Driving to Florida in a Suburban (Enough Space)

[Stacy9402]

We are driving down to Disney area with my in laws. There will 7 of us (4 adults, 2 teen girls and 1 nine year old girl). We are all relatively on the small side.

I know it will be alittle cozy in the seating area. But we are planning to take our time with lots of breaks so I think it will be fine.

My concern is the luggage space. Will there be enough room in a Chevy Suburban to hold 7 luggages and a couple of rubbermaids?

 

[nighttowll]

When we did it, we had 6 people. 2 adults and 4 tweens / teens. We limited each person to one rolling carry on size suitcase and one small backpack or bag to be kept with them. Think traveling carry on only at the airport. Then we had a cooler and 2 snack bags, plus a few pillows and blankets.

We tried at first renting a regular suburban, but it was a no go. We couldn't fit hardly anything in the back of it. We had to get the extended extra long suburban. There was no way we could have fit the luggage in the regular. There wasn't room to really put much up where people were sitting, and the back luggage area was tiny on the regular. If you are renting, I'd ask for the extended. It was a tight fit, but doable in the extended. In the regular, we would have needed a trailer or luggage rack. The seats take up so much space.

 

[debster812]

It's doable, but it will be tight. We did this about 6 years ago with 4 adults, and 3 12 year olds in a rented Chevy Tahoe when all the flights out of NE were being cancelled. The luggage/cargo space is what did us in. Very limited. The 3rd row seat ended up being my son, his cousin and some of the luggage, so the boys were pretty cramped. I would recommend a roof top carrier, which was not an option for us, as we were all flying home. If you are renting for the round trip, or taking your own vehicle, I would HIGHLY recommend looking into one.

 

[firefly_ris]

I would look into a tow hitch storage rack.

We have a rooftop carrier for our minivan -- it's nice but it KILLS the gas mileage. If you are doing a long trip you will likely notice the difference. A tow hitch storage rack won't mess with the aerodynamics and you don't have to worry about trying to cram everything in the back.

[edit] Although one advantage with the roof rack is everything is protected inside, whereas with the storage rack you'll need to cover everything (tarp or something) to protect from any rain, etc.

 

[bumbershoot]

Once you fill all the seats there's very little space for luggage, generally.

 

[mco65]

How far of a drive?

 

[rwdavis2]

Once you fill all the seats there's very little space for luggage, generally.

I believe this to be the case. You are going to need external storage.

 

[Stacy9402]

It will be a 12 hour drive all together but we are doing it in 2 days so probably in 6 hour stretches. I do know the Suburban has alot more storage space than a Tahoe. It may be extra long as it looked to be at least 3 ft in depth (from back of 3rd row to the trunk door). It is my In laws SUV - my mil is going to try to borrow suitcases to see what all will fit.

MY Fil is looking into getting something for the top.

 

[sam_gordon]

There will 7 of us (4 adults, 2 teen girls and 1 nine year old girl)

Will there be enough room in a Chevy Suburban to hold 7 luggages and a couple of rubbermaids?

My family of 5 can get clothing for a week in two full size suitcases and a carryon (less if it's summer wear). I'd be surprised if you need more than 4 pieces of luggage (plus a carry on size for the hotel stay while driving).

 

[Stacy9402]

I have had to tell the 2 teenage girls that they are limited in what they can bring. My daughter was seriously considering bringing 4 pairs of shoes!! and one pair was Uggs - I told her those could stay home. As of right now, my husband and I will share a 26" suitcase, the 3 girls will each have a 21" and I am assuming the in laws will each have their own but they are small. We are all pillow snobs so we will all be bringing pillows but we can use them in the car. We will all have one small duffel with all of our overnight stuff for the hotel night.
We are also bringing a box of Christmas stuff and 1 rubbermaid filled with various items that if we can't fit in then we will just leave behind and grab the stuff from stores when we get there.
I will update on Monday to let you guys know what actually fits.

 

[kristenrice]

In 2010, we drove from Michigan in our Suburban with my parents and our two DD's who were 4 and 6 at the time. We had both of the girls in boosters and we also had their two strollers and all of the luggage too. We used duffel bags for our luggage because they were easier to "stuff" together in the back. We had plenty of room but, to be honest, we packed light because we stayed in a 2BR villa at OKW so we had laundry facilities in our room.

If you pack well, you should have no issues with space in the Suburban. Mine is a 2004 and it has 157K miles on it. I'm hoping to get a few more years out of it because once it's gone, we won't be able to afford a replacement. We bought it for $36K (NEW!) and a new one now would run us at least $60K and that's not happening. I've never been in a situation where I had to worry about something not fitting. I'd love to be able to take it to HHI or WDW again, but I am just too afraid of a breakdown, and I don't want to put any more long-distance mileage on it at this point. We rented an intermediate SUV for our next trip to HHI in April. I know it doesn't have a ton of trunk space, but we have mastered the art of packing light...almost to the point of seeing who can pack the least amount of stuff and still have enough for the week.

