A packing tip for those who are driving to WDW!

[laxfamily52]

And will stop and spend the night somewhere in between. We have an 18 hour drive and we will drive 12 to 14 and spend the night somewhere. Get up and drive the rest of the way. On to my tip: I pack seperate for that one night, usually in a duffle bag. That way we don't have to haul all of our luggage in the for that one night. It makes it so much easier to only have to bring in a duffle bag and a bag with health and beauty items. I'm sure there are a lot of you who do the same thing, but for those of you haven't thought of this yet, I hope this tip helps you.

thank you!!!!!! that helps bunches!!! whoo hoo!

 

[dj2]

another tip - we give each kid a small coin purse w/assorted coins at the start of the trip. then, if they misbehave, they have to give back a coin or two, depending upon how bad, etc. this had worked very well to keep their behavior in line. they use whatever coins they had left each night to buy a snack from the hotel vending machine, which is a big treat for them since we don't usually do junk food.

oh yeah--we always empty the car each night--no matter how many trips it takes. mom and dad's car alarm went off at a hotel 10 years ago, thwarting wouldbe burglars. i won't take a chance since then, esp since our cars' don't have alarms....

 

[dj2]

forgot to say that even though we empty the whole car en route, we still do the "all-you-need-in-one-bag" thing. just because the other bags are in the room with us doesn't mean that we want to OPEN them all looking for things.

 

[mom2kyleegrace]

THank you! We're leaving Wed. and I hadn't thought of THIS!

 

[SnwflkCts]

I am so excited for you on your first trip.

Disney World was everything and yet nothing like I could imagine when I went my first time in Feb.

I was very naive about the number of people there! We went during a time when it wasn't super crowded but still, there were more people than I ever imagined! (not a bad thing - I just thought how funny it was that I didn't realize the resort would be bustling unlike a hotel you go to while on a "regular" trip!!!)

When I saw the BIG DISNEY sign as you are going down route 4 (I think that's the #) on your way into Disney I could hardly BREATHE I was so excited!!

Have a GREAT TIME and don't stress too much and breathe deeply and don't let any little problems overwhelm you while you are there.

And a PS about dragging everything into the room. Drag as much irreplaceable stuff in that is packed in bags. (cameras, fav clothes, fav toys, important papers should be taken in.) Extra shoes, coats, etc... could be replaced and maybe leave those in the truck/car. But an earlier hint - make one bag the one you open in the hotel with pjs, toothbrush, next day clothes in it so you are not digging into LOTS of bags is a really good idea. I do that even though we drag about THREE other HUGE bags with us (every trip is like that!)!

 

[poohraedopey]

I always have a packback of toiletries I keep packed for our entire vacation season.... We usually take 3 or 4 trips (all driving) and it's just easier to have it all set. I replace anything we used up upon arrival hoem then put it in the bathroom closet ready to grab and go next time. One less thing to worry about before we go each time.

I should have added I do usually haul everything of value (which is generally all in one tote bag anyways) in even if just a one night stop.

 

[pepperw23]

We did the 18 hour drive last July and left at 7:00pm, drove straight throught the night (hit major traffic jam in Virginia at 3:00am - couldn't figure out why there were so many people out at that hour!) It worked out well for us because the kids started falling asleep around 9:30-10:00, slept through the night, woke up around 7:00, then had their games/activities/DVDs to keep them busy for the morning ride. I think if we drove down again, we would do it the same way.

Were you around Wiliamsburg? For some reason through there, the traffic NEVER stops. Probably something to do with the never ending construction that is an amusing point of contreversy in our area.

 

[mickey mommy]

We did the 18 hour drive last July and left at 7:00pm, drove straight throught the night (hit major traffic jam in Virginia at 3:00am - couldn't figure out why there were so many people out at that hour!) It worked out well for us because the kids started falling asleep around 9:30-10:00, slept through the night, woke up around 7:00, then had their games/activities/DVDs to keep them busy for the morning ride. I think if we drove down again, we would do it the same way.

We did the same thing as well, only we left about 10pm. It worked well for us because the kids pretty much slept all night and when they woke up in the AM, we were halfway there! I think we might try leaving around 7 pm this time. Not sure how the 15 month old will handle being in the car all that time. We may need a few extra pit-stops!

 

[bellebud]

we've driven 5 times in the past 3 years from NY w/ 2 small kids...

some of my tips.... always have ressies for where you'll stop, especially if you have kids with you. we didn't once, and while you'll usually be fine w/out ressies, this one time there was some sort of convention near I-95 and every motel was fully booked for 60 miles! no kidding!! we had cranky kids in the car, it was 10pm, dark, we didn't know the 'safe' exits from the unsafe ones, and it was getting scary (and there are a lot of unsafe exits on I-95) and we were exhausted and needed to sleep! it's also nice to have a destination, instead of saying to each other 'should we drive another hour??'... we have an 18 hour drive, leave home around 5am, drive the equivelant of 10 hours (usually takes 12 hours including nice reststop breaks), get to our motel, dinner and bed. then leave around 7am and get to disney around 4pm.

oh, and i've found the local Chamber of Commerce for whatever area i was thinking of staying in overnight very helpful. i called (as opposed to looking on-line) to speak to someone, and i've had the nice people tell me which exits were 'safe' or unsafe, which were newer w/ better restaurant choices, etc. They are always very helpful.

we do the wrapped gifts too for the drive. when i told my kids we were going to disney again (we're leaving in 3 weeks!), the first thing they both said was "yea! we get car presents!!!" I do dollar store stuff, regular toys and craft activities. that and the dvd player make our trips wonderful! we actually love the drive!

dh insists of bringing all the luggage inside the motel on the way down. he says those motels are "marks" for burglars and won't take a chance of getting broken in. imagine having your window smashed on vacation and not being able to get on the road the next day.

I have the "Drive I-95" book - look on-line to order it. I love it and just got the new edition for a friend who is going to florida soon. We've marked down the good and bad exits (easy on/easy offs, dangerous looking ones, safe looking ones, etc) the past few years.

We bring food for the first day and stop in the very nice state welcome center reststops (the ones that have no restaurants, but lots of picnic areas, etc). The kids run around the grass, we bring jump ropes and have a nice break. Dinner is a restaurant near the motel. The next day we do the free motel breakfast, mcdonalds or something for lunch, then we're in disney for dinner. Doing the picnicing the first day and restauranting the 2nd day works well. we don't have to worry about a cooler or ice, but have nice picnic food the first day and the kids being able to run around is much better than them having to sit down in any kind of restaurant. I like the mcdonalds playarea idea (i think i even read somewhere you can look on-line at a mcdonalds site to map all the playarea ones), but we're sort of germ-o-phobic, especially on vacation, so we do the rest stops instead.

I bring some snacks for the car, but it's so much fun for the kids to pick snacks when we get gas, etc, that i let that be the majority and just bring enough for emergency hungries. same goes for snacking while at WDW - we really don't bring anything except a couple of granola bars for emergencies. the kids (and me!) want WDW snackies!!

we always bring our potty in the back of our suv (we even brought it when we took our car once in the trunk). with kids there are too many times they need to go and we can't find a clean restroom (or safe area). we LOVE our potty for the kids (and they're 6yo and 4yo and don't "need" it, but we've used it tons!) And we always line the potty w/ kitchen garbage bags to pull out and throw away with each use, instead of having to empty and clean a potty. yuk!

that's all i can think of for now. i love reading others tips! thanks to all!

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

My husband used to insist on bringing in everything from the car (and when we had garage sales everything had to be brought back inside each night of the sale) UNTIL I got a lung disease and could no longer do it and HE would have to do the slepping. Needless to say he no longer feels this way.

I pack the seperate bag for our trips down and back and it has been a lifesaver.

I also keep a 'bathroom' bag fully packed and at the ready so that we can easily pack for any trip even at the last minute. I reload everything when we get home from the last trip. It seems it is much harder to remember to pack all the small items rather than clothing.

I also, on extended trips, make it a rule that we take two shirts for each pair of pants as we can usually wear our slacks two days and I do not want to spend time doing laundry on vacation.

Slightly Goofy

 

[digskat]

Get a portable dvd with the ear phones and purchase new disney movies that they have never seen before. This helped for our trip. I bought the kids Disney mp3 players for Easter so they will have these and I may get them new game boys before our trip..possibily for their birthday or passing. We have a 22hr drive and leave at 4am and drive until we get to just north of Atlanta and then leave early the next am and drive until we get to WDW.

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

Since we longer have rugrats to bring along with us we do not need a dvd player but what saves what sanity I have left is the fact that I now borrow audio books from our local library to listen to on the way down and the way back. It sure makes the miles go a lot faster. The only problem is that last time I got a Maeve Binchley book that was so long that we had 3 more hours left when we got home and the only tape player that I had was in the car. We spent 3 hours and a lot of expensive gas driving around to hear the end of the book but it was well worth it.

