Driving from texas to wdw

[lighteningqueen]

Beaumont area to Orlando Disney. I will be leaving center of Texas Thursday late afternoon and want to start our day by mid day Sat This might be just the stupidest question you have ever heard.. I know we all leave from different areas but there are many of us in Texas on these boards and perhaps they know , and the best route...

 

[unkadug]

Are you leaving from Beaumont? If so, just follow I-10 to 75

I'm familiar with your area, so I'm kinda confused what you are asking. :shrug:

 

[lighteningqueen]

No, San Angelo... But I know going thru the Beaumont area is quicker than Houston. So I am guessing Waco to Beaumont, then down I-10 but do you know how many hours... We are thinking of driving straight thru..

 

[unkadug]

No, San Angelo... But I know going thru the Beaumont area is quicker than Houston. So I am guessing Waco to Beaumont, then down I-10 but do you know how many hours... We are thinking of driving straight thru..

How are you going to avoid Houston? :lol: Backroads? I think the Waco way would be a lot longer than even going through Houston's traffic. Not to mention the small towns in East Texas that are really going to slow you down.

According to Mapquest your trip is 21 hours 21 minutes 1377.94 miles

That's a LONG (and mostly boring) stretch of I-10 to do straight-thru. Do you have several drivers to swap out?

 

[lighteningqueen]

Ok we would go thru San Antonio I think and remember something about Port Arthur I think.. Oh well I can never get those map quest things right It always goes thru little towns. We are only 53 miles to I-10 at Junction... Son-In Law driving and hubby hubby does 70 sil does 80 if we are sleeping and do not know it..

 

[lighteningqueen]

Seems like sweetpea told me something months ago but cannot find the thread we talked about it

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I live southeast of Beaumont in Port Arthur. I don't know how much quicker it'd be to take other highways to avoid Houston. I looked at a map and I get what you're saying about going over to Waco. If you can take 164 from Waco on across to I-45 at Buffalo you can catch I-45 south. When I was driving back & forth to Ardmore, Oklahoma (halfway between Dallas & Oklahoma City) over the past 5 months I would take I-45 out of Dallas down to Conroe which is north of Houston. I ~~completely~~ understand wanting to avoid Houston like the plague. Traffic there is just stupid. At Conroe I would take 105 east which will take you thru Cleveland and a bunch of other little towns. Take 105 east until you reach Hwy 69 in Beaumont. Go south on Hwy 69 just a short jog and you'll be at I-10 which, of course, you'd take east for a really looooong time. I took that route, tho, because I was driving during the day during the week often trying to miss rush hour and the back-ups at the construction between Houston & Beaumont on the interstate. They've got a bunch of that stuff done or in a much better state. It's been a while since I came that route. I guess maybe it was back a couple months ago. They were really making serious progress on the 2nd new bridge that spans the Trinity.

Honestly, tho, unless it looks like you'll be hitting San Antonio and/or Houston at rush hour I think just driving directly south to I-10 is your best bet. When you're on the 2-lane highways you're gonna get stuck behind slow people and slowing/stopping for every little town that comes along. If you can get to the interstate it's just a straight shot without all the slowing and stopping. Ya know? If you're leaving San Angelo in the afternoon you should be golden by the time you hit Houston. I say stick to the I-10.

 

[lighteningqueen]

OK I knew we talked about this before but we had to cancel going you thought you were to but I saw you got to go.. Good for you.. I think I-10 all the way but just wondered how many hours say from Houston area.. I am very familiar with many of the subs of Houston so anywhere would be ok to figure on.. Thanks so much for your input. I really hope I do n have to cancel..daughter will go regardless with new 2 year old and the 8 year old. They have not been since 2008 with us.. I so want to go, but canton seems to be getting worse.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Houston would all be a matter of WHEN you drive through Houston and which roads you end up on. i.e. I'd avoid Houston during morning rush hours and evening rush hours. Every single major rd in the area can see thick traffic, but 288 and 290 seem to be the worst these days (which shouldn't impact you if coming in from San Angelo). I-10 is GREATLY improved with the expansion and the toll rd/lane. You'll still see back ups, but nothing like it used to be. I've also been in San Antonio rush hour, and maybe I'm just jaded from being in H town, but it's not bad. In this case, even if you hit traffic- timing this one well and just staying on I-10 may be the quickest route. i.e. even if you hit a few traffic snarls- it may still be quicker than going out of your way to avoid them.

