Nuts to drive from MI to WDW in December?

[kirinan]

We have a Disney vacation all planned and paid for; we'll be there from Sunday 11/28 till Saturday 12/4. Our original plan was to drive down from our home in the Detroit area (with a stop overnight in Chattanooga), which we love to do and have previously done in May, October, and early November.

But now I'm having second thoughts about driving down there and back in December, and I'm starting to wonder if we'd be better off flying down (I hate flying, but I can do it with a tranquilizer) and renting a car (which we definitely want to have available since we do things outside of WDW) that time of year.

My question is, has anyone driven from Michigan or another northern state to WDW after Thanksgiving, and how was the weather on the way down? Does it get icy, snowy, foggy, or otherwise treacherous? I'm not so worried about the cities, but there's a lot of mountain driving through Kentucky and Tennessee, which makes me nervous. I know with the freaky weather the last few years, anything can happen, but I was wondering what other people have experienced. Thanks!

 

[bamillerpa]

We drove from upstate Pa in November. Not quite December but still ran into some snow and ice. We have four wheel drive and found that even through some of the mountains we really didn't have much trouble. It added extra driving time onto our overall plan but once you get past a certain point you are far enough south where it just turns to rain. I also hate to fly so driving is the only option for us. If you drive I would just plan on some extra time built in for traveling. We also left the night before we were planning on leaving as soon as we both got home from work and drove until we go too tired and then found a place to stay for the night. We made it about five hours. It definitely helped break up the trip and we were through the worst of it halfway throught he second day.

 

[wendysue]

We live in Illinois and if I didn't like to fly (which I do) and I had the time, we would definitely drive down in December. Go for it. :xmas:

 

[Tundo147]

Driven down from Northern New Jersey 6 times in the month of January. Never had a problen only snowed once on the way home. We are going this year Dec2-12 and will be driving down. My family is from Michigan and they have driven down to Flroida many times after Thanksgiving and never really had a problem

 

[Kristamouse]

We live in KY and while every winter is different the snow really doesn't come till January. We have had many many T-Giving's and X-Masses in the 50's. I say go for it! The highway is always the 1st to get cleared and you Northerns should be used to driving in the small acculmation we call a BIG snow here

 

[tink@heart]

We have made the drive from Wisconsin in both November and December. No major problems- except drivers in states south of Indiana are less comfortable driving in snowy, icy, or wintery roads in general. Enjoy!

 

[mousetime]

We drove down 2 years ago Dec 25 no problem the mountains weren't bad at all. We came back on the Jan 1, and drove that at night, we got to the mountains about 12a.no problems at all.

 

[durangojim]

We live in the area too and flights from metro to mco are pretty cheap. Check out airtran. I wouldn't risk getting stuck in bad weather driving down.

 

[Raven66]

We have driven from Michigan to Florida in December. We even lived further up north so we had a lot more snow. We had no problems. We didn't drive to WDW that trip but my parents had lived in Boca Raton at the time. So we drove down a couple of days before Christmas and came home New Year's Day.

 

[librarylady]

We drove from Minnesota to Atlanta (then down to Florida) every other year or so when I was a kid. As I recall, we had lots of snow on the way down. At least twice we got delayed. Once we got stuck in Tennessee, the rest were further north. I would recommend making sure you have enough time in case you do get delayed. Be careful!

 

[hoke2007]

We drove down to WDW for Christmas '07 and it was fine. The weather in the northern states can be iffy during that time but it wasn't anything crazy. And with a stop in TN you should be fine. We usually drive straight through and get there at about 8 AM.

 

[MissingDisney]

Consider driving up to Flint Bishop - grab the direct AIRTRAN flight (currently going for about $90 a leg, and there is a DIRECT FLIGHT, both going and comming). It's a GREAT deal - we use it all the time. It leaves early (about 7AM), but you'll be on the ME bus by 10:30 AM . And we have NEVER had this fight screw up.[/QUOTE]

AirTran has direct flights daily out of Metro-Detroit for the same or less. I check both frequently and Metro is always a bit less than Bishop.