 

[ChristmasElf]

It will be a 12 hour drive all together but we are doing it in 2 days so probably in 6 hour stretches. I do know the Suburban has alot more storage space than a Tahoe. It may be extra long as it looked to be at least 3 ft in depth (from back of 3rd row to the trunk door). It is my In laws SUV - my mil is going to try to borrow suitcases to see what all will fit.

MY Fil is looking into getting something for the top.

Sears will have a rooftop carrier for you. You could also consider Fed exxing your luggage to the resort. Shrink wrap the luggage and take to any Fed Ex location and they can ship it 2 day-which is how long you said your drive will take. That way everyone will have room.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

A few thoughts:

1. Drop the hard side suitcases and bring duffles. Roll the clothes tightly (bonus...if you do it by outfit, saves you time at the resorts...just grab a roll and go). Duffels can be smooshed in much easier than suitcases.

2. Do you really need Christmas stuff? If it's decorations, just don't bother with them and enjoy the space. Presents? Unless you have littles that still believe, do the giving beforehand.

Same with the other stuff..is it stuff you can buy when you get to Orlando, like food? Just make a stop at the store on the way to the resort.

3. Consider taking fewer clothes and shoes per person. PJs can be worn 3 nights easy, especially if you shower before bed. Do a couple loads of laundry while at WDW. Bring things that can do double duty...convertible pants work as shorts and pants and eliminate the need to bring a pair of each. Two (ok, 3 if you are going to a nice dinner) pairs of shoes per person will be fine.

 

[dreiwhit]

I agree with Bianca and Bernard - try to take as little as possible.

We drive to WDW, but I still try to take as little as possible. My wife, two kids and I share a large rolling soft side duffel-style suitcase. Our clothes consist of what we are wearing in the car, plus days worth of clothes, pajamas, and a pair of flip flops. We do laundry in the room a couple of times during the vacation, so taking fewer clothes works for us.

As far as other items, we have a small shoulder bag for toiletries and another bag for medicines. We also take a couple of cases of soft drinks (we buy more in Orlando), and a few other items like snacks for the parks, etc. This trip, I tried adding a third soft sided rolling suitcases to store our backpacks, camelbacks, and the other items for use in the park. I'm not sure i'll do that again; although it made bringing everything in the room much easier, it is also easier to fit our small backpacks in the nooks and crannies of the trunk instead of fitting a large bag in the trunk.

 

[maxiesmom]

A few thoughts:

1. Drop the hard side suitcases and bring duffles. Roll the clothes tightly (bonus...if you do it by outfit, saves you time at the resorts...just grab a roll and go). Duffels can be smooshed in much easier than suitcases.

2. Do you really need Christmas stuff? If it's decorations, just don't bother with them and enjoy the space. Presents? Unless you have littles that still believe, do the giving beforehand.

Same with the other stuff..is it stuff you can buy when you get to Orlando, like food? Just make a stop at the store on the way to the resort.

3. Consider taking fewer clothes and shoes per person. PJs can be worn 3 nights easy, especially if you shower before bed. Do a couple loads of laundry while at WDW. Bring things that can do double duty...convertible pants work as shorts and pants and eliminate the need to bring a pair of each. Two (ok, 3 if you are going to a nice dinner) pairs of shoes per person will be fine.

See for me, the above ideas would make me miserable. Grab a roll of clothes and go? Not without stopping to iron first. I have rolled clothes to make room, and I always end up having to iron, which I hate. One set of PJs would be fine, but I don't own or care to own any pants that convert to shorts. Mostly they look like you took the bottom of your pants off. I pack more than 3 paris of shoes as I never know which pare of shoes my feet will decide to like on any given day. Plus if it rains (which it does a lot in Florida) you need to have an extra pair to switch out, just in case your first pair gets soaked. And then I need sandals for by the pool.

I say send down what won't fit into the car.

 

[mom2rtk]

My park clothes have to be really wrinkled for me to iron on vacation!

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Rolling clothes to save room...??

Does rolling somehow reduce the cubic inches the clothes will occupy, or increase the cubic inches of the suitcase?

MG

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

Rolling clothes to save room...??

Does rolling somehow reduce the cubic inches the clothes will occupy, or increase the cubic inches of the suitcase?

MG

http://herpackinglist.com/2013/09/rolling-vs-folding/

http://lifehacker.com/tip-tester-the-best-way-to-pack-a-suitcase-1730049399

 

[Maistre Gracey]

http://herpackinglist.com/2013/09/rolling-vs-folding/

http://lifehacker.com/tip-tester-the-best-way-to-pack-a-suitcase-1730049399

Lol!!!! I have no clue what they are trying to say, but fact is that physics are physics. The clothes will take up the same amount of space regardless of how they're packed. You just can't fight math.
Now, if you don't make proper use of space that's another story.

In the last 30 years I have lived 15 of them out of a suitcase. I fold.

MG

 

[ncc1701]

My park clothes have to be really wrinkled for me to iron on vacation!

The only time we iron on vacation is clothes we are wearing to a nice dinner/brunch or a concert in Vegas . For park or touristy clothes I am with you