Driving from St. Louis to Port Canaveral on Thanksgiving

[MomOf2As]

Hi! we are going on our first Disney cruise at the end of the month, and driving from St. Louis area to the port, which is a 16 hour trip. Our initial plan was to leave on Wednesday early afternoon, spend Thanksgiving with family in Atlanta, then leave for Port Canaveral on Friday and spend the night there before our cruise on Saturday. Unfortunately, Thanksgiving plans with family fell through though, and now we're scrambling to find a different plan for Wednesday and Thursday nights. Right now, we're entertaining a couple of options:

1. Drive and stay in Nashville on Wednesday, then go straight to Florida and spend the next two nights there, basically skipping Thanksgiving celebrations.
2. Spend Wednesday night somewhere in TN, then drive to Savannah and stay there Thursday and Friday night. I'm not familiar with how bad traffic will be driving from Georgia to Florida on Saturday, so I'm a bit worried about the distance to the port.

For those familiar with this route, do you have any recommendations? We're used to doing long drives, though we usually try to limit daily drives to 12 hours. We're open to anything, and just hoping we can still find decent hotels this late!

Thank you!

 

[spiders]

I've never driven from St. Louis. Nashville and Atlanta both have traffic but in terms of the best place to hang out on Thanksgiving, I'd do the option of staying somewhere Wednesday and then going to Florida. Even if you just go to Disney without going to the parks, everything will be open. I'd also stay in Atlanta rather than Nashville if that's your plan. Get that extra 3 hours done on Wednesday to save more of Thanksgiving.

Savannah is nice but it's also more out of the way.

 

[cvjw]

We live in Atlanta and travel across the city for thanksgiving. We have never had any bad traffic on thanksgiving. That being said, I would much rather spend the extra time in Florida, closer to the ship in case something were to go wrong.

 

[Cruising Engineer]

Agree with @cvjw . Thanksgiving is two weeks out. The weather could be an issue or, hopefully, not. Since there is nothing but roadway between home and the port, keep driving to the port or the park then relax. If you are on the road Thursday, plan your overnight stay at a nice hotel that is serving Thanksgiving dinner. Then drive to the port area on Friday. Relax and enjoy your cruise.

 

[gotomu212]

I’d go further than Nashville the first day since it‘s less than 5 hours. Personally I’d try for Atlanta (8 hrs) or Chattanooga is fun (around 6.5) the first day and then drive the rest of the way Thursday. If you left around 8 am you could still have a turkey dinner at a restaurant near your destination. That gives you all day Friday to enjoy the beach or disney.

 

[Carrie in AZ]

I have never made that drive but I have been on three Disney Cruises. I would make a plan that involves getting very close to or even at the port as soon as possible. What happens if your car breaks and you are stranded somewhere without parts or stranded on Thanksgiving. You do not need even an inkling of stress of thinking “what if we miss the ship”.

Good luck and have an amazing vacation!

 

[Laura22]

I have never made that drive but I have been on three Disney Cruises. I would make a plan that involves getting very close to or even at the port as soon as possible. What happens if your car breaks and you are stranded somewhere without parts or stranded on Thanksgiving. You do not need even an inkling of stress of thinking “what if we miss the ship”.

Good luck and have an amazing vacation!

I speak from experience. The last Disney Cruise I went on we were driving down from North Carolina. We made it as far as Myrtle Beach before our van broke down out of no where. It was at 6 p.m. the night before our cruise, right as all rental car places in the area were closing. Thank god at the last second we found a rental car place that was willing to let us in a couple minutes after closing and we packed our huge suitcases and family into a teeny tiny rental car. We were SO CLOSE to missing our cruise (we really splurged that time and spent $10k on that trip, so that would have SUCKED).

 

[TestingH2O]

Thanksgiving is two weeks out. The weather could be an issue or, hopefully, not.

This. Remember Monday evening and Tuesday morning? (I'm in StL too.) Think about being worried about making it to Florida and THAT was happening.

If I was driving, I'd want to get to Florida ASAP.

 

[MomOf2As]

Thanks for all the responses! Yes, I think we'll drive as far as we can the first day, though my kids were really wanting to stay at the Gaylord hotel in Nashville. Chattanooga is an excellent suggestion for Wednesday night, then aim for Florida for Thursday. My husband suggested staying in Orlando on Thursday and Friday nights for a quick visit to Disney, but the only Disney resorts available are ridiculously expensive. If we stay by Port Canaveral itself, do you think there will there be activities open on those days?

 

[Carrie in AZ]

I think you should keep trying for a Disney resort that may be closer to your budget, things may open up!! Have so much fun!!

 

[ScooterScott44]

We live in the Orlando area but grew up in STL and still have family there. Typically when we make the trip, or family, a routine stop is outside of ATL. Most states seem to be fine but it seems to take forever to get through Georgia. We have made the drive straight through on a couple of occasions, so it is more of a mental thing to break up that portion.
Since you have the time on the back end, personally I would go low key and just use the hotel along mid-drive as a place to crash and get back on the road. Save a few bucks and put that money towards something at Orlando or Port area. You should be able to find something, even off property, but with the holiday it might be a little more. There should be plenty to do at the beach or near the parks. I always recommend with the Saturday fantasy cruise, if you are near the port, to do dinner at Fishlips or one of the other restaurants at the port to watch the Dream and the other shops sail away. No better way to start a cruise vacation than waving “bon voyage” to the other ship.