Hey all - you've been so very helpful with all my actual WDW plans that I thought I'd give you a try on my drive there.

I don't doubt I'm the only one who drives there. We'll be driving from Austin texas via Houston. I'm planning on a leisurely drive there - we're leaving on 8/1 and our reservations are at Pop Century for 8/3. I expect to get there early enough to not have a room available and our first day will be at Animal Kingdom.

I'm really interested in what to see along the way there. Any special suggestions on towns to stay in, places to stop at etc? I'm new to the south - so we expect this to be an adventure. Even on the drive back...I even have more time to spend.

So...anyone out there with any suggestions?
Thanks!

I enjoy the drive from Dallas, but I don't really have any suggestions for you as to what to do on the way. I do the drive in about a day & 1/2, so there's no stopping except for gas. But driving really does increase the anticipation of arriving, and you feel like you've really accomplished something, more so than when you just hop on a plane and are suddenly THERE. Enjoy your trip!

We have driven I-10 from San Antonio to WDW about 5 times. 2 adults and 2 children. Thank goodness for the tv/dvd in the car.
It is a "green" drive. Lots of trees, swamps, and a little gulf water view.
( drive I-10 to Disneyland and that would be a "brown" view of desert, rocks, and desert)
I-10 goes east and west across America except in San Antonio it's north and south...go figure.
We leave around 9am, pass through the heavy traffic of Houston around noon, and exit the great state of Texas around 2-3pm.
There are some stretches of road over swamp ( Atchafalaya I believe ) that still make me uneasy. It is a 2-3 mile flat bridge and I prefer to see land on the side of the road rather than an alligator filled swamp.
What is the difference between alligators and crocodiles? Alligators are plastic and crocodiles are fiberglass. jungle cruise
Sometimes we take the 210 split at Baton Rouge and drive on the north side of lake Pontchartrain to avoid some traffic in New Orleans.
There is a cool tunnel were you drive under a river around Biloxi Mississippi.
We finally stop for the night in Mossyhead Florida around 11pm.
The next day drive into Orlando is pretty easy except for the Ronald Reagan Tollway on the 4.
We usually arrive at our vacation rental home around 3pm.
I wish I could offer more interesting tidbits for stops along the way but other than gas stations ( no Valero outside Texas ) and dinner at Cracker Barrel, we drive as fast and safe as we can.
Fasten your seat belts ...we are east bound and down

That's the best information! I've spent most of my life in California and Alaska. I've had the pleasure to drive almost everywhere, but I've never driven through the south. I'm truly looking forward to it and am thrilled to hear it's a green drive! Thanks again!:D

Sometimes we take the 210 split at Baton Rouge and drive on the north side of lake Pontchartrain to avoid some traffic in New Orleans.

It's I-12, not 210.

Basically, I-10 'dips down' to go around the South of Lake Pontchartrain and hit New Orleans, while I-12 just goes 'straight'. You can see some of New Orleans East from I-10, though, that was pretty heavily devestated by Katrina. (But if you go that way, you'll have another long 'bridge', over the Bonnet Carre spillway, like the 17+ mile one (not just two-three miles!) over the Atchafalaya Basin. And the tunnel is in Alabama, at Mobile, under the Bay -- you don't want a tunnel near Biloxi Mississippi!!

Thank You Drince88
Ofcorse I-12 is what I meant and when did they move the tunnel to Alabama?
I appreciate being corrected especially if it helps keep drivers out of the wetlands.
We made this drive Nov. '05 and saw the blue tarps on roofs and lots of devastation from Katrina.
I made several trips to New Orleans from Dec. '05 through Nov. '06 helping a friend (and friends of a friend ) repair thier houses.
If I drive through N.O. next Nov. I will have to stop and shop on Magazine St.
and eat at Casabells (sp?)
Oh and to op...
Watch out for FOGSMOKE when driving in Florida.