We drove down 2 or 3 years ago and there was a crazy ice storm. The city of Atlanta literally shut down. Overall it was fine but took much longer than anticipated and be prepared for delays if weather changes. I personally would never choose a 20 hour drive over a 2 hour flight, but that's just me.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[pixiesteno]

We drove from WNY lst January and hit some of the snows in NC and VA! We had our truck with 4 wheel drive, but only had to use the 4-wheel to get in and out of a rest area in NC.
Now, here's the thing to think of: when you drive you can usually adjust your trip departure time to work around inclement weather. When you go by air, you are stuck if the weather is awful. Last year just before Christmas our son was flying home from FL for a college break. Luckily, I had him on a non-stop flight, all other flights that stopped along the east coast that weekend - grounded! So, there is no guarantee that if you fly everything will be okay either. When you are driving you at least have a bit more room to adjust your plans.

 

[Scooter]

Here's my thoughts:

If you are going to Florida on short notice, it's fine to drive because you can always check the weather reports before you leave.
However, if you make your reservations months in advance it's definitely a crap shoot. There could be blizzards, icey road conditions and sub zero temps. I live in northern Illinois and have most of my life. There have been many instances where the winter storms were so bad that the meteorologists have advised people not to drive anywhere at all.
We have gone to Disney World twice during the winter months and have flown both times. Why take the chance of getting snowed in half way to your destination?
Whatever you choose to do, I hope you have a fun and safe trip!
Scooter

 

[mp2bill]

Go for it! Hopefully there's no crazy blizzards and you'll be fine.

 

[stillgoofy]

We are also coming from Michigan at the same time but are flying. I say fly and spend an extra couple days at WDW instead of on the road. It seems like the bad weather can move in so fast, I wouldn't chance driving. As already mentioned, I'd hate to get stuck half way down and be snowed in somewhere else and have to lose time at WDW.

 

[Disneybird]

I live very close to Chattanooga and actually work there. Most of our bad weather comes later in the winter (Feb.-March). We get very little snow, but when we do get it, sometimes we get ice too. That being said, both of my daughters went to school in Nashville and in all the years they were there, they had very few problems with snow.

I would drive if that's what you are comfortable with. Just watch the weather for a few days ahead of time and adjust your schedule accordingly. If you need to leave the night before and drive before bad weather hits, then you can do that.

This past winter, weather seemed just a little crazier than usual. I was in WDW the first week of January, and it was freezing.

Have a great trip.

 

[kirinan]

Wow! I knew this was the right place to come for an answer. Thank you all so much for your replies; it's great that I'm getting views from both sides.

I think we're going to stick with the driving (surprisingly, my husband is resisting the flying this time, because of the hassle and the baggage limitations). But as several of you suggested, we're going to keep an eye on the weather and leave early if necessary. Luckily, we're both off Thursday and Friday, so we've got an extra two days on the front end of the vacation, and we weren't going back to work till Tuesday the 5th so we've got an extra day or two at the end as well. If we have to, we'll chop our driving days into smaller chunks so we're driving in the daylight.

And if we're stuck in Florida and can't come back to work for a couple more days...I guess there are worse places to be stranded, right? :animwink:

 

[tink65]

I think you will be fine driving. We live in upper East TN and we don't normally get alot of snow til January & February!

 

[Mouse Man]

Okay let start with flying:

1) Flew Air-Tran out of Philly. They had an earlier non-stop flight and placed us on that flight that got us there quicker at no additional charge.

Great airline and would fly them again if I had to.

Issue:

The DWF and I were walking out of the Wilderness lodge and realized we are in WDW in FLA. We felt a little strange. We felt we missed seeing all the site and making all the silly stops that we do having fun all the way driving down. Second I hate the baggage thing and hate the security even though I agree with it.

Driving:

Never had any issues and packed the car the way we wanted to, make all our silly stops and enjoy staying at a decent hotel with a continental Breakfast or Cracker Barrel near by. Never had an issue driving down at all. Coming back up we did run into a storm and spent one extra night on the road. Please keep in mind that we always give ourselves an extra day on the road when we travel at winter time.

Conclusion:

We love to drive and have control over our stops and not have the hassles of airports and such. Not to mention that Airports puts more stress on us then driving down does. Love seeing Americanna and wouldn't have it any other way