Anyone drive from Texas to Disney World?

[brookmey]

another Dis'er told me about this thread. Boy do I need help. We usually fly but with the prices going up and up I think this year we might drive. We are coming from Houston on thur June 2 my son gets out of school at 12:15. we would like to leave then but not sure if that is a good idea or what a good time to leave would be. We would like to be there for star wars weekend on friday. Any tips suggestions???? a route that works best for you? Any and all info would be great thank you.

I'm in Katy, too!

We've made the drive twice and plan to again in September. It's really not a bad drive at all. Both times we've left around 7 am and just followed 10 all the way. Baton Rouge has been congested both times, once with construction and the other with an accident, both near the long bridge over the swampy/bayou area. I actually like the drive because it's along the coast, which is very different for me since I grew up in MI and had the long boring drive down I-75. Last time on our way home, we took the scenic route along the Gulf, through Gulfport and Biloxi. It took a little longer, but it was an interesting drive and something different. I also liked driving through Mobile, seeing where the cruise ships dock and the USS Alabama. Tallahassee is a good halfway point and you should be able to make it if there are no complications. We've always come up a little short because of the problems around Baton Rouge. I think the hardest part was losing an hour because of the change in time zones!

If you leave around 1 or 2 pm, you'll probably need to drive straight through to make it to HS on Friday, when you factor in bathroom and gas stops. Even if you pack sandwiches to eat meals in the car, you'll still need to plan on stops for the bathroom or just to stretch a little bit.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[AckermanPartyof6]

We are driving from SA in July, DH w/ our boys 16, 15, 8 and 4. Planning on leaving at about 10pm when our sons will hopefully be ready for bed. DH will sleep during the day of departure. We do plan to trade off driving once he is tired and hope to make it to Pensacola around 5ish. Is this realistic?
Our plan is to stop at a hotel in Pensacola, swim, have a nice dinner and head on the road by 9am the following day to WDW.

The return is uncertain as of now since we will check out by 11am and don't know how far we can get before stopping for the night.

Has anyone done the drive with stops from SA? Any suggestions? We really want to take a chunk of the drive while the boys sleep on the way down.

 

[jacdolfin]

We are driving from SA in July, DH w/ our boys 16, 15, 8 and 4. Planning on leaving at about 10pm when our sons will hopefully be ready for bed. DH will sleep during the day of departure. We do plan to trade off driving once he is tired and hope to make it to Pensacola around 5ish. Is this realistic?
Our plan is to stop at a hotel in Pensacola, swim, have a nice dinner and head on the road by 9am the following day to WDW.

The return is uncertain as of now since we will check out by 11am and don't know how far we can get before stopping for the night.

Has anyone done the drive with stops from SA? Any suggestions? We really want to take a chunk of the drive while the boys sleep on the way down.

Hi Ackerman Party. We drove from SA last year when we went to WDW. We drove nonstop on the way down but on the way back we stoped. We left at 1 in the afternoon drove nonstop taking turns and pit stops and got to the Orlando area around 9/10 the next morning. We have 2 small kids ages 4 and 6 at the time. They slept in the car all night long and by the time we got there we didnt stop. We went to SeaWorld and hubby and i crashed hard that nigh.

The halfway point where we stoped on the trip back was Mobile Alabama. You can stop in Biloxi Mississippi it is only about an hr different. We staid at a nice La Quinta then drove home the rest of the way. Hope this helps. Have a great trip

 

[GoofyTraci]

I'm in Katy, too!

We've made the drive twice and plan to again in September. It's really not a bad drive at all. Both times we've left around 7 am and just followed 10 all the way. Baton Rouge has been congested both times, once with construction and the other with an accident, both near the long bridge over the swampy/bayou area. I actually like the drive because it's along the coast, which is very different for me since I grew up in MI and had the long boring drive down I-75. Last time on our way home, we took the scenic route along the Gulf, through Gulfport and Biloxi. It took a little longer, but it was an interesting drive and something different. I also liked driving through Mobile, seeing where the cruise ships dock and the USS Alabama. Tallahassee is a good halfway point and you should be able to make it if there are no complications. We've always come up a little short because of the problems around Baton Rouge. I think the hardest part was losing an hour because of the change in time zones!

If you leave around 1 or 2 pm, you'll probably need to drive straight through to make it to HS on Friday, when you factor in bathroom and gas stops. Even if you pack sandwiches to eat meals in the car, you'll still need to plan on stops for the bathroom or just to stretch a little bit.

Good luck and have fun!

thanks so much for the reply. We r excited but a little scared. being in the car for that long. but anyway I guess we will be ok. thanks for the suggestions as I was unsure of which route to take. Have a great day

 

[anolen300]

Hi Ackerman Party. We drove from SA last year when we went to WDW. We drove nonstop on the way down but on the way back we stoped. We left at 1 in the afternoon drove nonstop taking turns and pit stops and got to the Orlando area around 9/10 the next morning. We have 2 small kids ages 4 and 6 at the time. They slept in the car all night long and by the time we got there we didnt stop. We went to SeaWorld and hubby and i crashed hard that nigh.

