Driving to Disney world from Houston, need some suggestions

I was thinking of making this trip this summer
Me, My son, nephew and GodSon.

I will eye this thread with interest

Rocket River

 

We drove to disney world once but we drove straight 17hours. Left at 3pm and got there at 7am for breakfast and went straight to the park. But yeah, I say stop somewhere near crestview which is probably 9-10hours from here. Its near pensacola beach and destin, so if you wanna see some white sandy beaches, id recommend taking a little detour to either one.

oh and watch your speed in florida....they use airplanes to catch people for speeding

 

"For a trip like this I suggest bringing along latex gloves, a black wig, a BB pistol and ammunition, pepper spray, a hooded tan trench coat, a 2-pound drilling hammer, black gloves, rubber tubing, plastic garbage bags, approximately $585 (USD) in cash, and an 8-inch (20 cm) Gerber folding knife...

...Oh and dont forget to wear Diapers !!!!!!!"

-Lisa Nowak

 

Well we did a trip to DC a few years back and stopped in Tenn the first night. I tried taking a nap and leaving around midnight...and even with us taking turns driving, I nearly fell asleep on the road...I was lucky I made it to the pit area to take another nap. So I would say get a good sleep and leave 6 or 7 at the earliest.

We also plan on doing the Florida (Disney, Universal, Kennedy) thing this Summer and plan on staying in Pensacola on the way there and back.

 

I've made the trip a few times, once as a kid with my family and twice as an adult. First two times we stopped in Covington, LA (across the lake from New Orleans) at my grandparents' house a spend a night or two before driving the rest the next day.

The third time, we stopped somewhere for a night but don't remember where and didn't stop at all (drove straight through) on the way back. UGH!!! Even worse when it's with your 2 year old son and mother-in-law.

I like the idea though of waiting until you get just into Florida before spending the night. It breaks up the drive nicely. Once you get past New Orleans, the drive seems really quick because you're flying through state borders.

I'd say you can stop somewhere in Baton Rouge or New Orleans to stretch your legs a little. To me though, once you get into Florida and turn south the drive is painful. Haha! It's one of the longest, most boring drives I've ever been on with just nothing but trees and billboard after billboard after billboard of either Disney or some huge p*rn shop and it seems the drive will never end.

And yes, I would suggest leaving early and getting in as much as you can before traffic while the kids sleep.

As for landmarks, nothing I would suggest other then seeing some real beaches as suggested already. Driving though the under-ground tunnel in Alabama I guess is interesting only because you really don't have anything like that here that I'm aware of. Other than that, you're not seeing much IMO.

 

I went to college in Mobile, and there is really nothing to see between here and Florida on I10. My advice would be to grab a hotel in Pensecola and then wake up bright and early.

on the way back be weary of traffic once you hit Baton Rouge. it can be a real B from the exit bridge until you get past the Atchafalaya depending on the time of day. my advice would be to stay the night in Baton Rouge, they have some decent hotels right after you pass Abita Springs.

 

PAGING no_answer ( or her mom ) .

I don't know what a NAPE is.

Kidding. I've made the trip three times. Only once I had help from the Mrs. in driving.

Take off in the wee hours of the morn' from Houston (if this is where you live). There will be no heavy traffic in any of the freeways, save for some construction in Louisiana (New Orleans' outskirts) and a bit in Florida. Past Lafayette, use 12 to avoid the New Orleans' heavier traffic. Watch out for many cops in Louisiana. After that, look out in Florida's panhandle for police officers parked doing nothing. Just don't go over 70 and you'll be OK, at times, you can go over 80 even... but this is in several parts where you can see ahead of you.

If you've already booked hotel stuff for Sunday, check in and rest from the trip. Spend the night Saturday in either Tallahassee or Pensacola, drive a few hours and check in to the hotel late Sunday afternoon. Rest some more.

Have some quarters ready just after Tallahassee to pay for the Turnpike. I forgot how much the total is, but I think it's two tolls into Orlando.

Have a safe trip!

That's what SHE said. I would get in as much as I could, too... darn kids always waking up... interrupting stuff.

