intersection of I80/94 and I65. We stopped in Chattanooga TN (a very nice and new Hilton Garden Inn), which for us works out to be almost exactly in the middle. We drove 8A to 5P each of 2 days. Other than rain in Florida slowing us down we made better time than I thought we would.

Our route was: I65 -> I24 -> I75 (475)

We've made the drive from Crown Point too several times :wave:
But we've never stopped; we typically take off mid afternoon, and arrive
around 19-20 hours later, early afternoon.

Although when it was just a friend and I driving down on our way for the college program, we did stop somewhere near Macon GA. The next morning when we got up to leave again, we realized we were not in the greatest of areas :lookaroun.
The hotel was really clean, but the area around it really wasn't. I don't know the area, so we may have just had bad luck.