Do not drive your daddy's Thunderbird through... Alphabet Street, sir. I kid. I've driven to DisneyWorld twice, to Atlanta once, and rested two times in Louisiana (Slidell) just to have a fresh day. We left in the wee hours of the morning both times and got to Orlando in the afternoon just in time for check-in. Leave enough time for rest between parks. Paging no_answer for Disney tips... paging no_answer...
yup, we are planning to leave here around 3am and get a hotel by 6pm. we'll be at pensacola probably around that time or nearby places. no tickets to Disney yet.... i appreciate any tips on how to get the best deal. thanks in advance.
Plan a day (preferably the first day you're there) to walk down International Dr. and speak to one of them predator dudes that schedule you for a "talk" where you have to listen for "an hour" about a timeshare... they will give you either discounted or FREE tickets to Disney. Plan for a half day to waste on this... then ENJOY the discount. We did this once planned in Orlando and in Hawaii, and we got free tickets to many places. Do this only if you have time. Are you or your significant other going to drive a Little Red Corvette there?
Deals on Disney tickets are hard to get. Sometimes there are package deals for the Disney resorts and other things.
We are going during the week of Spring Break to a rented home/resort with amenities with other families. I'll contribute a lot more to your thread once we finalize plans, Mr. Prince, sir. There are lots other good tips sites out there. Good luck. And, regarding the route, there aren't really that many aside from taking the ones to avoid the traffic to downtown NOLA and downtown Biloxy, Mobile, Pensacola, Tallahassee, etc. I plan to make time to stop at the colleges like Florida and others, just to show a couple of teenagers going with us. I promise, no more The Artist jokes here. Pinky finger promise.
there was a news recently that the speed limit on i-10 east has been increased to 75/80mph, do you guys know if it's already in effect? thanks.
When we go, we always go through Pensacola, then down by Destin and stop there for the night. Usually we're there by early afternoon if we leave by the 3AM departure you mentioned. It generally takes around 9 hours to this spot. Then, we have the rest of the day at the beach, which is perfect white sand clear watered beach. Love that. Then stay the night, get up and head to Orlando in the morning, which is another 7-ish hours. Best sites I know of for planning are: www.wdwinfo.com www.allears.net Be careful about "discounts" on tickets. There's a black market of people selling tickets that end up as fakes or already used tickets. There are some official discount sellers up and down I-192 that are a little cheaper than regular price and you can trust them to be legit. Best advice I ever took or gave, especially if you have kids is... if you're there all week, take a day in the middle of the week to do nothing but recuperate from all of the walking you've done since you've been there. It will make a BIG difference. Also, Magic Kingdom is always busiest on Monday. AVOID. Seems like everyone wants to start their week of fun with that park, and it will be INSANELY crowded. The last time I went to Disney, it was during spring break, we didn't heed this advice, went on a Monday and only managed to finish half the park. It was so crowded they shut the gates mid-afternoon due to the overcrowding. I could go on, but this would be the longest post ever. If you have any questions though, I'd be happy to answer.
Yeah my wife and I plan to take the kids and drive. We always heard it is neat to stop In New Orleans and somewhere in Alabama to check out a beach. Tell me all the details my man.
BigSherv, I will recommend Pensacola or Destin (I've heard about this, never been). Free beaches everywhere, beautiful SAND and sun. BLUE water. BLUE, man! Svpernaut, 59 to 20 to what other freeway ? I tried adding that route on Google Maps and it adds a couple hours to the already 16-hour trip. BONUS: From my house's address to the house where we're going, it's exactly 1000 miles!
No clue... but a few times I've been stuck on "the bridge" for several hours due to construction and wrecks. The problem with I-10 is it is always under construction, if not in TX, then LA, or MS, or AL or FL... or more than one.
I had minor delays in Pensacola, but it wasn't too terrible. Construction can be a pain, but you can also look up traffic information and current construction online. I can't see it adding more than two hours to your entire route, which going up 59 to I-20 definitely will do. Also, leaving in the middle of the night like he's doing is key to this also. We actually left even earlier, at around midnight, and it was smooth sailing all the way to Florida. I never go to New Orleans. There's nothing there that kids, or my kids anyway, give a crap about, and anything fun there for me to do, I wouldn't want my kids there anyway. So we take the I-12 detour North of New Orleans, then pick up I-10 on the other side. I can vouch for Destin's beaches being beautiful. I stop there every time. The water is crystal clear. Ever stood in neck deep water and still able to look down and see your feet?
You don't take I-20 all the way across, that takes you up in to Birmingham. I'm telling you now, I've had countless problems with I-10 east through Mobile, AL. Construction is horrible, I-10 is crap throughout Louisiana. In the past several years I've been stuck on the bridge 2+ hours three times. If I were driving I'd take 59 to Nacogdoches, then 7 to 20. When you hit Jackson, MS you can start heading back SE down 49 to Hattiesburg... from there take 98 in to Mobile where you can jump back on I-10. Just stating from my personal experience. I now avoid I-10 in LA at all costs. I made it to Jackson, MS in just at 7 hours last weekend.
EDIT: ^ Yeah, I knew NOT to go all the way across on 20, so I was wondering where, exactly, to turn south. In my few trips to the eastern seaboard or gulf states, I've never had problems with construction. There was only one time in Louisiana that I encountered a 30 or 45-minute delay through New Orleans, but that was only because we wanted to see the newly-renovated SuperDome. Yes. In Hawaii. Want to see pictures? It was "head deep", though. Still counts?
I just think the time he'll be driving is key here. Like I said, I also drove in the middle of the night, and never hit traffic. What time of day were you driving when you had the construction/traffic problems?
Check out mousesavers for discounted tickets. They usually have pretty good deals. Also when you get there try your hardest to get to the park you are going EARLY, like when it opens. Also, when purchasing your tickets try to get the park hopper option. Since you'll be going during spring break and it will be crowded that'll help by letting you leave one park to go to a different one on the same day. Also if your from Houston I highly recommend that you bring clothes to "represent" Houston lol. Stuff like rockets or texans jerseys/shirts. When I went in December I can't tell you how many people were wearing their city/team. Wear Houston proud and you'll feel good man.
