Best Way to WDW from Wisconsin

[mommy2maddi]

Seriously considering driving to WDW this November due to the price of airfare. If you have driven there please tell me the best way to go. Not wanting to go through any "horrible to drive through" places. We live near Green Bay Wisconsin. Thanks!!!

[eam]

We always drive down, and love it. We are about 100 miles from Chicago and take I-94 to I-65, then I-65 to I-24 at Nashville to I-75 in Chattanooga. We then take I-75 all the way to the Turnpike to Disney (we take the new by-pass-is it 428?) to the Disney entrance. We take I-65 through Indianapolis (no by-pass) and I-75 through Atlanta (again no by-pass). It cost about $340.00 last year, including gas driving around Disney, and shopping at Outlet Mall. As I stated, we love the drive, and pack food and drinks in order to stop at rest areas. I see we will be there while you are visiting as we check in on November 5 and leave on the 15th. Hope this helps. Any other questions, please feel free to ask. I have been driving down since 1972.

[Mr.Boardwalk]

We always drive down, and love it. We are about 100 miles from Chicago and take I-94 to I-65, then I-65 to I-24 at Nashville to I-75 in Chattanooga. We then take I-75 all the way to the Turnpike to Disney (we take the new by-pass-is it 428?) to the Disney entrance. We take I-65 through Indianapolis (no by-pass) and I-75 through Atlanta (again no by-pass). It cost about $340.00 last year, including gas driving around Disney, and shopping at Outlet Mall. As I stated, we love the drive, and pack food and drinks in order to stop at rest areas. I see we will be there while you are visiting as we check in on November 5 and leave on the 15th. Hope this helps. Any other questions, please feel free to ask. I have been driving down since 1972.

This is my experience as well, we used to live in a small town in SE, Wisconsin and that is the route we would take.

Its going to be a long trip for you guys about 1 whole day. Be safe

[cuteduck223]

We drive too, just an hour south of chicago, and thats the route we take. It takes us about 18 hours if we drive straight through. I think our gas cost was right around $400 (we visited friends in Haines City before and after) we always try to budget more. We're going in Sept. this year and have budgeted $600. At the current gas price, we'll still have a pretty good cushion (about $120).

[DinseyDEW]

That is the same route we go and we are an hour north of Madison. With 5 kids there was no way we were going to afford airfare. Driving was easy. We drove overnight both ways and it worked out well for us. I take the late night driving hours and my wife let me sleep here and there. On the way down we planned to stop in S. Georgia for the next overnight, but we ended up driving the rest of the way and stayed in Orlando the second night with no issues.

[CuteAsMinnie]

I will add:

Schedule your driving time thru Chgo and NW Indiana at a very off time, such as before 6am or after 8 pm, preferably on a weekend. It's the only hope you have on missing the horrible Chicago traffic. We always have enjoyed driving and take pp mentioned routes and never run inti traffic like we often do once you hit wonderful IL at 80/94 so we attempt to plan accordingly.

Good luck and have a blast!

[E-Ticket4]

Just drove the route mentioned at the end of March. I am 30 miles NW of Chicago. You can go through the city of Chicago or around. Traffic will be heavy either direction but we go right though - course that was at 6am Friday and then 6pm Sunday coming home. Atlanta is the other big city for traffic - but I got in that HOV lane and breezed right through with no problems. Grab that lane and don't let it go!
Nashville and Chattanooga were slow for us it seemed but we hit them late afternoon into evening rush hour.
Drive time coming home according to the car was 20:03. That doesn't include stops for food, gas, leg stretches.

**at Monsters Inc this year a "2 headed human" was from Door County.

[mommy2maddi]

I appreciate the advice and if we do drive we have a preferred route thanks to you guys! I am still hoping to find affordable airfare, but I really don't want to pay $1800 for airfare- On top of that, the flights I found were all arriving in Orlando late (after 8:00 pm) and leaving early (before 9:00 am); even if I could find better times I wouldn't feel so bad about the cost. I know that there will be more flights scheduled in the next month or two. Crossing my fingers that something better comes up so we don't have to drive and take the extra time off of work.

[tjstrike]

If you'd like a little more scenic route, cut across from the Indianapolis bypass and take 74 to Cincinnatti, then take I-75 due south thru Lexington and knoxville. That route isn't nearly as flat and boring. There's also a route down the west side of WI using 20 and getting onto 54 by Peoria and following it down thru clarksville and then to Nashville where you avoid Chicago (major plus). The extra miles on that route are made up by not having to go thru Chicago.

