The Trip Down I-75: City Driving Strategy

[Raineman]

The family and I will be making our first driving trip to WDW via I-75. Is Atlanta the worst city driving we are going to experience? I was planning our departure time solely based on when we would be driving through Atlanta, to hopefully hit that area late at night to avoid any rush hour traffic issues. The only other larger urban areas seem to be Cincinnati, Lexington, Knoxville and Chattanooga. Can I expect any heavy traffic in these areas?

 

[ekutchey]

Wow, thanks to everyone for the tips. Just for a bit of background, we will be coming from London, Ontario, which is about a 2 hour drive east from the US/Canada border in Detroit. Also, we will be making our way down for the 28th of February next year, which should let us avoid sporting event traffic in Atlanta-the Braves don't open until early April, and the Falcons are done by then (although the Hawks will still be playing). If we leave home mid-morning, we shouldn't be reaching Atlanta until well after midnight. One question that I have is that of construction-I realize Michigan and Ohio probably won't have much construction in the winter, but what about Kentucky, Tenn, Georgia and Fla? Also, under normal winter weather conditions, is it safe to say that we shouldn't expect any heavy snow once we get into Kentucky?

Southern Ohio doesn't tend to get much snow either. You will hit construction in Ohio farther south they do not stop the work because their winter is different. We go to Great Wolf in Mason, Ohio every February around the 18th each year and the last few years it has been 75-80 with rain and thunderstorms. So I would plan on the very road work still going on when you are traveling. For example weather wise we left Michigan, we are about an hour north of Detroit in a snow storm and below zero temps arrive at GWL (6 hour drive) to 82 with a tornado warning. Also heads up you could run into some traffic in Kentucky as for many schools that is their mid-winter break.

 

[DashRendar]

Just expect there to be construction SOMEWHERE on I-75. We drove down for the 4th of July weekend this year for a visit to that other park in Orlando (lol) from North Florida. So they picked the night before the start of a long holiday weekend to commence road work. For miles. Started several miles before Gainesville. Turned I-75 into a parking lot since they closed 2 of the 3 lanes. Added 1 hour to our trip. The bonus? Once we got past the construction and all lanes were open, there was very little traffic ahead of us so we made up some time. Still got to our hotel at Uni after midnight.

Yeah, driving through Atlanta on I-75 is a pain. There is always construction. And the bypass adds time to your trip. Just make sure you have a full tank of gas before you get to the metro Atlanta area and fill up as soon as you cross the Florida border and find a station with a reasonable rate. There are two areas of congestion on I-75 on the way to the Florida turnpike. The first, around Gainesville, mainly thanks to the University of Florida and the insane student drivers who text while going 80 mph. The other is Ocala. No idiotic students but still traffic. And the split off to the Turnpike is crazy due to the drivers who suddenly realize they are in the turn off lane and they want to continue to Tampa on I-75.

My suggestion once you get onto the Florida Turnpike is to take the exit (think it's 267A or B) to 429, rather than continuing on the Turnpike to I-4 (a real nightmare for those who've never driven on it.) Once you get off the Turnpike onto 429, it's about 20 minutes to the entrance to WDW on Western Way. Which dumps straight into Buena Vista Blvd. Take this advice from a Florida resident who makes the trip every 1-2 months. Avoid taking the Turnpike to I-4 to WDW route. It takes us a little under 4 hours to drive from my house to WDW (my daughter can make it in a little over 3 hours, but she's probably exceeding the speed limit).

AGREED!! We always avoid I-4 and come in on 429 to Western Way when we come down. We made the mistake of coming all the way to I-4 when we brought friends with us during Thanksgiving week '14. Worst decision ever. We were locked up in traffic for over 1.5hrs. It killed all the time we saved on avoiding unnecessary stops on I-75.

 

[DashRendar]

The family and I will be making our first driving trip to WDW via I-75. Is Atlanta the worst city driving we are going to experience? I was planning our departure time solely based on when we would be driving through Atlanta, to hopefully hit that area late at night to avoid any rush hour traffic issues. The only other larger urban areas seem to be Cincinnati, Lexington, Knoxville and Chattanooga. Can I expect any heavy traffic in these areas?