 

[Pooh'sBuddy]

I agree - avoiding Houston traffic depends on the time. I created a spreadsheet to chart if we leave home at X time, averaging 65 MPH, we get to Houston (and points along the way) at Y time - if we were to ever drive to WDW.

I'm from Montgomery and think trying the back roads depends on how back roadsy they are. Driving between Austin and Montgomery (while in college) on the two-laned and no shouldered 105 was either great or really bad depending upon if I got stuck behind someone on his tractor or pulling horses going 20 MPH.

Maybe TxDOT's website or AAA may be able to help with route planning (?).

 

[lighteningqueen]

I agree Houston can be a nightmare and San Antonio on the loop is getting just as bad. But not worried about all that.. Just want to know the time it takes to get there from those areas of Houston?? Just trying to figure out on changing our days or what. We want the most out of our time there because we are going to loose 4 days driving time of the vacation. Thanks guys..

 

[nolatron]

We drove to WDW from Houston in 2009. It was about a 16 hour drive but we split it over two days stopping just outside of Tallahassee, FL for an overnight stay at a Holiday Inn.

If you plan your driving so you hit Houston between 10am to 3pm-ish you should be miss much of the traffic from the morning/afternoon rush hour. Don't bother trying to take I-610 around downtown as I found i-610 just as bad throughout the day many times when we lived there.

If it was me.... here's what I do.

- Drive to Katy, TX (just west of Houston) Thursday afternoon and spend a night there. San Angelo to Houston is 6 hours alone.

- Get up Friday early and hit the road by 4am to get through Houston. Early because you still want to get to Beaumont before rush hour. Takes about 45-60mins to get through Houston completely then an hour to Beaumont. You'll probably hit Beaumont at 6am or so and might catch the early bits of rush hour but hopefully can beat most of it. Once you're out of Beaumont it's pretty much clear sailing till Baton Rouge. You'll see some traffic there probably any time of day.

- Take I-12 to bypass New Orleans, then Mobile is usually quick to pass through. At that point it's pretty much open road to I-75 then down to Orlando.

- You'll hit Tallahassee at about the 10/11 hour mark, or about 2-3pm.

If you wanna keep going, you're about 4 hours from Orlando at this point.

Otherwise, I'd stop and stay a night here to give yourself a break, or in Quincy or Marianna just west of Tallahassee. We stopped at this Holiday Inn Express in Quincy.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Yep. We figured it up and it's about 15-16 hours from our house in Port Arthur. Yes, I've driven it straight thru with my brother in May 2009. Brutal is all I can say. I think I cried when we pulled into my driveway. LOL!

Just an FYI, hubby decided he wants to run into Houston today to go buy/sell the boys' curriculum. I'll be able to give ya the latest & greatest on the construction at the Trinity River between Houston & Beaumont. My FiL has to drive to Houston every Monday for meetings & I know he's mentioned being stuck at that construction before but it's been a while. Stay tuned for the update!
:wave:


***for the record...this quick trip to Houston is not my idea and not what I think we should do...traffic is gonna be horrible coming home later...but ya can't tell a man a dang thing... :brick::brick:***

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Okay! We got out of town at about noon or so. We took I-10 into Houston & back driving straight to the Homeschool Store and back home. If it's any indication of how long the trip took, we were back here laying down for a nap at 3:45. We worked diligently to avoid being stuck in Friday afternoon holiday weekend traffic and it paid off! :sohappy:

There's still a piece of construction for the Trinity River bridge. One of the spans has been complete for some time and there are 2 lanes on that span going in both directions. On the return there was a little bit of a slow down near the exit that's right before the construction zone that was caused by traffic narrowing from 3 lanes to just the 2 coupled with pre-holiday weekend congestion. (((as a side-note...if you need a potty stop the Valero station called "Crawdad's" at that exit has great restroom facilities...not as good as Buc-ee's but definitely note-worthy))) The only way you would hit a snag at the construction is if there happens to be an accident or breakdown on the bridge because having 4 lanes with a center partition doesn't allow any shoulder room. Honestly, with the time of day you'll be traveling thru Houston and our neck of the woods on your way to the state line you should be in good shape. :wave:

OH! Forgot to mention it and I want to make sure you remember: When you get to east Baton Rouge the interstate splits. I-10 turns more southerly to go thru New Orleans. Stay to the left onto I-12 which will take you on a more direct route east. You'll go north of Lake Pontchartrain and save a buuuunch of time. A few miles before you get to the Mississippi state line, in Slidell, there will be a merge of 12 & 10 back into one and you'll officially be back on I-10 all the way to the turn south at I-75. We've actually met a few people in the past who didn't know that 12 is just a straight cut back to 10 eliminating the long swing south thru New Orleans. Youda thunk they won the lottery when we showed them on a map. :lol:

Sorry to hear about Canton. I've still never made it up there and really want to. Our situation has definitely gotten better in that at least there's steady income although it's not a fraction of what it was when hubby was working that ExxonMobil project. I don't complain. I remain very aware that as stressful and difficult as things were for us when DH was unemployed last year, we were truly blessed. There's so many others who have a far more difficult situations that they're struggling thru. We adapt, do what we can, and try to keep our heads and hearts in the right place. We remain thankful for all that we do have. Disney will always be there when we can get back, right? I hope nothing foils your plans. Sounds like y'all could use some pixie dust and a chance to escape for a bit. I'll keep y'all in my prayers. :wave:

 

[lighteningqueen]

Great great info sweetpea. thanks so much we did not know this on the split. That will help so much on time. Plus I am figuring that we might be thru Houston around 9 or 10pm so good sailing that time of evening although some days you wouldn't know it right.. Maybe the construction will be gone as well. I would love to fly but at 180.00 ticket one way times 6 of us 2000.00 driving will be the only way to go... I am so sick of this gas thing.. Killing the Texas economy for sure.. Glad you have more stability now. Something has to give..April and May are huge months at Canton, BUT this year we had very few people. Looked like Jan. But I have no where else to go right now. I have faith and only want enough to pay what we need to, not what we want to buy. That stopped years ago. There is nothing we personally need for toys we have them all or all we want. no time to enjoy anything. So yes we need this break and need to make sure we get it. I am so missing Disney that I have nightmares about it, yes, nightmares. We are at resorts but cannot tell which ones and then we can not get off the island to get to the parks. weird weird. last one looked like yacht club.. I know... sure hope it doesn't come true ha ha

 

[lighteningqueen]

We drove to WDW from Houston in 2009. It was about a 16 hour drive but we split it over two days stopping just outside of Tallahassee, FL for an overnight stay at a Holiday Inn.

If you plan your driving so you hit Houston between 10am to 3pm-ish you should be miss much of the traffic from the morning/afternoon rush hour. Don't bother trying to take I-610 around downtown as I found i-610 just as bad throughout the day many times when we lived there.

If it was me.... here's what I do.

- Drive to Katy, TX (just west of Houston) Thursday afternoon and spend a night there. San Angelo to Houston is 6 hours alone.

- Get up Friday early and hit the road by 4am to get through Houston. Early because you still want to get to Beaumont before rush hour. Takes about 45-60mins to get through Houston completely then an hour to Beaumont. You'll probably hit Beaumont at 6am or so and might catch the early bits of rush hour but hopefully can beat most of it. Once you're out of Beaumont it's pretty much clear sailing till Baton Rouge. You'll see some traffic there probably any time of day.

- Take I-12 to bypass New Orleans, then Mobile is usually quick to pass through. At that point it's pretty much open road to I-75 then down to Orlando.

- You'll hit Tallahassee at about the 10/11 hour mark, or about 2-3pm.

If you wanna keep going, you're about 4 hours from Orlando at this point.

Otherwise, I'd stop and stay a night here to give yourself a break, or in Quincy or Marianna just west of Tallahassee. We stopped at this Holiday Inn Express in Quincy.

This helps so much between you and sweetpea.. I didn't get this in my email today so sorry for the delay in getting back to yall. So 16 hours ish to wdw from Houston. But if we got up and left at 4 and hit Talla at 3 ish we could do another 4 hours. That is early evening. SO I think I will book the resort for the 9th then I think we can do this. Only thing is we have missy she will be 2 by then and doesnt like that car seat so much after the Canton drive which is only 7 hours.. But we will talk about the es. Yes es. She cannot say Princess but LOVES ALL OF THEM and calls them this. I hope by the time we go she can say that word a bit better otherwise,,,,hummm not sure what the es will say about that.. ha ha

 

[sweetpee_1993]

This helps so much between you and sweetpea.. I didn't get this in my email today so sorry for the delay in getting back to yall. So 16 hours ish to wdw from Houston. But if we got up and left at 4 and hit Talla at 3 ish we could do another 4 hours. That is early evening. SO I think I will book the resort for the 9th then I think we can do this. Only thing is we have missy she will be 2 by then and doesnt like that car seat so much after the Canton drive which is only 7 hours.. But we will talk about the es. Yes es. She cannot say Princess but LOVES ALL OF THEM and calls them this. I hope by the time we go she can say that word a bit better otherwise,,,,hummm not sure what the es will say about that.. ha ha

That's cute about the es. :lol: That's the stuff you gotta write down so you won't forget! Plus, there's worse things. My oldest nephew had problems saying "fork" when he was first talking. He'd say the big f-bomb. Of course 2 of my brother-in-laws still being in high school would have their friends over and everyone would be holding up forks asking "Jack! What's this?!" :lol:

 

[lighteningqueen]

I just saw 106 days for you... yea, BUT are you out of your mind... The heat.. But Houston is hot so guess not much difference to you but us West Texans would die out there or be Bit.....ing the whole time. Thats so cute about the Fork. We still say things the way my girls said them when they were little. They are 33 and 29.. I don't think we will ever forget the es. We say it now to her. I know it's not right not to correct it, but its so cute when little ones talk.. She also loves Buzz and that word goes on forever. its like BZZZZZZZZ,, I hope she is not scared of the characters being bigger in life than TV it would ruin it all for our vision of how she will react.. Cry or not Gramdmama is gonna love on all the characters that hug me..

 

[nolatron]

Only thing is we have missy she will be 2 by then and doesnt like that car seat so much after the Canton drive which is only 7 hours..

This was the primary reason for us splitting the drive. Our daughter was about 1 and a half at the time of the trip. I feel anything over 6 hours during the day in the car is a long time for a kid to be strapped in a car seat. Even on the final stretch of 4 hours into Orlando, about 3.5 hours in she just lost in the car seat and we had to pull off at the next exit to get her out the seat for a couple minutes to calm down and stop crying before making the final bit of drive into WDW.

So while the drivers might be able to make the long drive the full way, keep in mind the 2 year old might get car crazy after a couple hours in the day and will need a break.

But whichever you decide, Good luck!

 

[lighteningqueen]

Your right, Shes pretty good if you keep her busy.. But we know we ahve to make stops and rest. We will spend the night somewhere, for sure. Eden is only about 5 hours tops from Katy, made that trip many a time years ago. I think we are talking go as far on 7-8 hours stop sleep and get going by 8 next morning and get into the subs of Orlando and sleep there or go on ito the resort and sleep a bit late and get to the parks either way.