Houston to Lake Buena Vista!!!!
About This Page: This is a discussion on Houston to Lake Buena Vista!!!! within the Getting There (and Back!): Your Journey to Walt Disney World, part of the PassPorter Community - Boards & Forums on Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel; I am so excited that our next Disney trip is officially booked and the planning may begin!
We are DRIVING ...
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
I am so excited that our next Disney trip is officially booked and the planning may begin!
We are DRIVING from Houston to Disneyworld. In tow will be me and my husband and three children - two boys ages 9 and 8 and one little princess who will be 5. We will be in a mini-van.
I have an entire system for traveling with three kids in a mini-van - but that is a post unto it's on. For now I'm just going to concentrate on the drive!
The LAST time we drove to Disney was 2009 and we did it with only one night on the road in Pensacola and by the time we got to Disney the next evening we were all in the worst mood! SO, this time - two nights on the drive in is hopefully going to make for less stress.
The plan is that we are going to work and go to school on Wednesday, November 14th. My husband and I both work from home, so throughout the day we are going to load the van. We are going to pick the kids up from school and finish up our day and then around 5 pm we are going to head out. I'm hoping we can leave earlier because the Acme Oyster House in Baton Rouge closes at 10 pm and an Oyster Po-boy would really make my day.
We plan to travel to Baton Rouge that night. We'll stop somewhere along the way and have dinner. We may just drive through, the kids will all be in a great mood and they won't require a bunch of stopping just to get to Baton Rouge, so the sooner we get there, the better. It would be nice if we could get further than Baton Rouge, but I'm trying to be realistic and not put too much pressure on myself. BUT - if we WERE to get farther than Baton Rouge... does anyone know the next town in LA along I-10 where we can get a nice hotel room?
Did I mention that I despise crossing the Atchafalya Basin Bridge at night? Oh well, it can't be helped!
Ok, so the next morning - leaving Baton Rouge and we are going to be in for a day of hard driving. Gotta be organized and get out of the hotel early. Our goal is to get as close to Disney as possible this day without killing ourselves or each other. Realistically - we are going to need to stop more than the average traveler. So, here is where I'm fuzzy. I'd love to say we could maybe get to Ocala - but that might be asking too much. I'd like to be somewhere in the early evening so we could check into our hotel, rest a bit and then go out and have a nice dinner and go to bed at a decent hour so that we can get up bright and early and ready to be at Disney Friday by either late morning or early afternoon! I'm thinking Lake City might make for a little earlier stop. But, I can barely remember driving through Lake City before - so I'd love to hear some input on this if anyone has any!!
Then the next morning, we are going to sleep in and then get up and make our way to the Art of Animation resort and check in, have lunch in the food court and look around our hotel! My mom and stepfather will be arriving that day (only two of them so they are flying!!) Once we are rested up - we are going to hit the Magic Kingdom for the evening, with no specific plans other than to take in Spectromagic! Always a must do on our first night!
I'd love to hear any advice or input!
__________________
Heather "You want your picture taken with me don't you? Of course you do!"
New Orleans is about an hour and 15 minutes from Baton Rouge we've got lots of hotel rooms here. It's about 10 hours from NOLA to Orlando. Good luck with the planning!
We have stopped in Tallahassee on each of our overnight stops. Its roughly 4.5 hours to Orlando from there. We are usually out of the hotel room by 10:30am and pulling into WDW around 2:30/3pm.
Lousiana does not have rest areas like in Texas. I still got splinters from my stop there and had to forgo the bathroom break as I could not find one. I would stay north as you said you need lots of pit stops. Unless you got a tag team of drivers I would rather stop in northern Florida. It was long driving and hard on the mind and the body. I followed truck drivers so I would have something to break the monotony. Plan for a stop at the Florida rest area just as you get into the state, very nice place with lots of information.
__________________
Mom calls to check on me and reminded me to pay the gardener. I love her so much.