If you avoid coming through Chattanooga during late afternoon/early evening areas it is typically fine. Once you get past the I-24/I-75 interchange traffic is not an issue until you hit ATL.
We come through Chattanooga on I-24 and it's crazy coming through that section of the city. They are replacing/renovating a bridge over I-24 during overnight hours and it has begun to booger up traffic coming thru there at night now. You will miss this altogether, though.
I-75 south of ATL is a mess right now. Coming N in early August we had an estimated 2hr delay (GPS estimate) when we got around McDonough area (pretty well south of ATL). Both sides of I-75 were a parking lot. We let the GPS detour us through scenic southern ATL suburbs and rejoined I-75 around Morrow. I've never found going around on I-285 to be beneficial. I have been to ATL dozens of time for different lengths of time, but have never lived there. If you are coming thru late night, staying on I-75 all the way thru ATL has worked best for us.
If there is a UF football game at Gainesville it will be a mess. We came through there one time with people trying to get in for a game and were delayed for 45min because traffic was very heavy. If there is not a football game, it is no big deal.
As one user pointed out, and I completely agree with, take 429 to Western Way off of Florida's Turnpike. Avoid I-4 altogether. Even if you are staying closer to I-4, it's easier to come in via Western Way and "cut through" the world to where you need to get to. Plus, if you watch closely, coming south on 429 you can see the Contemporary and catch a brief glimpse of Cinderella's castle (one of the tallest spiers, anyway) off to the left. Watch for it as you pass over Scholfeld Rd on 429. Cheers!

 

[JennSmith]

We are coming up on Chattanooga right now and it's pretty gross lol. Knoxville was a tiny bit painful but we were passing through during rush hour so there's that...

 

[LAKid53]

AGREED!! We always avoid I-4 and come in on 429 to Western Way when we come down. We made the mistake of coming all the way to I-4 when we brought friends with us during Thanksgiving week '14. Worst decision ever. We were locked up in traffic for over 1.5hrs. It killed all the time we saved on avoiding unnecessary stops on I-75.

Yeah, I don't know why people take what I call the back entrance to WDW. Nothing like driving on I-4, trying to figure out which of the 3 WDW exits to take, driving through all the ongoing construction at DTD, etc., etc. Unless, of course, you're coming from the east coast of Florida via I-95 and can't/don't take the Turnpike.

 

[mousefreak]

We are coming up on Chattanooga right now and it's pretty gross lol. Knoxville was a tiny bit painful but we were passing through during rush hour so there's that...

How bad is the delay? How about south of Atlanta? We plan on driving during the night leaving Cols OH next Wednesday evening about 5pm. That would get us to Atlanta around 2am.
I'm considering driving down I77.

 

[Horizons '83]

You will be fine at 2AM. Just check the Georgia DOT website and check to see if any overnight construction will be happening on the route you plan to take.

 

[mousefreak]

You will be fine at 2AM. Just check the Georgia DOT website and check to see if any overnight construction will be happening on the route you plan to take.

Thanks!

 

[ekutchey]

We also have a week off in Feb for winter break in Michigan. It is a mass exodus down I 75 to Orlando.

Most schools in Michigan no longer have a week off only a long weekend with two extra days, so you should be a little safer there hopefully.

 

[MissingDisney]

Most schools in Michigan no longer have a week off only a long weekend with two extra days, so you should be a little safer there hopefully.

But those of who do, sure do love squeezing in an extra Disney vacation when we can!
It's true a lot of school systems have cut back to only a long weekend however, lots of people have their kids miss a day before and a day after and can still get a weeks vacation out of it. Not a bad deal!

 

[bigorangeandy]

North and South of Atlanta the GDOT are adding toll lanes to I-75. This construction will be going on till 2018 or so. Most of the time it will not cause much of a delay, but at times it could be a mess. I know about two weeks ago southbound I-75 had up to a 45 minute delay, this was a Sunday afternoon, normally a less congested time. Watch the overhead signs that will warn of any large problems when getting into the metro area, they help. Check the GDOT web page for known work areas that could close a lane or two (that's an ouch).
Atlanta can have snow in the winter, and it can cause a mess. The blizzard of March 13, 1993 dropped 21 inches of snow in Chattanooga, and about 5 in Atlanta. If you come through Atlanta the odds are you will have no issues, safe travels.

 

[pixiesteno]

Many school systems in the northeast have President's week off of school and they head south so expect a busy time at WDW

 

[Raineman]

North and South of Atlanta the GDOT are adding toll lanes to I-75. This construction will be going on till 2018 or so. Most of the time it will not cause much of a delay, but at times it could be a mess. I know about two weeks ago southbound I-75 had up to a 45 minute delay, this was a Sunday afternoon, normally a less congested time. Watch the overhead signs that will warn of any large problems when getting into the metro area, they help. Check the GDOT web page for known work areas that could close a lane or two (that's an ouch).
Atlanta can have snow in the winter, and it can cause a mess. The blizzard of March 13, 1993 dropped 21 inches of snow in Chattanooga, and about 5 in Atlanta. If you come through Atlanta the odds are you will have no issues, safe travels.

I've lived in Canada all my life-we don't even start to slow down until there's 4 inches of snow on the road

 

[bethram]

Traffic on 75 through Kennesaw toward Atlanta is already bad at 6:30 am during the week. There is construction on 75 through Kennesaw and into Marietta as well as on 285 through Smyrna. Get the Google Map app and turn on the traffic filter, it would be a good way to tell if you should take 75 through the city or 285 west around it; or what to expect as you approach any city.