Anyone drive to WDW from Illinois?

[MicMouse]

So, how long does it take to drive from the Chicago area to WDW?

Has anyone done this, and if so, where did you stay along the way?

[GoinGoofyPlanninThisTrip]

The last time we drove straight through (only stopping for gas) and it took about 16 hours.

I think if you stick to the speed limit it is closer to 19 hours (from the Northern suburbs).

When we drive and split the drive, we like to stay in the Atlanta area. That leaves a nice second day drive.

[Aurora]

We did it in 2004 with an 8-year-old and 6-year-old and stopped for an overnight both ways, rather than driving straight through. The kids brought lots of activity books and there was plenty to see, so even though we brought a TV, we never used it.

On the way there we stayed overnight in Lexington, KY, a small historic city with a very cool public sculpture of a horse race (we have some great pics). On the way home we stayed in Marietta, just outside of Atlanta.

You could also stop in Chattanooga, which friends have recommended for the train museum and rides.

We also did a pit stop near the mountains for some hiking and a view of the Norris Dam in Tennessee.

The kids really enjoyed the trip, and my son only wanted to drive, not fly, to Disney after that.

[Itchy]

We drive from the St Louis area and all except one time we have stopped in Macon, Ga off of I-475. I think that it was exit 3. There a lot of motels there and plenty of resturants. As the previous stated it is an easy drive only about 6 hrs.

We always stopped every 100 to 150 miles to stretch our legs.
There are only rest areas inTenn when you enter from Ky and before you get to Chattanooga. Other than that there are plenty of rest areas and all are real nice and clean.

Have a great trip.

[Itchy]

I goofed a little in my last post. From St Louis it is about 11 to 12 hrs and from Macon it is about 6 hrs.

Sorry:blush:

[brewcrew26]

We drove from Milwaukee -- about 18 hours straight through. Only did that once, though.

Otherwise, we usually stay somewhere in Lexington, Ky. But, we've also made stops on the way in Atlanta and Nashville. Or, on our eastern seaboard trip we went from DC then took the Amtrak autotrain to the Orlando-area.

[irish1967]

We start out a couple hours south of you - but typically go as far as Valdosta, GA (just north of the FL state line.)

Makes for a REALLY easy second day drive and we usually arrive in time to get pick up our passes and grab some lunch.

[Dream'nDisney]

16 hours from Chicago???? OMG, I can't imagine how fast you must have been driving!!! It is 1200 miles from central Illinois, which is 16 hours if you average 75 mph. :mickey: Be careful. You want to get there in one piece, even if it means getting there a couple hours later than you planned. :thumbsup:

[Dream'nDisney]

Depending on when we leave, we try to make sure we get south of Atlanta. I may be mistaken (it has been a few years since we drove), but I believe there is a nice Holiday Inn in Macon, GA that has a full free hot breakfast. Our family felt safe, and the rooms were very clean. We also have stayed in Valdosta, but I can't remember the name of the hotel. Good luck in your planning and travels. :mickey:

[GoinGoofyPlanninThisTrip]

16 hours from Chicago???? OMG, I can't imagine how fast you must have been driving!!! It is 1200 miles from central Illinois, which is 16 hours if you average 75 mph. :mickey: Be careful. You want to get there in one piece, even if it means getting there a couple hours later than you planned. :thumbsup:We were not racing at all. Never went over 80. Not sure how you get there but it is only 1192 miles from our house (northern suburbs of Chicago).

1192 mi. / 16hrs. = 74.5 mph average speed.

We also drove though the night so there was no traffic whatsoever and our stops for gas were no more than 15 minutes each.

[TinaAndGlenn]

We drive from SW Chicago suburbs. It takes us 20 hours, but we pull a 36ft 5th Wheel. Day one we usually drive to Cordele, Georgia (15 hours), Day two it takes 5 hours to get to Magic Kingdom. If you go to mapquest for directions, they try to send you south through Indiana. We find Illinois I-57 to be a quicker route. (We usually make it to Atlanta GA in 12 hours) I recently purchased the book Exit Authority. It has all the exits, state by state, and includes what is located at eack exit. Pulling an RV this book is very valuable (For locating Truck Stops), but I have also used it for short car trips.

[jsdt]

We just did the trip (about 3 weeks ago) and it was 1225 miles from the western suburbs and we also did it in a little more than 16 hours. We only stop for gas and to grab some food that we ate in the car.

When we do stop, on the way down we normally find a hotel somewhere past Atlanta, I agree with the comments about staying near Macon or if you are feeling good the first day shoot to get down to Valdosta. The farther you make it on day 1 the better.