The halfway point where we stoped on the trip back was Mobile Alabama. You can stop in Biloxi Mississippi it is only about an hr different. We staid at a nice La Quinta then drove home the rest of the way. Hope this helps. Have a great trip

We stopped on 2 different trips in Gulfport, Mississippi. I can't remember the exit but since they have the base there one road has quite a few motels on it. I think we stayed at a Best Western both times that nice and not too expensive and had no reservations, just walked in.

I warn anyone thinking about stopping not to stop in Diamondhead. It was our first trip and we were getting tired so I looked for hotels in my GPS and that one came up as closest. I called and should have known from the rate they gave me that it wasn't going to be nice area. I went in and got a room while DW stayed in car. I got back out and she told me she didn't feel safe from the looks of the people she saw. We drove back towards room anyway and we saw people at back of hotel drinking and what I am sure was a drug exchange going on . Needless to say I went back in and cancelled and clerk didn't even act surprised. Drove on to Gulfport which I think is only like 30 minutes farther.

Sorry for long post just wanted to warn everyone about that place.

 

[GoofyTraci]

We stopped on 2 different trips in Gulfport, Mississippi. I can't remember the exit but since they have the base there one road has quite a few motels on it. I think we stayed at a Best Western both times that nice and not too expensive and had no reservations, just walked in.

I warn anyone thinking about stopping not to stop in Diamondhead. It was our first trip and we were getting tired so I looked for hotels in my GPS and that one came up as closest. I called and should have known from the rate they gave me that it wasn't going to be nice area. I went in and got a room while DW stayed in car. I got back out and she told me she didn't feel safe from the looks of the people she saw. We drove back towards room anyway and we saw people at back of hotel drinking and what I am sure was a drug exchange going on . Needless to say I went back in and cancelled and clerk didn't even act surprised. Drove on to Gulfport which I think is only like 30 minutes farther.

Sorry for long post just wanted to warn everyone about that place.

oh dont be sorry....we dissers have to stick together and help each other out. and we for sure dont need to be in places like that. esp with small kids. thanks for the information

 

[AckermanPartyof6]

Thank you all...It's nice to have input for experienced Texan drivers

 

[TallandGoofy]

Hello!

I'm in the Houston area (Pearland) and we were STRONGLY considering driving this summer but ultimately ended up getting a pretty good deal on flights.

How much do you all typically spend driving vs. flying? We are spending $1100 for 4 of us to fly this time. We were thinking if we drove, we'd spend around $800 or $900 including renting a car (to avoid wear and tear on ours) + gas, food and lodging there and back. Does that seem about right or did we overestimate? How do you weigh whether to fly or drive? Do you have a cut-off?

 

[hsembrick]

Winkey's Friend and TinkWink I do believe we are all neighbors!

HOWDY!

We have driven once and made it to the Lake City and stayed the night. We left at 5 am from College Station and made it around 7 pm. The nice thing was that the next morning we only had a 3 1/2 hr drive til we where at the World!!! It was nice to be able to sleep in that morning and then be in WDW by 1!!!

 

[TinkWink]

Howdy!! We should have a WDW meetup here in town!

Re: budget - once gas started creeping up, I said if I could find airfare for $800 or under we would fly. I figured we would spend at least $400 on gas, possibly more if really high prices. Add in food for four days driving (at least $150 for three people with some snack breaks for the toddler) and two nights in a hotel (at least $200 since I don't do $70/night places if you can even find those anymore). The hassle of driving wasn't worth it to me for a small savings of maybe $50. We are flying JetBlue for $808 total and that includes 1 checked bag for each of us.

 

[anolen300]

Hello!

I'm in the Houston area (Pearland) and we were STRONGLY considering driving this summer but ultimately ended up getting a pretty good deal on flights.

How much do you all typically spend driving vs. flying? We are spending $1100 for 4 of us to fly this time. We were thinking if we drove, we'd spend around $800 or $900 including renting a car (to avoid wear and tear on ours) + gas, food and lodging there and back. Does that seem about right or did we overestimate? How do you weigh whether to fly or drive? Do you have a cut-off?

We usually drive everywhere if we have the time, we like being able to see everything and experience all the cool things you see when driving.http://www.wdwinfo.com/images/smilies/woohoo.gif That said, I also look at the bottom dollar on it as well. It usually cost us about 350 for rental car, around 250 for gas (who knows this year though). It's 2200 round trip and I figure around 300 driving to parks and extra. And if we stop I usually use points that I get for doing surveys I get in email. Last year we stopped in Tallahassee and stayed at a nice Hampton Inn for only 15 bucks :banana. On way back we leave early and drive nonstop back to DFW area so we don't have hotel cost. So total we are looking at about 700or so depending on how many reward points I get and gas prices. We just usually eat fast food on the drive so it's pretty cheap and bring our own bottled water.

