Hi! I’m so happy you’re here. This is a long post, so grab a cup of coffee, tea, or whatever else you’re drinking these days, and settle in for this jam packed post.

Several years ago, I wrote two posts about driving from Chicago to Walt Disney World and I realized that I needed to update this.

These are the original posts. [part 1 and part 2 ]

Today, my kids are 13, 11, and 10. When I wrote my original posts, I never would have predicted how many more times we would make the drive from Chicago to Walt Disney World. In these past 8.5 years, we’ve probably done it 20 times round trip. Maybe more. Today is January 1 and we last drove home from Disney on November 25. We’re heading back down on February 12. This route is truly second nature to me, beyond what I expected when I started doing it with my kids in 2015.

If you’re thinking about making this drive, know that it is definitely doable. I’ve done this many many times and it is no problem. Actually, the majority of these drives have been solo parenting with just me and the kids. Not to get off track too much, but while my husband’s job is ultra flexible for daily things, his vacation time is pretty strict so he usually vacations with us once a year and I do the rest just me and the kids.

Back to this drive. Let’s talk about WHY we drive instead of fly. Cost is a huge [but not the only] factor. I just looked up flights for our upcoming vacation in February. The cheapest flights are $352 per person on Frontier which would be about $1400ish total for the four of us. That doesn’t include any of the extras that Frontier charges and is not the ideal flight times, but it’s the cheapest. Don’t forget you’ll need a rental car or some other form of transportation and that’ll contribute to the cost.

While cost is a big factor, and one of the reasons we are able to travel so much is because we save money by driving, it’s not the only factor. For me, having flexibility and total control over my transportation is even more important. Remember when I said we were in Disney last month and are going back again next month? That’s true, but that’s not all that we’re doing. Last time, we did a big Disney trip, but then spent some time in St. Augustine and northeast Florida before going home. This next time, we’re doing Disney Hilton Head and Disney Vero Beach, with a little splash of Disney World at the end. These are two of my recent examples, but the truth is that we wouldn’t be able to take these type of multi destination adventures if we didn’t drive.

Now that you’ve decided that driving is the best option for your family, let’s start planning. I use the Waze app and strongly encourage others to use it as well. Besides the fact that it doesn’t account for time zone changes when calculating your arrival time, it’s ultra accurate with traffic and recalculating routes if needed. Also, the police feature is pretty nifty. For your personal situation, use Waze to see if taking I65 through Indiana or I57 through Illinois is better. I live in the far far west suburbs and they’re almost identical in drive times. While there have been some times when we have taken I65, usually we end up taking I57 down to Paducah. Here, I’ll be focusing on I57 because that’s what I do most, but if you are planning I65, comment below and I’ll be in touch with you.

Once you’ve chosen your route, it’s time to make a general plan for when you’re leaving and when/if you’re going to break up the drive into two days. I’m really focusing on the drive TO Disney, not the return. I want to make sure to note that we have done all sorts of schedules. A lot of times we make the decision WHEN to leave based on other things we have going on. For instance, last February I had some meetings until about 11am so we left at noon, drove to about midnight, and then finished the next morning. Another time, we left after my husband got home from work, drove about 6 hours, and finished the next day [this is my least favorite option]. Recently, two of our big Disney trips we did all in one way and that is actually my favorite way to go.

Let’s break down the options for a general plan of attack:

1. Leave in the morning of day 1, stay the night halfway.  This is somewhere near Chattanooga, Tennessee.  Day two will have you spending about nine hours in the car which means you’ll arrive at Disney in the early evening.
2. Leave later in the day on day 1 and stay overnight as far as you can get. Strive to drive until midnight and stop wherever that will be. Finish the drive on day 2.
3. Leave at 3am on day 1.  Stay the night south of Atlanta.  Drive 6 hours on day 2 and arrive at Disney around 3pm.
4. Leave at 3am on day 1 and drive all the way to Orlando. Stay offsite on day 1 and then arrive at your Disney resort nice and early on day 1.

Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever done option one, but this is what we do sometimes on the way home. Sometimes I do have clients that want to balance the drive into two equal parts. Personally, I try to avoid two long drive days.

Option 2 is what we do sometimes when we have something going on and decide to leave later in the day, just to get ahead of leaving early the next day.

Options 3 and 4 are our most common and that’s the mindset I’m writing from when I detail how we do the drive. We love leaving at 3am and if it’s just me and the kids I’ll drive to about Macon, Georgia, and then finish the drive the next day. If my husband is with me, we’ve started doing the entire drive in ONE DAY and it’s been a game changer. In fact, I just asked my kids how they prefer we do the drive and two of the three agreed that leaving ultra early and doing the drive in one day is their preference. [My third kid said they prefer to leave closer to 5am and stay overnight in Georgia.] When we do the drive in one day, sometimes we check right into our Disney resort and sometimes we stay offsite that first night and then check in to our Disney resort in the morning. There are pros/cons to both. If you’re planning to use the water park benefit [which is changing in 2026], stay offsite the first night so you can go to the water park in the morning. This also saves some money by staying off site. On the flip side, if you want the convenience of not changing hotels, then you might want to go straight to your Disney resort.

Since my top recommendation is the ultra early departure [you’ll thank me later], I’m going to detail how we tackle this drive in a single day. If you’re planning to stop, I’ll make a note of when/where that happens and then you’ll just finish the drive on day 2.

From my home to Walt Disney World, it is 1,170 miles and is approximately 16 hours 45 minutes drive time. Don’t forget to factor in the time change [lose an hour going there, but gain it coming home], plus stops, and possibly traffic [I’m looking at you Nashville!] and I like to round up to 19 hours. 18 hours plus the time change.

We prep as much as we can the night before. We have a rooftop luggage carrier and put our big suitcases and anything that we know we don’t need until reaching Disney up there. We invested in this when we first started traveling with our kids in 2015 and it’s been well worth the hefty price tag. I’ll be writing a separate post about road trip organization, but focus on getting as much organized the night before as possible and loaded into the vehicle. Each kid has a carryon type bag they have access to at their seat. We also have our snack bin and car refrigerator. I also bring an overnight bag if we’re staying the one night offsite. Nothing from the rooftop luggage carrier is touched until we reach our final destination. I also make sure to have plenty of activities prepped. I recently started sharing some of the activities I’ve done with my kids. Check out my digital store. I plan to keep adding to it.

The Wake Up: 2:30am

The day is here! It’s DISNEY DAY! I wake up at 2:30 am and since we have so much prepped the night before there isn’t much to do. I get ready and tie up some loose ends. Then I wake up my husband and kids [if they aren’t up already] and make sure to put our car refrigerator in the van. We pull out of our driveway right at 3:00 am. This time might seen insane, but just trust me. You’ll thank me later.

From Home to Effingham: 3am – 6:15am

Depending on where you live, you’ll reach I57 at a different point. Personally, I live right on IL Route 47 so I take that down to Mahomet and then zig zag to I57 Champaign. Regardless of how you get there, make your way to I57 and this first chunk of the drive gets you to Effingham. I love driving in the dark, predawn. It’s peaceful and kids either sleep or are just enjoying the drive. This is the quiet part of the drive. To keep a decent arrival time, you need to limit stops. You should never stop before Effingham. Sometimes we stop here, but we really try to make it to Kentucky. Recently, we made it to Paducah before I needed to stop, but we’ve even made it as far as Tennessee without stopping at all. Depending on the time of the year, the sunrise should happen around Effingham. Everything before that should be quiet time and then as the sun rises, the next phase of your drive begins.