[satchel01]

We are going to be there in November too! Also from Wisconsin, also frustrated with the flight options (why oh why can't we have Midwest Airlines back?? they were Perfect), also considering driving but dont' want to miss out on more Disney days (hubby only has 5 days to use up).

Anyway, I wanted to add that when/if you go through Milwaukee be aware that there's alot of construction going on and some of it has been to change the route you may be used to. For instance there's a part when heading north where normally you'd take the left fork and now you take the right. It really threw alot of people who know the area for a loop.

Have a great trip!!

[LVT]

Hopefully you do not hit Atlanta at rush hour.
Stick to I-75 and use the High occupancy Vehicle
lane. Someone here advised it and we found it to work well. We just clung to the lane marked with the Diamonds patterns on the pavement.

[mickeymacnlinda]

Every year that my wife and I have gone to WDW we have driven from our home in SE Wisconsin. We take I90/39 to Rockford and then I39 South to Bloomington. From there we take I74 to Champaign and then I57 South toward Paducah. We pick up I24 which takes us all the way to Chattanooga where we pick up I75. This might be slightly longer than I65, but we avoid all the Chicago traffic and have become very familiar with the route. We used to try to get South of Atlanta the first day and then get a room before continueing on the 2nd day to WDW. We now are content to get somewhere past Chattanooga and spending the night. We drive straight through Atlanta using the HOV lane. We have always driven because we are not good flyers and we can bring anything and everything we think we may need. Enjoy your trip.

[tjstrike]

Every year that my wife and I have gone to WDW we have driven from our home in SE Wisconsin. We take I90/39 to Rockford and then I39 South to Bloomington. From there we take I74 to Champaign and then I57 South toward Paducah. We pick up I24 which takes us all the way to Chattanooga where we pick up I75. This might be slightly longer than I65, but we avoid all the Chicago traffic and have become very familiar with the route. We used to try to get South of Atlanta the first day and then get a room before continueing on the 2nd day to WDW. We now are content to get somewhere past Chattanooga and spending the night. We drive straight through Atlanta using the HOV lane. We have always driven because we are not good flyers and we can bring anything and everything we think we may need. Enjoy your trip.

That was the route I was trying to explain but you did a much better job,

[AJ Springfield]

Out of our 10 trips, we flew once and drove the rest. We live in Springfield, IL. We take 55 south to 64 to 57 to 24 to 75 and happily land in WDW about 18 hours after we start. We drove straight through once (it was hard around 4- 6 a.m.) but we usually drive 15 hours the first day and 3 the second day (check in day). We leave Spfld at 3:30 a.m. so that we avoid Nashville and Atlanta during the busiest commuter time. We get to Nashville in 6 hours and Atlanta in 10 hours (and then we have to adjust for the Central to Eastern Standard Time time change. Yes, the drive is long, but it's part of the fun when you plan for it. We pack breakfast, snacks, drinks, and candy for the trip. I like not needing to worry about how much we pack and what to do with all the souvenirs that we purchase while at WDW.

[tdk316]

I live in SE MI and how is the drive with kids? We have two little ones (soon to be 5 and 3) and due to the increased cost of airfare we're considering driving. How nuts are we?!

[Mr.Boardwalk]

I live in SE MI and how is the drive with kids? We have two little ones (soon to be 5 and 3) and due to the increased cost of airfare we're considering driving. How nuts are we?!

My family used to do this when we were all younger, we had 3 boys and drove many times.

As long as you have things for them to do it should be ok. My dad always hooked up a VCR and a TV in our car so we could watch movies,

My dad once told me he knew that lines to an entire movie but he had never seen it. (always driving while we watched).

Hope that helps!

[wdwmomof3monsters]

We live about a half hour south of Green Bay and have driven to Florida over a dozen times. We usually split it up into 2.5 days of driving on the way there and about 2 full days of driving on the way back. We just take 41 south to Chicago and then follow the signs to Gary, and then towards Louisville. Its super easy, especially with mapquest these days and my 3 kids stay entertained becasue I print coloring pages, bingo, and scavenger hunts for them to do in the car besides their nintendos and dvd players. Hope this helps. Oh, and we leave for our next wdw trip in 5 days.

[Ed]

...(we take the new by-pass-is it 428?)

You were close - it's 429.

That brings you onto WDW property not far from Coronado Springs. Be aware that 429 is a toll road; offhand, I'm not sure what the toll is. Just have a bunch of quarters handy.

[javamama]

Have you checked airfare out of Chicago? Ohare or midway usually are cheaper than green bay.

[squad51]

I have easy to follow directions. Take 43 to Milwaukee, stop at the State Fair Park park and ride lot and pick me up. I could drive to Disney in my sleep. This is THE best way to drive to disney.