9+ hour drive

[StuckInKS]

We drove in May for what was supposed to be a 20 hour drive each way (it ended up taking about 27 hours each way.) We had only the individual DVD players (which lasted all of 2 hours before the batteries died) and notebook paper/crayons. My kids are very active at home (they spend a lot of time chasing each other or racing around the living room) and I was quite surprised at how well they did with what little they had to entertain themselves. At the time they were 5 (almost 6,) 4, 2 and 16 months. It sounds like your kids have more to do, they are a little older and the drive is much shorter, so you may be able to make it most of the way with few "Are we there yet"s. We did stop A LOT (hence the additional 14 hours.)

This year the older two are getting vsmile pockets so that they can take some games from their vmotion when we make the trip again next year. I'm still not sure what to take for the younger two. I'm not sure my 3 year old will be ready for a vsmile pocket by May, but if she is then I will get her one. Flying is pretty much out for us, since all of our kids need car seats and I'm not sure how to work that out with a rental, since I don't want to bring four car seats on a plane with us.

Hope you trip goes as smooth as ours did!

 

[cmaee]

We mapquested the Chic-fil-As on the way down with play areas (they're usually clean) and will probably take at least one long stop so the kids can stretch their legs.

We do this with any longer trip that we take as well. Chic-Fil-A usually has clean, indoor playrooms for kids too. I find that it works well for us to have my DH order our food while I take the kids to the restroom and then straight to the playroom. While the kids are playing, DH and I will eat our meal. When we are finished eating and the kids play a little while longer, we will round up our kids, make one more restroom visit and then get back on the road. We will give our kids their food once we are back in the van. I figure that they should stretch their legs and play while they have the chance. With the condition our van is in, I don't think eating their chicken nuggets and waffle fries will do anything to our van if there is a spill!

 

[alrightythen]

We do this with any longer trip that we take as well. Chic-Fil-A usually has clean, indoor playrooms for kids too. I find that it works well for us to have my DH order our food while I take the kids to the restroom and then straight to the playroom. While the kids are playing, DH and I will eat our meal. When we are finished eating and the kids play a little while longer, we will round up our kids, make one more restroom visit and then get back on the road. We will give our kids their food once we are back in the van. I figure that they should stretch their legs and play while they have the chance. With the condition our van is in, I don't think eating their chicken nuggets and waffle fries will do anything to our van if there is a spill!

That's actually a really great idea! The kids could play while the adults eat and then they can eat when we drive.

I need to google map a CFA w/ a big play area about halfway between central NC and WDW. How do I do that?

 

[alrightythen]

We'll be taking I95 the whole way from NC to FL. When I go to the CFA website, I found one in Pooler, GA. Is that about halfway from NC to FL? Is that a good one? It says it has an indoor play area. Anyone???

 

[alrightythen]

Never mind... just remembered we're driving down on a Sunday, so CFA will be closed. Oh well. lol!

 

[cmaee]

Never mind... just remembered we're driving down on a Sunday, so CFA will be closed. Oh well. lol!

Try looking for McDonalds/Burger Kings that have playplaces. You could do the same thing there too. I am not familiar with how many of them have indoor playplaces. I like the indoor ones, so you don't have to worry about weather. I know we stopped at a McDonalds not too far into FL for lunch when we went down. It had an outside play area, but it was nice weather that day.

 

[eyor44]

Take plenty of movies, snacks and drinks.

Also books, color books, crayons, pencils and drawing pads. Even the older kids love to color and draw.

Plus, pillow and blanket for each.

Our drive is total 11 hours including stops. This last time we had a 14, 7 and 4 year olds. They were so excited none of the kids complained on the way down. On the way home, they had new stuff acquired and were tired, so they slept a lot.

 

[MisplacedTexan]

Take it from a seasoned traveler: leave at night, when they are most likely to sleep. We travel to NJ from Dallas frequently, at least 3 to 4 times a yr, sometimes more depending on what is going on with my family in NJ. My kids are 14,10 and 8. The 14 y/o loads her IPOD and takes movies, the 10 y/o movies and his DS, some books and hotwheels, and my 8y/o, he IPOd, movies, and books.

LOTS of snack baggies, pretzels, crackers, easy to handle foods and snacks. We stop at Cracker Barrel for breakfast and that is our ONLY restauant meal, otherwise, we stop about every 4 to 5 hours, and have a picnic at a rest area. i give them about an hour to run off steam, stretch, etc.

Leaving at night is a godsend for us!

 

[dis-happy]

Never mind... just remembered we're driving down on a Sunday, so CFA will be closed. Oh well. lol!

Well, while this is bad news on the CFA front, it's good news as far as road construction goes. Should make getting through GA a whole lot easier. Also, when you get to Jacksonville, take the bypass.

 

[chrisw127]

We do this with any longer trip that we take as well. Chic-Fil-A usually has clean, indoor playrooms for kids too. I find that it works well for us to have my DH order our food while I take the kids to the restroom and then straight to the playroom. While the kids are playing, DH and I will eat our meal. When we are finished eating and the kids play a little while longer, we will round up our kids, make one more restroom visit and then get back on the road. We will give our kids their food once we are back in the van. I figure that they should stretch their legs and play while they have the chance. With the condition our van is in, I don't think eating their chicken nuggets and waffle fries will do anything to our van if there is a spill!

That's a good idea. Mine never want to eat anyway, just play.

 

[SenoiaDawg]

We just returned from our trip on Friday. We had a 7 hour trip with kids 9, 7 and 3. For the trip down, we left at 5:30am. The kids were able to sleep 2-3 hours at the beginning of the trip. We also packed a backpack for each child that included a travel pillow and blanket, a large coloring/activity book, a pack of crayola twistables, a spiral notebook, a clipboard and a Nintendo DS. We also had the DVD player in the van for watching movies. for the trip back home we went to MK that morning and left around 1:00pm to come home. After a busy week, the kids were tired, so they slept 3-4 hours again. The timing of our departures and the backpacks made for a fairly easy trip.