Effingham to Paducah : 6:15am – 8:40am

At some point after Effingham, you’ll need to stop. Strive to make it to Paducah, but if you can’t, then I recommend the Hucks in Mount Vernon. The coffee is good and the restrooms are clean. If you don’t absolutely need to stop yet, keep going. Once we reach I24, we have breakfast. I make these egg bites and pancake bites [substitute chocolate chips instead of blueberries]. I portion these in snack bags beforehand and we end up using these for breakfast for the bulk of our vacation. At 8:15 am [yes, I’m looking back at the timestamps on my pictures from doing this drive last month], we cross into Kentucky. Another reason we prefer this route is that the bridge into Kentucky is free versus crossing from Indiana into Kentucky at Louisville has a toll bridge. We decided to stop at the Dutch Bros. We’ve never been to one before and this was a fun stop. Unfortunately, this one doesn’t have a restroom so we had to wait until we got gas for that. At 8:34 am, we already had our Dutch Bros, got gas, and used the restroom. Stick to the main exit at Paducah. We’ve used their McDonalds, Starbucks, and Panera Bread all at this exit. We’ve also stayed overnight at this exit TWICE. Once at the Fairfield and another time at a hotel that no longer exists.

Paducah to Chattanooga: 8:40am – 1:30pm

Now you’re at the part of the drive that starts to feel like reality. You’re too far in to change your mind and go back home, but you still have quite a ways to go. Once you’re back on the road in Paducah, the drive through Kentucky is quick. We crossed into Tennessee at 9:51am. This is still central time. We’re pretty open about snacks, but we have an order that we eat them. Fresh foods are eaten first. Sometimes we’ll have zucchini muffins or protein balls made from scratch or some sort of leftovers from home and these things are eaten first. We also bring fruit. In terms of stops, my biggest piece of advice is to limit them to as few as possible. Clarksville is okay if you need to stop, but we try to make it past Nashville. Nashville’s traffic seems to be getting worse so pay attention if your GPS has you diverting. We typically stick to I24 straight through, but once we went around the perimeter. Another feature I like here is once you’re past downtown, they have flexible speed limit signs that adjust to the actual speed. This isn’t anything special, but I feel like it’s a good indicator as to how congested the road is. For instance, we’ve driven there at 60 mph speeds and 35 mph speeds. On the return trip home, we’ve stayed at the Fairfield in Smyrna several times. Manchester is close to the mid point between Nashville and Chattanooga and has a nice Starbucks that we stop at sometimes, but our last drive was tough and we ended up at a run down gas station’s restroom. The Starbucks was at the next exit, but we couldn’t make it any further. Mont Eagle is the top of the mountain. The gas station there is okay. This is the most beautiful part of the drive. Then as you get closer to Chattanooga, if you are doing options 1 or 2 and have extra time, the Lodge cast iron store is pretty neat. The exit is a little sketchy, but the store is fun and they have clean restrooms. If you’re trying to get to Disney in one day, this isn’t worth it, but on trips where we are taking two days to get there, we have stopped here and actually purchased some things. Back on the road, know that Chattanooga can sometimes be congested so plan accordingly if you have littles that need to use the restroom. At some point near Chattanooga, you’ll want to serve lunch. I make chicken salad sandwiches and portion them on Hawaiian rolls back at home. This makes it super easy for kids to grab a sandwich straight out of the fridge. I also have chips portioned in individual bags. By this point in the drive, we’re definitely starting our license plate game. I either have a printable checklist or we use an app. I also start passing around other printable activities for the kids. At the Lookout Mountain exit, we’ve stayed at the Fairfield there on the trip home. You’ll enter into eastern time and this is reflected in the time stamp. We left Paducah at 8:40am central time and were in Chattanooga at 1:30pm eastern time.