Disneyland was fun with flag retreat and pickles. I have a home here, thank you. GAC is NOT a "front of the line pass".
She is gone but keeping signature. Laundry is getting done. My purpose in life is to help poor people in FL. Farewell, will miss you.
Yes, we want to stay north on I-12 and not go I-10 to NOLA. So, I'm thinking Baton Rouge for the first night - and then on into FLorida the next day - hopefully make it to Lake City. I hadn't thought about stopping in Tallahassee - so thanks for that idea - it's not that far, so we could do that if we find the time getting away from us!
I totally agree about the rest stops in LA - and we don't like to stop at rest stops in MI either. So, we will need to take a really good stop before we cross over into MI.
We have found even the best laid plans can go awry when you are traveling with kids! Also, I tend to do whatever is necessary in the moment to make things simplest - so it's better to make a plan with some wiggle room.
__________________
Heather "You want your picture taken with me don't you? Of course you do!"
Yes, we want to stay north on I-12 and not go I-10 to NOLA. So, I'm thinking Baton Rouge for the first night - and then on into FLorida the next day - hopefully make it to Lake City. I hadn't thought about stopping in Tallahassee - so thanks for that idea - it's not that far, so we could do that if we find the time getting away from us!
I totally agree about the rest stops in LA - and we don't like to stop at rest stops in MI either. So, we will need to take a really good stop before we cross over into MI.
We have found even the best laid plans can go awry when you are traveling with kids! Also, I tend to do whatever is necessary in the moment to make things simplest - so it's better to make a plan with some wiggle room.
.....you'd be surprised how convenient...and reassuring....good rest stops are to a road trip.
......how long will the "on the road" driving time be between Houston & WDW?...about 16 hours?
The I10 comes pretty close to Tennessee near the panhandle if you want to add that for a few hours. Late at night on I10 and I thought I was going to Tennesse. I skipped New Orleans because of city traffic and it was out of the way. Nice drive through Baton Rouge. Remember that pushing yourself on driving will have you arrive earlier but more tired. It is better to pace yourself so that you do not end up spending the first Disney day lounging at the pool or in bed too tired to move.
I have a laptop with 3g-4g so I leave my laptop set to the area where I am at on Google maps. Last night I got lost and pulled over to see where I was at. Missed my turn by an eighth of an inch.
__________________
Mom calls to check on me and reminded me to pay the gardener. I love her so much.
Disneyland was fun with flag retreat and pickles. I have a home here, thank you. GAC is NOT a "front of the line pass".
She is gone but keeping signature. Laundry is getting done. My purpose in life is to help poor people in FL. Farewell, will miss you.
.....you'd be surprised how convenient...and reassuring....good rest stops are to a road trip.
......how long will the "on the road" driving time be between Houston & WDW?...about 16 hours?
Yes, about 16 hours and 2 minutes to be exact - according to Google maps. We've driven it before, but never timed it with our stops. And this time we are taking a new approach. Same route as always though - I10 to I12 then back to I10 to I75.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mechurchlady
Remember that pushing yourself on driving will have you arrive earlier but more tired.
That's what we did last time, only one night on the road and two LONG days in the car - we ended up at Disney about 7 pm after a full day of driving. The kids were begging to go to Magic Kingdom, but I was so exhausted I was not having any fun. NEVER doing that again! A lot of people I know drive at night or drive straight through, but we would never consider that. We know if we drove all night, the kid would sleep in the car and we wouldn't - then we'd get there and the kids would be awake and ready to go and we'd need a nap! This time we are breaking the trip up into three days!
__________________
Heather "You want your picture taken with me don't you? Of course you do!"
....thanks. I'm not too familiar with the east-west drive-times across the southern portion of the country....and was curious. I'd love to drive that route to see that portion of the country.
.....hmmm?...16 hrs?....about 950 miles? That's a one day road trip!! (not sure what "type" of road I-10 is...and wondering if it's comparable to I-95. If so...definitely can be driven in one day....unless you plan on sight-seeing along the route)
....I'd love to get down south...then head west all the way to the left-coast. Perhaps some day......