 

Baton Rouge has Oak Alley Plantation which is really beautiful to see.

http://www.oakalleyplantation.com/welcome.html

Pensacola has the incredible FREE National Aviation Museum.

http://www.navalaviationmuseum.org/

Also, the Pensacola beach is very nice and the lighthouse is pretty cool & was featured on Ghost Hunters

http://www.pensacolalighthouse.org/

Drive at to Pensacola the first day - heck its just about halfway. Like someone else said - the rest of the trip is really long and boring.

 

I'll be going out there myself late next week, but am flying.

Were I driving, I'd lean more towards getting a solid night's rest before hitting the road. Still go around 6am, but there's no need to go on only 3 hours of sleep when you've got ~13 hours of driving to do. There's no traffic to beat on the weekend.

Leave at 6, add 60-90 mins for pit stops, and get there around 9pm local time.

I don't see the need to spend the night in a hotel, and definitely not if you're planning to leave in the early morning hours.

 

You might be right, sir: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Katy...iDGev6U8BrLDCg&oq=+Katy+Tx+to+Orlando&t=m&z=6 ( at least from where I live )

Should they NOT stop to stretch, PP, eat, poop, etc.?

Lastly, he asked about stopping to see the Mighty Mississippi.

 

How did I know it'd be SwoLy who would say something about the typo?

 

We just made the trip last week. On the way there we made a brief stop in New Orleans to greet some family friends, but otherwise didn't stop anywhere other than for rest breaks. It is a long drive though, and I think a break in Alabama or Pensacola is probably well worth it. We left in the morning and arrived really late at night (1am-ish).

We did Epcot and Magic Kingdom. Epcot is much more enjoyable for adults, but Magic Kingdom is fun too if you're willing to let your hair down and be a kid again for a day. If it's your first time, quick tip that will help you tremendously: Grab the fast passes early. They will save you a LOT of time standing in line especially for the most popular rides e.g. Space Mountain (highly recommended!). You grab a ticket, it tells you to come back within a particular 1 hour window, and you go off and do something else. After learning the hard way at Epcot's Fast Track we did much better with the fast passes at Magic Kingdom. Also make sure to stay for the night time fireworks shows. They are truly spectacular.

 

And I prefaced it all by saying "if I were driving..."

 

Mmmmmhh....

If you're driving both Sat. and Sun. (good idea not to go straight through, not with kids in the car), leave no later than 8 a.m. Aim for 7, just in case.

You need to make it to at least Mobile before stopping on Saturday.

 

One thing is to plan your trip to NOT hit Baton Rouge at rush hour. I-10 shuts down to 1 lane there and it stinks if you hit it at the wrong time.

 

Fast Pass give you an appointment to come back later and skip the line. you do not have to pay for it unlike at Six Flags.

you can only have two active appointments pending at a time. every ride or attraction that participates in Fast Pass has the machines near the entry and a line for you to enter when you return...

 

You dont have to buy them but you can't overlap times. So you get a FP to 1 ride and it tells you to come back between 10am and 11am. You ride another ride until that time. Then you come back between those times to ride that FP ride. Once you've ridden the ride, you can go get another FP for another ride. repeat... Oh and not all rides have a FP.

Edit: you might want to listen to across110thstreet because it's been a few years since I've been and back then it was only 1 at a time.

 

I just did something similar with my 3 kids (all under 8) last week. We left at 10pm and drove straight to Destin, FL. The kids slept peacefully all night and the driving was VERY nice because there are not many 18-wheelers on the road. During the day, there are A LOT of trucks on I-10. When we got to Destin, my wife took the kids out to the beach while and slept. I woke up around lunchtime and then joined them at the beach. We then stayed the night in Destin and headed up north to TN in the morning.

btw, Embassy Suites is an AWSOME hotel when traveling with kids.
1. Big indoor atrium is a good place for kids to run/play carefree.
2. Breakfast buffet is free and awesome.
3. Suite means kids can sleep and grownups can close the door and hang-out.

Note: There is an Embassy Suites in Destin across the street from the beach.

This all worked very well for us but is ALL based on the ability for the kids to sleep in the car. If they don't sleep, this goes from awesome to hell.