Chattanooga to the Florida/Georgia Line: 1:30pm – 6:30pm

We crossed into Georgia at 1:39pm eastern. I do want to note that we’ve stayed in Ringgold and liked it, plus there’s a nice Civil War battlefield at this exit that is worth visiting if you’re not doing the drive in one day. Back on the road, depending on when you last stopped, you’ll want to decide which of the two Buc-ees you’ll want to stop at. Even if you think it’s overrated, consider stopping. There is one north of Atlanta and another one south of Atlanta. They’re spaced so that you’ll just do one of them. On our last trip, we did the northern Buc-ees. If I remember correctly, we didn’t NEED to stop yet, but we calculated that we wouldn’t have enough gas to get to the south one so we just did the northern one. They’re both great and make for a fun stop. I do want to note that this will eat up a little bit of time. We try to keep our stops fast. On this trip, we stopped at Paducah, Manchester, Buc-ees, and a Pilot somewhere in Florida before the turnpike. That’s four stops total for the entire drive from Chicago to Disney. Buc-ees will easily take 20-30 minutes. Later in the trip, I set aside a little bit more time to look around and do some shopping, but on the way down to Disney, you’ll really want to keep things moving. I always let my kids get a soda here. We’ve done sandwiches, but it’s just so expensive as a family of five so now we keep it just to drinks and if they want something more they can use their own money. Back on the road, it’s go time. Atlanta can be a nightmare, but it’s really been fine for me the last few times. Follow the HOV high occupancy vehicle lane. This will save you time. Know that it does veer off a bit, but stay with it and you’ll rejoin the main lanes before you get to the airport. Speaking of the airport, we’ve stayed near it before and I would not recommend that. This last trip, we stayed on the way home at the Springhill Atlanta Perimeter and I really liked it. It was a little off the main interstate, but well worth the extra ten minutes. We’ve stayed at a few other random hotels in Atlanta and overall, on the way to Disney, I always recommend trying to get south of Atlanta if you need to stay overnight. On the way home, I would stay at the Perimeter hotel again in a heartbeat. Another stop I want to note south of Atlanta is the JP Travel Center at the Jackson, Georgia, exit. This is the “King of the Thrones” and is a family favorite. While it’s not Buc-ees, there is lots of southern shopping and the actual restrooms are fantastic. I might even like this more than Buc-ees because it’s not as commercialized. We stopped here on the drive home from our recent trip. Between the two Buc-ees and the King of the Thrones, you’ll be stopping somewhere in Georgia. After that, you’ll want to put the pedal to the metal. This is my favorite interstate stretch. They have deer fences so you don’t have to worry about wildlife, plus there are plenty of lanes for traffic to flow nicely. This is also a great time for some quiet time. Everyone in my family likes to nap here as I power through to reach the Florida/Georgia Line.

Florida/Georgia Line to Disney: 6:30pm – 10:09pm

You’ve made it to the final stretch!! Make sure to stop at the Florida welcome center [not the fake one]. They serve free orange and grapefruit juice during business hours. and have a nice selection of brochures. My kids like to grab several and then read them during this home stretch. We actually skipped this stop during the last visit because it was dark and we didn’t think the picture with the Florida sign would turn out and we knew that the welcome center was closed. While the welcome center was closed, when we drove past we noticed the Florida sign has a large light on it. Next time, we’ll definitely stop even if it’s in the dark. Also, the restrooms are always open. From the state line to Disney is THREE HOURS so chances are that you’ll need one more stop unless you stopped in Valdosta. I try to stop at Pilot, Loves, Hucks, Buc-ees, King of the Thrones and knowing we needed another stop, we pulled into a Pilot somewhere before getting on the turnpike and it turned out that the gas station was under construction. We literally used a trailer toilet here and the next exit had a better gas station. Anyway, find a restroom that works for you. Before you know it, you’ll reach the turnpike. Are you staying onsite or offsite? We’ve done both after this drive. Recently, we stayed at the Springhill Marriott Village in Lake Buena Vista. Last February, we stayed at the Townplace suites Flamingo Crossing and I really liked that area too. We’ve also done the complete drive and still stayed at Disney. On the last trip, we arrived at 10:09pm eastern time.

To recap, we left our house at 3:00am central time and walked into the resort at 10:09pm eastern time. That’s pretty good. At 18 hours 9 minutes and the nonstop drive time at 16 hours 45 minutes, that’s pretty good. I always allow an extra hour beyond the GPS arrival time.

You can absolutely drive from Chicago to Disney in one day.

Depart ultra early, keep stops to a bare minimum, and you’ll arrive at Disney at a reasonable time.

Considering driving from Chicago to Disney World in one day, but feeling overwhelmed or doubting yourself? Comment below and I’ll answer any questions or concerns you have and really put you at ease.

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