Driving from Northern Illinois to Florida

[wendysue]

We are leaving Northwest Illinois on April 1st. Where is a good halfway point to stop overnight, as we don't want to drive straight through. (Well, we do actually, but we want to be able to walk upright when we get there) :lol:
Any advice on a good place to stay would be appreciated.

 

[cemeb4dk]

Hi Wendy I am not to far from you I guess I am in the Aurora area. We usually drive straight thru 19 hours. But we are stopping our next time. I am planning on stopping just over the Florida border. This was we can get a good night sleep and then get up and drive 3 hours or so. Then arrive and have a full day at a park.

Whenever your planning on leaving make sure you get thru Atlanta at a non rush hour time. Figure about 11 hours, 12 hours on the watch as they are an hour ahead. You definitely dont want to get stuck in that rush hour. We are planning on leaving around 2 am. When we go straight thru we leave at 2pm

 

[jensdisney]

We are from Nebraska but have driven to Disney World three times and have found that staying in Perry, GA works out great. There are a lot of hotels to choose from and very reasonable. Plus you get through Atlanta late afternoon/evening, hardly any traffic and then it is a semi-short drive to Disney World. This year we are flying. Got great rates finally. Have a safe trip and a blast at the World.

 

[erstwo]

Never mind! I see you are leaving on a Thursday.

Are you coming down 65 and then over to 75 via Chatanooga? If so, maybe someplace north of Atlanta? Or Macon? Or Valdosta? If you stop in Macon or Valdosta, we just stayed at the Comfort Inn & Suites in both places a week ago and were very pleased.

 

[smk]

Right after you cross over into Georgia there should be a "welcome center" rest area. We stopped there last year and they called ahead to Valdosta and got us a great rate at a so so place right off I75. I think it was a Best Western? It was clean and cheap, and best of all we got up early, hit the road and we were in WDW in like 4 hours the next day. We just wanted a place to sleep so we would be refreshed once we got there, worked for us! Good luck, have a wonderful and safe trip!

 

[wendysue]

Hi Wendy I am not to far from you I guess I am in the Aurora area. We usually drive straight thru 19 hours. But we are stopping our next time. I am planning on stopping just over the Florida border. This was we can get a good night sleep and then get up and drive 3 hours or so. Then arrive and have a full day at a park.

Whenever your planning on leaving make sure you get thru Atlanta at a non rush hour time. Figure about 11 hours, 12 hours on the watch as they are an hour ahead. You definitely dont want to get stuck in that rush hour. We are planning on leaving around 2 am. When we go straight thru we leave at 2pm

I'm not sure how long I can stand driving as I have always flown before, but we will just keep going as long as we can. Thanks for the heads up on Atlanta, as I hadn't even thought of that. IS there a best time to travel through there?

 

[wendysue]

Right after you cross over into Georgia there should be a "welcome center" rest area. We stopped there last year and they called ahead to Valdosta and got us a great rate at a so so place right off I75. I think it was a Best Western? It was clean and cheap, and best of all we got up early, hit the road and we were in WDW in like 4 hours the next day. We just wanted a place to sleep so we would be refreshed once we got there, worked for us! Good luck, have a wonderful and safe trip!

That sounds like a plan. I have heard Valdosta is a good place to stop. Thank you for the info. We will have a great time. :wave:

 

[Badger Brent]

I would really make an effort to get through Atlanta and at least get to Macon if you can't make it to Valdosta. If you can, Lake City, Florida is nice if you want to push it past Valdosta. Makes for a really nice quick drive to WDW. Have fun!!

 

[bobjl527]

We are from Joliet. It's a beautiful ride through Tennesee. We usually stop in Cartersville, GA. It is about 30 miles north of Atlanta. It's a little farther than half way. We leave early enough so we miss the traffic of Atlanta. We also get into Orlando fairly early. Sometimes we just keep going until we get tired. Have fun.

 

[Mikester71]

Drive down from Canada and we usually stop in Adel, GA, which is about 45 minutes away from the Florida border and far enough away from Atlanta. I usually keep a journal documenting my mileage and where and when we stop somewhere, and I see it took us between 3 and 4 hours the next morning to make it to Pop Century in WDW. And that was stopping at the Florida Welcome Station for our free OJ and to get out and grab a few things.

Have stopped in Valdosta and Macon too, both are equally nice and convenient. But like everyone else said, you are definitely better off if you can make it through Atlanta before pulling in for the night. :wave:

 

[greebomusic]

When driving from Michigan, we stop south of Atlanta.. avoid Atlanta rush hour at all cost!

 

[wendysue]

Thanks everyone for all the great advice. I am thinking we will get past Atlanta as EVERYONE has suggested. It must be really bad at rush hour, and I don't want to experience it.

 

[wendysue]

We are from Joliet. It's a beautiful ride through Tennesee. We usually stop in Cartersville, GA. It is about 30 miles north of Atlanta. It's a little farther than half way. We leave early enough so we miss the traffic of Atlanta. We also get into Orlando fairly early. Sometimes we just keep going until we get tired. Have fun.

This sounds like an interesting option as well. Thank you. :wave:

 

[cemeb4dk]

Wendy what time are you planning on leaving IL. Is there little ones that factor into this. 2 AM seems to be a magic number for us, this gets us to ATL real early afternoon. But its even better when we go straight thru and go thru ATL at about 1 am nothinglike having 9 open lanes of traffic to fly thru town.

 

[Space Mountain]

That sounds like a plan. I have heard Valdosta is a good place to stop. Thank you for the info. We will have a great time. :wave:

I-75 Exit 11 or 13 will be your best options

 

[couchpotatooo]

Nebraska to WDW

We are from Nebraska but have driven to Disney World three times and have found that staying in Perry, GA works out great. There are a lot of hotels to choose from and very reasonable. Plus you get through Atlanta late afternoon/evening, hardly any traffic and then it is a semi-short drive to Disney World. This year we are flying. Got great rates finally. Have a safe trip and a blast at the World.

Hello we are from Nebraska also driving to Disney World :wave:. We were thinking of stopping in Nashville seemed like a good halfway spot how long did it take you to get to Perry, GA? :shrug: Were from Omaha and driving with three little kids should be fun :hammer:but it beats the price to fly let me know please I would really appreciate it what route did you take and how long it took yeah! Thanks so much! John:sohappy:

 

[Tinkrbell]

When we drive down from Milwaukee, we took 3 days to drive cuz there was only one driver. The first night we stopped in Nashville & in Valdosta the next.
We might be driving down in May if I get into the College Program & we'll be spending the night at my cousin's house in Paducah & then driving the rest of the way the next day.

 

[draybook]

You guys are nuts!! Our drive is 13 hours from Memphis and I absolutely dread it. If I had a 19 hour drive I'd be flying, no doubt!

 

[whitney37354]

We're driving from SE Tennessee & plan to stop at either Macon or Valdosta, GA. We'll leave Friday night & be at WDW during the day on Saturday. Anyone know just what hours "rush hours" are in Atlanta? If we leave after work (around 5pm), we should get to Atlanta around 8 pm.

 

[Mia319]

We drive from the Southwest Chicago suburbs area as well. It is about 18 hours... we usually do the drive straight through.

I'd say Chatanooga is a good half way point. But if you could make the 12 hours to Atlanta, then you'd only have 6 left the next day! But to me, if you make it all the way to south GA or northern FLA, why not just keep going!