We live 40 min north of Nashville. I suggest looking into getting a Sunpass (Florida’s electronic toll system). It may cost a few extra dollars to get the transponder and everything set up, but you won’t need to use cash if you travel on the Turnpike in FL and Sunpass is a partner with PeachPass (GA expressway system) so you can use it there to. We did this last year and sped through downtown ATL. I will mention that the Atlanta Express way is one direction, feeding into downtown in the morning and then exiting downtown in the afternoon. Even though we were only able to use it in one direction to Orlando and one direction back it save an hour according to the google maps projected ETA.
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This is an excellent idea - thank you! I will look into it!
Dothan is a great place to stop. It leaves a very manageable drive for day 2, with time to hit a park in the afternoon/evening, or hang out at the pool or Disney Springs. I would love it if we could get that far. Right now it looks like it will be 7 pm before we are able to leave, so I doubt we will. But our trip isn’t until next February, so a lot can change between now and then.
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I try to hit Atlanta about midnight. No traffic and I hit Disney in time for everyone else to enjoy the park at opening. Me, not so much but such is the life of a Dad. I look on it as a free Disney day. What can I say, I’m cheap.
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Thet ain’t what they used to be since the computers started determining the route and printing the pages instead of the personalized markings of a real person with an orange highlighter,
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I have a SunPass and didn’t know they partnered with Georgia…this may change things.
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And we love hitting the Busy Bee before getting on I75!
Sunpass is also a partner with NC Quick Pass too. If you have either Sunpass, Peach Pass, or the NC Quick Pass you can use yours on all three systems.
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I haven’t gotten over to NC yet but it’s good to know for future. I wish they’d all link up. My Oklahoma one covers us, KS, and Texas
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Yeah, it seems to be a regional thing. Good to know if I ever make it your way.
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Update! We took the Mississippi-Alabama-Georgia route and would do it again. So worth it not going through that stretch between Chattanooga and Atlanta. However, there is major construction between Birmingham and Montgomery which slowed us down. Going back we went through Columbus, Georgia, and then through Birmingham. So, we were on I-75 going north until Tifton, GA. We drove that stretch on a Friday and there was extremely little traffic. If we were driving it on the weekend, however, traffic might be heavier. I would totally do the Birmingham to Columbus to Tifton to I-75 route again. Hardly any trucks, and the only “stress” we encountered was a heavy downpour for about half an hour.
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Will traffic be bad in Atlanta around 10pm on a Saturday? We’re leaving St Louis around 1 in the afternoon and that should put us in ATL around 10pm- possibly a bit later. . . I’ve looked in to bypassing Georgia altogether by using the Alabama detour - but I’d rather not go out of the way if traffic will be minor while we’re passing through.
I’m not sure anyone can predict that…but I suggest using Google Maps to plot your route, setting it for the same time/day to see what it shows as typical.
Having said that…I was surprised on July 5 (Friday). My brother and I were driving through Atlanta around 11-ish am (forget the exact time), and while traffic was quite heavy, it flowed smoothly. Got through Atlanta probably faster than I have in years. (Which was nice, considering we were driving a 26 ft UHaul!)
But other times, it has taken a couple hours to get through Atlanta (accidents, etc).
Generally speaking, no. This is about the perfect time of day you would want to drive thru Atlanta as far as traffic is concerned. Avoid the major rush hours if at all possible.
Traffic in Atlanta at 10 PM on Saturday night should not be a problem. I am assuming you will be coming down I-75. If there is an Atlanta Braves game that night, you might have issues passing the SunTrust Stadium if the game is letting out around 10PM.
The GA DOT likes to do construction/repaving at night on the weekends in the summer but I don’t know of any current projects.
Be sure to check the GA DOT website for road information. http://www.511ga.org/
We drove from St Louis. I would think around 10pm the Atlanta traffic “shouldn’t” be terrible, but you never know due to accidents, construction, and possible Braves traffic. We enjoyed the Alabama route simply due to the absence of the trucks! 
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Resurrecting an old thread-
Drove down Saturday night coming from Nashville heading to Disney and than on to Tampa. My youngest will now be making the trip to Tampa minimum once a month for work-
I75 in Atlanta we counted 7 accidents- around 7pm
Not 7 vehicles but 7 accidents involving 2 or more cars…it’s honestly IMO just to nuts to continue going straight down
Any suggestions on how to get the Alabama route into GPS. Granted he is a grown man and an excellent driver but it was too nerve racking.
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If you just start driving down I65 south out of Nashville, won’t your GPS just take over and re-route for you (or your son)? There are a few ways you can take to cut down into Florida, but the easiest is probably to go as far as Montgomery, and then start the US Highway trek from there. You will go through quite a few more small cities along the way, but it does not really take any extra time.
We have done a few varieties of this route - although our starting point is MN, so Nashville is sort of our halfway point. 
Hey… that’s not too bad!!! I bet it was an easy drive through that night!!!
BTW 7pm is still rush hour here… 
Get through Atlanta by 4 or wait until after 8… or just enjoy…
But in all reality, if going through the city looks hellish, try taking I75 south to I285 south/west (Exit 259)
Go around the west side of the city on 285 and get back on 75 south from I285 exit 58. Its about the same mileage, but it is sometimes faster. Sometimes its not.
But I think going through Alabama to 10 is gonna cost you at LEAST an additional hour anyway. Inching your way through Atlanta rarely takes more than an hour. So… If you like Alabama, then go for it…
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How long did it take you? I’m doing the drive from Nashville next week. I hate driving through Atlanta.