__________________
Last edited by JerseyDad; 04-08-2012 at 08:28 PM..
....thanks. I'm not too familiar with the east-west drive-times across the southern portion of the country....and was curious. I'd love to drive that route to see that portion of the country.
.....hmmm?...16 hrs?....about 950 miles? That's a one day road trip!! (not sure what "type" of road I-10 is...and wondering if it's comparable to I-95. If so...definitely can be driven in one day....unless you plan on sight-seeing along the route)
I know, people tell me this all the time. But, I can only take so much! Three kids and two adults all crammed in a mini-van together with luggage (thank God no stroller this time!) - and after a while, people begin to get cranky. We like to stop and stretch our legs and go to the restroom at about every other Cracker Barrel. We'd have to get up fairly early and drive pretty late to do it in a day and neither of us is up for that kind of day on the road. For us, it just doesn't work with the kids. If it was just the two of us - we'd do great - but if it was just the two of us - we'd be flying!
__________________
Heather "You want your picture taken with me don't you? Of course you do!"
....thanks. I'm not too familiar with the east-west drive-times across the southern portion of the country....and was curious. I'd love to drive that route to see that portion of the country.
.....hmmm?...16 hrs?....about 950 miles? That's a one day road trip!! (not sure what "type" of road I-10 is...and wondering if it's comparable to I-95. If so...definitely can be driven in one day....unless you plan on sight-seeing along the route)
....I'd love to get down south...then head west all the way to the left-coast. Perhaps some day......
It's do-able in one day if traveling without kids, but it's still brutal. DH and I did this before we were married and drove straight through, stopping only for bathroom breaks and to drive thru Burger King for lunch. We left around 5am Houston time and arrived at 11:30pm Orlando time. Texas to Florida isn't too terrible, but it's all the driving IN Florida that really seems to take forever.
Traveling with kids, I think the OP's plan is a good one. What would normally be a 7-hour drive to visit family in Mississippi takes us about 9.5 hours with kids. So, I think planning to make a couple of stops so that everyone arrives in a relatively rested state makes good sense.
__________________
Shayne
I'm sorry, what part of the duck did you say we're going to eat? Find out in A Foodie Celebrates 40-Updated 12/27
Traveling with kids, I think the OP's plan is a good one. What would normally be a 7-hour drive to visit family in Mississippi takes us about 9.5 hours with kids. So, I think planning to make a couple of stops so that everyone arrives in a relatively rested state makes good sense.
Thanks! We drive to my in-laws and it is a 9 hour drive and it normally takes us about 12 hours - so I know our limits! It would be easier if my 4 year old was as much into video games as her older brothers.... she's really the catalyst in the whole equation! I wish we could drive at night - but then we'd arrive and the kids would be rested but we'd need to sleep!
__________________
Heather "You want your picture taken with me don't you? Of course you do!"
Heather, there is a lot of road construction on I-12 in Baton Rouge. After your dinner stop at Acme, I would recommend driving through Baton Rouge past the construction and stopping either in Hammond, Covington, or Mandeville. When you leave the next morning you can jump back on 1-12 to I-10 and you will be on your way. We have stopped in Marianna, Tallahassee, and Lake City and they are all fine. I usually make a couple of reservations along the way and cancel the one we don't need. That way we can decide where to stop depending on how tired we are, whether or not we run into traffic or bad weather, etc. Have a great trip!
About This Page: This is a discussion on Houston to Lake Buena Vista!!!! within the Getting There (and Back!): Your Journey to Walt Disney World, part of the PassPorter Community - Boards & Forums on Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel; I am so excited that our next Disney trip is officially booked and the planning may begin!
We are DRIVING ...
) 
Missed my turn by an eighth of an inch.
Same route as always though - I10 to I12 then back to I10 to I75. 
I'm sorry, what part of the duck did you say we're going to eat? Find out in 
Linear Mode
