8 Hour Drive + a 2 y/o = ?

[justbishop]

I need your tips on keeping a toddler entertained on a long drive! As you can see from my location and ticker, we are driving to WDW from SC next month. The longest trip I've made her sit through was about 2 hours, and she was fairly content to listen to music and look out the windows, but I'm assuming that these activities will get old quick on an 8 hour drive.

We have available to us:

a Fisher Price iXL (though the resistive touchscreens seem to frustrate her more than anything)

a Game Boy Advance SP (she likes to push the buttons, but seems to get bored with it within about 5 minutes)

Android smartphones (would like to keep use of these to a minimum, because she tends to toss things in the car when she's done with them)

Travel DVD player (I'm thinking that this is going to be the option that gets the most use)

iPad (heavy, and wifi only...would rather leave this option off the table)

Magnetic drawing board, Aquadoodle, dry erase crayon board, other drawing supplies (how long can drawing keep a toddler busy, though?)

TIA!

 

[malibuconlee]

Potty trained? Not potty trained? I have found that traveling with our 2 year old who is now three, well, between breaks to stretch her legs and change diapers, and eating that a 6 1/2 hour trip easily becomes an 8 hour trip. I would suggest limiting fluids somewhat. My daughter can chug 10 oz of water with a bit of apple juice like you wouldn't believe! Especially in the car.

DVD player will be your best bet. Mine takes about a 2 hour nap at home, but I guess isn't as comfortable in her car seat because she'll sleep less than an hour in her seat nowadays.

Definitely doable, just plan on it taking much longer than it used to with a toddler. I have read that people will stop for food and let the little ones play then just take the kids food to go and let them eat in the car.

 

[malibuconlee]

OH and the Travel AquaDoodle is a big hit! She played with that a lot on our trip last weekend.

 

[CaptainAlex]

With my three kids I came to discover that 6 hours was the best amount of time to travel in one shot before the meltdowns began. We had the portable dvd player, coloring books, games, toys, favorite stuffies, snacks, etc but six hours was as far as we would make it.

I remember one time we were stuck in NYC traffic for 1.5 hours. We just needed to go 10 miles and we would have been at my moms place. It was the six hour mark for my twin two year olds. Lots of crying, screaming and general high anxiety (and that was only the adults) I kid, I kid.

A trick that may work and worked for us for our big summer trip to our vacation rental to the coast of Main was the following, My wife did up gift baskets for each kid with various little games, snacks, dvds and video games. Than every hour for a total of 12 hours (over two days) my wife had another bag and she would give them a new item for their basket. It really did help pass the time. She also did this for my in-laws who we were traveling with. It made the kids excited to see what gifts grandpa and grandma got.

On the ride back home we did a variation of the same thing but with snacks and a few new dvds from a local Walmart in order to help continue pass the time. We already had enough vacation loot to justify not buying more stuff like toys.

 

[justbishop]

Re: potty training...she's actually to the point now where she consistently will tell us when she needs to go (she will even stop playing at a playground to come let us know), and the only time she's in diapers now is during nap and overnight. If we happen to be out and about and skipping a real nap, though, she is in panties while she catnaps in the stroller. Not exactly sure yet how we are going to handle the potty break situation on the drive there and back. She seems to be quite clear on the difference between diapers and panties, so maybe we should do diapers for the car rides? Or a portable potty (we drive an Element, so finding a spot in the car to use it, while parked of course, is not an issue)?

I like the 1 gift/toy per hour idea... I think I will start collecting things to do that with.

Thanks!

 

[prncess674]

I would have the adults swap off sitting with the child in the back seat. Sometimes having a new "playmate" can dull the boredom.

 

[justbishop]

I would have the adults swap off sitting with the child in the back seat. Sometimes having a new "playmate" can dull the boredom.

Yeah, we had planned on keeping the option for me to move to the back seat open if she needed it, but maybe just planning to sit back there the entire time might be the way to go...

 

[CaptainAlex]

I like the 1 gift/toy per hour idea... I think I will start collecting things to do that with.

Thanks!

The dollar bin at Target is a great place to find stuff as well as a newer store (around here anyways) called 5 below. Same concept as a dollar store with nothing costing more than 5 dollars. Seems to have better quality stuff than the Dollar Tree.

 

[prncess674]

Yeah, we had planned on keeping the option for me to move to the back seat open if she needed it, but maybe just planning to sit back there the entire time might be the way to go...

personally I would just plan on sitting in the back. It will make it so much easier for you to hand the kids snacks, drinks, adjust movies, play games, etc.