Slightly Goofy

 

[mrsscooter]

We are not going to wdw until october for the mnsshp, but I am starting to gather small little items here and there whenever I see them on sale, or something different, or that my kids would like. I plan on getting these little canvas totes with pockets on the inside with thier names on the bag and filling it with little toys, new coloring books and crayons, books, etc. I think I will also get few bigger things to give out at the rest stop before we get back in the car. This will be our first drive down to florida with the kids so this will be interesting. We too have a 22 hour drive from CT and we plan to leave around 3 am and drive until about 5pm, get dinner and a hotel so that we can relax and let the kids play and get a good nights sleep and then get up at 3am again and arrive disney by early afternoon. I alsow as planning on packing a small bag with clothes, pjs and toiletries to grab for the hotel room for the night. Thanks for all of the great tips

 

[mrsscooter]

My husband is now paranoid about hotels and burglers due to our last drive to florida from virginia. We took the truck and brought our luggage in, but when we went out the next morning it looked like someone tried to steal our tire!!!! The hub cap was off, and the rim around the tire was all scratched up like somewone was using a crow bar to take it off. We figured,well,the tire was still there, and we were good. NOT!! We were about an hour from Ocala and I was asleep, hubby was driving and then all of a sudden crash, clunk, etc. I woke up and looked out the rear window to see our tire (on the rim) bouncing away down the road and the back of the truck dragging on the ground. Yes, that was a lovely trip. I was pregnant and my daughter was one. So, yes, I agree to some extent about being paranoid about finding decent, clean, and **safe** hotels. So, if anyone has a list of such hotels after North Carolina, it would be deeply appreciated. Thanks!!!

 

[jennobrn01]

We do this too!

Our favorite travel time is to start at about 8-9 pm. The children will sleep through the night (usually), the traffic is minimal, and you can c-r-u-i-s-e baby! I work nights, so I often do the night driving. Pop in a riveting audio book, chex mix, coke, and I am set!

 

[stahshee]

These are great tips!!!! I am driving I now plan on getting a hotel b4 I go so I will be all set
My tips

we are a family of 7 so I will be buying a small bottle of laundry soap
bringing breakfast, lunch and dinner for the first night of travel
b- doughnuts and milk
l- penutbutter and jelly-
d chicken and salid
I am bringing a cooler so i will also have drinks

 

[Luvamouse]

who are now 11 and 5. Our trip to Disney next fall will be our first down south. We drive to the midwest (1100) in 2 days on our trip out-- our family's busy schedule out there makes us NEED the sleep! I pack our nightly clothes in Zip Loc's for the ride out. I bought the big ones (2 or 3 gallon?), but not the newest 2' tall ones that are out. That way each of us has a bag with a total change of clothes and we can stuff the dirty ones in the bags after. I also pack one bag with the swimsuits since we always get a hotel with a pool. Wet suits go in the bag for the rest of the drive. I also bring a couple of child-sized plastic coat hangers to drip dry the suits in the tub. (Too many over the shower head and they never dry.) I have a softsided "bathroom" bag that I toss in a small duffel bag with the ziploc's for each of us. I even pack all of each person's underwear in a big ziploc for them. It is much easier than it all floating around in a bigger bag.

On our trip home, we drive straight through to home. (But I still prepare a big bag with a change of underwear for each of us and a clean shirt-- jeans or shorts we can wear for 2 days-- just in case we burnout and stop) We can sleep in the next morning! We actually plan our trips using the Cracker Barrel map as a part of our planning. When there is a new Cracker Barrel at an exit, we have never been dissapointed in the age of the hotels, 'good exit', etc. Also, I check on the website or by calling to see when the hotel was built/renovated as another indicator of the general surroundings. Not perfect, but so far, so good. The DVD player in our Yukon is perfect for the girls (It is our second vehicle with one in it) -- new movies are a must before each trip. But the potty in the back...priceless. All I need is to find a safe turnout or rest area for my little one.

We leave New England at 5 am on a Saturday and get pretty far before the traffic picks up. It is much more relaxed driving out west. On our trips back, we drive straight through to hit the Northeast when traffic is slower and get home about 5 a.m. Only dealt with major night construction once.

We love to drive and I get my girls kids pages/books from AAA or other sources so they can mark the journey. We are all looking forward to our trip to Disney next Thanksgiving!

 

[SB's Mom]

to the one thinking about going to the new Georgia Aquarium on a Saturday ---RE-THINK Your Decision! I understand that it is very busy during the week and Saturday's are EXTREMELY BACKLOGGED!

 

[nana4jhma]

to the one thinking about going to the new Georgia Aquarium on a Saturday ---RE-THINK Your Decision! I understand that it is very busy during the week and Saturday's are EXTREMELY BACKLOGGED!

That would be me. The time we are leaving home should put us in Atlanta at or just before opening time for the Aquarium. Do you think that would make a difference? I decided against buying tickets in advance on-line in case we don't feel like stopping.

 

[tlinus]

I started that with our trip in 2004. We have 5 in the group, so this is a must for us......too many bags. One of these days i would like to get REAL luggage and pack one big suitcase for Dh & I and one for the 3 kids. Since we usually go in the "cooler northern weather" months of October or November, the clothes we leave with are too warm by noon of the second day (around the Georgia Welcome Center) so I always have light jackets and short sleeve shirts tucked into my backpack.