 

[lakoda]

Hi fellow Texans!
I'm really happy to find this thread and thought that I would revive it. We have driven to WDW several times (DH doesn't like to fly). I'm hoping to find any suggestions on good rest stops for a toddler. We are taking DD for her third trip this November. The previous two trips we drove overnight, but this last time was just too hard! So we will be leaving at approx 4 am and hoping to get at least 14 hours in the first day before stopping to spend the night somewhere.

On our return trip a few weeks ago, DD really needed to work off some energy before hitting the road so we asked our server during dinner if there was a playground anywhere nearby. Luckily she recommended one that was 5 minutes away! This was in Tallahassee, off Thomasville at Maclay. There is a beautiful little park and DD (2 1/2) had a blast.

So anyway it got me thinking that there may be some other handy areas for kids to run off some energy without taking too much time to get there. Does anyone have any suggestions? DH was wondering if some of the rest stops have playgrounds...as many times as we've taken the trip we have either been alone or with our nephews who could handle fewer stops. We'd also be fine with a McD's playground - we just haven't been able to find one when we needed it!

Looking forward to networking with other Texas drivers

 

[anolen300]

Hi Lakoda!

We don't have any kids so not sure about playgrounds, but I know the rest stop soon as you enter into Alabama on I-10 is real nice. They have a mock up of the lunar lander there and if I remember right there is alot of room for kids to run around and play. They have the rocket testing tour there for NASA that we have wanted to do but never gotten chance to . DW is always in too big of hurry to stop and do it on way there, and way back it's usually closed by time we hit it.

 

[henderkm]

We drove (in our own car) from Houston a few weeks ago because the airfares from Houston to MCO seem to have doubled over the past few years. Plus, there are 5 of us to buy tickets for now.

The cheapest airfare I found during the time I was looking was $1800. and it went as high as $2200. We drove for about $600. This includes our gasoline, two nights hotel, and food.

We left early in the morning and stopped for a late lunch (making our own sandwiches) in the Florida visitor center. We drove about 12 hours and stayed overnight in Tallahassee in a wonderful room at Candlewood Suites. We left there around 9 and arrived at AKL in time for an early check-in.

On the day we left WDW, we stayed in the park until about 4:30. I made a reservation in Pensacola and we arrived there quite late, 10:30. The next day we arrived home at around 6. If I had it all to do over again, I would have left the park around 2 and arrived at our hotel sooner.

 

[gigm99]

What a great thread. We are driving this September from the Tyler area. We have three small children. Our plan was to leave early afternoon and drive until DH and I need to rest, stop at a rest area or hotel, and drive the rest the next morning. You guys have given me some great tips on rest stops (and thanks for the info on the park for toddlers who need to blow off steam!)

Nicole

 

[Echo queen]

In 9 Wdw visits we have driven once. Who knows what the future holds. Austin area.

 

[mlnbabies]

We have driven from Temple to WDW 3 times. We usually stop at the rest stops and let the dd's run and play. There are a lot of nice rest stops on I 10. One rest stop had statues of gators and pelicans that they dd's play on that was cool.

We always spend the night somewhere since it's a 2 day drive one way. Once we stayed at Pensicola Beach on the way home for 2 days and it was great. On another trip home we stopped in New Orleans for 2 days. We also have spent the night in MS.

We may fly this time for our trip in Dec. I will be driving by myself with my 2 dd's which is doable but it may be cheaper to fly. 3 of us can fly on JetBlue for $720. We haven't decided yet. 2 extra hotel nights plus food and gas has us thinking of flying.

 

[poohbear22]

On our last trip we left the DFW area about 8 in the evening and drove through the night (with a stop or two for a cat-nap) taking the route of heading south at Shreveport. We drove all the way to Tallahassee where we stooped at a HOJO right off I-10 to rest for the rest of the day. We finished the trip the following day taking the long route going over to Jacksonville and down the coast where we stopped to play on the beach and then on to WDW for dinner. We will be repeating something similar to this in late September. It is a very scenic drive and about 50% cheaper than flying!

 

[MomtoBJSF]

I'm reviving this thread a little. But we are driving for our first trip in march , with 3 small kids (5,3,10 months), I am so so scared, but the plan is to leave at 4am, since we are always late it will be more like 5am, and drive all the way to Tallahassee the first day, I'm really hoping it will be durable. Airfare cost was just absolutely insane for all 5 of us and not too mention everything we have to bring with us, and renting a car on top of it, it just made more sense to drive. We are truly excited!!

 

[onecoolpilot]

The trip wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Didn't really start getting tired until we got to Pensacola. We left the Wills Point area between 5:30 and 6pm, and made it to Orlando around 10am.

The drive back was the worst. Not only are you bummed about having to go home, but it was daytime and not really much to see. We are taking a 7day cruise on our next vacation (DCL of course) and will have to fly due to time constraints. If I could get a couple extra days off, we would drive again for sure.

Have fun and be safe!