 

[kchughes]

We have made that same drive 6 times in 5 years. We are just south of Charlotte, NC but in SC. The DVD player is your best bet. We bought a new DVD for our then 4 year old and he watched it nonstop all the way. Even tho' we had some of the old stand by favorites with us. I also do colored pencils ( they don't melt all over the place) and printed sheets from different web sites and plain paper in a notebook. The Disney website has some, but Nick JR has a ton. Print a list of Redbox kiosks along your route. You can rent one or two locally and return them along the way and get new ones. Best thing ever! Picture books were a big hit until he started reading. Also, a small blanket or beach towel in the car. That way if she is colder than the adults, she can cover up. Hourly toys or at the state line are good. It really is not a bad drive and they are so excited. Have a great time.

 

[justbishop]

We have made that same drive 6 times in 5 years. We are just south of Charlotte, NC but in SC. The DVD player is your best bet. We bought a new DVD for our then 4 year old and he watched it nonstop all the way. Even tho' we had some of the old stand by favorites with us. I also do colored pencils ( they don't melt all over the place) and printed sheets from different web sites and plain paper in a notebook. The Disney website has some, but Nick JR has a ton. Print a list of Redbox kiosks along your route. You can rent one or two locally and return them along the way and get new ones. Best thing ever! Picture books were a big hit until he started reading. Also, a small blanket or beach towel in the car. That way if she is colder than the adults, she can cover up. Hourly toys or at the state line are good. It really is not a bad drive and they are so excited. Have a great time.

Howdy neighbor

Thanks for the Redbox tip! I'll have to see if they have info online about what they might have...DD is extremely picky about her TV. She currently watches the Fresh Beat Band, iCarly (we have a season on DVD, so that's covered), and cooking shows. The kid just has no interest in cartoons!

 

[Gma570]

With my 2 1/2 year old grandson we bought a Sesame Street DVD. The skits are short and keep his attention. We waited about an hour into our 6 1/2 hr drive to Disney before we put it on.

We also stopped at a nice rest area where there are picnic tables. We let him out to stretch his legs and chased him and played to burn up some energy. Only took about 20 minutes from our schedule and had a little snack while we did it.

 

[lcsmom]

Had to post, even though I'm a bit removed from the toddler game. (DD is filling out college apps. at the moment.) I second the stopping for 15-20 minutes. We used MacDonalds playgrounds way back when. We all would visit the restroom, then while one parent ordered, she got to play. Once the driver finished eating, it was back in the car - where I let DD eat her meal. A rest stop with packed snacks also worked. We made the 4.5 hour drive to my parents and back every other week from 18 months - 4 years.
Two old fashioned suggestions - books and singing. DD would "read" us her books. DD could spend hours singing along. She still has most Disney songs memorized.

 

[justbishop]

With my 2 1/2 year old grandson we bought a Sesame Street DVD. The skits are short and keep his attention. We waited about an hour into our 6 1/2 hr drive to Disney before we put it on.

We also stopped at a nice rest area where there are picnic tables. We let him out to stretch his legs and chased him and played to burn up some energy. Only took about 20 minutes from our schedule and had a little snack while we did it.

We've watched SS a few times. It's hit or miss with her

Good tip on waiting to put a DVD on, though!

And yeah, I'm assuming that we will be taking lots more breaks than we have in our kidless past, lol!

 

[*QueenB*]

We live just south of Atlanta and make the drive to Disney 2-3 times a year. We have a 4 year old and a 2 year old. After making the drive during the day 2 years ago and stopping every 45 minutes for bathroom breaks, car sickness, other randomn ailments we decided that the 6 hour drive turned into a 10 hour drive. What we do now is leave the house at 2 a.m. We usually arrive at WDW at about 8 or 9. Usually the will have our room ready by noon and we can just go to Downtown Disney until our room is ready. On the way back we tire the kids out by taking them to a park all day and leaving at 8pm. Yeah its a little hard to adjust Mommy and Daddy's sleep for a few days but the kids sleep the whole way and it makes it a much more enjoyable ride.

 

[justbishop]

We live just south of Atlanta and make the drive to Disney 2-3 times a year. We have a 4 year old and a 2 year old. After making the drive during the day 2 years ago and stopping every 45 minutes for bathroom breaks, car sickness, other randomn ailments we decided that the 6 hour drive turned into a 10 hour drive. What we do now is leave the house at 2 a.m. We usually arrive at WDW at about 8 or 9. Usually the will have our room ready by noon and we can just go to Downtown Disney until our room is ready. On the way back we tire the kids out by taking them to a park all day and leaving at 8pm. Yeah its a little hard to adjust Mommy and Daddy's sleep for a few days but the kids sleep the whole way and it makes it a much more enjoyable ride.

I would love to do something like this, and will be talking it over with DH and my parents (who are also going with us). We did something similar when DD was about 13 mo old for a 6 hour drive to the beach (Emerald Isle), and it worked out pretty well.

The only thing I can think of that might be an issue is that my parents are driving here to SC from Michigan on the day of the 8th, so they might not be too excited about getting here around 7pm and then having to jump in the car again 5-6 hours later. Also, we will be staying at Hawthorn Suites on Canada Ave. for the first 2 nights. Does anyone know if they ever allow early check in?