On the way back when we stop we normally stop in TN somewhere between Chattanooga and Nashville. There isn't much once you get past Chattanooga for the first hour or so, but as you get closer to Chattanooga there are more hotels. On the way back we never make it quite as far the first day as we tend to leave later and swim for a little while at Disney before we leave.

[Knitty Kitty]

...if you are feeling good the first day shoot to get down to Valdosta. The farther you make it on day 1 the better.

On the way back when we stop we normally stop in TN somewhere between Chattanooga and Nashville. There isn't much once you get past Chattanooga for the first hour or so, but as you get closer to Chattanooga there are more hotels. On the way back we never make it quite as far the first day as we tend to leave later and swim for a little while at Disney before we leave.

:ditto: On both of these!

We drove down to WDW from Chicago at Christmas 2003. We were trying to make it to Valdosta but decided to stop at Tifton instead. The next day, we only had about a three hour drive to make it to WDW.

[GoinGoofyPlanninThisTrip]

We find Illinois I-57 to be a quicker route.
Absolutely. It's also nice to see the more scenic portions of Illinois.

[DisnIse]

We make the drive with our boys, and we have broken it into two 9 hour days. Basically, we left after school on one day, drove until about midnight. We try to get past Atlanta, but not always. We get up as early as possible, and finish the drive as fast as we can.

This time, though, we're leaving early in the morning. Not sure if we can do it in one shot, but we might give it a try!

Last year, by the way, we had to drive home with the flu. Fortunately it hit me at night, and my husband in the morning, so we could both (somewhat) functionally drive. Getting home never felt so good!!!!!

[hubbyofadisneyholic]

Absolutely. It's also nice to see the more scenic portions of Illinois.

We've made the drive many times and agree I-57 makes for a much more pleasant drive.

We usually take about 22 hrs to make the trip. Allows us time to make frequent stops and have a relaxing dinner and breakfast the next morning. My wife and I alternate driving during the day and I take over for the night about 11pm, stopping at the rest area near Macon for a couple hour snooze about 2 - 3am.
IT works well for us, but I can understand those that don't like the idea of driving straight thru...it isn't as easy for us now as it was 20 yrs ago.:blush:

[KylesMom]

We've made the drive on three separate occasions and agree that 57 through Illinois is better for us. It was a struggle to reach Valdosta the first trip when we drove through Indiana, but found it was do-able through Illinois on subsequent trips - which took about 16 hours to get that far. I agree that it's great when you can get a few hours of shut-eye, hit the road and be at Disney in 3 or so hours. In all, it took us about 19 hours with minimal gas breaks and breakfast/lunch in the car with a cooler full of drinks and snacks. According to my van's computer, we averaged about 63 miles per hour. :mickey:

On our last drive, we drove straight home - and we vowed we'd never attempt it again. It was just too much after two weeks at Disney and we were both a bit shaky by the time we reached our front door. We'd probably do the drive again if my back would let me sit in the car for that long! :mickey:

[alex61821]

don't forget to play the waffle house sign game.

[Jasper]

We live in southern Indiana and it takes us about 11-12 hours of driving time to make it to WDW. It also takes us 5-6 hours (depending on traffic getting through the city) to get from our house to friends who live in Antioch which is right by the Wisconsin/Illinois state line. That means that 16 hours could be very doable depending on what you mean by the Chicago area.

Now I will also say that we ALWAYS leave about 6 in the evening, stop for a late dinner near Nashville and then set the cruise control and don't stop until we are at WDW bright and early the next morning usually about 7 or 8 am (depending on how long we loitered over supper at Nashville the night before.)

I know one poster mentioned stopping at Lexington for the night. While I am a big fan of Lexington if you are coming from Illinois then Lexington is pretty far out of the way.

The most direct route from Chicago is to come down highway 41 which runs from Chicago along the Indiana side of the Indiana/Illinois border. Then when you hit Henderson Ky pick up the Pennyrile Parkway to southern Kentucky and then pick up Interstate 24 to Nashville and then Chattanooga (I think I24 is the correct number.) If you look at the map you will see that this takes you a good 30-50 miles or maybe more from Lexington.

[MicMouse]

Thank you so much for the replies!!!

I think we will try to make the drive vs. flying this time.

You guys are the best source of Disney info:thumbsup:

[Dream'nDisney]

It is weird that Chicago is 3 hours north of central Illinois, but is the same time distance to WDW! :mickey: I guess it is the different routes. There really isn't a fast way out of central Illinois, so that has got to be the time difference there. Happy travels! :mickey: :thumbsup: