Driving to WDW - roadtrip

[blobula]

Hello,

I was curious if anyone has driven from Iowa to Florida on a long road trip to WDW with small children? How did you plan out the trip? Seems to be a good two full days of driving from where I am.

 

[monykalyn]

We drive from Missouri frequently, but kids are older. Best advice is plan to get through Atlanta in wee early morning hours, and be sure to check sporting events that may let out at that time.
There’s an app called iExit that is really useful for finding stops, gas etc along the road you are traveling (as in you just got back in car after potty stop but 15 min down road a kid pipes up they gotta go again)
Also use Waze to traffic, police etc along way

 

[wendysue]

We did it ONCE from southern Wisconsin. No kids, but honestly, I'm worse than a kid. We didn't even get past the top 1/3 of Illinois before I was asking my husband how much farther!! Atlanta was horrible even at 3:30 a.m. On the drive back we went to the U.S.S. Alabama at Mobile and drove back through the Birmingham area. It was a bit longer, but much more enjoyable. We stopped 2 nights down and 2 nights back because I just can't do long car rides. Overall though, it was a great trip, but we decided to fly after that.
There are many interesting sites along the way, so if you can, take your time and enjoy!

 

[Ricky Spanish]

Chicago to WDW- 18 hrs straight.
I don't know if Atlanta or Chattanooga is worse.
Coming back we usually stop overnight somewhere because we usually don't check out until 10:30am and that makes for a long day.

 

[andrew870]

Atlanta....hands down , worse. Sooooo many lanes. (in my opinion)

 

[tractor tipper]

Atlanta....hands down , worse. Sooooo many lanes. (in my opinion)

Driving to Atlanta, traffic outside the outer belt at the time moved around 75mph in three lanes. Inside the belt on six or seven lanes we reached speeds 90+, in seconds it was 0 to 5 mph for half an hour. Get in the HOV lane as soon as you can, you won't be doing 90 but it keeps moving.

 

[SaltyD]

Nothing to do with roads or traffic but the first time we drove from CT to Disney we bribed our kids with money to make the trip fun and enjoyable. Each state line earned them $5 of spending money in Disney. If they argued they lost one dollar. We had bags in the back with travel goodies - DS games (before the age of iphones ) , puzzle books, coloring books - those kept them entertained until the next state line.

Good luck - road trips are fun!

 

[Janir]

DW and I have done multiple WDW trips from SE Wisconsin to the World. No kids however. Done it both as two day and straight through. about 24 hours with decent breaks for meals., and gas and stretching. Using my truck DW could sleep in the back while I drove then I slept in the passenger front while she drive. 4 hour shifts. Last few trips we broke up the drive into two days with a stop in Chattanooga as we have family there so we stop and visit first. WE drive straight thought back each time.
Tennessee / Georgia border makes a good 1/2 way point, but Chattanooga itself isn't the greatest place to stop in. Plan where you want to stop maybe before that if you're not power driving 24 hours. The Interstate just south of Chattanooga going into the mountains has a ton of switchbacks and steeper grades. Not good for driving at night or at higher than posted speeds. Plan accordingly.
Leaving Chattanooga at 8 am gets me to Atlanta by around 10 am, just after traffic AM rush. Seems to work ok for us. not a ton of slowdown that I remember.

 

[larryz]

Atlanta resident here... to avoid traffic delays (as much as possible - which is not always possible...), try to avoid ATL between 6am and 10am, and from 2pm - 7pm.

You could also use a Georgia Peach Pass or Florida Sun Pass to use the toll lanes on I-75 to get through ATL a bit faster. Having the pass enables you to pay the tolls electronically in both Georgia and on the Florida Turnpike - very convenient!

The toll lanes on 75 are reversible and change direction to match the rush hour demands. Those north of town are open to southbound traffic in the morning and northbound traffic in the afternoon. The toll lanes south of town are open to southbound traffic in the afternoon and northbound in the morning. Hope that makes sense!

Although the pricing varies, our last trip through Atlanta we paid about $1.95 to skip about a half-hour backup. Well worth it in my opinion.

 

[Rsj88]

We drive from Nashville with DS4 and DS10. We try to find places to stop along the way so they can get out and walk around. There is a science museum and a couple of state parks we stop at. We take a picnic lunch sometimes too. Just stopping at a Chick-fil-A for them to play for 30 minutes does wonders. We also leave at like 4am so they can sleep in the car some. There are lots of cute ideas on Pinterest for road trips. We always get them a bag of goodies from the dollar tree to play with in the car. It’s also fun to get a treat a treat every hour, even hour or state line as said above. I also make lots of fun food the kids don’t usually get like cookies and homemade Chex mix that I pull out when they get whiny

 

[TARDIS]

We drive from Arkansas which is about 19 hours with breaks and have made that trip soooo many times since childhood. Driving straight gets you there faster but man I find that rough and always want a shower and proper rest once we get there. Now I divide our trip up 13hrs one day and 6 the other. And 9.5 and 9.5 on the way back.
We also avoid Atlanta adding a tiny but of time to our trip and use the Waze app for traffic alerts.
Taking a long lunch break and letting kids run off energy really helps plus keeping snacks and games in the car.

 

[JaxFLBear]

You could also use a Georgia Peach Pass or Florida Sun Pass to use the toll lanes on I-75 to get through ATL a bit faster. Having the pass enables you to pay the tolls electronically in both Georgia and on the Florida Turnpike - very convenient!

For anyone that drives to WDW, especially those that live in or near an E-ZPass state, I would recommend E-Pass Xtra from the Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX). The E-Pass Xtra transponder works across FL & GA as well as everywhere E-ZPass is accepted.

If you travel often in an E-ZPass state, you should check to see if out-of-state issued E-ZPass transponders are extended any discount that in-state issued transponders are. MD, NJ & NY for example have lower toll rates if the E-ZPass transponder was issued in-state.

Open Road Toll Travel through 18 States with E-PASS Xtra

 

[blobula]

Thanks everyone for the responses. What is the best route to take in order to avoid Atlanta?